I wonder if being popular automatically makes you seem a
better person. Because how else can you explain how Sandra
Vertin and all her friends are the teachers' favorites and
every boy wants them, while other girls in class aren't even
noticed? For example, Stacy, the girl who sits next to me in
class, she's been in love with Joey Drage for three months,
but he never knew she was there, and now he's Sandra's
boyfriend.
Today Stacy didn't show up, so I was sitting by myself in
the back of the classroom, drawing some stupid pictures in
my notebook. I never pay attention in history class. When I
want to know something, I just go ask my dad, who is a
tour-guide and knows American history perfectly. In fact,
most of the class wasn't listening, but Mrs. Weston, who
hates me, decided to pick on me.
"Elaine Ridley!" She shouted. I raised my head. "Can you
please repeat what I have just said?" I couldn't. When she
told me to get out, I did it with a sense of silent victory.
"It's going to be much better to spend these 25 minutes
outside", I thought, walking quickly down the stairs and out
of the school building. It was already warm outside, and the
sun was shining in the cloudless sky. The weather was just
perfect. I decided to sit in the most faraway part of the
yard, a place no one went to, except me and my friend Beth.
It's been our special secret place since fourth grade. When
I got there, I suddenly saw Beth, sitting on a tree,
dreaming.
Beth's in sixth grade, like me, but not in my class. She
isn't a very good student, but she's a great dancer and
athlete. She's in all the possible dance classes in town.
Maybe the reason she's so flexible is that she's short and
her chest is still flat. I climbed the tree and sat down on
a branch next to her.
She giggled. "Elaine, I can't believe it. You're cutting a
class?"
"No, this toad told me to get out. Mrs. Weston," I
explained.
Beth started to laugh. "Yeah, she really looks like a toad.
I wish she goes to live in a swamp!"
I laughed too.
"I'm cutting math, as usual", Beth said. "I'm tired of
showing up and not getting a thing anyway."
We were quiet for a few minutes, looking down at the grass
and waving our legs in the air. Then I asked: "Are you going
to Sandra's birthday party this Friday? I heard she's
inviting your class too, because of all the friends she's
got there."
Beth made a face.
"No, thank you. I better go out with my sister and her
friends, or stay home. I don't wanna spend Friday night with
my class; I hate them too much. What about you, are you
going?"
"I think so... It might still be nice. Have you ever danced
with a boy?"
"Yeah, in dance classes. Have you?"
"No. I wonder what it's like."
Beth turned her head and looked at me with interest. "Anyone
special you'd like to dance with?" She asked.
I must have blushed, because she said: "wow, there is!
Please tell me!"
"Promise you won't tell anyone?" Beth nodded. I took a deep
breath and looked down.
"It's Stan. Stan from my class. But you promised you won't
tell him!"
Stan is a huge "Harry Potter" fan, just like me. He wears
glasses, and everyone thinks he's a geek, but I think he's
the nicest boy I've ever met. Unfortunately, he's in love
with Sheryl Dundo, the prettiest girl in our class and one
of the most popular, who doesn't even know he exists. He
told me himself. Why do boys have to be so stupid?

Sandra's party was no different from any other party I've
had with my class before. I was sitting alone in a corner,
counting minutes on my watch, once again getting used to the
idea no one's going to ask me to dance. Bored and upset, I
looked around and saw Stan standing by the big snacks table,
eating and staring at Sheryl, who was dancing with a boy
from Beth's class. She was wearing a short red and white
skirt, a white shirt, tight around the breasts she was
starting to have, and black "Dr. Martin's", the sight of
which made my heart turn upside down with envy: it was just
the model I wanted, and my parents said they were too
expensive.
I felt a strange mix of anger and jealousy. Why does she
always have to look so perfect? It's so unfair! No wonder
Stan likes her and not me. I must be ugly, with my long legs
and black braid. No boy is ever going to like me, because
I'm not pretty.
Suddenly I realized how much I wanted to go home. I found
Sandra and asked her if I could use the phone to call my
parents and tell them to pick me up. On my way out I ran
into Stan, who looked very depressed.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I asked Sheryl if she would dance with me. And she said
that she doesn't dance with geeks. Elaine, do you too think
I'm a geek? Is it because of the glasses?"
"Of course you're not a geek", I said sincerely.
"I wouldn't have said 'no' if you had asked me to dance", a
quick thought flashed through my mind. But I immediately
felt a little ashamed for thinking it, because I felt very
sorry for Stan. I wanted to say something more to make him
feel better, because we are good friends, and friends always
have to support and cheer each other up, but then I saw our
car reaching the house, so I said quickly 'goodbye' and went
out.
On the way back I thought Beth had been right about class
parties, and decided not to go to any again until the end of
the year.

