I Wrote This for You

The second day of school started exceptionally early for Charlotte.

Having slept only a couple of hours the night before, she found herself woken by her alarm at five-thirty so she could finish the homework she’d been too tired to do the night before. She had barely finished it when her mother called up the stairs for her to start getting ready. Who knew starting school late could put you so far behind?

But, a reward for preparation, Charlie ended up being one of the first ones to school and got to sit on one of the raised stone gardens out front in peace and quiet before the yard began to get crowded. Since all her homework was done, she pulled the latest issue of Food & Wine Magazine (from the grocery store, since her subscription had been disrupted by the move and the post office didn’t seem to have registered her change of address yet) and delved into an article on how to save money on spices (“Grow your own seasons for every season!”).

She’d only been reading a few minutes before a voice by her elbow said, “I thought only moms read those magazines.”

Charlie jerked around to see a boy crouching behind her, reading over her shoulder. He had on thick glasses held in place by a crooked nose and overlarge ears. His head was shaved and he wore a black t-shirt that said N.T.T.H.S. Band Geek.

“Well, I guess you thought wrong, huh?” she replied, not unkindly.

“I’m Joe,” he said then. He seemed to notice her looking quizzically at his t-shirt and added, “I’m in the band.”

“I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“Yeah, this shirt’s a total babe magnet. Doing anything for you?”

Charlie smiled and tilted her head slightly. “Band is cool. Your pickup lines are not.”

Shrugging, Joe flopped down beside Charlie and said, “Hey, it was worth asking. So, you’re Charlie, right?”

“What gave me away?”

“Well, Patrick said you were a pretty blonde with a Foo Fighters pin on her backpack. And since there are no other pretty blondes at N.T., I figured I’d take a shot in the dark.”

He waited expectantly for her reply and Charlie, picking up her backpack, said, “Nailed it.” The Foo Fighters pin winked in the sun light. “I had a Barenaked Ladies one, too, but it was confiscated at my last school.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“So, really, explain the mom magz,” Joe backtracked, flicking the front cover of Charlie’s magazine.

She shrugged. “I like cooking.”

“Oh, you should start making me lunch so I don’t have to eat this shitty cafeteria food,” he said eagerly.

“Why don’t you bring your own lunch?”

“Because it’s cheaper for me to buy here.”

“Well, I brought more than I can probably eat today,” Charlie offered, pulling out a Tupperware of ziti.

Joe looked excited for a moment, then bit his lip. “Is it, um, vegetarian?”

“No, why?”

“Dang. I’m trying really hard to eat Kosher.”

Charlie pursed her lips. “I’m not sure that’s possible if you’re stuck eating high school food.”

“Yeah, I usually just eat fries or buy a peanut butter sandwich off Patrick.”

“You know, my dad was Jewish but I’ve never really understood the customs and stuff. I’d be totally interested to learn about it.” Charlie paused, recognizing that her mouth had run away with her. “Sorry if that came out offensive.”

“It didn’t,” he said quickly, looking earnest. “Really, no one’s ever been that interested before. They hear ‘Kosher’ or ‘Jewish’ and they go, ‘Oh, well, that explains the Jew ‘fro’.” He paused, running a hand over his shaved head. “Um, before I shaved my head, anyway.”

“Honestly, I’m interested. I was actually planning for my senior project to be on the differences and misconceptions between similar religions. My mom was raised Catholic, so I already know all about that, but I’ve never had anyone to talk to about, well, any other religions, really.”

“I can tell you anything you want. You can even talk to my parents if you want.”

“Now, really, Joe. I think it’s a little early to be meeting your parents,” Charlie teased. “You know, you’re not all that geeky for a band geek.”

Joe looked around quickly for eavesdroppers, then said dramatically, “I know I’m not, but I wanted to fit in as a freshman and now people have expectations. Look,” he tugged his glasses from his face and read a sentence from Charlie’s magazine, “these aren’t even real glasses.”

“Oh, let me see them then.” Charlie took the thick-rimmed glasses and stuck them over her eyes. The lenses were just plain glass; a little blurry around the edges but otherwise showing no visual differences. “How do I look?”

“With that skirt and those glasses? Like a 90s school teacher.”

Charlie elbowed him, but laughed. She gave him back his glasses. “So, you said you’re friends with Patrick? Where is he today?”

“Riding the bus. His car died last week and he’s been carpooling with me, but I had an appointment really early this morning and couldn’t bring him.”

“What kind of appointment?” she asked, not realizing that this might be a bit of a personal question.

Joe’s cheeks went slightly pink. “Doctor.”

“Are you sick?”

“Um, no, but...well, my parents. They like to send me every couple of months to make sure I’m, y’know, disease free and stuff.”

Charlie bit her lip to keep from laughing. “How healthy of them.”

People were beginning to fill the schoolyard by then; the buses seemed to have arrived. Joe glanced at his battered watch. “Crap, only two minutes to class. I’m all the way upstairs. Shit!”

Charlie watched with wide eyes as Joe jumped up and promptly upended his messenger bag, spilling its contents all over the ground. She quickly hopped down from the wall to help pick stuff up. Once he’d grabbed everything and swiped his hand under the bushes for anything that had rolled, Joe shoved his belongings back into his bag, grabbed Charlie, kissed the side of her face, and ran off, shouting back, “Nice to meet you. See you later!” Grinning, Charlie imagined what must’ve been in his head at that particular moment, something to the effect of What the hell, Joe? Why did you have to kiss her?

Figuring she’d better head to class, too, Charlie bent down to pick up her own bag. It disturbed an item they’d somehow missed in the bushes. Picking it up, Charlie discovered a small plastic tube painted to look like metal. She flipped it upside down and a series of green tubes extended from the top; it was a toy light saber.

Looking after Joe, she couldn’t help but laugh. The guy in his late teens owned a child’s light saber; maybe he was a bigger geek than she’d originally assumed. She’d have to ask Patrick...if she ever got a second outside class to talk to him again.