Authors: CJ Zane
Love and Fandoms
and Fandoms
By CJ Zane
Copyright 2014 CJ
Zane
This is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
MANDY (Summer before 3rd Grade)
Mandy ran up to
Wyatt's door and rang the bell while Luci tumbled onto the grass, popped up,
and threw punches and kicks she learned in Taekwondo. Luci tried to get her to take
lessons, too, but Mandy's parents said she played too much soccer to devote
enough time to learning a martial art. If she wanted to give up one of her
leagues, they'd consider it, but she couldn't imagine that. She played in four soccer
leagues throughout the year, one for each season, and Mom and Dad claimed that
was enough. Anyway, Luci taught her a few moves, and while she thought it was neat,
especially since Taekwondo relied on a lot of footwork, soccer was a million
times more fun.
She reached to
ring the bell again, but before her finger found the button, the door opened. The
smells of lunch, possibly grilled cheese and tomato soup, drifted out of the
house. Mrs. Faulk, Wyatt's mom, smiled at her, and then over at Luci. "Hi,
girls. Good timing. We just finished eating." She turned around and
yelled, "Wyatt! Mandy and Luci are here."
"Thank you,
Mrs. Faulk," Mandy said. Luci jogged over from the lawn.
"Are you two
excited about third grade?"
"I am,"
Luci said. "I heard Miss Heather bakes cookies each weekend and brings
everyone in class some on Monday."
"I heard she
brings donuts on holidays," Mandy said.
"We don't go
to school on holidays," Luci said.
Mandy rolled her
eyes at her best friend. "We do on Halloween and St. Patrick's Day and
Valentine's Day. Things like that."
"Oh,
yeah," Luci said. "Cool!"
"Sounds like
it's going to be a yummy school year," Mrs. Faulk said. "Wyatt is most
looking forward to the field trip to City Hall and the police station."
Mandy gave an
enthusiastic nod. "That's going to be fun, too."
Wyatt came up
behind his mom and gave Mandy and Luci a small wave. As always when she saw
him, a funny feeling hit her in the tummy. Most boys were dumb and yucky, not good
for much more than playing soccer with. But not Wyatt. He was as much her best
friend as Luci.
Mrs. Faulk bent
down and kissed the top of his head. "I have to leave for work at four, so
I want you home by then. Do you have your watch?"
He held up his arm
to show her. Mandy saw it was his Batman one. Maybe they could let him act as
Batman today. Neither she nor Luci paid attention to the comic book characters
like he did, but he never got to choose what they played.
"Good,"
Mrs. Faulk said. "Aunt Sandy will be here by then to watch you tonight."
"Aunt Sandy?
Dad isn't coming home?"
Mrs. Faulk shook
her head. "We'll talk about that tomorrow. Okay?"
Wyatt nodded and
stepped outside between Mandy and Luci. Mandy's parents had talked in whispers
about the trouble Wyatt's mom and dad were having, but she could never hear
much. Her aunt and uncle had gotten a divorce last year, and her cousin,
Brenda, told Mandy how difficult it was. Both Brenda's mom and dad had worked
extra-hard to be nice to her, but not having them both at home stunk big time,
even if all they did was fight when they were together. Mandy wanted to give
Wyatt a hug, as he looked sad, but this probably wasn't the best time.
"Have
fun," Mrs. Faulk called, and she closed the door.
They walked
through the neighborhood on the way to their school where they could hang out
in the playground. Luci told a story about her little brother acting up and
almost disrupting one of her Taekwondo classes, and while Wyatt kept pace, he didn't
react even at the funniest parts. Once they neared the school grounds, Mandy
took his hand, finally getting him to look at her.
"I don't
think my dad is coming back," he said. "At least not to live with
us." Neither Mandy nor Luci knew what to say, so they simply led him to
the playground.
"Do you guys
want to play house?" Luci asked, once they reached the big plastic
playground structure. They'd done it often enough, with the huge toy making a
perfect house, complete with stairs, slides, a cargo net, monkey bars, and
plenty of other cool things to climb. "I'll be the sassy mom, and you two
can be my kids."
"No
way," Mandy said. "I'm the wife, Wyatt's my husband, and you can be
our precocious daughter."
Luci clucked her
tongue. "What kind of daughter? That sounds like a vocab word I don't
remember."
"I didn't
learn it in school. Besides, it's a compliment."
"It basically
means you're good at stuff at an early age," Wyatt said.
"And usually
precocious kids are sassy," Mandy said. "At least on TV."
"Oh, okay.
But how come you and Wyatt always get to be the mom and dad?"