I was spending the next Saturday night at my friend Iris',
whose parents have gone away for the weekend, so she asked
me over. Iris and I grew up together. She is in seventh
grade and is just six months older than me, but sometimes it
feels like she is much older and much more experienced. She
already shaves her legs and wears a bra, and once she told
me she had kissed a boy. This fall she moved into a new
house, so we don't see each other as much as we used to, but
we're still very good friends. It can never be boring when
Iris is around. Her head is always full of fun ideas, and
there's just no way of knowing what she'd be up to next.
Tonight she asked: "Elaine, do you like scary movies?"
"Not really", I said shyly.
"Come on, don't be like this! I rented one yesterday, so we
could see it tonight. It's called "I know what you did last
summer". Sounds so cool! Mom and dad don't know I rented it,
I paid with my pocket money. Are you sure you don't want to
see it? Please, Elaine..."
"OK", I said. I didn't want to sound like a little girl who
is afraid of movies.
Iris played the movie. It was about a group of teenagers who
had accidentally hit someone with their car, and how he'd
come back to revenge them. It was really scary, but watching
it with Iris somehow made it more fun, maybe because she was
as scared as I was, and we kept screaming and jumping on the
couch together.
"It was a cool movie, wasn't it?" Iris asked, when the movie
was over and I was about to go upstairs to take a shower. I
nodded enthusiastically.
"And you said you don't like scary movies. Doesn't it
rock?"
"Yeah!" I said sincerely.
I was sleeping in Iris' room, on a mattress her parents had
brought for me from their bedroom. Iris, who already went to
bed, was wearing her bra and underwear under her
nightshirt.
"Why are you wearing your underwear and bra?" I asked,
puzzled. She looked at me as though I've just asked the most
stupid question she has ever heard.
"Everyone does so."
"Who's everyone?"
"Well... Everyone. Don't you watch TV?"
I did, but I guess it was different from what she watched.
"Don't you wear a bra?"
"Not yet. I think I should though."
I used to look at myself in the mirror a lot lately,
especially in the shower, when I was naked, and I couldn't
help noticing that my breasts were beginning to grow, as
well as my pubic hair, and my whole body was somehow
changing. I kind of liked the way I was beginning to look,
except my legs, which were, in my opinion (and also my
classmates'), too long.
"Yeah, Elaine, we're growing up." Iris said with a wise
sigh. "And if we're already talking about it, you know my
birthday's on the third, right?"
"Sure."
"So I'm having a party on the fourth, and you're invited.
It's gonna take place at seven here in my house. Will you
come?"
"Of course I will. But why is it on the fourth and not the
third?"
"Because it's a Friday, so we can stay up late. My parents
agreed. You must come, we're gonna have so much fun! I'm
inviting all my friends from school, and if we want, we can
stay up until one o'clock!"
"If my parents refuse to pick me up that late, I can sleep
here," I thought. Iris' birthdays have always been fun. The
last thing I remembered before falling asleep was thinking
what I was going to buy for her.

