IT WAS THE final assembly at Huntington. The graduating seniors put on their senior skit and sang their class song. Then there was the “Move-up” ceremony for the eighth graders who were entering the upper division. The highlight of the ceremony was the calling up to the stage of the girls who had made it to the top ten.
The auditorium was darkened. The stage was lit only by spotlights. Dr. Lilienthal began reading the names—the two girls from each of the five eighth grade classes who had earned this highest honor.
I found my heart hammering wildly when she got to our class. I guess I was hoping against hope that somehow something had happened to change things around so they would work out the way I wanted them to—with both Jan and me up there receiving the awards from our class.
“Samantha Milken!” Dr. Lilienthal announced. There. It was over. Samantha, in one of her medieval-styled dresses with puffed sleeves and a tight bodice walked triumphantly onto the stage.
“Jan Zieglebaum!” said Dr. Lilienthal.
“Wow! I can’t believe it!” I heard Jan exclaim. For I knew that once she saw her report card, Jan had figured she was out of the running for sure.
Jan hopped out of her seat and ran joyously up the steps to the stage. The audience laughed aloud. Little Jan looked so funny, laughing and crying at the same time as Dr. Lilienthal handed her the award.
I couldn’t help laughing, too. After all, I didn’t really need any dumb awards from Huntington, anyhow. I was really glad that I had decided, at the last minute, that the verification papers were best left unsigned.
* * *
Once school had ended, we went on a big campaign to keep the Koplers from moving. We painted signs and picketed the building. We sent cards begging them to stay. Since I had always gotten along with Danny’s parents, I tried personally to get them to change their minds.
Nothing helped. We became resigned to the sad fact that by the end of July, Danny would be gone.
Things changed in the summertime. Some kids went away. Others worked or went to summer school. But whenever we could, we would hang around the park wall. Teenagers from all over the neighborhood gathered there in the evening.
I loved it. I wanted to be part of that wonderful feeling of belonging forever. The only thing I still needed was a boyfriend.
Roz went away with her parents for two weeks in the middle of July. Sheldon seemed lost without her. He hung around the wall, moping and drooping.
“I bet you’ll be glad when Roz comes home tomorrow,” I told him. “Now you know how I feel. It’s awful not to have someone!”
Sheldon walked me home from the wall that night. It was nine o’clock, the time when the wall was first getting lively, but I had to be home. No matter how much I pleaded with my parents, if there was no party, my curfew was at nine. I felt like I was being robbed of some of the best moments of my life.
“You know I never realized it before Roz left,” Sheldon admitted. “There’s such an emptiness when you’re alone. We’re going to do something to fix your boyfriend situation, Linda.”
“Like what?”
“Just be patient a little while longer,” he laughed, flipping his hair back out of his eyes. “I’m going to hit upon the right boyfriend for you real soon.”
* * *
But when Roz came back, Sheldon had other things to worry about. She had met someone she liked up in the country. When she came home, she was no longer sure of how she felt about Sheldon.
Instead of running into his arms when she saw him, she pulled back bashfully.
“What’s wrong, Roz?” He had a hurt look on his face.
“I don’t know, Sheldon,” she answered. “I guess it’s just strange to be back. Come on, Linda. Let’s go for a walk!” She dragged me towards her house.
“I’m so confused, Linda,” she confided. “I guess I still like Sheldon, but it’s not like before. In the country, with Barry, it was like magic. We had such a wonderful time together. He lives in Boston, so I’ll probably never see him again. But if I really like Sheldon, how could I feel that way about Barry?”
We stopped walking when we got to the back of the park. We sat on the grass and watched the Hudson River flow by. The air shimmered as it rose from the heated sidewalks.
“I think you just answered your own question, Roz,” I said.
“I did? How?”
“When you said that being in the country with Barry was just like magic. It’s true, you know. It happened to me when I was away last summer. There was a boy there I thought I was crazy about. He called me once in the city, and I didn’t even want to see him again.”
“So?”
“So, I think that’s what’s happening to you, only you don’t know it yet. You live here, not in the country. When you come back and the magic goes away, you’re left to face the real you again. Sometimes it’s hard to adjust to.”
Roz sighed and picked herself up from the grass. “Maybe you’re right, Linda. But I’m still not sure if I like Sheldon.”
“Just don’t go rushing into breaking up with him,” I told her. “I bet tomorrow you’ll feel like your old self again!”
“I hope so,” she said doubtfully. “See you tomorrow!”
