Group Writing Project #3
Thanks to Shana, Cathy P. and Steph for all of the help and encouragement. And I guess I need a disclaimer, so enter disclaimer of choice…<g>.
A Summer’s Day
By Lynn
Seventeen-year-old Trixie Belden was sick. In a display of extraordinarily bad timing, she had contracted a summer cold. For weeks, Trixie and her best friends, Honey and Di, had been busy planning picnics, swims at the lake and other diversions to celebrate the homecoming of three of the male Bob-Whites of the Glen. Tomorrow, Jim Frayne, her almost boyfriend was driving home from Boston, having completed his sophomore year at Harvard. Both of her college student brothers would be arriving home today for summer break. Only Dan, taking summer classes at the University of Florida, could not return to Sleepyside.
Although she had tried to be enthusiastic, Trixie felt a little jealous of her friends. Di and Mart had been dating for almost a year, while Honey and Brian had been going steady since his high school graduation two years before. In contrast, she and Jim never seemed to be able to get their romance off the ground. Resolving to have a good summer no matter what Jim’s attitude was, she’d finally started to feel genuine excitement about the Bob-White reunion. Now, here she was with chills, fever, congestion, and a painfully sore throat.
Sniffling on the couch, she consoled herself by watching a videotape of her favorite television show, "X Files." She smiled as Mulder, drugged by a vampire/pizza delivery boy, lay on a hotel room carpet and sang the theme from Shaft—badly. The clear glass bowl of lime Jell-O that Moms had made to soothe her sore throat sat untouched on the coffee table. The shimmering dessert reminded her too much of the sickly green glow of the vampire’s eyes. She paused the tape when the telephone rang.
"Hello," she croaked into the mouthpiece.
"Gleeps," Honey cried. "You sound awful."
"I wish I felt that good," Trixie said, mournfully.
"Well," Honey said, matter-of-factly, "you have to get better. Jim just called. He’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. I’m so glad he decided not to take summer classes."
"Me, too," Trixie agreed. "Mart and Brian, too. Although Brian will be working at the hospital as an orderly to make money. He’s just taking general courses now, but he says med school will be expensive."
Honey sighed. "I know he won’t have much free time, but at least he’ll be here. And he still sounds devoted. I was afraid one of those Duke girls would pounce on him."
Trixie chuckled. "Come on, you know he’s immune to pouncing. At least you know he considers you two a couple. I never know where I stand with Jim."
Honey agreed. "That is his one failing. I can’t figure him out and he’s my brother."
They chatted a few minutes longer, then Honey hung up, promising to come by later that afternoon with Di.
Trixie snuggled deeper into her cocoon of blankets and dozed off. She awoke to the sounds of Honey, Di, and all three of her brothers talking and laughing in the kitchen. Achy and feverish, she called out weakly, "Hey."
Honey ran in, followed by others. "Oh, good," she cried. "You’re awake. The party can begin!"
"Huh?" Trixie asked, groggily. Then she smiled at the sight of Brian and Mart. "Hey, you guys are here!" They hugged her, unmindful of the germs. She chided herself for the relief she felt that Jim wasn’t there to see her faded blue leggings and oversized Sleepyside High School t-shirt.
Bobby, Trixie’s nine-year-old brother, waved from the kitchen doorway. Although his mother was thirty-five miles away at a Garden Club meeting, he obeyed her rule to stay away from Trixie. Besides, he didn’t want to miss a minute of outdoor summer fun with his friends.
Di held up a finger. "Wait here. We have a surprise."
They cleared off the coffee table and spread a beach towel over it. Then they carried in bowls full of ice cream and spoons, chocolate syrup, chopped peanuts, and whipped cream. "We thought ice cream would feel good on your throat," Brian said. "Besides, it’s not true that you shouldn’t have dairy when you have a cold. Dig in."
"Just be careful," Trixie warned. "Moms will kill us if we spill. Bobby and the twins experimented to see how far away they had to hold the vacuum cleaner hose before his Matchbox car started to move. The good news is we have a very powerful vacuum cleaner. The bad news is it’s at the repair shop until Thursday. Probably just in time for me to get over this cold and do the vacuuming."
Bobby, sitting in the farthest corner of the living room flushed with embarrassment, but it didn’t slow his ingestion of his sticky treat.
Happily, Trixie supervised Mart in the making of the perfect sundae. "If this decadent masterpiece doesn’t vanquish those microorganisms, nothing will, " Mart grinned. With a flourish, he presented the heaped bowl to her, and then went to work on his own monstrosity, topping a huge bowl of ice cream with rivers of chocolate syrup. From his shirt pocket, he pulled a Heath candy bar, broke it into pieces and tossed the broken pieces on the sundae.
"The only thing missing…" Trixie began, about to tease Mart about adding the kitchen sink.
"Is Jim," Honey teased. "Yes, we know."
"Oooh," Di teased, "look at how red she’s getting."
"My fever must be back," Trixie muttered, ducking her head.
