Chapter 10

School started in September and things were quickly back to normal. Cindy and I tried out for cheerleading, but neither of us made the squad. The main topic in the locker room was Mary Jo and her baby. I learned that her parents made her go to an all girl school.

October rolled around and my parents told my brother and I that we could have a party if we wanted one. Eddie and I talked about it and decided it would be fun to have a few friends over. Mom and I planned the party, deciding on having it on a Saturday between my brother's and my birthdays.

I didn't really know any boys, so I invited Cindy and some of the girls I knew from school. I also asked Kathy and her brother Brad. Kathy accepted, but she told me her bother couldn't make it. Eddie asked a few of his friends and by the time of the party, we had six girls and eight boys, including my brother and I.

The party was typical of kids our ages. The boys hung around in a group and so did the girls. We swam in the pool, ate pizza and drank sodas. Mom had bought a cake with both mine, and my brother's names on it as well as ice cream.

By the time the party broke up, there were only four of us left, my brother, his friend Kevin, Cindy and me. We were still divided for a while, but finally joined into one group.

I had known Kevin for several years. He and Eddie played soccer together and had been teammates for as long as they'd known each other. I had never paid much attention to Kevin in the past, but today was different.

For the first time, I noticed that Kevin was sort of cute. He was about the same height as I was and had curly brown hair and green eyes.

The four of us sat in lawn chairs on the patio and talked for about an hour. I found out that Kevin liked to fish and he was in band at school. I knew that Eddie loved fishing and learned that the two boys had gone to a nearby lake several times to try and catch some fish.

"I would love to go deep-sea fishing someday," Eddie said.

"Me too," Kevin said. "My dad has taken me out on the Intracoastal Waterway a few times and it was fun, but I'd like to try for the really big fish."

"Does your dad have a boat?" I asked Kevin.

"No, we rent one when we go. He has talked about getting a boat, but that's all, just talk," Kevin replied.

My mom and dad were sitting near us, listening to us talk. I heard my dad whispering to my mom, but couldn't hear what he said.

"My dad works at a place that builds boats," Eddie said. "They build big yachts, not fishing boats. I would love to go fishing too, you know, on the ocean. Maybe we should get our dads to charter a boat and take us."

"I want to go too," I said.

"You don't know anything about fishing, Jen," Eddie said.

"I could learn, it sounds fun," I said.

In my mind, I could picture being on a boat with Kevin. I was becoming attracted to him as I got to know him.

"Girls don't fish, it's a boy thing," Eddie said.

That statement got my mom's attention and she spoke up.

"That's not right, Eddie. Fishing can be as much fun for girls as it is for boys. I don't like it when you talk about boy and girl things. We can do anything you guys can do, some things we can do better!" Mom said.

Eddie knew better than to push about the subject of girls and boys. He knew that my mom would get mad at him so he didn't say anymore about me going fishing for the rest of the conversation. When Cindy said she'd like to try fishing, Eddie gave her a look and smiled.

"I'll teach you how to fish, Cindy. I even have an extra rod and reel," Eddie said.

"We should all go to the lake someday," Kevin said. "I'll teach you to fish, Jen."

Kevin and Cindy left to go home. Eddie and I stayed out by the pool and talked with my parents for a while.

Mom and Dad bought digital cameras for my brother and me as birthday presents. The cameras weren't as nice as our cousin's camera, but they weren't junk either. After we went in the house, Eddie and I started to take pictures of everything we could. Eddie helped me load the software onto my notebook computer and showed me how to download the pictures.

Eddie and I sat on the living room floor and laughed as we looked at the pictures on my computer. They weren't very good and I needed to learn a lot more about composure and the like. When we looked at Eddie's, they were much better.

Our parents sat on the couch behind my brother and me, making comments about the pictures we took. After we had looked at all of the pictures on both computers, Mom and Dad went back outside to sit on the patio.

"So, Jen, what did you think of Kevin?" Eddie asked me once we were alone.

"He's okay."

"Do you like him?"

"I don't know, why?"

"He told me he likes you, Jen. He said you're real cute."

"Did you tell him you were going to beat him up?" I giggled.

"No! So what do you think of him?"

"He's cute and seems nice. Does he have a girlfriend?"

My brother shook his head no.

"What's going on with you and Cindy?"

"Nothing, I haven't touched her," my brother said defensively.

I laughed and said, "I know, she told me. She said you haven't even tried to kiss her yet. Don't you like her?"

"Yeah, I like her," he said as he blushed.

"Why don't you kiss her, she wants you to?"

"She does?"

"Yeah, she told me she wanted to."

"Cool, maybe I will next time I see her."

Mom and Dad came in and sat in the living room. Eddie and I stopped talking about Cindy and Kevin and started to ask our parents about going fishing. Dad said he'd think about it and left it at that.

My Aunt Sally and Frank came to our house for Thanksgiving again just like every year. During their stay, Dad arranged for all of us to go fishing on a charter boat.

It was the Saturday morning after Thanksgiving that we all got up at four o'clock and headed to the marina to go fishing. It was cool, so we all wore long pants and sweatshirts, bringing our suits and shorts in case it warmed up.

We met the captain at his boat and left while it was still dark. Mom, Aunt Sally and I stayed below in the cabin as the captain headed out to where we would fish. By the time we arrived at the area, the sun was just breaking the horizon. I went out on deck and watched as the captain and the mate prepared the fishing rods. They put small fish on the hooks for bait and lowered the lines into the water. Once the six rods were set, the captain went back up to the flying bridge and we started to troll.

It was only about twenty minutes later when the mate shouted, "Fish on," and grabbed one of the rods. He pulled back on the rod sharply several times and then handed it to my brother.

After a brief fight, the mate gaffed the fish and pulled it onto the deck.

"That's a nice Dolphin," Bobby, the mate, said.

"I thought that Dolphin were mammals," I said.

"That's another kind of Dolphin," Bobby said. "This is a Dolphin fish."

I looked at the green fish on the deck and said, "Can I catch one too?"

"We're going to try and have everyone catch fish today," Bobby said. "Just make sure you're ready."

Frank caught the next fish, a Dolphin a bit bigger than my brother's. Bobby reset the rod and I waited patiently for him to yell, "Fish on" and hand me the rod. By now the sun was up and it was getting warm. I wanted to shed my sweatshirt, but I didn't want to miss my turn at catching a fish.

I went up close to the cabin, and while everyone was watching the rods, I lowered the top of the bib overalls I was wearing and pulled off my sweatshirt. Wearing only a white bra, I pulled the bibs back up and adjusted the shoulder straps, making it as tight as I could.

No one seemed to notice the fact that I wasn't wearing a shirt under my overalls, except Mom. She looked at me, smiled and then nudged my aunt. I shrugged my shoulders and giggled as my mom and aunt laughed.