Chestnut Falls, 1951
It was Friday evening and Buddy and I were hanging out in his bedroom reading comic books. That day after school, the two of us had been getting a soda at Hadley's when our friend, Stretch, asked us if we had seen the latest issue of the Atomic Avenger. Buddy and I couldn't believe we hadn't and we ran to the drugstore as fast as we could, eager to get our hands on it. We couldn't wait to get to Buddy's house, charge upstairs, lock the door and sit in silence as we read the latest adventure.
It was awesome! I finished first, Buddy was a page behind me. I waited for him, holding back my excitement. The seconds ticked like hours. Finally, Buddy closed his comic and looked up at me, his eyes wide and his mouth nearly agape. "That was the greatest one yet!" He cried.
I laughed. "Wasn't it though?!"
Buddy jumped to his feet, the adrenaline still pumping through him. "When he thought he had Dr. Mayhem once and for all, had him in his grasp, only to realize it wasn't Mayhem at all, but — his own brother!"
I jumped up from the floor. "And then when Mayhem had him trapped in the glass box, he was struggling to break free and then his brother came back for him! I thought for sure Mayhem had destroyed him!"
"So did I!!" Buddy cried.
I loved these moments, the afternoons and evenings when it was just Buddy and me. Excited and eager, when we could just goof around over comic books. Or when we'd sit quietly together in the dark listening to the horror programs on the radio, those were my favorite nights; Buddy always knew I got scared, more than him, and he'd put his arm around me and we'd listen to the end.
A pounding came through Buddy's bedroom wall. "Will you boys please keep it down in there, I'm trying to fix my hair for my date tonight with Steve Andrews." It was Caroline, Buddy's annoying older sister.
Buddy went to the wall and gave it a couple pounds back. "Oh quit griping, can't you hear we're celebrating a victory in here?"
I laughed. Watching Buddy and Caroline bicker was a usual occurrence at his house.
"Don't tell me you're reading those silly comic books again?" Caroline chided through the wall. "Honestly, you would think that eighteen-year-old boys would have outgrown such kid stuff."
"Oh, pipe down," Buddy called back. "Gee whiz..." Buddy walked over to his bed and plopped down. The moment had been ruined. Caroline was always doing that; she thought she was so mature now that she was attending State University and was constantly nagging at Buddy and I to grow up. What did she know? Buddy and I would be at State University next year, but until then, she could go fly a kite.
"Well, now what do you want to do?" I asked.
"I don't know," Buddy replied. "It's Friday night, I guess we could go shake my old man for some dough and head down to Hadley's; a burger and fries would be good."
It did sound good, but I remembered Buddy's mother downstairs. "Wasn't your mother cooking dinner when we arrived?"
"Oh yeah," Buddy remembered. "Well, maybe we can go out later then."
Music began to come through the walls. Caroline must have started playing her records. "Hey!" Buddy called. "You think you can keep it down in there, I can't hear myself think."
"Oh honestly," Caroline replied. "Stop being such a child."
Buddy laughed. He loved driving his sister nuts. He lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms behind his head. I couldn't help but stare.
Buddy and I had been friends for years, we grew up together, went to school together, we did everything together. He was my best friend. But only recently did I begin to feel something more for him, something deeper. There had been something I wanted to tell him, something that had been burning inside me that I wanted him to know, but I was afraid of what he'd say. A couple of times I'd had the opportunity to tell him, once on our walk home from school, another while we waited for the movie to start last Saturday afternoon. But something was always interrupting, or I'd lose my courage.
But this was different. Tonight we were all alone, in his room. There wouldn't be any distractions. I crept slowly over to his bed where he lie, gazing at him. My heart was pounding and my stomach felt like it was filled with butterflies. It had felt like that all afternoon, actually. I think it started back in May, the butterflies, just like that. One day nothing, and the next — Bam! Whenever Buddy came around they'd be fluttering around inside me. And it had only been a few months since I caught myself thinking, "He is so cute."
Lainey Briggs had approached Buddy and I one afternoon while we ate lunch in the school cafeteria. She was a nosey and prissy girl and I knew she had a crush on Buddy, something I admit made me a little jealous. "Excuse me boys," she said in that wretched, nasally voice of hers. "Buddy, I was curious to know if you had plans next Saturday night? I'm having a party at my parent's house and I'd be honored to have you attend."
Buddy looked at her. She was pretty, and she prided herself on style and looks, but everyone at Madison High knew she was of the high maintenance sort. "Uh, Saturday? That sounds fine, I suppose, but, uh, what about Leroy here? Is he invited?"
Lainey made a face. It was obvious that I had been the first item on her 'Get Rid Of' list in her pursuit of Buddy. "Leroy?" She replied. "Oh, well, Buddy, you see, uh, I'm inviting only a certain number of girls and a certain number of boys...If I invited Leroy it would throw everything off, you understand."
I was crushed. I didn't like Lainey at all but I was still hurt. Not only had I not been invited, but I overheard Lainey's absurd and insensitive excuse for my not being invited as if I wasn't present and sitting right in front of her.
