So, I was dead meat. I would have to be careful around Josh and Toby. I’d need to be tough in every way. I couldn’t walk into a trap or let anything distract me. I’d focus completely on the situation. Nothing would break my concentration . . . not blond hair blowing in the breeze, not blue eyes looking over at me, not even a sly smile in my direction. . . .
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, I couldn’t let anything distract me. But it was such a pleasant distraction, and no matter how hard I tried, my thoughts kept returning to Jessica—and this problem I was having. You see, while I should have been walking around flexing my muscles, giving Toby menacing looks, and e-mailing bad articles about Ohio to Rocco’s mother, I spent half the time trying to get closer to Jessica. Only whenever I did, Mrs. Lutzkraut or Greg or Kayla or even Rishi would somehow foil my moves. Then one day I got my chance. It came in late March during recess when I happened to overhear the girls talking.
“Let’s go to the movies on Saturday,” Kayla was telling Samantha and Jessica.
“I’m in,” Jessica answered. “What time?”
I moved a little closer, wanting to hear more.
“We should go early, maybe right after dinner,” Kayla suggested. “Let’s find out when Animal Boy is playing. I hear it’s so funny. Ask your parents and let me know tomorrow. I’m sure my dad can drive us.”
This was getting interesting. Running into Jessica “by accident” at the movies would give me a chance to see her without Mrs. Lutzkraut or that jerky Greg lurking over my shoulder. Everyone, including my three best friends, had really started to like Greg, but not me. He was my competition, and I was suspicious of his surfer charm and permanent tan.
Back in class, I fought off thoughts of movie theaters and girls and tried to listen to Mrs. Lutzkraut’s boring math lesson, but after a few minutes I looked over at Jessica. My mind immediately went to Saturday. If only I could see her at the movies, I could talk to her for a while and maybe even sit next to her in the dark theater. . . .
“Rodney!” snapped a familiar, nasty voice.
“Yes, Mrs. Lutzkraut?”
“What do you call the bottom number of a fraction?”
“Jessica,” I blurted out. I meant to say denominator, of course, but it was too late. The whole class started laughing and I could feel my cheeks get red hot. Rishi was whooping, the girls were giggling, and Greg was rolling his eyes. Jessica, by the way, was also a bit red and looked down into her textbook.
“That’s enough!” Mrs. Lutzkraut snapped and the room silenced even faster than it had erupted. “Rodney, are you allergic to paying attention? Maybe you’ll be able to learn the parts of a fraction if there are no young ladies around to distract you. Plan on joining me for recess tomorrow!” I almost said, “Great, I’ll bring the chocolates,” but thought better of it and kept my mouth shut for the rest of the day.
On the bus ride home my friends teased me about my answer in math. Rishi kept asking, “What is the least common Jessica of one-half and two-thirds,” which even made me laugh. After a while, though, I was ready to change the subject and decided to bring up the movies. My friends thought going on Saturday was a great idea, and Slim and Dave agreed that Animal Boy was a good choice. Rishi, however, wanted to see Cannibalistic Mutants of Death Eat New York.
“That movie looks so dumb,” I said, wanting to be near Jessica on Saturday and, just as important, cannibals and mutants didn’t sound like my idea of a good time.
“Are you kidding? It looks awesome,” Rishi replied.
Slim added, “Yeah, you get to see them eat brains!” That not only spooked me, it turned my stomach.
“I think it’s rated R, though,” Dave pointed out. “We can’t get into that show.”
Way to go, Dave, I thought. Eventually Rishi agreed that Animal Boy wasn’t a bad second option. All we needed to do now was check with our parents and get someone to drive.
Later that night at the dinner table I brought up the movies. My parents didn’t mind, so I asked if they could take us. My dad, who was making a puddle of gravy in his mashed potatoes, acted like he didn’t hear me. My mom, however, made a face.
“I don’t know, Rodney. I made plans to have the Windbaggers over for dinner that night. . . .”
“I’ll take you boys!” my dad volunteered, practically spitting out his pork chop. His hearing had suddenly improved.
“Donald, you know Fred and Ethel are coming over, and Fred wants to talk to you about insurance, remember?”
My dad looked like he was trying to swallow something rotten and replied, “This is our son we’re talking about here. I’m most concerned with his well-being, and if I have to sacrifice a couple of things that I’ve been looking forward to . . . well . . . that’s what being a parent is all about. Isn’t it?”
My mom sighed. I doubted she was buying any of my dad’s nonsense, and I really didn’t care. All I knew was that my plan had been set in motion.
As I walked away from the dinner table, Penny followed me into the den. “What do you want?” I asked. “You’re not coming to the movies with us!”
“No kidding. I was going to tell you something important, but never mind now.”
“What could you possibly tell me?” I teased her. “That you’re mean and short and . . .”
“Greg is planning to ask out Jessica.”
“What?” I yelled. I felt the blood drain from my face, but not wanting her to know how I really felt, I asked more calmly, “Really? That sounds nice. I doubt she’s interested in him, though. Anyway, how do you know so much?”
“I’m friends with his sister, Sunshine.”
“Sunshine? What kind of name is that?”
Penny frowned. “It’s a nice name, and Greg’s like the best-looking kid in town, so I know she’s interested. I thought I’d tell you so you can give up on her. Not that you had a shot anyway . . .”
“I got a shot! Uhh, I mean I’m not interested so it doesn’t really make any difference.”
“Then how come you say her name when you’re sleeping?”
“What? I don’t do that!” Do I? I thought.
She was smiling at me now, clearly enjoying the moment. “Have nice dreams tonight, Rodney.” She walked off to her room.
I hated to admit it to myself, but I believed what she said. I wondered whether I really did have a shot at Jessica. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my movie plan had better work. I kept going over it in my head. Before drifting off to sleep, I turned face-down into the pillow. It was hard to breathe, and I was pretty sure I’d suffocate, but at least Penny wouldn’t hear me calling anyone’s name out.