"You've got a visitor ..."

Pulling my thumbs out of my waistband, I call out, “Come in!” Mom opens the door, seeing me lying on the mat obviously in the middle of a workout, and says, “You’ve got a visitor … someone named Chris?”

“Great! I went to high school with her. We bumped into each other at the Acme the other day.” I say, trying to explain how someone she never heard of came to be calling on me. My parents love me, but they are kind of old fashioned, and strict. Something I had let slip from my memory was just how intrusive and inquiring they could be. “Put a shirt on.” Mom says, “I’ll tell her you’ll be with her in a moment.” “I wish…” I mutter to myself as the door closes and I spring to my feet. The door opens again, and mom asks, “What was that?” I hurriedly answer, “Nothing. Just talking to myself, trying to get organized for the day.” “Well,” she replies, “Whatever you organize, remember you’ll be minding Patty tonight.”

On with a red-banded white Ohio State t-shirt, as good a thing as any to wear for the length of conversation, and I pull my hair back in a ponytail. Walking out to the living room, I see her sitting in an overstuffed chair, looking at a magazine. I realized my hands were not quite shaking, but definitely showing my nervous state. “Hi there,” I say cheerfully. “Hi, Steph,” she says, as she rises to her feet. She’s wearing bell-bottom jeans that hug her body, and a light blue pullover shirt that shows off her waist and showcases her breasts. Her shoulder length blond hair is wavy and fits her face perfectly. “I hope you don’t mind my stopping by without calling.” She almost sounds … nervous. Wow!

Smiling, anxious to put her at ease, I say, “no problem at all. And please excuse the way I look, I was just working out. Actually, I was going to call you today. We’re so near St. John’s grove, and their annual bazaar starts tonight … “ “I know. I was wondering if you’d be there.” Hearing THAT starts my heart singing. Reminding myself she was always popular, and might be asking a dozen other girls the same question to see who will be there on what nights, I **** myself to answer calmly, “Oh, sure. It’s so close I’ll probably drop by all three days at some point. I know I’m working the flower stand tomorrow from four until 8 o’clock.”

Then the big moment: “So,” I ask as casually as I can, “Are you going over tonight?” “Yes … “ I can hear something almost like hesitation in her voice, and I cross my fingers for luck and go for it. “I have to keep an eye on my sister Patty, but she’s 18, so all I really have to do is make sure she goes home before my parents start to look for her. Not like she’s four or anything Anyway, I’ll be eating dinner there, so I planned to go over around 7 o’clock.” Realizing I’m babbling on, I come to the point. “What time do you think you’ll make your appearance? If you want, you can park at our house and we can walk over,” I add. “Easier than finding parking there.”

“That would be great!” I hear her say. “Parking can be such a drag there. Is 7:30 OK? We can get something to eat and … talk.” By now I’m grinning like an idiot and light headed at the prospect. “I promise not to be sweaty and smelly by then.” I say holding up a hand as if to swear an oath, and she starts to laugh. I giggle, then laugh, and all tension seems to evaporate. “I’m glad we had a chance to meet again,” she says quietly, but with a smile, and I feel like the Cheshire cat as I tell her I’m happy, too, and looking forward to tonight. As we end the conversation, I realize we were both nervous at first and end her visit like we’ve been best friends forever. Is this how girls do it? Is there more to this visit than just girls planning to hang out together?

Walking her to her car, we make small talk about flowers and the neighborhood, talking for almost fifteen minutes before she says she has to go. Some other times memory makes me hold the car door open for her, and she smiles and improbably, incredibly, she gives me a hug! I’m shocked, but not too shocked to hug her back, maybe a second too long, too. Still, to feel her body against mine, to smell her hair (I almost kissed it!) and to actually touch her was just so amazing, I had to **** myself to pull away. Stepping back, I smiled nervously at her and saw a shy smile that broke my heart. Whatever I had ever thought of her as the invincible smartest girl in class, perfectly poised social butterfly was wrong. There was something inside her that was enigmatic and sad and … so adorable. So desireable. I knew then that I wanted to be her friend, now and always. Even if we never kissed, I wanted to be there when she married, when she had her children, to always have her in my life.

“Thanks for coming over, Chris. I’m really glad you did.” “So am I, Steph,” she said, her smile broader and happier now. Slipping behind the wheel, she smiled again as she started to pull away from the curb, waving as she drove away. I waved back, a smile on my face, and my heart singing. I wasn’t sure where this would lead, but I somehow felt that as I learned to live my new life, I would have one sure friend to help me through it.

As I walked back inside, all I could think of was how to kill the time between now and 7:30, and what I could wear. “Hmmm,” I thought to myself, I must be an old-fashioned girl alright, wondering what to wear. Maybe this is a new beginning to my new beginning…