“You?” Kristen asked.
“Me. If it wasn’t for Jim mentioning my gymnastics to Camille Lombardi, I wouldn’t be on the cheerleading team.”
I smiled. “Well, it’s a draw. I still thank you.”
“I thank you, too,” added Kristen.
“I thank you both,” Sherry responded. She paused, thinking for a few moments. “Kristen, I also need to apologize to you. I didn’t like you very much.”
Kristen shrugged. “I’m not always a very likable person. For the longest time, I hung out with the wrong crowd.”
“Not that,” Sherry said. “I mean, I started disliking you this year, when I saw you were dating Jim. I didn’t know you, except for what some people told me, and I guess I was more than a little bit jealous.”
Kristen didn’t answer, but nodded.
Sherry looked from Kristen, to me, and then back to Kristen. “The two of you really like one another, don’t you?”
I nodded while Kristen answered, “We really do.”
“The two of you were so miserable when you were fighting. I hadn’t seen Jim look that way before. I’m glad the two of you got back together.”
I said, “Well, it took somebody like you to help out, and we’re really grateful.”
Sherry nodded, and I noticed the beginning of tears in her eyes.
“You know, Sherry, I said something to Kristen the other day. I said, ‘I think we have the nicest friends in the world.’ And I really mean it.”
The bill arrived, and Kristen handed her American Express card to the waiter without even looking at the bill. He left quickly to process it.
Sherry watched this without comment. I remembered her mentioning that I was only with Kristen because of her money, and I wondered if she still thought that.
When Kristen’s receipt arrived, she glanced at the total, added a tip and signed her name, removing the receipt and all the carbons.
Kristen and I took Sherry home, and then headed north to spend the night and most of Sunday in Madison.
You know, I have always hated when Kristen and I have disagreements. The two of us are both strong-willed and stubborn, and that isn’t a good combination when things start going wrong.
However, there is an up side: making up with Kristen is always lots of fun.
Case in point: on our thirty-hour trip to Madison, we did our best to violate the Mann Act as blatantly and as often as possible. You could say that we made it a point to put the “sin” back in “Wisconsin.”
Chapter 5—A Trip and the Halloween Party
On Monday, Sherry made it a point to be with me before History class.
“I had a great time at Vaughn’s. Your girlfriend is a really nice person.”
I smiled at Sherry’s noticeable change in attitude about Kristen, since it wasn’t that long ago that she had hated Kristen with a passion.
“Yeah. There’s a lot to love about her,” I agreed.
“The cheerleaders posted the winners today. I was on top, just as they told me. There was also a junior and two seniors.”
I smiled at Sherry. “I guess it’s an honor to be picked.”
“I didn’t think so a few weeks ago,” Sherry admitted, “Cammy and Lynette aren’t your typical dumb blondes, though. They’re both deadly serious about cheering, and I’ve heard people say that they are both A students.”
“I know for a fact that Camille makes herself look a lot less serious than she really is.”
Sherry agreed, “Yeah. I got that feeling, too.”
The class bell rang and we got into our seats.
At lunchtime, I was looking forward to spending the period once again with my lovely blonde Goddess. However, when I looked at our usual table, she wasn’t there. Patty was, though.
I put my tray on the table and asked Patty, “You see Kristen?”
Patty nodded, and indicated toward the back of the cafeteria. “She’s over there.”
I looked for a moment, and finally saw Kristen’s lovely blonde tresses. “Oh, yeah.”
She was talking to some other student—nobody that I knew—so I went on the lunch line to get my daily ration of swill.
When I returned from the lunch line, I was a bit surprised to see Sherry as well as Kristen sitting at our table. Sherry was talking animatedly with both of my friends.
“Hi, Sherry!” I said, as I put my tray at my place.
“Hey, Jim!” Sherry answered. “Kris just introduced me to Patty.”
“Price of fame,” I said, grinning. “You’re a cheerleader. Now all the best people want to know you!”
Most people around the table laughed at my comment.
“Better not let Camille hear you say something like that,” Patty said.
“Oh, I think Camille has a sense of humor. She looks at me as a friend, doesn’t she?”
Kristen was one person that didn’t like hearing my self-deprecating sense of humor. She responded by simply kissing me on the lips. It wasn’t a sensual kiss; she just wanted me to shut up.
I watched Sherry interact with all my friends. She was truly a nice girl and it was difficult not to like her. I wondered why I hadn’t noticed her interest in me a year or so earlier.
The week passed swiftly, and Amy showed up for jazz band rehearsal on Thursday. When Kristen entered the room that afternoon, she greeted me with “Hi, Oogie!”
I could feel the entire band heave a sigh of relief—I think they considered Kristen to be my muse, and the fact that we weren’t fighting anymore seemed to make the entire band feel better.
After rehearsal, I asked Amy and Kristen to stay a few extra minutes. Both girls looked surprised, and Amy looked at Kristen for support.
Kristen just shrugged at Amy, and looked at me. I saw her eyes grow wide as I opened up my attaché case—I think she thought I was going to pull out my roll of tickets.
Instead of my tickets, I pulled out a present for Amy. “Here, Amy. You’ll probably recognize the tune.”
Amy took the sheet music that I had taken a few days to copy by long hand and she looked at it curiously. “Linus and Lucy?” I saw her squint, and she added, “From the comic strip?”
I nodded. “Yes. Try to play it.”
The student opened the sheet music and put it on the stand on the piano. The first few bars were just bass notes, and she fumbled with the first bar until she recognized the tune. She looked up at me.
“It’s from the Peanuts Christmas special,” I said. “It’s a good number to practice for getting the feel of the genre.”
Amy was silent, and simply looked down at her hands. Finally, she asked, “By myself?”
“No,” I promised. “The original score is a trio. I believe it was a string bass, piano, and drums. Let me have Sam and Derek work with you. The song is more closely associated with Peanuts than Christmas, so it might not be a good number for the Christmas concert. We could add other instruments, though, but the song really focuses on the piano.”
There was another long pause. “Can I practice it over the weekend?”
I smiled. This was the most that Amy had said to me at one time, ever. “Take until next Thursday. You may be able to find the song at the record store if you need to hear the original. If you need help, please let me know—or Kristen.”