"Duh,"
Mandy said. "Because I'm going to marry Wyatt someday, and this is good
practice." She immediately threw her hands up to her mouth and felt her
face heat up. No doubt she was as red as a tomato, as her dad always said when
she blushed. Wyatt's eyes went wide, but his face turned pale instead of red.
Luci's hands also went to her mouth, but she did it to stifle as much laughter
as she could. Mandy couldn't believe she'd let her feelings for Wyatt slip out.
Once Luci got
herself under control, she said, "So the truth comes out. If you're going
to marry him, you need to kiss."
"Luci!"
she squealed in a mix of horror and surprise. Kiss him? She'd never kissed a
boy before. She'd never even
wanted
to kiss a boy. But as she looked
over at Wyatt, his eyes still wide, she had to admit she wouldn't mind. Not
with him.
"Okay,
Wyatt," Luci said. "Pucker up. You need to kiss Mandy."
Now he did blush, and
he nodded his head ever so slightly. "Okay."
Mandy chewed on
her bottom lip, but quickly stopped. She needed both of her lips to kiss him,
right? They took a step towards each other, hesitated, and then took another.
Luci nudged them even closer. "Come on."
Their faces moved together,
and then it happened. When their lips touched, it was shock of static
electricity, like when you scraped your socks across the carpet and touched
someone. But a nice feeling, not a jolt. His sharp intake of breath proved he
felt it, too. The kiss only lasted a second, maybe two, but in that instant,
Mandy knew she was right; someday she would marry Wyatt.
"Eww!"
Luci shrieked between howls of laughter. "That was gross! I don't want to
play house anymore. Let's go on the swings."
As she sprinted
towards the swing set, Mandy and Wyatt shared a shy smile, and then chased
after her.
WYATT (Seventh Grade)
Wyatt and Kareem
walked out of their first/second period block of English and Social Studies on
the way to the lunch area for nutrition break. It was strange to go to whole
new classrooms with different teachers for most subjects. He had done it in
elementary school for Reading and Math, but now, in junior high, it seemed so
much more grown up. Kareem confirmed he felt the same way, even if they hadn't
actually switched classes yet. They would for the remaining five periods of the
day.
He and Kareem became
friends over the past two summers at computer day camp. Both went because they
wanted to design games — Wyatt blockbuster RPG action games and Kareem
physics-based strategy games. Designing games was Wyatt's dream job, while
Kareem wanted to do it for fun. His goal was to become an astrophysicist like
Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Wyatt had been ecstatic
when he not only saw Kareem in Mr. York's class, but got to sit next to him.
They had a lot in common, and Wyatt figured they'd become even better friends
then they had during camp. Hopefully Mandy and Luci would like him, too.
As they headed
towards the cafeteria to get a snack, Kareem said, "My brother says they
have honey buns that they heat up. They're the kind you buy at the mini-marts,
but they're totally worth getting."
"Okay,"
Wyatt said. "First I want to find a couple of friends to see how their day
is going."
"Cool. Who
are they? Not computer campers, I take it."
"No. Mandy
plays soccer in the summer. Well, actually, she pretty much plays all year. And
Luci is into Taekwondo. Neither cares much about computers other than Facebook
and things like that."
Kareem stopped in
his tracks. "Wait, girls? We can't hang out with girls. The only guys that
hang out with girls are those that have game. And, dude, neither of us has
game."
"No, you'll
see. They don't care about that. They're awesome. Mandy's been my best friend
since before elementary school, and Luci since first grade."
At that moment, Mandy
and Luci rounded a corner ahead. Wyatt waved, and Mandy waved back, while Luci
gave a half-hearted one and looked embarrassed. There were a couple of other
girls with them, too, but he didn't know them.
"No
way," Kareem said. "Your friends are way too hot for us to hang out
with. Even talk to. And those girls with them are Simone and Haylee. Light
years out of our league."
"I just want
to say hi." Wyatt started towards them, but Kareem grabbed his arm. He
looked up and saw the other girls had stopped Mandy from coming any closer. She
argued, but the two girls, Simone and Haylee, like Kareem, wouldn't relent.
Luci gave him a shrug and turned around. Mandy stopped struggling, gave him
another wave, this one sad, and turned with her friends. He slumped his
shoulders and let Kareem lead him towards the lunch area.
"Sorry, dude,
but this is junior high. You need to learn the rules."
Wyatt sighed and
nodded.
