Something Had to Give (3 page)

The next day I had butterflies all through breakfast. I wanted to share my exciting news with Mommy since I was sure she noticed that I couldn’t sit still. However, she never asked so I decided to keep it to myself. I figured I’d better wait until lunchtime to head over to his house, which left a few hours after breakfast to figure out activities to keep me occupied. Watching TV was my first idea, but nothing held my attention for more than a few minutes. I tried drawing him a picture, but ended up ripping it up in fear that he would find it too girly. In exasperation I threw myself on the couch and closed my eyes to just take time to think. I thought about how the day would go, what I would say, and how I thought he would react. I didn’t mean to, but I dozed off and awoke to the sound of Mommy vacuuming. I jumped up frantically and darted to the kitchen to look at the clock. How long had I been asleep? It was such a sigh of relief when I saw that it was just after 1pm. Still early! I made my way to the bathroom to fix my hair and noticed that I had wrinkled my shirt by sleeping on it. Rather than wasting more time changing shirts, I decided to tuck it in and made my way out the door.

The bike ride took far longer than it should have. I was so nervous that I had to stop twice in an attempt to get my legs to stop shaking. When I arrived back to the house the U-Haul was no longer there and there was no one outside. I expected him to be out front again and didn’t take the time to plan out what I would say if I had to ring the doorbell. As I stood out by their driveway contemplating my next move, a lady came out of the house. I could instantly tell that it was his mother. He looked just like her. They both had big brown curls and the same exact eyes. When she noticed me sitting on my bike she gave a welcoming smile and motioned for me to come closer.

“Well hi there, are you looking for Jacob?”

Jacob? Was that his name? I imagined his name would be Michael or Steven or maybe even James, but it was Jacob. I guess Jacob was a nice name.

“Yes I am. I was coming by to see if maybe he wanted to ride bikes with me.” As she invited me in, she seemed a lot like Mrs. McCleary. She was friendly and smiled a lot.

“You will have to excuse the mess. We are just moving here from Georgia and still have a lot of boxes to unpack.” I had ridden by the house many times, but had never been inside. It looked pretty similar to ours though.

“Well, I know he’s around here somewhere, probably wrapped up in a video game.” As we made our way to what I presumed was their den, I once again saw those curls. There he was just as his mom said, glued to the TV, playing a video game.

“Ah-ha! There you are. Jacob honey, you have a visitor.” As Jacob turned around, we made eye contact for a brief second, before his eyes focused on an imaginary spot on the ground.

“Jacob, honey, aren’t you going to say hi to.” Jacob’s mom started as she turned to me to introduce myself.

“Cheryl. Hi I’m Cheryl Atkins and I live just down the street.” I said as proudly as I could. I hoped sounding cheerful and confident would make Jacob loosen up a little. No such luck, he still stood in the same spot nervously digging his foot into the ground. His eyes had moved from the ground though and he was now staring at my wrinkled shirt that had come out from being tucked in my shorts. The silence was so awkward that it seemed as though his mom did not know what to say. Finally, I built up the courage to speak. “Would you like to ride bikes with me Jacob? I could show you the neighborhood.”

“That sounds like a great idea Jacob. You need a break from this television and the fresh air will do you some good.”

“OK”, Jacob responded. It was a monotone response that made it hard to determine if he really wanted to go and didn’t want to show it or if he agreed to get his mom off his back. Either way I was thrilled that he agreed. As I sat in the kitchen, waiting for Jacob to get ready, I couldn’t help but smile. I had asked a boy out and he agreed. Shanna hadn’t even reached the point of asking a boy out yet. I was rather proud of myself.

Jacob met me in the kitchen with different clothes, sneakers, and an Atlanta Braves hat on. The thought of him liking baseball as much as Daddy did made me so excited that I wanted to give him my best bear hug. I was able to hold back since he still seemed so nervous and continued to stare at the ground.

“Are you ready now?” I asked.

“I guess.” He responded and we were off.