I took all my party clothes out of the closet and piled them
up on my bed. There was still a week before Iris' party, but
I wanted to pick something now, just to be sure. But
suddenly I didn't like any of my clothes anymore. I didn't
know what to wear to make a good impression on Iris'
junior-high friends, and was afraid to death that they would
laugh at me. This jeans skirt, for example. Is it too long?
And do junior-high girls wear skirts like this anyway? And
what about shirts - will I look like a baby if I wear one
with a lot of flowers on it?
When mom entered the room, she found me sitting on my bed,
staring at the pile of clothes with a sour face. My mom is
thirty-five years old and six months pregnant. She moved the
clothes and sat down next to me with some difficulty.
"What's the matter, honey?" She asked, putting a hand around
my shoulders.
"I've got nothing to wear for Iris' birthday!" I said,
looking at her miserably. "It's all clothes for little
girls, and everyone's gonna laugh at me, they'll think I'm a
baby. I need something new, mom, look!"
Mom stared at the clothes for a few long seconds.
"I don't know..." She finally said. "Some of these things do
seem to me like their days are over. We'll have to see what
became too small and what didn't. Wanna try the stuff on so
I could see?"
Mom was right: Many shirts have become too small for me, and
I also decided to get rid of those that were too childish.
Mom smiled when I tried on another shirt, which appeared to
be too small as well.
"I think it's time you should start wearing a bra, Elaine."
She said.
So I've been right, I do need a bra! Ever since sleeping at
Iris' last week I wanted to ask mom to buy me one, but I
wasn't sure she'll agree that I need it.
"I think so too, mom", I said, shining, "and... Can I please
have a new dress too?"

On Wednesday Stacy came over after school to see the new
dress I had bought for Iris' birthday party. I had told her
all about it in school, and couldn't wait for her to see it.
The dress was short, of different tinges of gray, with V-cut
and short sleeves, and I held it out proudly in front of
Stacy.
Stacy looked at it very carefully. Eventually she said:
"Isn't the cut too low?"
"No", I said, a little uncomfortably. "I tried it on and
it's fine. My mom, too, said it's pretty. And besides, I'll
be wearing a bra!"
"You're wearing a bra?" Stacy asked in amazement and looked
at my chest. "Yeah, you do have boobs..." And she started to
giggle.
"It's not funny. Yeah, I do, so what?"
"Nothing", Stacy said, still trying not to giggle. "Can you
show it to me?"
"I bought a few. My mother and I decided I'll start to wear
one all the time."
"Really?!"
"What's so strange about it? Stacy, we're not babies
anymore! I think half of the girls in our class wear a
bra."
"If I had boobs, I'd wear only wide shirts, to hide them."
"Why?" I asked, feeling confused. What was so wrong about
growing up and having breasts?
"I don't know. I'd be embarrassed."
I didn't understand it.
"Mom, how old were you when you started to wear a bra?" I
asked my mother after Stacy left.
"Fourteen. Why?"
"And how did you feel about it?"
"I was at my happiest! I was the last one of all my friends
who remained flat, you know. They all already had big
boobs."
"I'm glad too, mom. And I'm proud of it."
"You should be, honey."

On Friday at six p.m. dad drove me over to Iris'.
"Hey, you look great!" He winked at me, when I was getting
out of the car. "Trust a man's word."
When I entered Iris' house, there were already a few kids
inside. They all smiled when Iris introduced me, and they
seemed like some really nice kids. I handed her the gift (it
was a diary), and she said she would open them all at the
end of the party.
The party was great. I couldn't stop my feet from dancing.
All the girls liked my dress a lot, and everyone were so
nice to me, that I wasn't alone for a minute. Then Iris put
on slow music, and a few couples started to dance. I wanted
to sit down, when I saw a boy with brown hair smiling at me.
I smiled back.
"Your name's Elaine, isn't it?" The boy asked.
"Yeah."
"I'm Mark. Do you want to dance with me?"
It was the first time ever I was dancing with a boy, and I
was afraid I would step on Mark's foot or something. But
nothing like that happened, and it was just a lot of fun.
"You've got nice hair", Mark said.
"Thanks."
Tonight I left my hair loose, instead of braiding it like I
usually did. It really looked nice this way.
"How old are you?"
"Twelve and a half", I said, emphasizing the "half".
"Cool. I'm fourteen. You're in sixth grade, aren't you?"
"Yeah. Are you in Iris' school?"
"Yeah, but I'm in eighth grade."
"I'm going to your school next year, too."
After dancing with Mark, I danced with another boy named
Billy, and then Iris put on fast music again. A couple of
times I saw Mark looking at me, and it made me feel good. I
was glad I had convinced my parents to let me stay until
ten, because I was having so much fun that I just couldn't
imagine having to leave earlier. At nine-thirty Iris' mom
helped her cut the cake, and then Iris opened all the
presents. Mark gave her a big black-and-white poster of a
guy and a girl on a motorcycle, which she said she would
hang over her bed first thing in the morning. She got very
excited about my gift too, and promised to let all the girls
write stuff in it, but some other time, because some of the
guests already had to go home. I helped Iris clean up a
little bit, and at ten dad came to pick me up.

