The First Week of August

I woke up to the worst day of the year. Not only was it a Monday, but school started that day. I was getting ready and still half asleep when I realized it might have been the best day of the year. I’d be picking Fallon up at seven thirty. I took a bit more care in choosing my wardrobe and chose a hunter green Hang Ten polo shirt, brown cords, and Topsiders. If you were a surfer, it’s what you wore. I grabbed the latest issue of Surfer magazine, stuffed it in my back pocket and was about to go out when I heard Lisa coming down the stairs.

“Wait up,” she hollered. Not what I expected.

“I’m going to pick up Fallon. I thought you’d take the bus.”

“Why would I do that when you can take me,” she said, pushing past me and out the door.

I had no legitimate reason to refuse, except that she was my sister, and it was the first of August and my month with Fallon.

“Fine,” I said, climbing into the truck. “But when we get to Fallon’s you’re going to have to slide in back,” I said with a straight face.

“There’s room for three,” she said patting the seat between us. “I am not going to show up at school in the back of your truck like some of your pool supplies.”

“I put my board back there too,” I said and she realized I was kidding. “I don’t know what, if anything the two of us are doing after school so you might need to take the bus. Maybe not today but I’m not going to guarantee a ride every day.” I popped an eight track in and Creedence came on with Born on the Bayou, a great way to start.

“Fine. I’ll see her in geometry and we can figure it out.”

“Better yet, why not let Fallon and me figure it out,” I said and meant it.

“Up until a week ago she was one of my best friends and now she’s your girlfriend. This sucks.”

“Doesn’t have to. And there’s no reason she can’t be both. Spend more time with Lu and Tina this month. You’ll still have time with Fallon. Promise.” She seemed somewhat mollified by that.

I pulled into Fallon’s driveway and was about to go to the door when she came out in blue dress with oversized white polka dots and white collar. She looked good. She had a notebook and a music book and it dawned on me that she might have to stay after for band.

“You have Lisa,” she said, surprised. Not happy but not disappointed, either.

With Lisa still in the truck, Fallon and I talked for a moment.

“She’s still my sister and still your friend,” I said.

“Yeah. Weird though, huh?”

“Pretty much. I don’t know how this is going to work. But she can take the bus too so there are options. We’ll figure it out.” She seemed happy with that and gave me a quick kiss before we went to my truck.

“That’s pretty nice, you know. A kiss before school. I like it.”

“There’s probably more after school,” she said and smiled.

I opened the door for Fallon and Lisa slid to the middle. Fallon would have none of that and motioned for her to trade places. Lisa hopped out, grinning like an idiot, Fallon got in and then Lisa climbed back in. I liked it. Fallon wasn’t going to settle for the outside seat. I slid in and started my truck. Fallon put her hand on my knee and whispered in my ear that she was going to bug Lisa and I nodded.

For the rest of the way to school, she ignored Lisa and talked to me. I watched Lisa steam. It was amusing. We talked about our class schedules and were happy to discover we had the same lunch schedule. There were only two places to eat; the Student Union or outdoors beneath the dome. We agreed to meet at the dome that day.

I parked in the north lot and let the girls out. Fallon had obviously said something to Lisa and she didn’t seem so steamed when she got out. I noticed a lot of kids around Ed Carter’s restoration job. He’d bought a ‘49 Ford woody and spent the summer restoring it. It looked cherry and he was getting a lot of appreciation for all the hard work. Ed was a good guy that couldn’t surf very well but he still enjoyed trying and definitely liked the image. The real surfers liked him because he always seemed to know where the best surf was.

Fallon jumped down next to me and when I turned back from checking out Ed’s car, she planted a kiss on me. It was fast but it was hungry, and she delivered it with a smile and very big, happy eyes.

“That was nice, Fallon. I feel good with you. Appreciated, you know?”

She nodded. “See you at lunch. Lisa and I have first period together. She didn’t know,” she whispered. “It’s why I was giving her grief.” I gave her a quick peck and the two of them took off for class. Lisa looked over her shoulder at me with a look I couldn’t decipher.

