When the bell rang to signal our release from school, I saw Sherry bolt for the door. I think I might have frightened her with the things that I said earlier. I was closer to the exit, however, and managed to catch up with her easily.
“Sherry, can we talk for a few minutes? School is over now, and I feel we really need to talk.”
Sherry had an uncertain look on her face and she shook her head. “Sorry. I have to get home. My mom’s expecting me…”
“It will be a few minutes before the buses leave. Let me at least walk you to your locker.”
Sherry shrugged and we walked down the hallway. It was crowded with students in three grades looking to escape from the school another day.
“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable before,” I said. “You’ve been willing to talk to me in every class up until today. What’s changed?”
Sherry looked at me. “I made a fool out of myself with you. You don’t like me.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know you. I think if we get to know each other, we would probably like each other. Is that so difficult?”
We stopped at Sherry’s locker. Patty saw me, and noticed Sherry, who had her back to her. “Excuse me, Jim?”
“Yeah, Patty?”
“I’m going to be getting a ride with… a friend. Cammy said she’d be happy to give you a ride.”
Patty was telling me in a coded way that she was going to be going home with Kristen alone today, and that Kristen wouldn’t be giving me a ride. Instead, I’d be getting a ride in Camille’s red Toyota.
“Cool, Patty,” I said, smiling. “See you around.”
“Who was that?” Sherry asked.
“Patty Nadal. She’s a friend of mine.”
“You seem to hang out with a lot of seniors,” Sherry remarked.
“Well, Camille—the girl Patty was talking about—used to baby sit me with her older sister. Camille is Patty’s best friend.”
Sherry nodded. “I guess. So, do you still think that I don’t know you? You’re Jim Crittenhouse, the music whiz. You used to hang out with Jack Williams, although I don’t see the two of you together much anymore.”
I smiled ruefully. “Jack and I don’t have any classes together. His sister is a close friend, too.”
Sherry shook her head. “You’re a regular Lothario, aren’t you, friends with all those senior girls?”
“Maybe they see in me what you see in me, huh?” I shrugged.
Sherry blushed crimson and didn’t answer.
“But at least I know those girls. You seem to know me. What’s my favorite color?”
“Blue,” Sherry said automatically.
I was stunned. How did Sherry know that?
“Hmmm, then what’s my favorite band?”
“The Beatles are your favorite of all time, but your favorite performer is Elton John. I heard you do Honky Cat over and over in Mr. Thurd’s music class after school once, and you told whoever it was with you that he’s your favorite keyboardist.”
I was completely shocked. Sherry really did know a lot about me. Finally, I said, “You definitely seem to know me. What should I know about you?”
Sherry once again looked uncertain. “Jim, I need to get to the buses. My mom expects me home in a half hour.”
Camille found me just at that time. “Hello, Jim. Who is your friend?”
Sherry looked up. “I’m Sherry… Wait… Is this the Camille that your friend mentioned—Camille Lombardi on the cheerleading squad?”
Camille’s smile was broad and unforced. “Here, I am… the one and only!”
“I’m Sherry Jordan,” Sherry said shyly as she offered Camille her hand.
Continuing to smile, Camille shook Sherry’s hand and said, “I’m really glad to meet you.”
Sherry finally smiled. “Well, excuse me, but I really need to get to the bus…”
“I’d be happy to give you a ride, Sherry. I was just here to find out when Jim wanted to leave. I’m driving him home as well.”
“Oh, I can’t…”
“Sure you can. How far away do you live?”
“About five minutes away.”
“Piece of cake,” Camille smiled. “How long does the bus take?”
“Um… about twenty minutes.”
“Fine. I’ll find the two of you in the parking lot in ten minutes. You’ll be home in plenty of time.” Camille smiled a truly lovely smile and left.
Thank goodness for friends like Camille. I now had an additional ten minutes with Sherry.
Sherry didn’t seem to know what hit her. “You didn’t tell me that you were friends with Camille!”
I laughed. “I told you that Camille was Patty’s friend. You mentioned that she was a senior, so I thought you knew who I was talking about. However, this points out something interesting. You don’t know everything about me, do you?”
“Point taken,” Sherry said, continuing to smile.
“Let’s walk to the bench outside the school, shall we?”
Sherry nodded and the two of us walked to one of the benches just outside the school. Luckily, they were all mostly empty, most kids wanting to spend as little time at the school as was humanly possible now that school was over for the day.
“So, you were about to admit that you don’t know a thing about me,” Sherry said, taking the initiative.
I shook my head. “That’s not entirely true. About a week after school started, I started getting attention from girls in my class, including you. One of the guys today referred to you as ‘hot,’ by the way. Did you know that?”
Sherry blushed, and said, “Well, I noticed you before you were going out with Kristen, actually.”
“Yes,” I said, now getting into my prepared speech. “I guess I was a bit conceited and self-centered before. I admit that I never really noticed you. More is the pity, actually.”
“Huh?”
“Maybe the two of us would have been friends last year. I’ve found in the past few weeks that having friends is very important. I used to think that I knew everything, but talking—actually talking—with people like Kristen, Patty, and Camille, I found out that other people know many things that I didn’t know; things that were important.”
Sherry nodded, not knowing where I was going with this.
“One thing that I learned is that if I have an opportunity to become a friend to somebody, it’s an opportunity worth taking.”
I didn’t have much more prepared, so now I was going to have to wing it, depending on how Sherry reacted.
“I see,” Sherry said, slowly. “This is the ‘let’s be friends’ speech, isn’t it.”
“No, Sherry,” I said. “I’m not breaking up with you. I want to get to know you better. It wasn’t until I really knew Kristen that I realized that I loved her. Don’t you deserve the same chance?”
Sherry’s eyes lit up. “You mean…?”
“I’m not making any promises, Sherry,” I said, wanting to make that perfectly clear. “I’d like to get to know you. You said you had problems with History, I might be able to help you with that.”
“I, um… lied about that,” Sherry said. “I got an A in both quizzes so far this year.”
I smiled. “I know. I do want something from you.”
“What’s that?” Sherry said, looking suspicious.
“I want a friend. I don’t want a girlfriend on the side. One thing that can destroy a friendship is jealousy, and treating you like a girlfriend wouldn’t be fair to you, or to Kristen. Right now, Kristen is my girlfriend, and she’s done nothing wrong whatsoever to deserve to be treated unkindly.”