On Sunday Iris called me and said she met Mark and he asked
her if he could have my phone number. My jaw dropped.
"Really?!"
"Yeah."
"Did he say anything else about me?"
"He just asked if I could give him your number. He was a
little shy, I think."
I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. No boy has ever
asked for my phone number before. And I didn't even dream
Mark would!
"Yeah... You can give it to him."
"Cool! I'll call him now and tell it, then. Good luck. He's
a really groovy boy, you know. I've already hung the poster
he gave me, by the way. You should come and see it."
The next day in school I told Stacy and Beth all about the
party, dancing with Mark, and also that he wanted my number.
Beth got very excited.
"Wow! How old did you say he is? Is he good-looking? What
did your friend say about him?"
"He's fourteen, he's got brown hair, and he's a little bit
taller than me. He is good-looking. And Iris said he's
really groovy. She knows him well, he's in her school,
eighth grade."
"Eighth grade? Maybe my sister knows him. I'll ask her."
Beth's sister Lisa is an eighth-grader too, and goes to the
same school as Mark and Iris.
"What if he just wants to go out with you because you've got
boobs?" Stacy asked. Beth looked at her as if she was going
to kill her. They've never liked each other very much, I
think.
"All the girls at the party had boobs, and so will you,
whether you want it or not, Stacy Richards!" I said angrily.
"Grow up!"
"Ignore her, Elaine. She's just jealous. Aren't you, stupid
geek?"
"You shut up!" Stacy shouted. "Stay out of it!"
"Don't scream at Beth, do you hear me? She's my friend, a
better friend than you are, and she'll say whatever she
wants whenever she wants! Baby! Go and suck your milk
bottle!"
Without waiting for an answer, I grabbed Beth's arm and
dragged her away to our secret place.
"You know what she said when she came to my house to see my
new dress?" I said, when we finally reached our place and
seated ourselves on a tree, "She said the V-cut on the dress
I wore is too low, and then she laughed when I said I
started to wear a bra!"
"I told you, she's shit jealous of you. I wish I had boobs
like yours."
I wanted to hug her, but didn't, because I was afraid we'd
fall off the tree. Beth is really a great friend.

I've been waiting for Mark's call all week, and on Thursday
he finally called. Mom picked up the phone.
"Elaine!" She called upstairs. "There's some boy calling
you!"
"I'll take it my room!" I shouted back.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Elaine, it's Mark. Remember me?"
I hoped he wouldn't hear how excited I was.
"Sure. How are you doing?"
"I'm fine. How was your week?"
"Good."
"Cool. Listen, I called to ask you if you want to go to the
movies with me tomorrow?"
My heart was beating so fast I was scared Mark might hear it
on the other side of the phone. He's actually asking me out
on a date!
"Yeah, sure!"
"Who was it?" Mom asked, after I hung up.
"A boy I met at Iris' birthday. His name is Mark, he's
fourteen and he goes to Iris' school. He's really nice, mom.
And he asked me to the movies tomorrow night."
Mom smiled. "Here comes your first date. Are you excited?"
I was more than excited. I have never been asked out on a
date before, and I just felt like my heart was going to jump
out of my body. I could hardly wait for the next to come.