First period was US History and I thought it would be a breeze. English was American Literature with Mrs. Taggert and I couldn’t tell. I thought we might have to write a lot of papers. Time consuming but probably better than taking a bunch of tests. Third period was Trigonometry. I’m pretty good at math but everyone ahead of me swore about how hard Trig was because you had to memorize so many formulas. If that was the challenge, I wasn’t worried. I grabbed a seat and looked to see who else was in the class. A lot of my fellow jocks and surfers took the easy route on math so I was surrounded by a bunch of college preppers. About half of them were seniors, taking their last math class. And then I noticed a familiar face on the far side of the room. Tina. She was the only sophomore in the class. I leaned forward, to see past two rows of people and saw her smiling back. She gave me a little finger wave and smiled, obviously enjoying my surprise that she was in the class.

I sat back and tried to figure out how she managed to get into Trig as a sophomore. I thought I’d taken the most aggressive schedule for math and science but here she was. The only thing I could think of was that she took a high school math class when she was still in eighth grade. Maude B. Davis, Junior High was next door and she could have. I didn’t know anyone who had done that. I’m not sure why it surprised me but it did. I decided to arrive early the next day and try to get a seat next to her.

I listened as Mr. Lum explained how angles were everywhere and understanding them would make our lives richer. He told us not to worry about the rumors regarding massive numbers of formulas. He’d give us a quiz with a cheat sheet first so we would know that we understood the principles before every test. It seemed like he understood why Trig got a bad rap. When class finished, I cut through the crowd to get to Tina.

“Hi,” I said, cleverly.

“Fancy meeting you here,” she said smiling.

“The class is half seniors and half juniors.”

“And me. We should go. I don’t want to be late for my next class.”

“Me neither. What do you have?”

“Chemistry.”

“Holy crap, Tina. You’re going to be surrounded with juniors and seniors again. How? Wait. Why, is a better question.”

We left the room and turned left toward the science department. Her locker was on the way so we stopped for her to drop off books from her first classes.

“Is chemistry your only science class?” she asked and I nodded. “I have physics this afternoon.”

“You obviously have a plan. What are you up to?” We kept walking toward class. I was about to take her hand in mine but it was Fallon’s month and I wasn’t sure what the rules were yet.

“I’ll be all but done with high school by the end of next year. I can take college courses across the street at Orange Coast. I’m going to try to get into a calculus class there next year but I’ll need waivers.”

I was a little taken aback. No. I was a lot taken aback. “And after that? You’ve got a long-term goal. You must have. No one signs up for academic abuse unless they have a good reason.”

I held the door for her and we sat next to each other as Mr. Spang began to take roll. As he called names, he pointed people to their assigned seats. Tina ended up one aisle over and one seat in front of me. I was behind her and to her right. Mr. Spang told us that his class could be a lot of fun if you stayed up with the requirements. He also said it would be a royal pain in the ass if we fell behind. It was pretty rare to hear a teacher call something, and especially their class, a pain in the ass. I thought I would enjoy it, especially when we got a few weeks into the class and started having labs. When he said we’d get to pick our lab partners, Tina looked over her shoulder at me and gave me the double eyebrow raise. Sounded good to me. He spent the rest of the hour giving us an overview of the course and what we could expect. I liked him. I especially liked that he allowed us to pick our own lab partners.

After class, I walked Tina back to her locker where she grabbed her lunch. Sometimes I brought one and sometimes I bought one. She was prepared with a metal Yosemite Sam lunchbox. I had never seen anyone at high school with a metal lunch box but she had one and didn’t seem even remotely bothered to be the only one. I picked up a burger, fries and a Coke and we continued to the dome.

It wasn’t really a dome but a huge metal three-cornered canopy with dozens of picnic benches under it. I’ve never seen one like it anywhere else but it seemed normal to us. It didn’t take long to spot Fallon. She was with a group of friends but she left them to join us. We talked for a few minutes and grabbed a seat. Tina excused herself to sit with other friends. I thought that she could have sat with us and I had questions about the classes she was taking. I remembered that she had let LuAnn have time with me, surfing, and kept Fallon out of it. I figured she might be doing the same thing for Fallon. Interesting. I watched her sit with a couple of kids I thought were either juniors or maybe seniors.