That evening, Trixie felt better, but still could not face real food. After she ate the chicken noodle soup Moms had made her, she went upstairs. Brian had said she could use his laptop computer to visit the Lacy Tucker Message Board and Chat Room. Since she’d been nine years old, she’d been addicted to the young adult book series about a teenage detective. Now that she’d had so many adventures of her own, the books seemed tame, but she still loved talking about the books with the other fans. Chatting with the ‘regulars’ always made her feel better, especially when she was lonely for her brothers and, well, for Jim.
Too eager to chat to make up her own screen name, she signed on using Brian’s, BrianMD2B. It amused her that her serious brother had a goofy screen name. Once in chat she identified herself. She quickly entered into heated debate. Everyone was arguing about who Lacy should date—the dark haired hunk that clearly adored her or the athletic, hard to read Todd. She was just about to present her choice for Lacy when she heard the triple chime of the instant messenger feature. She froze, recognizing Jim’s screen name, JWFII. "Hey, Bri," the message read, "Lisa loved the bracelet. Who knew I had any taste in jewelry? Did you make it back home yet?" Shocked and devastated, she terminated the connection.
In bed that night, she let the tears come, hot and bitter. How had she ever thought she and Jim would ever have a future? Every time they got close, Jim would pull away. In a way, she couldn’t blame him. He’d been treated badly as a child. But she thought that all these years the love of his adopted family and of his friends would have given him a sense of security. Well, apparently he had finally overcome his fears enough to fall for someone. Lisa; the name sounded so perky and confident. She sobbed into her pillow until she slept.
The next morning, her cold was better, but she felt terrible. Her eyes were still puffy from the night before and her head ached. She waved off her mother’s offer of breakfast and slept until late afternoon. Finally, she could not stay in bed one minute longer. The rest had done her good, so she showered and dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. She fixed herself some toast and tea. "Trixie," her mother warned, "Don’t overdo it today."
"I won’t, Moms. Where are Mart and Brian?"
"They went to the lake for a swim with Honey and Di. They didn’t think you would want to go."
Trixie put her cup and plate into the sink. "I don’t feel like a swim, but I’ve been cooped up for days. I’ll just take a walk over."
The day was warm and Trixie walked slowly. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the birds chirping or the far off drone of a lawnmower. She didn’t even hear the footsteps behind her.
"Trixie," a familiar voice said softly.
She turned to see Jim standing there smiling at her. He looked at her silky hair shining golden in the sun and her beautiful sky blue eyes. Without thinking, he said, " 'Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate'."
Trixie looked at him uncertainly. Once, those words would have stirred in her feelings of hope and joy. But that was before Lisa. She said unenthusiastically, "Oh, you’re home. Well, I’m heading to the lake. Everyone’s there."
"I know," he said, "I was home when Honey left. I told her to go on without me, because I wanted to see you alone. I was just coming to your house. " Despite her wary gaze, he pressed on. "Will you sit with me for a minute? They’ll be at the lake for awhile yet."
She shrugged and they sat on the ground beneath a shade tree. He fumbled in the pocket of his khaki shorts and brought out a small, black velvet box. He held it out to her. Their fingers brushed as she carefully took the box. She opened it slowly, gasping when she saw the bracelet. A small gold heart was suspended from a delicate gold chain.
"Do you like it? Really?"
"I-I love it. It’s, well, lovely."
Enthusiastically, Jim explained, "My roommate’s girlfriend seems to know jewelry, so I had her take a look at it. She said it is, let me see….classic and elegant."
"Um, is her name Lisa?"
"Yeah, did I mention that?"
"It was me last night. I was using Brian’s laptop. I saw the message and, well, I was pretty upset."
Jim groaned. "Oh, no. As soon as I sent the message, I got kicked off. I figured Brian just never got to answer me back." He looked into her blue eyes hopefully. "You were upset?"
Embarrassed, she nodded. "I thought you had given a bracelet to some girl at school named Lisa."
Jim reached out and took her hand. It felt small in his. He laced his fingers through hers. "Look, at times, I’ve been a jerk. I don’t know why. But as soon as I went away to school, all I could think about was you. It shouldn’t have taken going away to realize it, but…it did. I hope you’ll keep my ID bracelet, but I started thinking that you must associate it with how indecisive I’ve been. I wanted to start fresh and give you something to tell the world that you’re my girl. If you will be."
Her blue eyes were sparkling, and she could tell he was hanging on her words, waiting for her reply. He may not be able to say the words, but he did love her. She could wait to hear the words. Finally, after so long, she had no doubt. "Yes, Jim, I will."
As he leaned toward her, she put a hand on his chest. "Wait, I have a cold."
He just smiled and put his lips to hers. They kissed for a long time, and then walked along the lakeshore, talking excitedly about the future. The bracelet sparkled in the bright summer sunlight. When they found the other BWGs, not one of them teased Trixie and Jim about the way they looked at each other or held hands all day. They did, however, tease them incessantly all summer about the fact that Trixie and Jim passed Trixie’s cold back and forth until the Fourth of July.
The End