Mark and I met at the Movie Theater at five thirty. We went
inside, bought two tickets to "Billy Elliot" and big
popcorn.
"So you're going to my school next year", Mark said, "Do you
want to go to junior high?"
"Yeah, a lot. I... Don't really get along with the kids in
my class, you know. I do want to go to a new school, meet
new kids. Besides, Iris is there." "And you", I thought, but
I didn't say it because I was too shy.
"I did like the elementary. It was fun, and much less
homework, too."
"I don't have a problem with homework."
"Do you have good grades?"
"Yeah, more or less."
"How many kids are there in your family?"
"For now it's just me, but my mom's pregnant, almost seven
months, and we already know it's a girl, so I'm going to
have a sister soon. And you?"
"There's four of us: I've got a sister and two brothers, all
younger than me. It's a loony bin, really."
"It sounds better than being an only child, though. At least
you're not bored. I can't wait 'til my sister's born."
"Do you like babies?"
"Yeah, a lot."
"And animals?"
"Oh, I love dogs, and cats too, but I can't have a pet,
because my mom's allergic."
"That sucks. I've got a spaniel, and I'm trying to convince
my folks to get an iguana too."
I smiled and touched his shoulder as lightly as I could.
"Hey... The movie's starting."
After the movie Mark walked me home, and we were holding
hands all the way. In front of my house we stopped, and he
said goodbye and kissed me on the cheek. I thought for a
second and kissed him back.

Beth came to my house on Saturday, after I called her and
said I've got something important to tell her. We were
sitting on the bed in my room, and I told her all about
going out with Mark. Her eyes lit. All Beth's emotions
immediately show on her face, and that's what I like about
her. I bet Stacy would never have been so sincerely happy
for me.
"Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"
"Not yet."
"But if he does, what'll you say?"
"I'll say 'yes'."
"I asked Lisa if she knows him, by the way. He's in her
class, and she says he's very nice. So you like him, don't
you?"
"Yeah, I do."
"What about Stan, then?"
I shrugged.
"I don't know. It's possible that you like someone and then
you begin to like someone else, isn't it? It happens all the
time. Remember in "Dawson's Creek"?"
After an hour or so we went out for a walk, and then to
Beth's house. She showed me her newly painted room. She has
made it blue, and it looked so amazing, that I decided to
ask my parents to have my room painted too.
"You know, I am dancing at the end-of-the-year party, after
all." Beth said, after she brought us cokes and turned on
the stereo she had stolen from her brother's room.
"Really? It's great! I wouldn't want to see it if you
weren't there."
"You know what all these cows from my class said? They said
they don't want me in, because I'm too short. Stupid
bitches! Let them blow up now!"
When we were smaller, I always wondered if Beth's parents
ever heard her swearing, and if they did, what would be
their reaction. Every time she swore, I used to look around
to see if there were any adults listening. Now, though, I
stopped being shocked by it, and even thought it was kind of
cool. We are growing up, damn it, aren't we?
"Don't worry. Maybe they won't be in your class next year.
And this fucking year's going to end in a few weeks!"
Beth raised her eyebrows and giggled.
"Yeah, a really fucking year in a stinky school. And I wish
none of them would be in my class. I wish you would, though.
You're my best friend, Elaine."
"You're my best friend, too."
We hugged. She is really my best friend. Well, maybe after
Iris.