Fallon and I talked for a while, mostly about her morning classes. I’d had two of her four teachers and gave her some tips. After we’d been talking a while, her friends started to join us, one at a time and only for a moment. After the fourth such interruption, Fallon clued me in.

“They’re checking you out. They don’t know you.”

“Ah. And they’re curious.”

“And as socially awkward as I am.”

“You’re not socially awkward,” I answered. She looked at me like I had lettuce growing out of my nose. “You don’t seem socially awkward to me,” I tried.

“You’re used to me.”

“Right. And that’s why you don’t seem socially awkward to me.” I realized that might not have sounded like the compliment I meant it to be.

“Michael,” she said, looking past me.

“What?” I asked then saw the look in her eyes. It wasn’t a happy look.

I followed her line of sight to Tina and saw her talking to a big kid, standing next to where she was sitting. She had the same look she’d had at The Roadhouse when an unwanted cowboy wouldn’t leave her alone. I had to do something but I didn’t really know what. I motioned to Fallon that I would be right back but I honestly had no idea what I was going to do or if I would survive the confrontation. It didn’t matter. I walked between the tables toward them, my eyes never leaving Tina until I got close enough.

“Hey,” I hollered and the big guy turned. I approached but kept a few feet between us. “Is there a problem?” I asked him.

“No, officer. There’s no problem. Who the hell are you?” he asked as he squared to me.

He was easily a foot taller than me and had a good fifty pounds or more. I didn’t recognize him and I knew most of the football players. He wasn’t one of them but he could have been.

“I’m a friend of Tina’s and it doesn’t look like she’s happy.”

“She will be soon. Beat it.”

That’s about as far as my plan went. “Let’s ask her. Tina, are you interested in this guy’s company?”

“It’s okay, Michael,” she said but wasn’t at all convincing.

“It’s more than okay. Take a hike while your friend and I talk,” he said and I saw his fists clench out of the corner of my eye.

“I’ll leave if she asks me to. Not you,” I answered with all the confidence I could muster, which wasn’t much. I was going to the nurse’s office. I could feel it in my bones. And then I screwed up all the courage I had and said, “I don’t hear her asking me to leave. Time for you to go. You’re not wanted.”

“You going to make me?” he asked, obviously begging for a fight.

“If I have to. You may kick my ass but not without some pain,” I said as I balled my own fist. This was going to hurt. And then, the tide turned.

“I’ll leave now, punk. But not because you asked. And I’ll see you later,” he said to Tina and left.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief and relaxed my hands. I was shaking. I looked at Tina and she was grinning ear to ear, obviously at her knight in shining armor. And then I realized she was smiling at something behind me. I turned to find my friend, backing me up.

“Moose. When did you get here?”

“Right before the bloodshed. You good?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me,” he answered. “Thank Fallon. She called the cavalry but I came instead.” He looked over my shoulder at Tina. “You a friend of Michael’s?” he asked.

“And Fallon. Thanks, Moose, I really appreciate it.”

“If you’re a friend of Michael and Fallon, then you’re a friend of mine. Just holler,” he said and walked back to his table.

I looked at Tina sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders. I’d come running but I couldn’t have really done anything.

“Tige is big. You came anyway. It’s a big deal. Don’t sell yourself short. Thanks. Fallon’s waiting,” she said.

I nodded and went back to find her surrounded by friends asking questions. That was twice in two weeks that I’d needed help getting out of a bind. I had to figure something out. I wouldn’t always have a bouncer or Moose to bail me out. I squeezed through the crowd and grabbed my seat.

“Dude. That was Tige Williams. I can’t believe you squared off with him.”

I took a bite of my cold burger. Lunch was almost over; I was hungry and I had questions without ready answers. Fallon reached across and put her hand on mine, and mouthed, “Thank you” to me over the sound of questions and comments. I was in the middle of geeky, socially awkward band members.

Fallon leaned forward and said, “I have a band meeting after school. I can catch second bus.”

“Not a chance. Band room?” I asked and she nodded. We picked up our stuff and managed to work our way past the crowd. I managed to catch a glimpse of Tina and she was watching me and laughing. I think she understood Fallon’s friends far better than I did. Or at least she understood Fallon.

