JiMC - Title - Lucky Stiff

I decided that I was not about to make that same mistake with Sherry.

In gym class, I was relieved that inclement weather forced us to play dodge ball in the gymnasium instead of football outdoors. It was a no-brainer exercise, and I was able to give Camille’s advice about Sherry some serious thought.

It didn’t take me long to come up with the obvious solution for dealing with Sherry: talk to her! We had English together in eighth period at the end of the school day. I could make it a point to talk to her then.

Having successfully dealt with Sherry for now, my mind went to other things. I was worried about Kristen’s reaction to finding out that Dale Hardy seemed to want to go after her. I was glad that Patty was around to help her deal with it—I couldn’t think of a better person for somebody to confide in than Patty.

Thinking of Patty brought Camille to mind. Camille was a cheerleader in twelfth grade, and one of Patty’s closest friends. She had hair similar to Kristen’s, long and blonde, but Camille’s face was more oval than Kristen’s was. In fact, it was amazing how much Camille looked like Marcia from the Brady Bunch television show.

Camille liked to joke about sex, and on more than one occasion, hinted that she’d like to have some recreational sex with me. Camille had recently toned down that kind of joking with me, and I had recently come to decide that sex should be an intimate act between lovers. For that reason, I tried to avoid Camille, since it was obvious that she didn’t seem to feel the same way. Another good reason was that Kristen had a jealous streak. Being skilled in the martial arts, Kristen could seriously injure Camille while in a fit of jealous rage.

When Patty’s aunt passed away, Patty joined her mother in New Jersey to attend the funeral. During that time, Patty arranged for Camille to take her place temporarily as my personal adviser and confidante. In the week that Patty was away, I actually grew to know Camille more and our friendship blossomed. Her hints for a sexual liaison lessened, although she continued to occasionally make outrageous puns involving lewd sexual acts. She actually described herself as a slut!

I found Camille to be a very smart person and a good friend. She, like Patty and Kristen, treated me as their equal, despite the fact that I was two grades lower than them in school. In the absence of Patty, Camille was a person that I could turn to if problems came up. She was discreet, intelligent, and quick-witted.

I noticed Camille’s lack of wisecracks during lunch. That alerted me to the fact that she thought the situation with Sherry, Dale, and Kristen was serious. I made a mental note to take extra care with Sherry when I talked to her later.

As I was thinking about these things, a red ball approached me, and I didn’t even notice it until almost the last second. I knew that I didn’t have a chance in hell of catching the ball, so I twisted my body to prevent any damage to important organs as the coach blew his whistle calling me out. I headed to the sidelines, content to pretend to watch the other boys play, while trying to continue to think up ideas on how to handle my end of things with Sherry.

Seventh period came, and I survived a pop quiz in French class. I filled in the answers automatically, and I was getting concerned that I still hadn’t come up with any concrete ideas for dealing with Sherry. The part of me that likes to procrastinate was thinking about waiting until tomorrow, but I quickly shrugged off that idea. It was obvious that I needed to do something because the situation could easily get worse if left alone.

The bell rang, signaling us that we needed to head for eighth period. About halfway to class, I noticed that Sherry was in front of me. I quickly moved toward her, and said “Hi, Sherry.”

Sherry looked at me and her eyes opened. “Oh, Jim. I’m really sorry…”

I cut her off. “No need to apologize again, Sherry. It wasn’t entirely your fault. You need to realize, though, that I am in love with Kristen. We’ve only been going out a few weeks, but it is very serious between us. I’m not after her money, and you should know that.”

Sherry looked at me, surprised. “I never said that you were after her money!”

Oh, shit. I had told Sherry to forget what happened in the music room, and I now realized that this included her outburst about me. “No, I just wanted to assure you that the two of us really love one another. I can see how somebody could get that idea if one doesn’t really know Kristen.”

“Oh,” Sherry said, looking a bit guilty. “I know that the two of you are dating, but…” Her eyes dropped again, and she let the sentence hang.

We were near the English class, and the bell was about to ring. I steered Sherry into the classroom and said, “Sherry, let’s talk about this later. I think the two of us really need to talk to one another. I like you… I really do, and I want us to be friends. Close friends.”

Sherry had a shocked look on her face as I walked to my desk.

The topic for that day was exposition writing, or, as my English teacher, Ms. Taylor put it, writing to persuade. I thought it an appropriate topic, actually, considering my need to persuade Sherry about some things.

During the class, I stole glances at Sherry, who looked disturbed. Maybe I laid it on too thick in my last remark to her, but I needed to get Sherry to stop hating Kristen. To do that, I needed to become a friend to Sherry.

I considered whether my actions were honorable. After all, I was seeking Sherry’s friendship with an ulterior motive in mind. My motive was to prevent a bad situation between Kristen and her. As I mentioned earlier, Kristen knew martial arts and she also had a jealous streak—two things that made for a dangerous combination. I didn’t want Sherry hurt, emotionally or physically.

Something in Sherry’s revelation to me earlier that day tugged at my heart. I had been completely unaware that she had been infatuated with me for so long.

Now, just because a girl has had a crush on me doesn’t mean that I really have any obligation to her; that sort of thing didn’t strike me as being fair.

On the other side of the coin, however, I had not known that about Sherry’s feelings, and I realized that part of the reason that I didn’t know was my own fault. I knew that I used to be more than a bit self-centered and conceited back in junior high, and I probably still had traces of both of those character flaws. Recently, I started changing my outlook from just thinking about me, to thinking about Kristen and the new friends that I was now making.

Now I had Sherry suddenly thrust into my world. I didn’t know her very well, and I realized that I would probably have to rectify that. Of course, I would have to let Kristen know my intentions and motives as well, or things could get even worse.

I didn’t know if Sherry’s infatuation with me would interfere with the two of us being friends. I had never dealt with anything like this before. I knew that I needed to talk with either Patty or Camille about this in more detail, but Camille told me that she might be able to help Sherry somehow find another focus. I had no idea what Camille meant by that, or if she really had anything planned. Either way, I was determined to do right by Sherry.

When the bell rang to signal our release from school, I saw Sherry bolt for the door. I think I might have frightened her with the things that I said earlier. I was closer to the exit, however, and managed to catch up with her easily.

“Sherry, can we talk for a few minutes? School is over now, and I feel we really need to talk.”

Sherry had an uncertain look on her face and she shook her head. “Sorry. I have to get home. My mom’s expecting me…”