His mom was back on the porch as we were leaving. She had pulled Jacob’s bike out for him and as she tried to wipe something off his face, which made him turn bright red out of embarrassment.

“Cut it out Mom!”

It was then that I finally heard what his voice sounded like outside the few monotone responses he had given. To spare him further embarrassment, I turned my back and headed towards my bike that was lying in the grass. This also gave me a few moments to get myself together. I was so nervous and the closer I got to my bike, I could feel my legs start to shake. I could hear Jacob and his mom having a brief conversation as he got on his bike and within moments we were off. We headed off towards the creek, with Jacob riding just behind me, which was fine since it kept the pressure from having an awkward conversation. I turned around only once to see those brown curls sticking out of his hat and for once, he was actually looking up; then again, I guess he really didn’t have a choice if he wanted to see the road ahead. Jacob had the largest eyes I had ever seen. They were light brown and he also had very long eyelashes. He seemed so adorable to me; he reminded me of a baby doll. Comparing him to a baby doll made me giggle to myself. I had to make myself turn back around to avoid crashing. I was sure he would ask what I was staring at or why I was giggling, but he didn’t. He didn’t make a sound. In fact, the only noise was the squeaky wheel on Jacob’s bike. I wanted to tell him that Daddy could fix it so that it didn’t make so much noise, so I slowed down so that we would be riding side by side. However, the more I slowed down, the more Jacob slowed down and after three attempts, I gave up.

The ride to the creek took about ten minutes. I immediately felt icky when I got off my bike thinking about everything that was crawling around. Jacob sat on his bike and seemed just as unsure about the area as I did.

“Well what do you think?” I asked

“Of what? It seems like a regular ole creek to me.”

“Well yeah silly, but you’re a boy. All boys like creeks, frogs, and bugs right?”

After a few moments of silence Jacob finally got off his bike and scanned the area. “I guess so.”

As he walked closer to the water, I began to feel like I was going to have an anxiety attack. I had never gone too close to the water since the time Shanna told me there were probably water snakes and baby alligators swimming in it.

“Well come on, let’s see what’s all in here.”

His request stunned me. He wanted me to do something with him, but unfortunately, it was doing something that was terrified me. I had to be brave though. I couldn’t let him know that I was afraid, especially since it was my idea in the first place to come. Finally, I built up the nerve to follow Jacob as he moved closer to the water. I was a few steps behind him when I felt something brush my left ankle. As I jumped back and let out a yelp, I was so glad I used the bathroom before I left the house or the situation would have been one hundred times worse. Jacob was laughing enjoying every minute of me freaking out as he made his way back to me. He wasn’t just giggling; it was a belly laugh that brought tears to his eyes. As he got closer and inspected the area, his laugh got louder as he realized that I had stepped on a branch.

Jacob picked up the branch and tossed it aside as he continued to laugh. I was mortified. I wanted to get back on my bike and get out of the area as fast as I could, but I was too humiliated to move. If I could have disappeared under the leaves on the ground I would have. Jacob noticed my how embarrassed I was and finally stopped laughing. He genuinely looked concerned.

“Well, you have to admit that it was a little funny that you screamed over a branch.” He was right. I could not help but to crack a smile and laugh at myself. “Maybe you should walk beside me if you are scared.” I agreed and we started out once again towards the creek when Jacob suddenly asked “why did you bring me here if you are scared of the place?”

As I began to respond, I remembered Daddy’s words, “never let ‘em see you sweat.”

Though I had already let him see me scared, I couldn’t let it happen again.

“I’m not scared of the place. I come here all the time. I just wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Jacob and I were right by the creek and looking directly at each other. The look in that adorable face said that he knew I was bluffing. I hoped that he would leave it alone though and just feel flattered that I was braving the creepiest place on Earth, just to impress him. When he finally looked away and changed the subject, I breathed a sigh of relief. In my mind I was thinking that if I seemed cool enough about everything else, he would forget about my little mishap or call it even from his mom embarrassing him earlier.