“Thank you,” she said and gave me a quick peck on the cheek.

“For what?”

“Standing up to Tige for Tina. That was pretty bold.”

“Or stupid.”

“No. It was bold. Brave. See you after school. You can go in. The room will be open and you’re welcome.” I nodded and we parted.

My afternoon was easy. All I had was civics and auto shop. I had to take civics, but with a couple of attorneys for parents, I probably knew half of it before I started. I took auto shop hoping to save on repairs on my truck if I ever needed them. Most of the kids in civics were senior girls but the kids in shop were all boys and from every grade. I had Trig and civics homework. I grabbed those books and left the rest in my locker. On my way to band, I checked a spare locker I’d used the previous year. It was on the other end of campus and could come in handy. On my third try, I popped it open and found it empty, a major score. If it was still empty at the end of the week, I’d claim it and put my books for three of my classes in it to save time and not have to carry them around all the time. I’d had three lockers the previous year. Whenever someone transferred out, I’d ask for their locker and combo and then use it. They never reissued lockers.

I walked toward the band room. I knew where it was but had never been in the building. It was next to the athletic department, presumably because band supported the football team. I’d never seen them at a water polo game or swim meet before and the idea made me laugh. I was a little cautious about going in. This was Fallon’s world. I went in. It was still Fallon’s world. This would be a great chance to see what that world really was.

I went in and grabbed a seat off to the side. Everyone there was seated by instrument family. The only way I could tell was that some were holding their instruments. Fallon was in the front row and I thought it was strings. Violin, maybe. The teacher told them about their performance opportunities for the year and I discovered there was a big difference between orchestra and band. While some were in both, orchestra was obviously superior, at least to them. Orchestra doesn’t march. Band is all about brass and drums. While the band would march for the football team, the orchestra would present a night of Gershwin, another night of Mozart and one of Rachmaninov. The only individual singled out was Fallon, when they were discussing Rachmaninov. If she would play piano, they would go ahead with it. If not, they would do another composer I’d never heard of.

Their meeting adjourned and Fallon introduced me to a dozen people whose names I immediately forgot. I apologized later but there were simply too many new names and faces for me to remember them all. I think Fallon realized I wasn’t terribly comfortable with the orchestra crowd. We skipped a lot of introductions and walked back to the north parking lot. We were almost back to the truck when I heard someone calling for Fallon.

“It’s Sascha,” she said, as though I would know him. “He lives two doors down from me, across the street.”

“Fallon. Is there any chance I can get a ride with you? I missed second bus.” Fallon looked at me. What could I say?

“We can make room,” I said, wishing I hadn’t.

“Thanks so much. I’m Sascha, Fallon’s neighbor. I didn’t know who to ask and I really didn’t look forward to a two-mile walk.”

“It’s not a problem, Sascha. Glad to help.” I really wasn’t. We got to my truck.

“I’ll just jump in back. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Don’t be silly. We gave my sister a ride this morning. We can give you one this afternoon.”

Unlike Lisa, he didn’t try to sit next to me. We rode most of the way in silence. I finally asked him what his story was. He went to an impromptu soccer team meeting and was going to be late for his karate class. He needed the class as he was preparing for his brown belt test. I suddenly became very interested. I asked him to tell me more about it and he promised to do that the next day. When we pulled into Fallon’s driveway, he practically jumped out of the truck, hollering thanks over his shoulder as he ran home.

“Finally,” I said.

Fallon read my mind and turned to me. “Hey, you.”

“Hey you,” I said in return and kissed her.

I’d discovered that we had an entire range of kisses, ranging from the hungry, to passionate, to loving, to greeting. This was a loving kiss. When we broke, I told her that and she thought about it a minute.

“Goodbye kisses. Don’t forget those.”

“Those are kind of like a greeting kiss.”

“There’s a forehead kiss,” she said, so I kissed her forehead. “And there’s a hand kiss,” she said and I kissed her hand. “There’s a butterfly kiss.” I didn’t know what that was so she leaned forward and flicked her eyelashes across my cheek.

“I’m probably not going to give you many of those,” I said. “Wait. There’s a vampire kiss,” I said and kissed her neck, threatening to suck her blood.

