JUST IN CASE we didn’t make Bronx Tech, Jan and I still tried our hardest to keep in the running for the top ten at Huntington. We went to every meeting of the service club. Our assignment, to help with the Creative Arts Club at the Manhattan School, was fun because it was all artwork, but it still took a lot of our time.
Then there were midterm exams. Jan and I spent hours studying and testing each other on class material. Our grades were good, but Samantha Milken’s were, too. We couldn’t let up for a moment.
Once midterms were over, we were able to turn our attention to the area which had been sadly neglected—making some progress with the boys. We decided the best approach was to throw a party—at my house.
Arranging this was no easy task. I wanted to use my brothers’ room for the party because it had a door that closed in case we were able to get some kissing games started. In order to get Ira and Joey to agree to this I had to bribe them by offering to take over their much-hated chore of taking out the garbage for an entire month. I had to go along with all sorts of silly rules from my parents—like no sitting on beds and no turning off lights. But, finally, we had a place for the party.
The next problem was developing a guest list of boys. Sheldon and Norman were definites, but they weren’t enough to make a successful party. Fran and I wanted Danny and Louie to come, but we were afraid to ask them in case they said no. We wound up taking the easy way out, once again asking Sheldon to bring some extra boys.
“Make sure they’re nice ones this time,” I told him. “No one like that horrid Lenny Lipoff!”
Sheldon promised he and Norman would show up with two nice boys. So the guest list was taken care of.
As we got closer to the party, it was eating me up inside that I was too chicken to ask Danny and Louie. I knew we would never get anywhere with them if we didn’t try.
So one afternoon I worked up enough courage to arrange to “accidentally” run into Danny in the hall at the very time I knew he was due home from school. Then I casually mentioned that we were having a party with Sheldon and Norman and that he and Louie were welcome to drop by if they had nothing to do. My heart beat wildly as I waited for his response.
To my great joy, it was favorable. Danny didn’t make any promises, but he did say he would ask Louie if he wanted to come down for a while. So at least I had hope that Louie might come to the party.
* * *
I didn’t think it was possible to be as nervous as I was before the party. It was as if there were butterflies having a party of their own in my stomach.
This was a big night for the Gruesome Four. It was our first attempt at a party with older boys. I wanted everything to be perfect, but everything started out all wrong.
For one thing, the two extra boys Sheldon brought were the same boys who had come to the ice skating rink—Nicky James and Lenny Lipoff.
I really didn’t mind having Nicky. But Lenny Lipoff! I thought I had made it clear to Sheldon that I wanted no part of that troublemaker. I took Sheldon aside to a corner of the room and let him have it.
“Sheldon!” I whispered through clenched teeth. “How could you bring Lenny here when you know how I feel about him? He’s nothing but trouble!”
Sheldon just laughed. “That’s not true, Linda. Lenny’s got to be the funniest person I know.”
“Well, I’m not interested in his kind of fun. I want you to get him out of here before he does something crazy!”
“I can’t do that. I invited him. Look, Linda, since Lenny’s already here, why don’t you give him a chance? He can be really nice when you get to know him. I promise to keep him in line.”
I looked over at Lenny. He was helping himself to big handfuls of potato chips and pretzels and looking perfectly innocent, even cute. Maybe, with Sheldon to control him, it would be possible for Lenny to behave himself at the party.
“Okay, Sheldon. Lenny can stay,” I decided. “But remember. This is a personal favor to you. I expect you to keep Lenny from making trouble.”
“I will, I will,” Sheldon promised with a grin.
* * *
Despite Sheldon’s promise, it didn’t take long before Lenny started getting into things. He stood in the center of the room with a bowl of M & M candies and began flipping them into the air. He opened his mouth wide and tried to catch the M & M’s in it.
He wasn’t very successful. M & M’s bounced off his face and rolled all over the floor.
“Cut that out, Lenny!” I yelled. “You’re getting M & M’s all over! We don’t want roaches in here!”
“Too late for that now,” he shouted. “There’s a roach flying at you right now!”
A brown thing landed in my lap. “Yuck!” I shrieked and brushed it away. The thing bounced across my brother’s bed.
It was only a chocolate M & M. The boys all laughed and started throwing the rest of the M & M’s at us girls. They were having lots of fun, but I wasn’t. If my parents came in and saw what was going on it would be the end of the party!
The ringing of the doorbell saved everything. The boys all settled down and even helped pick up the candies. I went to the door. “Who’s there?” I asked.
“Police!” a deep voice answered. “You’d better keep the noise down in there! Open up, now!”
Frightened, I opened the door a crack. There were no police in the hall. It was Danny and Louie!
My heart pounded with joy as I opened the door for them.
“We’re crashing this party,” Danny announced. “It’s time to put a little life into it!”
Danny seemed to know just what our party needed. He suggested playing a game called Rome, London, and Paris.
This turned out to be a new kissing game. The beauty of it was that you played it while dancing. That way, if my mother came in, it wouldn’t look bad at all.
One person worked the lights. That was Norman because he had no interest in kissing games. When he called “Rome,” everyone would change partners. When he called “London,” you would hold your partner close. When he called “Paris,” he would shut off the lights and you were supposed to kiss your partner.
I couldn’t wait. Maybe I would wind up with Louie! He was wearing that same soft sweater he wore that day in the bowling alley. I closed my eyes and imagined his arms around me, the touch of his lips on mine.