Mark and I continued to meet. Once I went out with him, with
Iris, and with their friends from school, and another time
he took me for an ice-cream. That was when he asked me to be
his girlfriend.
"Elaine, can I ask you something?"
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I think... Will you be my girlfriend?"
A smile spread across my face. "Yeah!"
We were sitting next to each other, and Mark leaned and
kissed me on the lips. Ever since I met him and we went to
see "Billy Elliot" together, I have been thinking what it
would be like to kiss him. It felt very nice.
"Is this your first kiss?" He asked.
"Yeah. What about you?"
"I've kissed one girl. Last year. She's been my girlfriend
for three weeks."
"And now I'm his girlfriend", I thought proudly.
"Mark, what are you doing in the summer?"
"Going to a camp in North Carolina. And you?"
"I don't know yet. Can I go to your camp, too?"
"Yeah, I think there are still some places left. It'd be
cool if you enroll."
Mark walked me home, and just before I went inside the
house, he kissed me again. I hugged him and got inside,
thinking I probably haven't been so happy in a long long
time.

June started, and Beth and I began counting days and classes
left till the end of the school year. I still wasn't talking
to Stacy, but it didn't bother me at all. All I could think
about was the summer vacation, which came closer and closer
every day. Once I mentioned to mom that I wanted to have my
room painted, but she looked at me rather angrily and said
she had other things to bother her at that moment. I
wondered if everything was fine with the baby, because mom
had had miscarriages before, but I didn't dare ask.
It started about six a.m. in the morning, on the
twenty-ninth week of mom's pregnancy. I woke up, and wanted
to go with dad and her to the hospital instead of going to
school, but they wouldn't let me. In school I couldn't
concentrate at all, and the English teacher almost sent me
out. I told Beth the hot news the moment I saw her. She
clapped her hands and shrieked with joy. Beth loves babies,
but she only has an older brother and sister, and her
parents don't want to have any more children.
Dad came to pick me up from school, and we went straight to
the hospital. I ran to mom's bed and held her tight.
"How does it feel to be having a baby?" I asked.
"Wonderful. You can't even imagine."
"Does it hurt?"
"Yes".
"I want to be sedated when I have a baby, then."
"You're stupid. It's such a great experience; you wouldn't
want to miss it."
We spent the whole afternoon with mom. The baby still didn't
come, and I could see mom was getting worse. The doctor, a
middle-aged woman with graying hair and a kind face, told us
she'll have to have a Cesarean section. Dad and I went out
and sat in the corridor. I don't know how much time passed,
but the hospital started to look gloomy and creepy, and I
thought that people must start feeling bad from just being
here, and then they stay and this way the hospital has more
patients. I was getting hungry, but I didn't want to eat in
there. I just wished it would all be over. And then it was.
Mom was still asleep, and the doctor with the kind face (her
name was Dr. Sarrel) smiled and said that we can go and see
the baby. I stared inside the incubator. My sister. She was
tiny, red and ugly, and yet she was so very sweet. I saw dad
looking at her with adoration, and felt a little sting of
jealousy.
Mom woke up with high fever, and Dr. Sarrel said she was in
a bad condition and probably wouldn't go home until next
week. Actually, it was dad who told it to me, because he was
talking to her for a pretty long time and I couldn't hear
what they were saying. He also said that he's going to spend
the night in the hospital, with mom.
"I don't want you to be home alone at night, though", he
said. "I wish Diane and Steven were already here..."
Diane and Steven are my grandparents, mom's parents. They
live in Savannah and planned to come and help a little while
before the baby is born, but mom was due only in two
months.
"I can stay at Iris'. Or Beth's."
Eventually I decided to go to Beth's. After dad talked to
her parents and they said it was fine, he drove me home, I
took my stuff, and then he drove me to Beth's house.