MANDY (Eighth Grade)
Mandy stood next
to Mrs. Snyder's class, waiting for Luci, who was discussing some sort of science
project. On the brick wall opposite, hanging from a bulletin board, was a flyer
for the Eighth Grade Winter Formal dance. She and Luci were going, either with
dates or with each other. Jessie Harper already asked Haylee, and they were all
pretty certain Scott Williamson would ask Simone. Not that they wouldn't still be
together in the dance. Luci had hopes of Jeremy Van Allen asking her, but he
was already taking Mellissa Trument, so she'd sworn off dating for now. Mandy
tried to point out she needed a first date of any kind to swear it off, but was
promptly told to shut up. Mandy had no prospects, as far as she could tell, but
that was okay. She couldn't wait to go to her first formal dance, even without
a date.
She moved to peek
her head into the doorway to see if Luci was about ready when Wyatt came walking
towards her. She immediately perked up. Though they rarely talked, hardly ever
saw each other, she still thought of him as her Wyatt. She wished she had a
chance to primp herself up, but it was too late now. He wore a Star Wars t-shirt,
and she tried to come up with some sort of saying from it so he'd think she was
cool, but nothing came to mind.
"Hey,
Mandy."
"Hi,
Wyatt." She felt her face heat up. "Haven't talked to you in a
while."
He looked at his
shoes. "Yeah, elementary school was easier, wasn't it?"
"Uh-huh."
Why had she listened to Simone and Haylee that first day of seventh grade?
Social politics were stupid if she couldn't be with who she wanted. She smiled,
hoped it was her best, and wondered what brought him over. She could sense the
nerves pulsing off of him, and her heart caught in her throat. Maybe he was
going to ask her to the Winter Formal. She almost blurted out a
"Yes!" but that would have been stupid since he hadn't actually said
anything yet.
Before he could speak
up, Alex Jacobs's voice sounded behind her. "Hey, Wyatt, how's it
going?"
"Uh, hey,
Alex."
Bad timing, but
there was never anything wrong when Alex was around. He was only the hottest
guy in school. She sat next to him in Pre-Algebra, and they got along well. A
few minutes ago, though she never imagined it would happen in a million years,
her dream was that he might ask her to the dance. But, if given the choice,
she'd choose Wyatt. Assuming, of course, that was why he was here now, which, once
she thought about it, was a very un-Wyatt-like thing to do.
Alex put his hand
up to give Wyatt a fist bump, which he awkwardly returned. Mandy had to repress
a giggle because it was so cute. "Thanks for the help in science, man. I
owe you one."
"Yeah,
sure."
"Hey, do you
think you can give us a minute? I need to ask Mandy something."
Wyatt opened his
mouth, looked as if he may protest, but then clammed up and nodded. "Sure,
Alex. See you later, Mandy."
No, wait. But if
he was going to ask her out, he would have tried harder than that, right? Even
if he was so timid. Maybe he was only going to ask her a school question. They
both had Mr. Miller for Language Arts/Social Studies block, but at different
times. Yeah, that was probably it. She turned her attention back to Alex and flashed
him a smile.
WYATT (Eighth Grade)
Wimped out. Again.
But at least this time he'd actually forced himself to talk to her, and she
seemed happy to talk to him, too. She might have only been being polite, but
most girls in school would have run away or told him to get lost, so that was
something. If only Alex hadn't shown up he could have found out for sure. He didn't
actually want to go to the Winter Formal — Friday nights were better spent
gaming, watching TV or DVDs, and reading comics — but it was a great chance to
spend time with Mandy. Or see if she had any interest rekindling their
friendship. Oh well, it was probably for the best; no way would someone as
pretty and cool as her want to hang out with a geeky nerd like him. Everyone in
school would say the same.
He stepped around
the corner of the classroom and stopped. If he was both careful and quiet, he
could hear what Alex had to say. He shouldn't eavesdrop, but what if Alex only
had a school question? He might still have a shot.
"No, no one's
asked me yet," Mandy said. It could only be in regards to the dance.
"If I asked
you, would you say yes?"
"I don't
know. Are you asking?" Wyatt heard the flirty tone in her voice, and he
placed his forehead against the cool bricks of the classroom wall. It would
have been better to dash it against the coarse, hard surface, but a heartache
was enough. He didn't need a headache on top of it.
"I need to be
direct, huh? Okay. Mandy Blake, will you go to the Eighth Grade Winter Formal
with me?"
"Yes!"
"Awesome."
Wyatt didn't hear
anymore. He hurried away, anxious to be gone. He wasn't sure where his mom was
teaching that day. If he was lucky, it was one of the further away school
districts, and he'd beat her home. If he could get started on his homework, he'd
forget all about this for now, and she wouldn't notice anything wrong. He
certainly didn't want to talk about it. Kareem had been correct the first day
of junior high: he had no business hanging out with someone as pretty as Mandy.