Perchance (9 page)

             
I reached for a plate and a fork wrapped in a napkin and handed it to her and motioned for her to go before me.  She smiled at me and went ahead and started to make her plate and halfway through the line she stopped and smiled at me again. 
I heard my mom’s voice in my head ‘
Manners Matter Cooper.’

             
She filled up her plate and went to sit down.  I was so relieved when I saw that she sat at an empty table.  I sat across from her but not before asking if the seat was taken.  She laughed and we sat in silence for a few minutes, both eating and taking turns looking at one another.

             
A plate plopped down next to me and then another plate mimicked the first on the opposite side of the table.  Troy sat down next to me and cracked some joke about scaring me so bad that I was going upchuck my food.  He introduced himself to Remi and then smiled a knowing smile back at me.  Then he introduced the girl who was sitting next to Remi.  Her name was
Josie and she had the curliest hair I had ever seen. 
She didn’t say much after Troy introduced her and I wondered whether or not they were a thing.  He definitely had his eye on her.  Troy started talking to me about school tomorrow and I overheard Remi talk to Josie about school. Josie asked her how long she had been here. 

             
Troy stopped talking and I looked at him and he said “Well, what do you think, sounds like a plan right?”

             
“Um…yeah, sounds good.” I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. 

             
“Oh boy you’ve got it bad.” He chuckled at me and nodded his head towards Remi.

             
“
Yeah, yeah, so what plan have you come up with?”

             
He told me about me, him, Remi and Josie going to the Myrtles plantation in two weeks.  He said they were having some special tours that day.  I thought it was a good idea, and a chance to see Remi again, so I turned to ask her.  I cleared my throat because she was telling something to Josie and it was a sight because she was using her hands a lot to talk. 

             
She turned my way and smiled a little, “Um, so Troy thought we should go to this special tour they’re having at the Myrtles Plantation in two weeks.”

             
She eyed me skeptically, “We?” She asked.

             
I laughed a little at her question and I loved the thought that
she
and I on a date made her sound all nervous.

             
“We, as in me, you…” I drug it out on purpose and watched her eyes widen, “Troy and Josie.”

             
She slumped a little releasing her tension, “Yeah, sounds good to me…Josie?”

             
Josie just nodded.

             
Troy chimed in, “OK, good, so two Sundays from today.  We’ll meet at Cooper’s house about one?”

             
We all agreed and continued
to eat and talk.  When we were done Troy and I picked up everyone’s plates and trash and put them in the garbage can.  Then we sat down and continued to talk until Remi’s aunt came to tell her it was time to go.  I could
’ve
punch
ed
myself in the jewels for not driving to church tod
ay. If I had, I would have told
her aunt that she could stay and I would drive her home.
  Then I would get to see that face she made when I started
my car.  It was…well it was ridiculously hot
.

             
She got up to leave.  Josie asked her if she had a cell phone, but
she didn’t.  So Josie gave
her num
ber and Remi turned to her aunt and asked her to give Josie their home number. 
Give me your number…Give me your number…Give me your number.
I tried to send the
thought
chants her way, but she di
dn’t get my vibes.  Ugh...what
I wouldn’t give for super powers.

             
As I was watching her leave Troy punched me in the shoulder.

             
“
So, you giving me a ride
to school tomorrow?” He asked and had no clue that he had interrupted my Remi thoughts.

             
“Yeah, man, what time?” I asked.  I didn’t mind and after the missed opportunity today, I wasn’t leaving the house without my car ever again.

             
“Pick me up at seven forty five, class starts at eight o’five.”

             
“Ok, cool.”

             
“
Hey, my Dad is waving us down, let’s roll.” He said as he started to get up.

             
Note to self: Sit in the very back pew next week at church
. 

             
I spent the whole service switching between feeling him stare at me and doing all of these awkward stretches trying
to get a look at him.  But
how I was rewarded when I did. 
He had a gray shirt on that set off the green in his eyes and he just looked handsome as ever.  I still wondered how it was going to go once he was in school with tons of gorgeous girls swarming him.  But he didn’t seem to react to the ones who were here in the church, so I had some hope. 

             
I sat there as we ate lunch and my
heart did a double jump as I realized once again that I had agreed to go with him and Troy and Josie to some kind of plantation.  I saw Troy giving Josie eyes, but I didn’t know whether or not I had just agreed to a double date or was it just a group of friends.  I wasn’t going to assume either way.  Besides, school started tomorrow and I needed to focus on that.  Getting good grades and trying to
get into college or something were my first priorities.