Roz didn’t come out that night. Sheldon, Lenny, and I sat by ourselves on the park wall. It seemed that Lenny was always around whenever people were having problems with their love life. It was too bad he couldn’t straighten out his own.
“Don’t worry, Sheldon.” I finished telling him my theories about Roz. “I’m sure that by tomorrow she’ll adjust to being back in the city again. Just give her time. It’s you she really cares about.”
“Do you think so?” he asked doubtfully.
“I know so.” I wanted to make Sheldon feel good. He was really one of my favorite people. I was the one who had originally pointed him out to Roz as being cute. I felt responsible for getting them together in the first place. I was going to do all I could to get them back together now.
“I have to admit Linda’s right, Sheldon.” Lenny agreed. “Don’t get upset now. See how Roz acts tomorrow. If she doesn’t come around, you break up with her first!”
“Lenny!” I glared at him. “Thanks for being so helpful!”
“I’m only trying to cheer the guy up.” Lenny laughed. “Let’s go down to the candy store, Sheldon. I’ll buy you a soda. You can come too, Linda,” he said as an afterthought. “It’s my treat!”
I glanced at my watch. It was almost nine. “I can’t.” I frowned. “I have to return to prison. Curfew time, you know!”
I walked with them as far as my house. “Take good care of Sheldon tonight, Lenny,” I joked. “We want him to make it till tomorrow!”
As I had predicted, Roz and Sheldon got back together the next day. For my role as mediator, I won Sheldon’s undying gratitude.
That night, we were sitting alone on the park wall before the other kids came out. “Remember when I told you I’d find the right boyfriend for you, Linda?” he asked.
“Yeah. So have you materialized him from thin air?”
Sheldon laughed. “Well, the funniest part of it is that the answer has been right in front of our noses, but we just didn’t see it until now. But now that you’ve both been so helpful getting me back together with Roz, it’s obvious that you were meant for one another all along!” He looked very satisfied with himself for having made this statement.
But I wasn’t satisfied. “Sheldon! You’re talking in riddles. Will you please tell me who this person is?”
“Why, Lenny, of course!” He beamed.
I stared at him. “Lenny? You don’t mean Lenny Lipoff?”
“Why not? You need a boyfriend. He needs a girlfriend. You’re both great people. You’d make a perfect couple!”
I blinked, trying to absorb what Sheldon had said. Lenny Lipoff! Of course the thought of liking him had entered my mind before, but I had always put it right back out again. Lenny was such a wise guy, so wild, crazy, and unpredictable. He was capable of getting me angrier than anyone else I knew.
But then again, I could never stay angry at Lenny for very long—no one could. And when Lenny was nice, he was really wonderful. He was such fun to be with, so full of life, and so funny—he could have the whole crowd laughing in no time at all.
But more than that, Lenny had feelings. I remembered how caring he had been the night Louie had broken up with me. Just talking to Lenny had made me feel so much better. He had been there for Nicky and Sheldon when they had problems, too.
Maybe it was all the trouble Lenny had at home that made him so sensitive to others. But whatever the reason, it was a great quality that Lenny had. I remembered now that flash of understanding that had passed between us the time we were riding in the train to Rockaway. I had never felt anything like that with another boy.
Underneath it all, I had probably liked Lenny all along, but I had never wanted to admit it. I guess that was because Lenny was so difficult, and I had been afraid of getting hurt again after what had happened with Louie.
I was still afraid.
“What do you think?” Sheldon smiled. “Am I a genius, or am I a genius?”
“I don’t know, Sheldon. I’m almost afraid to get involved with Lenny. You never know what he is going to do next.”
“Hey—don’t worry about that. You can calm him down if anyone can. Just tell me, you do like him, don’t you?”
“I guess so,” I admitted. “At least I would like him if he liked me. We don’t know that, do we?”
“He likes you. He likes you.”
“How do you know that, Sheldon? Did he tell you?”
“Not exactly. But I’m Lenny’s best friend. I know what he wants even before he does. Just remember tomorrow’s date, Linda. On July twenty-sixth you’re going to have yourself a boyfriend!”
* * *
By the time I went out the next day, rumors had already spread around the neighborhood that Lenny and I were a couple.
“Linda, I heard the news! That’s terrific!” Roz greeted me at the wall.
“What news?”
“About you and Lenny, of course! Sheldon told me he likes you!”
“I’m glad Sheldon told you that. But it means nothing until I hear it from Lenny, himself.”
We all went up to Danny’s in the afternoon. It was one of the last days we would have at his house before he moved. Packed cartons were already stacked in the corner of his room.
