My Girl

Unlike my usual self after a golf meet, who would slam the front door to the house, grunt a hello to my mom before I ran up the stairs, and lock myself in my room for the rest of the night, I came inside after Sylvia’s parents dropped me off and plopped down on the couch next to my mom, smiling happily her way.

“Did someone win their match?” The way she talked in her your-still-a-three-year-old-to-me voice made my smile flicker, but I faked it and shook my head.

“Nah. We were close though.” I informed her, pretending to be interested in what Oprah was saying on the television.

“This lady had her entire house redone for free.” My mom said, glancing up from her knitting. It was something she took interest in after my dad had died. And not only that, but everything you could simply imagine that had anything to do with crafts. One day, I came home from school, and all of my CosmoGirl magazines had been ripped up to use as paper Mache to create a new picture frame.

“Oh.” I stood up from the couch, my plan on being nice had failed, and started to walk up the stairs. My mom frantically searched for something to keep me downstairs.

“Do you want to go out to dinner tonight? We could go to Panda Express.” My mom shouted as my foot landed on the third step. I scratched my arm, where the cuff of my sweater was rolled up to, and shrugged my shoulders.

“Sure. Just let me get changed.” I said, continuing up the stairs.

“You could invite Sylvia if you wanted.” I pretended to not hear my mom on the last suggestion and closed my bedroom door.

After my dad died, I had grown distant from the few friends I had. For the rest of the summer, I was alone. All of my guy friends were off at some sport camp, training for their chance to get on the varsity team the next year. My few girl friends seemed to not like me anymore, they were always making plans without me. Not that I blamed them, since my state of mind probably sucked.

So when I came home from school the first week of golf tryouts, my mom was more than ecstatic that I had met Sylvia. Sylvia is what you could call… the preppy jock of the school. If that makes sense.

She seemed to have A’s in all of her classes, and if she scored something lower than a ninety two percent, she would cry. And, miraculously, she still had time to train for golf, along with volleyball, softball, and even competitive cheer…all the time.

I sighed and slipped off my gross uniform, taking a quick shower in the bathroom right next to my room. I changed into a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt, the usual. My hair was still wet, and I was too lazy to blow dry it, so I pulled it into a messy bun on the top of my head, letting it fall into the way it wanted to go.

I was about to run out the door of my room when I remembered something. I walked quickly into my bathroom, I searched for the ugly skirt I wore to the golf club. Finding them, I stuck my hands in the pockets, searching for that piece of paper.

It might not have been a big deal, it was only a phone number, but I still stuck it in between my dresser and my jewelry box, thinking it would be important for whatever reason.

***

Pulling into the restaurant, I noticed that the parking lot was close to empty, with the exception of my mom’s Honda, a hybrid, and a few other cars. My mom held the door open for me, making an annoying ting noise when we walked inside, telling the employee’s that someone had walked into the store.

My eyes widened when I saw Joe, Nick’s brother, standing in front of the cash register, along with an older guy I haven’t seen before. Joe was still in his golf uniform, but the guy next to him was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans and a navy blue shirt. I searched frantically around the area for Nick, but saw him nowhere.

“Elise, that boy is looking at you.” My mom whispered, not-so-subtly. I glanced back to where Joe and the guy was standing. Our eyes met as Joe walked past me and my mom, three boxes of Chinese balanced in his hands. I walked out of their way, smiling shyly at him.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” My mom stared at me as I replied, and I quickly glanced at her trying to give her the idea she was being annoying. But when I looked back, Joe was already out of the store.

“How do you know that boy?” My mom quizzed as soon as the guy behind him shut the door. I continued to watch as Joe got in the passenger seat, arguing with the one that wouldn’t hand him the keys.

“Nothing. No one. I don’t know.” I always felt uncomfortable telling my mom about anything that had to do with guys, since she always seemed to get really uptight and unsure about things. She didn’t believe me, obviously, and instead of making her way up to the lady behind the counter, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me until I answered.

“Fine.” I glanced behind me, just to get one more glance at Joe and his friend as they exited out of the parking lot. “The guy that said hi to me was on the other team for golf today.”

My mom shrugged her shoulders, telling the lady her regular order. “That’s not a big deal.”

“Me and his brother are supposed to go golfing Saturday.” I finished, feeling my stomach twist around, my appetite suddenly gone. Just thinking about our conversation from earlier today, on my way here, made me feel embarrassed. I had acted like a total freak, probably sounding too excited when Nick mentioned going out this weekend.

Some emotion crossed over her face, but she seemed unfazed. “Well, that’s a good thing, making friends, and all.”

I nodded my head in agreement, but by the way the both of us were suddenly silent, I knew we were thinking the same thing.

Friends…or more.