Chapter 9: I'm Not That Easy!

The scholastic part of school had never been an issue for me, which had led to my rather geeky reputation. Last year, the only thing I was missing was the thick, horned-rimmed glasses, and a pocket protector. The growth spurt over the summer, and Christy's makeover, had started pushing that image into the past ... or so I hoped. It was hopeful and soul sucking at the same time, to pass girls who wouldn't give me the time of day last year, but were now smiling at me this year. I wasn't exactly a celebrity and wouldn't be welcome with open arms into the popular clique, but then again, I wasn't sure that's who and where I wanted to be, anyhow.

By the time lunch rolled around I was a little out of sorts, and told Mike as much.

"What difference does it make?"

"It's irritating that the same people snubbing their noses at me last year, are smiling this year."

"So you've identified the superficial ones. Good for you! I had no idea you growing a little taller would allow you to put yourself on your own pedestal!"

Well, that was deflating!

"I have no idea what you were like last year," Christy added. "I just want to get to know the person I met a couple weeks ago. Were you really that different, last year?"

"He was," Mike said. Apparently this conversation was between Mike and Christy. I was just along for the ride. "I think he grew five or six inches over the summer. His maturity is a different story, though."

"Okay, fine. I get your point. Things change. Where I felt like I was being judged before, now I'm judging them. Is that what you are saying?"

"See, Christy? He is a little smart."

It was certainly a new dynamic and one to which it would take some time and patience to get accustomed. I'm sure it would have been a little easier to adapt if the changes hadn't occurred so suddenly, but there was another point that was certain to make the changes a lot of fun. At some point soon, I needed to find time to go see Ken.

Mrs. Parkman looked incredible in a tight blue skirt and white blouse. The glasses and having her hair set in a tight bun just gave her that smoldering, 'sexy librarian' look. Did she dress like that on purpose? She had to notice the effect she was having on the teenage guys when they limped out of her room on a daily basis. We weren't the only ones affected, either. The new freshman history teacher, Mr. Grimes, was starting to develop a pattern of being in her class chatting her up when her students arrived. Because her class was the first following lunch, I had little doubt that he spent most of his lunch period trying to get a glimpse. He may have been a nice guy, but he was honing in on my fantasy woman.

Sparks' car was easily identifiable. He and his dad spent a lot of time working on restoring a 1995 Honda Civic. The work was slow, so the car kind of looked like a patchwork quilt, what with all of the different colors each panel of the car displayed. Some parts of the car were brown, others a metallic blue, but the overriding theme of the car was Bondo. I have no idea how the car passed inspection, or managed to clear even the lowest speed bumps, but the muffler on that thing (or the lack thereof) could be heard a mile away.

The newest accessory Sparks had added was certainly the most interesting, and definitely was not standard equipment. Heather Calloway was leaning against the passenger side door, as she and Sparks were getting to know each other. Heather lived a couple of blocks away from me, in the same subdivision, so having Sparks take me home wasn't that far out of his way. Once again, I was relegated to the cramped back seat of a subcompact. My birthday and ability to drive couldn't come fast enough!

On the way home, I told Sparks about Mike's plan to renovate the old tree-house in the back yard. Heather seemed a bit more interested than Sparks, but he said he was willing to devote some time on the weekends to it. We setup a planning session to happen over lunch Saturday to start outlining the project. I promised to contact Maria's husband to see if he could come by and give us a hand.

The more I thought about the renovation project, the more I began to buy into the project, purely for selfish reasons. Mike, Jessica, Christine and Christy all had some sort of athletic practice after school each day. Sparks looked like he was starting something with Heather, so I really couldn't count on him either. With no immediate prospects other than homework to fill my time, at least the tree-house renovation would help fill some of that time.

Maria had a snack waiting for me when I got home, so I spent the next half hour telling her about the project. She didn't care so much about the project itself, but she was excited at the prospect of me spending some time with Carlos. Maria quickly called Carlos who told Maria he would make time for me Saturday morning around ten or so.

For the next couple of hours, I Googled my way through a bunch of tree house plans. It was amazing how many different variations there were for a ten-by-ten foot tree-house. Some looked no better than a duck blind, while others looked like small hobbit mansions! I tended to favor a more basic design that wouldn't look completely out of place in the backyard. Just after seven, Maria came by to let me know she was leaving for the day. I gave her a copy of the plans I had printed off, and asked her to give it to Carlos to give him an idea what I had in mind.

Maria was gone no more than ten minutes when Jessica sent me a text to let me know she was on the way over. I was pretty sure that she had no intention of using my room as our meeting place, but I picked up and cleaned up enough to make it presentable, in case I was wrong. There had never been even an inkling of a friendship between the two of us, so taking a leap into thinking that she would be coming here for anything else just wasn't a consideration. Don't get me wrong! Jessica had it going, in spades. She was the perfect blonde-haired, blue-eyed cheerleader honey that had just about all of the male population in that school fumbling over each other to get a chance to be close to her. I had known her long enough, and been given enough disapproving looks, to know that I wasn't even a remote consideration. That made our conversation and her request the night before all the more intriguing.