The boys started playing cards. The bell rang and Lenny came in. My heart beat faster when I saw him. I really did like him. If only the rumors were true. If only he did want me for his girlfriend!
“Come sit with me, Linda,” he said. “Be my lucky charm!”
I sat with him on the chair and felt my whole body start to tingle. I watched his profile as he concentrated on his cards. He was so involved in everything he did.
“Look at the newlyweds,” Norman commented. “They sure look cute together!”
Lenny laughed as he threw out a card. What Norman said didn’t seem to bother him at all. He stayed with me for the rest of the afternoon. He acted so nice that my hopes rose. But he never said anything specific about liking me.
Roz and Fran came down with me to my house. “Do you like him?” they both asked as soon as we were alone.
I sighed. “Yeah. I have to admit I like him even more than I thought I would. I can tell I could really fall for Lenny if I let myself. But I’m not going to—not until I know how he feels about me. So right now, we’re still at base zero!”
* * *
When I came out after supper, the kids at the park told me my friends were waiting for me at the Haven Avenue wall. That wall overlooked the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge.
They were all standing in a group when I got there: Roz, Fran, Sheldon, Danny, and Lenny. They stopped talking when they saw me. I knew it was me they had been talking about.
This made me angry. It was one thing to suggest that Lenny and I might be a good couple. It was another thing for my friends to get together behind my back to try to fix me up!
I stopped short. I would show them all that no one was going to make my decisions for me. I turned around and started stalking back up the block.
“Linda!” Lenny called after me. “Where are you going?”
“Back to the park,” I called back. “Where no one is standing around arranging my life!”
“Oh come on,” he laughed. He came over and grabbed my arm. “I promise that no one will do any arranging. I just want to talk to you.”
“Not in front of an audience, you’re not!” I gestured to the group at the wall.
“No, of course not. I’ll get rid of them,” he agreed. “How about leaving Linda and me alone for a while?” he said to the crowd. “We’ll meet you later, back at the park.”
I watched my friends walking away. I was afraid to look at Lenny, so I turned to gaze at the river. The sun was starting to set, and it had turned the sky bright shades of red and orange. The colors reflected in the water and glinted off the great steel bridge.
My heart was racing. I couldn’t believe how much I had come to like Lenny once I had begun to let myself. It was scary. It was something I wasn’t sure I could control.
I turned to him and found he was looking at me. As our eyes met, I felt that special chemistry surging between us. We stood there like that, just staring into one another’s eyes.
“Well?” I said, finally breaking the spell.
“Well, what?” He looked startled.
“Well, I thought you wanted to talk to me.”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.” He hoisted himself up on the wall and patted the spot next to him. “How about sitting here so we can talk?”
“Okay.” I climbed up next to him and waited for him to speak.
He took a deep breath. “Well, I suppose you know about all the rumors going around today about our being a couple.”
“Uh-huh,” I admitted. My hopes were rising.
“Well—uh—it seems Sheldon told me something you said to him the other night. Remember what it was?”
“I said a lot of things that night,” I answered. No matter how much I liked Lenny, I wasn’t going to commit myself unless he did. “What, specifically, are you talking about?”
His eyes sparkled. “I’ll give you a hint. Sheldon said that if Lenny blank blank blank, then Linda blank blank blank.”
Of course I knew exactly what he meant, but I pretended not to. We fooled around, and I guessed all sorts of wild possibilities before I admitted to what really went in the blanks: “If Lenny would like Linda, then Linda would like Lenny!”
“In that case, let’s make some changes in that statement,” he said, suddenly. “It might have taken Sheldon to call it to my attention, but the feeling was there for a long time. You see, Lenny does like Linda!”
When he said that, I was filled with this warm, wonderful glow. He had put into words just what I was feeling. I smiled up at him. “And Linda does like Lenny.” I practically breathed the words. Then I waited to see what he would say next.
But Lenny seemed to know instinctively it was not words that were called for here. His hand reached out and clasped mine. Then, before I knew what was happening, his lips met mine in a kiss so intense it took my breath away.
He let his arm slip around me, and we sat there like that, watching the sun set on the river. I snuggled up next to him, fitting against his body as if I had always belonged there and would forevermore. My heart was pounding so hard I was afraid he would hear it.
I could scarcely believe it. I had a boyfriend. And not just any boyfriend. I had Lenny Lipoff, the person who could make me feel better than anyone else.
I would make Lenny feel good, too. I would calm him down, bring out the best in him, and he would bring out the best in me. It would work out for us—I knew it would. The way everything had come together like this—it was something that was meant to be.
We were going to have the best relationship of them all!