“Ooh. There’s a lizard kiss,” she said.

“A what?”

“A lizard kiss. Stick out your tongue.”

I did, and she flicked her tongue against mine. I got it and started to lizard kiss back, which turned into a French kiss, which turned into a hungry French kiss which turned into both of us out of breath.

“My heart is racing,” she said. “Feel.” She pulled my hand to her neck. “I don’t think you can feel my pulse there,” she said and pulled my hand lower, and then lower still, until I was cupping her tit.

“It might be racing but I don’t think I can feel your pulse there,” I said smiling. “I probably need more practice.”

A couple walked by with their little kid on his bicycle and we laughed because we were making out in her driveway in the middle of the day. They passed and we laughed. Then I slid my hand inside the top of her dress and felt her through only her thin, lacy bra.

“I wish we were back on the Zinneman’s deck,” she said, recalling our steamy encounter a few nights before.

“I’d never been more excited in my life, Fallon. When I turned back to you to feel skin on skin. I had never been so excited.”

“Me neither.”

“That was pretty bold, you know. I think you only have two speeds, green and red.”

“My mom says I’m either hot or cold. No lukewarm.”

“That’s it. Fallon, you are always hot,” I said and pulled her into another hungry kiss. She reached down and felt me through my jeans, squeezing me. I almost lost it.

We broke the kiss and she asked, “Do you want to go inside?”

“Okay, but we should wait a couple of minutes. Unless you want me to show your mom how I feel about you.”

“Yeah. Probably not a good idea. How long will it take for that monster to go back to normal size?”

“It pretty much depends on what I’m thinking about.”

“So, if I told you that my nipples were as hard as little pebbles...”

“Not going to help,” I said, smiling.

“What if I told you...”

“Stop. It’s a sunny afternoon and we’re pretty much in a public place and you’ve got me so worked up that my cords are about to pop.”

“We should talk about something else.” I nodded and waited for her to change the subject. “I can’t think of anything else,” she said and we both laughed. She started telling me about geeky band members and I shriveled back to useless size in no time.

“That did the trick. Let’s go inside, quick,” I said. She laughed and we both went in.

I followed her into the kitchen where her mom was finishing dinner. She pulled pork chops out of the oven. I saw mashed potatoes, and broccoli on the stove and the table was set for four.

“Where’s Joshua?” Fallon asked.

“Adopted. Child services picked him up early this morning. Hi, Michael. Stay for dinner? There’s plenty.”

“I didn’t get to say goodbye,” Fallon said. “Where’s he going?”

“Denver. A couple in Denver flew in yesterday and were taking him home today. How about that? Michael?”

“It smells great. Are you sure? I don’t to be an inconvenience.”

“You’re always welcome. At least until September,” she added and smiled.

“Fallon told you about that.”

“She did. At first, I thought it was strange. But then I thought the girls are such good friends and it’s just dating. If Fallon’s happy, I’m happy,” she said and then turned to me and put her hand on my shoulder. “But do you have any idea what kind of trouble you’re asking for?” I could see the mischief in her eyes.

“No ma’am. I think I’m probably in very deep water and don’t even know it.”

“You’ve got that right. You do know that these girls talk about everything, don’t you?”

“Not this, mom. We talked about not talking.”

“I’ll bet. Well, I still think you’re asking for trouble. I remember your tenth birthday party when LuAnn tried to...”

“Mom! Don’t want to hear about that. Please.”

“Let me call home. I’m sure it will be okay,” I said. She nodded and I used the kitchen phone to dial home. Lisa answered and said she’d relay the message. She told me she got a ride home from LuAnn’s mom and, where was I?

We sat down to eat without her Dad. He was working late. I asked and was told he was in charge of risk mitigation at the San Onofre nuclear plant and they were installing something or other and running late. It sounded pretty technical, whatever he did. Her mom was a good cook and I had to tell myself to slow down and not be a pig.