             
We got home and I was tired and Aunt Brenda went to her room to t
ake a nap.  I decided to lie
in the hammock that I saw last week when I was mowing the grass.  I bal
anced myself on the edge, sat
down and then tried to ste
althily lie
down and swu
ng my legs up at the same time.  Once I was settled
in I folded my arms across my chest and let myself dream.

             
I woke up later to the phone ringing.  I had brought the cordless phone out with me with every intention of calling my mom, but I had forgotten.  I answered with a scratchy ‘Hello’

             
A quiet voice answered me back. ‘Remi, it’s Josie.”

             
I sat up and near
ly busted my rear end as I sat up and there was almost a meeting between my face and the grass
. 

             
“Hey Josie, what’s up?”

             
“I was wondering if you’d want to come over and watch a movie about six.  It’s our last day of summer!”

             
“Yeah, ok, where do you live?”

             
“You know where Cooper’s Dad lives?” she asked.

             
“Maybe.”  That made her go into a giggle fit.

             
“Yeah well I live across the street in t
he brick house with the LSU flag
outside.”

             
“I have no idea where he lives Josie!”

             
She giggled some more. “
Yeah, ok, s
o you at six.” And then she hung up.

             
I got up and stretched and
walked back into the house and
change
d
into some jeans and a tank top.  All of the
sudden I was
worried about what I wore and how my hair looked
.  Oh, what had become of me?

             
I wore my hair down, slipped on some flops and told Aunt Brenda where I was going.  She gave me her cell phone before I left and told me to call if I needed her.  She said she was going to call her cell phone company tomorrow about getting me a phone for myself.  I argued, but lost as usual.

             
I put the phone in my back pocket and started towards Cooper…um…Josie’s house.  I walked down the street and crossed the street t
o the other side before I made my way
down towar
ds her house.  I did not want to walk
directly in fron
t of his house and then cross, no way
. 

             
I got almost to her house and I looked over and saw Cooper
and Troy as they played
basketball…shirtless.
Cooper wasn’t very
good at it from what I saw
.  He
wasn’t chiseled by any stretch but dang the boy was fine and his basketball shorts were right at his hip
s and those muscles above them
were showing and what a sight they were
.  I made myself look towards Josie’s house trying to play cool. 

             
I was hit in the mout
h before I knew what was coming but I could hear the bouncing of the basketball after the impact.
  Then as I touched my lip, I winced and my fingers came back with a little blood on them.  Troy and Cooper, Cooper t
he fastest, ran
towards me.  Troy was immediately apologizing and telling me something about getting my attention.  I waved them off and tried to smile, but it hurt and they both saw it.

             
“Remi, come on, let me get yo
u some ice.” Cooper pled
, but all I knew was that he was touching my arm. 

             
I nodded and he took me by the elbow and we started across the street and into his Dad’s house.  He got some ice out and a dish towel and put it to my lip.  By then, Troy and Josie had come in too and Josie was saying something about maiming her new friend the day before school.
I thought she was quiet but she was definitely showing that she had some moxie. 

             
I looked up horrified
at the realization that I was going to have a fat lip on the first day of school
but didn’t say anything that was going to perpetuate
my newfound vanity.

             
“It’s my fault Remi, I asked him to get your attention so that I could say ‘hi’ to you.”

             
“It’s ok.  It’s no big deal.  I should go.  I was trying to get to Josie’s to watch a movie.”

             
I made an attempt to move away from the kitchen counter but he
stopped me by taking hold of my hand. 

             
“Just stop and keep the ice on for a few more minutes.
” He said and his bare chest heaved
in short palpitations
that matched mine breath for breath.
His knee brushed against mine, purposefully or not, I didn
’t know and frankly I didn’t care.

             
I figured that a few minutes had passed though I was entranced for what seemed like hours.  He didn’t seem to be faring so well either.  I put the ice down and whispered a quiet ‘thank you’
and tried to move away from the c
ounter but he still held
my hand.  I blushed like I’ve never blushed
before and he took it as his cue to let go
.  Josie cleared her throat and said “Thanks guys, but I think we can handle it from here.  But thanks for the first day of school fat lip.”  She gave a huge fake smile, like a game show host, and two big thumbs up. 
Sarcasm? I loved this girl already.

             
We went over to her house and I put some more ice on my lip. 
We watched a movie and her mom made us some dinner.  About nine, I decided to go back home and get some Tylenol in me before I t
ried to go to sleep.  Josie
offered to give me a ride to school and I was relieved.  Otherwise I was going to have to go almost an hour early with Aunt Brenda.