“Shall we start, Linda?” My eyes flew open. It was Danny, asking me to dance. He had a strange look on his face.
“Okay.” I followed him onto the dancing area. He held me tightly even before Norman called “London.” I felt very uncomfortable.
“Rome,” Norman called out. That meant we changed partners. I breathed more easily as Danny let me go. “We’ll do ‘Paris’ next time,” he whispered to me.
I wound up with Sheldon next. Since he was only a few inches taller than I, he was very easy to dance with. I relaxed in his arms and thought about Danny. Why was he looking at me like that tonight? Could it be that Danny liked me as a girlfriend? Didn’t he realize that I was crazy about Louie?
“Paris,” Norman called out. Thinking of Danny, I hardly felt Sheldon kiss me softly on the lips. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. Fran and Danny were still kissing. They looked as if they were really enjoying themselves. Where was Louie? My heart sank as I saw him with his arms around Roz.
“Rome!” I tried moving closer to Louie, hoping he’d get the hint and ask me to dance. But somehow he wound up with Fran and I with Lenny.
“I see you’ve really got a thing for Louie,” Lenny commented.
“How did you know?” I asked, horrified. “Was I that obvious?”
“Don’t worry,” he whispered. “I’ll take care of things for you.”
“Rome!” Lenny left me and went to the corner to talk to Louie. There was a cover on the radiator that we used as a window seat. They sat there, deep in conversation, occasionally glancing at me. I was dying. What could Lenny be saying to him?
I saw Danny heading in my direction. I looked around frantically for an escape. There was none. I found myself clasped in Danny’s arms again.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
“Oh,” I replied, not knowing what to say. I was beginning to feel those butterflies in my stomach again.
“Paris!” I saw Danny’s mouth headed toward mine. Quickly, I turned my head to the side. His kiss landed on my cheek.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided it was time to refill the punchbowl. Fran was near me. I grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door and into the kitchen.
“Hey! Where are we going?” she complained. “This party was just starting to be fun!”
“Look, Fran. I’ve got to talk to you!” I furiously poured in the punch. “It’s about Danny.”
“Danny,” she repeated dreamily. “He’s so comfortable to dance with. And he kisses so sweetly!”
“Sweetly? Danny?” I looked at Fran with amazement. “Fran! Are you starting to fall for Danny?”
‘I guess so,” she admitted. “I know he’s not good looking, but there’s something about him I really like. He’s so intelligent. And when I’m with him, it just feels right!”
“Why—uh—that’s great, Fran!” My head was spinning. Now how was I going to tell her that I was afraid that Danny liked me?
“What was it you wanted to tell me about Danny, Linda?”
“Oh—uh—nothing, really. Just that the two of you looked so good dancing together!” Anxious to end this conversation, I picked up the bowl of punch. “Let’s bring this back to the party!”
Lenny asked me to dance as soon as I got back to the room. He had a mischievous grin plastered all over his face.
“Okay, Lenny. What are you up to now?”
“Who me? What makes you think I’m up to something?” he asked innocently.
“Aren’t you always?”
“Don’t be paranoid, Linda!”
“Paranoid? What do you mean?”
“You know. Thinking someone’s always plotting against you,” he laughed. Just as I started to relax, I saw him wink and gesture to Louie. I was furious!
“If you told Louie I like him, I’ll never speak to you again, big mouth Lenny,” I fumed. But Lenny just threw back his head and laughed his maddening laugh.
“Rome!” Norman cried out, flipping the lights back on. I was so mad, I didn’t even see Louie approaching.
“Dance, Linda?” he asked, softly.
I felt so weak that I didn’t think my legs were going to hold me up. I collapsed in Louie’s arms, feeling their strength. His sweater was just as soft as I had imagined it to be.
“London!” I felt Louie’s arms tighten around me. My heart was beating rapidly. Now if only Norman would call “Paris.”
“Paris!” Norman did it! The room darkened as he shut off the lights. My body tensed, waiting for Louie’s kiss.
Then the lights flicked back on unexpectedly.
“Hey, why did you do that, Norman?” I heard Lenny call out. “I didn’t even get a chance to kiss Fran.” He stood with his arms around her, his face bent halfway down.
“There will be none of that in this house! I don’t approve of this kind of party at all!” An angry voice came from the doorway. I looked in that direction and felt this pain grip my stomach. Louie’s arms dropped from my shoulders.
It was my father who had put the lights back on. My father is usually very quiet. But when he gets mad, forget it! There’s no arguing with him. And he really looked mad now, his bushy eyebrows drawn together in a frown.
“We weren’t doing anything, Daddy,” I tried to explain. “Just playing a game.”
“Didn’t your mother tell you to keep the lights on?”
“Well, er-yes!” I stammered. “But they weren’t really off, either. I mean they were just being flicked off and right back on again. I mean—uh—it was just a game!”
“That’s enough of these games, now,” my father stated firmly. He looked at his watch. “Besides, it’s almost ten o’clock. Time for this party to be over. Everyone can just go home now. You’re not grown up yet, you know!”
“Ten o’clock!” I heard Lenny complain to Sheldon. “Who ever heard of a party’s being over at ten o’clock! What kind of baby party did you drag me to, anyhow?”
I was positively humiliated. But I knew better than to argue with my father. The boys got their coats and started filing out into the hall, grumbling to themselves.
The party was over. I was robbed of my chance to kiss Louie. Now the whole neighborhood would know that the Gruesome Four were too young to have a party past ten o’clock on a Saturday night!