"Mooooom!"
"Yes?"
"It's tonight!"
"What?"
"The DANCE! I HAVE TO GO TO THE DANCE!"
I sighed as she raced by me and snatched the phone off the cradle. I heard the frantic dialing... "Hey! Are you going? Is he? What time? What are you wearing?" All of this spewing from her in one breath and sentence.
I really just wanted to stay in, sit by my fire in my cookie pants and relax. Cheech was away, I could have lived dangerously and gotten in the tub...oh the possibilities. But it was not to be.
"MOOOOOOM"
"Yes?"
"Can you drive us one way?"
I smiled remembering doing this EXACT thing to my folks way back when.(..well...not THAT way back!)
"Yes." I was hoping for the drop off shift so I could still meditate in my bistro.
"Okay. She'll drive." Maddie squeaked happily.
Yep you know where that went...zoom! from one way to both in no time flat! AND the moms jumped in their cars and had them to my house in seconds. It was 4pm. The dance? 7pm. FABULOUS! Now I must feed a mob of giggling girls; get them to the dance and run them all home. My head began to thump. Goodbye cookie pants and Brunella Goodbye tub.
With free time before zero hour, I watched these little girls running to and from the pond and hauling mud to build a dam so they could preserve wildlife, frogs, and feed the wounded goose living there. They were mucked up, working hard and having a ball. I heard their laughter and squealing, loving every minute. I called them for dinner, announcing they would have time to shower before they went.
" A what?"
"Shower...soap?"
"Why?"
"The dance?"
"Oh." They all wrinkle their brows and look confused.
"You're a little muddy."
"Oh. Yeah." they roll their eyes.
"S'not like we're goin ta CHURCH" the Giant chuffed.
"It's up to you."
I waltzed out and heard their nervous discussions. "Should we?"
"He's gonna be there."
"You should. You're a mess."
"You should talk."
"I am and I'm tellin you to shower!"
"MOOOOOOM"
"Yes?"
"How many towels do we have?"
"Enough. It's time you're running short on. Let's go."
and the herd began to shift. Ben dodged them quickly. I feared he would be crushed.
The steam billowed out as did more laughter. But they were ready on schedule. I curled, straightened, re-applied and spritzed. When all was said and done, I stood back to smile at a lovely group of young ladies; so different than the tomboys flipping mud not three hours ago. There were little heels and modest skirts, glittery shirts and earrings (not too dangly). There was lip gloss and hairspray. They were pretty giraffes still gawky and uncertain about what was going on in varying stages with their bodies.
"Let's go."
"Eeeeeeee!"
Ben rolled his eyes, opened a window and sat down to enjoy the peace restored. "Smell ya later"
The ride over was filled with speculation, secrets and texting. Maddie couldn't stop smiling. They all nudged each other, dared each other and encouraged each other.
"He's gonna ask you to dance!"
"He's gonna ask YOU! You're cuter in that dress."
"No way."
"Yeah. He's going to. His friend's brother's cousin just texted **** and she sent it to me..."
the collective "OOoooooo~" and more giggling.
We pulled in and I could feel the tension. I stopped and opened the door.
Nothing. They sat staring and watching with eyes as big as wagon wheels.
"Ride's here Ladies. Whatcha wanna do?" I flipped the seat because I didn't want them jumping out the top of the convertible.
Then I saw the flock of boys: slicked hair, tough guy skater dudes as well as the clean cut church lookin boys (the ones you ALWAYS watch out for) They began to stare and talk digging their feet and stuffing their hands in their pockets.
"Maddie!"
There was a gasp as the boundary cracked.
"Hi Gabriel!"
"Nice car."
"Wanna get in it?"
I threw her a look. "Maddie.."
"Pleaaaaaase Mom."
They sauntered over.
"Hi Mrs. S"
"Gentlemen."
"Nice car."
"Thank you."
"Can I drive it?"
"Show me your license."
"I left it at home."
"Next time maybe."
Then Peter stepped up. He held out his hand. I watched my daughter's world shrink to the size of one boy. She got up and got out. He handed her a flower.
"I picked this."
"I love it."
There were snickers and snorts. Everyone was looking in a completely different direction as if we were being bombarded by invisible meteors.
"He got it near the trash over there but it was the biggest one!" Gabriel chirped.
The giant got out and stepped up to Gabriel.
"Go get another one."
"Why?"
"Because I want one too."
"Yeah. Me too!" became the chorus.
"Get your own."
"I will. Show me"
There was some gentle shoving and laughter. The entire group wandered off. The awkwardness was wearing thin. They were kids again. They were friends. I left my daughter there; happily stumbling in between the steadfast rock of childhood and the hard place of teenager.
The ride home was much quieter. Hairdos had fallen, lip gloss had been eaten off after the first pack of Twizzlers was consumed. They were exhausted from running around playing tag. There were more whispers, more sighs and less uncertainty. The boys they knew, made fun of and had crushes on were the EXACT same after 2:30pm. They were glad.
Me too.
I hope we can catch up again soon. I'm working on a doozie.
Thanks for stopping by.