“I bet there are frogs in here. My dad taught me how to catch frogs. It’s really easy.”

I cringed at the thought of seeing a frog. There was no way I could actually touch one. I wasn’t sure how I was going to play it off.

“Let me know if you see one and I’ll show you what to do.” Jacob was talking but his eyes were focused on the area in front of him. He was really into this idea of catching frogs and I was completely freaked out.

“Well, maybe I’ll just watch you do it first and next time I can help.”

I had to come with something quick, something that I hoped would not let on to my fear of the situation. Jacob looked up at me with a smirk and I knew that he could tell the truth. He didn’t say a word though. As he was concentrating hard on finding a frog, I imagined that he was doing this as a way to impress me. The thought made me smile and I had to keep telling myself, “just stay calm Cheryl, and play it cool.”

Jacob and I stayed there by the creek for hours. We talked about any and everything. Jacob Anderson was an only child. He had wanted his parents to have a brother for him, but apparently his parents were too busy for another child. His dad worked for a bank and the company had transferred them from Atlanta, Georgia. His mom had been a nurse in Atlanta and was currently looking for a job in Charlotte. I liked that Jacob’s mom worked outside the home unlike Mommy and Grandma. It showed that it was possible to do while raising a child. Jacob was a year younger than me. His birthday had actually been a month before mine and he had just turned 7. He would be enrolling in my school the upcoming Monday and I was thrilled that my new friend would be at school with me. I wanted to tell him how excited I was that he was going to be at my school, but again, I had to tell myself that I had to be cool. As I expected we both loved baseball, he, of course, was an Atlanta Braves fan and I was more partial to the Boston Red Sox like Daddy. Come to find out, we had many things in common. We both liked sports, peanut butter, and drawing. He wasn’t at all enthused when I mentioned a possible tea party and my feelings were the same when he offered to teach me how to play video games.

The more time we spent talking, the less afraid I felt about being around the icky creek. I didn’t think about the bugs and animals that were probably all around us. I just enjoyed being out having a good time. It was some time before we saw a frog, but just as he had said, it was easy for him to catch it. Jacob held it cupped in both hands staring at it with pride and even convinced me to touch it. It was all I could do to keep from gagging as I extended my index finger and gently placed it on the frog’s head. It wasn’t as slimy as I imagined it would be. In many ways, I found the experience to be pretty cool. I couldn’t wait to tell Daddy. The creek had been a hit and I felt so proud that I had conquered my fears and took him there. It wasn’t until we heard Jacob’s stomach begin to growl that we realized how long we had been gone. We were sitting side by side on a large rock by the creek watching fish swim by and as his stomach got louder, we couldn’t help but laugh.

“I better start heading back home. It’s probably close to dinner time and my mom might start getting worried.”

“OK, I’ll show you the way back.” Though I hated that our time together had to end, I had to admit that I was hungry too. Next time, I thought to myself, maybe I would try and get Mommy to pack us some sandwiches.

The ride back to Jacob’s house was so different from the ride to the creek. This time we rode side-by-side and chatted the whole way back. I even suggested that he let Daddy fix his squeaky wheel. He was adamant that his dad had been meaning to get around to it though. He just had been busy with the move and new job. When we arrived at the front of Jacob’s house I wanted to ask him if he wanted to hang again the next day after church, but couldn’t find the words. So instead, when he said, “Well, see ya later,” I kept it to a simple “Yeah, see ya.” I sat there and watched as Jacob made his way to the front door. I noticed a different car in the driveway and figured that his dad must have gotten home. His mom came to the door and greeted him, smiling just as she was when we first left the house. After they both waved goodbye to me, I made my way home feeling like I had met my best friend. I couldn’t wait to see him again. It felt like the best day ever.

When I got home, I was surprised to see that Daddy had beaten me home. As I walked in the kitchen, I saw that dinner was ready and everyone was waiting on me to eat.