Connie
lived across the street when we started walking to Kindergarten together just two
blocks away. Graduating to the middle school, we hoofed the six block walk every day as well; weather didn’t matter because we weren’t getting a ride.
Neither
had gone steady with a boy yet, not even close, but we were more than slightly
obsessed. Who would be the first one to kiss?
All
the “popular” boys had given their I.D. bracelets to all the “popular” girls
and everyone knew what that meant… Immediate access to the infamous boy/girl
parties to which we had NEVER been invited for two reasons…No boyfriend, Not
exactly popular!
The
“grapevine” said EXACTLY what went on in the pretty girls’ basements; Spin The
Bottle and Seven Minutes. Even the names fascinated us. We were extremely
intrigued, curious yet way out of our league. “Wow” was all either one could say.
We whispered secret feelings, on our walks to and from school…a desire to see,
with our own eyes just what went on in the darkness of “Georgie’s” basement.
Somehow,
someway by someone, we were deemed worthy one Friday afternoon.
Expected
in our front doors by 3:30, we ran the half-mile home breathlessly hatching a
plan. “Just say a quick ‘hi’ to your mom, then let’s go”; an excuse was right
at the tip of our tongues. "Going to Kathleen's."
No
words could describe how nervous we were seeing the house. Almost backing out at
Patti’s front door, we saw a taped note. “We’re in the basement” Duh?
It
took a few moments for our eyes to adjust. Kids were everywhere AND they were making
out! Smack in the middle of a circle of twenty, or so, was the glass Coke
bottle.
Georgie
waved us over as someone took a spin. Crawling on hands and knees to the
center, a boy and a girl kissed. Suddenly, I had a pit in my stomach and I was
beginning to sweat. I touched Connie’s arm and said to everyone, “I’m going to
use the bathroom”. Connie said, “I’ll go with you”.
Would
you call that leaving a party with grace? Uh, uh. I would call that extremely
awkward but unavoidable at the time. I might have been more embarrassed if I’d
vomited in the circle.
Think
back to your own adolescence. With the perspective of time, try to find the
beauty or grace in an awkward adolescent situation, even if there is only a
sliver to find.
If
you are one of the two people on the planet to make it through your pre-teen
and teen years without a single moment of awkwardness, try to write about a
situation you observed during that time that seemed awkward for someone else.
400 word
limit.
