Chapter 3

Teleplay - Interlude - Big Day
(No Sex)

“Aaron, Julie, breakfast!”

Aaron Carnahan woke up excited. He’d barely gotten to sleep the night before and he threw off his blankets and raced to get ready for school.

Backpack - check.
Homework - check.
Retainer - check.
Good to go.

“Wait,” he thought, and turned back. “Probably oughta put on some body spray today.” He turned to the bathroom and pushed open the door. His baby sister Julie was brushing her teeth and she turned to frown heavily at him, her cartoon-themed toothbrush raised menacingly.

“MOM, AARON IS BEING A JERK TO ME!” she bellowed, surprisingly loud for such a small girl. Sophie Carnahan appeared at the top of the stairs as if she had already been anticipating trouble.

“Aaron, be nice to your sister,” she said, pulling the bathroom door shut for Julie.

“But Moooooom—” Aaron broke in. “I gotta put on booody spraaaay.”

“No, my boy,” Sophie said, trying to suppress a smile. “You do not. That is my first gift to you today. And Julie, be nice to your brother. Especially today. It’s his birthday.” She paused for a long moment and spoke again, an instructional tone adding a bit of steel to her gentle prompting, “Wish your brother a happy birthday, Julie.”

Through the bathroom door came Julie’s voice in a flat monotone. “Happy. Birthday. Aaron.”

Sophie rolled her eyes. “That’s probably as good as you’re gonna get from your sister at seven in the morning, bucko. Hurry up, school doesn’t give you a holiday just for turning twelve.”

The Carnahan kids, carrying backpacks and lunches, waited for the light to change. Aaron had his lunch in a paper sack, but Julie was very proud of her Star Wars lunchbox. She’d gotten sent home from school last week for punching a boy in her class who’d said some very disrespectful things about Princess Leia and even though she’d been punished for it, she now carried the lunchbox as a banner and a challenge to all comers.

The “Walk Now” sign blinked on and the kids crossed the street, reluctantly holding hands for the interval and breaking apart as soon as they hit sidewalk on the other side. Halfway up the block, they met Aaron’s best friend, Stephanie Diaz, waiting for them on the big stump in her front yard. “Happy birthday, Aaron!” she yelled exuberantly, hurling herself off the stump to skid down the slope of her lawn at them. She came to an abrupt halt at the sidewalk and nonchalantly joined them. “You can have your present after school, Mom says.”

“Cool,” Aaron said. “Thanks.”

“Geewl,” mimicked Julie, somewhat snottily. “Theenks.”

Aaron casually shoved Julie’s shoulder and she sat down hard on the slope of the Diaz’ lawn. “Steffi!” she gasped. “Did you see him push me?!”

The older girl shrugged casually. “You’ve heard what your dad says. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” She and Aaron didn’t break stride. Julie dusted herself off and jogged to catch up. “And don’t call me Steffi, that’s a baby name.” Her lip curled, then smoothed. “It’s Stephanie,” she said proudly as they topped the last hill.

“Hey,” said Aaron, eyes fixed on the plaza spreading out in front of their middle school. “Is that Jennifer Burbliss?”

Aaron stood behind the equipment shed in the early fall afternoon sunshine and fidgeted nervously. His calculator watch, an early birthday present that he’d begged for, said he’d been waiting nearly seven minutes and he was a ball of anxiety. His nerve broke. He scooped up his backpack and rounded the corner, running directly into Jennifer Burbliss and nearly knocking her down.

Aaron clutched at her forearms to keep her from falling. “Oh!” he cried. “I didn’t think...” he broke off and stepped back, unsure how to continue. He looked into her eyes and stopped thinking at all. Jennifer was a few inches taller than he was and had huge blue eyes and a cloud of slightly curly golden blond hair almost to her waist. She was without doubt the prettiest girl at his school.

Jennifer glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone had noticed them and stepped around the corner of the shed so they were both hidden from casual view. “You thought I wasn’t going to come,” she said. Aaron blushed to the roots of his hair and nodded.

“I told you I would,” she said softly, and stepped closer, putting a hand on his chest. He expected it to bounce up and down with the pounding of his heart and he inhaled deeply.

“You ... you smell really nice,” he said hesitantly. She lifted her wrist to her nose and breathed in delicately, then held it for him. He leaned forward and closed his eyes, letting her perfume expand to occupy his whole world.

“You smell nice too,” she said, and his eyes snapped open. Her face was very close to his and he couldn’t breathe. “Most boys smell like junky body spray.”

Aaron silently sent the most fervent thanks of his young life toward his mother. “Can I...” he said, trailing off.

She nodded. “You can kiss me.” He did.

Aaron knew she had braces and he’d taken out his retainer specifically because he’d heard horror stories about teens getting tangled, but her lips never parted, so all his worrying turned out to be wasted. She briefly touched his hand as they kissed chastely, but made no other motion toward him, and he couldn’t bring himself to be bolder. They stayed that way for a long moment, then she stepped back, eyes cast down at the ground. “Happy birthday,” she said, and was gone.

It was the greatest thing that had ever happened to anyone, Aaron was pretty sure.

“And then she touched my hand,” Aaron said dreamily, lying on his back on the treehouse floor with his head on his hands, staring up but not seeing the ceiling. The sounds of kids playing below carried up through the leaves and into the open windows. Paper plates with cake crumbs and remnants of icing were piled on the little table and empty cups were stacked ready to go out to the trash. Stephanie sat on a bench built into the side wall and leaned forward, listening intently, her expression unreadable. Aaron, oblivious to her focus, continued his story.