In the morning I realized that I forgot to take a clean
shirt. I had no time to go home and get one, so Lisa, Beth's
fourteen-year-old sister, offered me to choose one of her
own, since we are more or less the same size. I picked a
white T-shirt with short pink sleeves and a purple skirt
that fitted it. The shirt was nothing like the ones I used
to wear, it was shorter, tighter and without pictures, but I
liked it very much. I felt more grown up when I was wearing
it, not like the little kid I felt I'd been just recently,
before I met Mark and Iris' other friends. Lisa has a very
good taste in clothes. When I look at her, I know who I
would like to look like.
When I entered the class and sat down, I saw Stan looking at
me in a very strange way, like he had never looked at me
before. I wondered what it might mean, although I didn't
really care.
"Hey, Elaine! You think that if you wear this shirt,
everyone's going to think you're pretty?" Ann Stewart
shouted. Ann is a dumb fat girl, who is always mean to
everyone, except the most popular girls, who she's trying to
be friends with.
"Yeah, I saw her hanging out with some junior high kids, she
thinks she's something. Very funny!" Added Tony Jatson,
Ann's friend and the biggest snob I know.
I decided not to ignore them this time. I turned around,
gave them the most despising look I could make and said
snobbishly:
"Are you jealous because I've got friends in junior high and
no one wants to hang out with you? And as for my shirt, at
least I can wear it without being afraid all my fat will
pour out. Right, Ann?"
Ann opened her mouth to say something, but shut it, because
the teacher walked in. Knowing Ann, I had the feeling there
was going to be a fight, but I wasn't afraid of her like I
used to be. Maybe I'll kick her ass and not the other way
around?
After the classes ended, Ann, Tony and two other girls were
waiting for me in the yard.
"Hi, Elaine." Ann said, blocking my way. "Thought you'll get
away with it or what?"
I expected it, so I threw my bag down, grabbed Ann's hair
and pulled hard, with my other hand trying to twist her
sticking fats. Beth, who was walking with me, joined the
fight happily. On the corner of my eye I saw her kicking
Tony in the stomach, and tried to do the same to Jen Casto,
who was kicking my legs from behind. Suddenly someone
shouted: "Harris's coming, run!"
The principal, Mrs. Harris, was hurrying towards us. Beth
grabbed my hand and pulled me after her in the gate's
direction. On the bus station we almost crashed into Stan,
who gasped when he saw our messed hair and clothes.
"Elaine... Beth... What happened to you?"
"Just a fight", Beth answered, "no big deal."
"Wow... Who with? Elaine, are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. C'mon, Beth, the bus is here."
"Did you notice Stan asked just you if you're OK?" Beth
asked me, when we finally climbed into the bus and sank into
our seats.
"No."
"He did. And I saw the way he was looking at your chest,
too."
I blushed and pulled at Lisa's shirt to make it wider.
"Well, even if he did, I don't care now. I have a
boyfriend."
I must have said it loudly, because a few kids turned their
heads and looked at me.
"So now they both like you. That's what happens all the
time; it's always all or nothing in stuff like this."
"How do you know?"
Beth shrugged. "I just do."

Mom and my sister spent ten days in the hospital and got out
two weeks before the end of the year. My grandparents from
Savannah arrived a week before to help dad and me prepare
everything for their return and buy all the stuff for the
baby's nursery (we haven't done it before, because my
parents are kind of superstitious). We called her Dina,
after our two grandmothers Diane and Helena. Beth came over
the evening mom and the baby returned from the hospital. She
just loved Dina, and asked if she could bring her parents
along to see her, so that it would make them want to have a
baby of their own.
One school day before the last one Stan did the most
unexpected thing: he asked me to be his girlfriend. I said:
"No, Stan. I have a boyfriend. I'm sorry." and thought Beth
had been right about the "all or nothing" thing.
Because of all the mess around mom and baby Dina, I forgot
to enroll to Mark's camp, but I didn't mind staying home for
the summer, because I'm going to have so much to do now that
there is Dina. I wrote Mark two letters - one to read in the
bus on the way to North Carolina, and one to read when he
gets to camp. I gave him both the day before he left, and
made him promise he will open one on the bus and the other
on the camp, and not earlier. I didn't know if I am supposed
to wait for him for two months, or if I can go out with
other boys too (except Stan, who I don't like anymore), but
I don't think I'm going to be out a lot anyway, so it
doesn't matter.
In spite of that, this summer was going to be more awesome
than any of the summers before, because I've got Dina and
because after it I won't have to go to the school I hated so
much. Like our principal, Mrs. Harris, had said on the
end-of-the-year ceremony, an end of something is always a
beginning of something new, and I'm sure that my "new" is
going to be much better than my "old".