The conversation slowed and I decided to jump into deep water. “Would you tell me the story? How did you decide to adopt Fallon, but only Fallon?” I thought it might be a difficult subject but I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Frank and I couldn’t have kids of our own and we thought about adopting but it seemed scary to us. So, we got licensed to be foster parents. Fallon was our first. We’d had her about a week, when he, Frank, said we should try to keep her. He said we could get bunches more kids but never a better one so we should just keep her. So, we did. She was still small enough that we could carry her, but that didn’t last long. We talked about it and decided to take in kids we could carry and we’ve been doing babies ever since. It’s been ten years, now. We must have had a hundred babies. Maybe more. Frank has a list somewhere but I lose track.”

“And they have all been adopted?” I asked.

“Most. But sometimes their mothers change their minds. That’s really sweet when they do.”

“It seems like it would be hard to give them up. You know. After you get to know them.”

“It’s hard. But you just have them for a season. They aren’t our babies. We just get to rent them for a couple of days or maybe a month or two.”

“That’s neat but it’s kind of crazy, too. Fallon, you’re the only person I know whose parents picked them. It’s like you’re a first-round draft choice. So, now you have the same last name and all. Do you know who your real parents are?”

“This is my real mom. And my real Dad will be home soon. But I know what you mean. I don’t remember my bios. It’s part of the deal. They gave me up and that’s a good thing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“If my bios hadn’t given me up, I wouldn’t have gotten to be with my real parents.”

“Wow. I never would have thought of it that way but it’s pretty cool, the way you explain it. I hope I’m not being too nosy.”

Her mom put her hand on my forearm. “Open book, sweetheart. We’ve answered a lot of questions over the years. We’re used to it. So’s Fallon. It’s always funny when someone says, ‘you’ve got your mother’s eye’ or something like that. We just smile and nod.”

“I bet. I bet you’ve had some funny things happen, too. Like when you have a baby as dark as Joshua was.”

“Or when we have two babies at the same time and they don’t look anything alike. People just don’t know and that’s okay. We don’t mind. Maybe they will want to foster or adopt. I think a lot more people would if they knew the need.”

“Well, you must have done something right cause Fallon is pretty amazing.”

“Thank you, Michael. She came with the nature; we just provide the nurture. I don’t think there’s anything she can’t do if she puts her mind to it.”

I liked Fallon’s real mom a lot. I asked when they would get another baby and was told, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month. They never knew. She got a call and if they could take a baby, they’d get one, never knowing how long they would have one. Sometimes it was only for a day or two and once it was for six months. There was just no way to know. We finished dinner. I offered to help with the dishes and was thanked and dismissed to enjoy our evening. I had homework.

“I don’t want to get behind on Trig. Do you have any homework?”

“A little. We can work together at the table.”

I went out to my truck and grabbed my book and we worked side by side for a half hour. I took some notes and read ahead a little. It was ridiculously logical and all made sense. Fallon did not seem happy about her geometry class. By seven we were both done. We went into the living room and crashed on the couch. About eight, her mom came in and told us Frank probably wouldn’t be home that night and that we needed to knock it off by ten. Then she went upstairs and left us alone.

Fallon scooted close to me. Then she took my right arm and put it around her shoulders. Then she snuggled in closer. Then she pulled my hand down lower. I let her move me like a rag doll, happily complying with whatever she had in mind.

“I don’t know what your mom’s habits are but I don’t want to get in trouble in your living room. That wouldn’t be good.”

“When she goes upstairs, she stays upstairs. We’d hear her if she wanted to come down.”

“Still...”

“It’s not the Zinneman’s deck. I know. But since that night, it’s about all I can think about.”

“Definitely pretty nice.”

“I want,” she said and twisted around to face me.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“You. Everything in me. I want your hands on me. I want your mouth on me. I want to hold you. I want. It’s crazy.”

“That sounds good. You feel good.”

“We have clothes on.”

She turned back away from me and slid up tight against me. She adjusted herself and then did it again. Then she pulled my right hand against her thigh. It was warm. Perhaps warmer than normal from all the sun she’d got over the last week. She pulled my hand higher, up, under her dress, all the way to her flat stomach.

“Do you like how I feel?”

“I love how you feel, Fallon. I love your flat stomach and your strong legs. All the skating has made them strong and toned, and I love that. I love that I can feel your tone, your muscles. It feels sexy to me.”