The Whimsical World of Wanda

Chapter three

Wanda had woken up on a Monday morning excited about school. She was so excited she woke up five minutes before her alarm. She searched through her wardrobe with great precision and made sure whichever outfit she picked looked good from any possible angle. She practically skipped on her walk to school. She had science for her first-period class and was anxious to see John. Little else had occupied her mind over the weekend aside from him. When she entered the classroom she immediately noticed that something was different, her fellow classmates were all lined up against the wall. "What's going on?" she asked one of them. "Mr Hamlin is changing the seating plan," the person replied. Wanda's heart sank, "What if John and I get separated?" she thought. Within a few minutes, her worst nightmare had come true. She was seated in the front row of the classroom and John was seated in the back. "Mr Hamlin, can I go to the bathroom?" Wanda asked after the new seating plan was put in place and Mr Hamlin nodded his head.

Once Wanda knew no one else was in the bathroom she began to cry. Some might think her reaction was better suited for a situation like saying goodbye to your husband before he gets shipped off to fight in the Vietnam War rather than finding out you cannot sit beside your crush in science class but there was no reasoning with her. She felt devastated, it was as though all her hopes and dreams of developing a relationship with John had crumbled in an instant. But on the other hand, she did not want to give up so she, ever the optimist, began hatching plans that would still allow her to stay top of John's mind without sitting beside him twice a week.

"All I'm going to say is that John is one lucky guy!" Greg exclaimed. Wanda had just told her partners for a group project in drama class her plan to recapture John's attention. Her school was holding a fundraiser next week where you could buy a cookie gram and then have the fundraising committee deliver it to a specific person. Wanda was going to send one to John and the message attached to it would say "You saxy thing" which she knew he would love because he plays the saxophone. Unbeknownst to Wanda, Greg's compliment was not just a compliment but also an omission of jealousy. They had been working together on this project for a few weeks by this point and in the time that had transpired since they started, Greg had developed quite a crush on Wanda. They were like two peas in a pod. They both loved the Beatles, they both watched movies predominantly from the 1970s and they both loved history. However, Wanda thought of Greg as just a friend and this was always made abundantly clear to him when she talked about John. "So you don't think it's a little too.... risqué?" Wanda replied to Greg. "Well, I can't speak for John, but what I do know is if I were the recipient of such a gift, I would be ecstatic," Greg explained. "Alright, enough yapping about John! We have a scene to memorize and I think it would be great if everyone is off book by Friday, next Monday at the latest," Cathy, another member of the group, huffed. Wanda and Greg exchanged a friendly glance then switched to looking at their scripts.

A week had passed and it was the day the cookie grams were supposed to be delivered. Wanda's stomach was full of butterflies, she loathed making grand gestures like this because she knew she would not be able to handle the rejection. "Do you remember when the cookie grams were supposed to be delivered?" Wanda asked her friend, Nick. "How the fuck would I know? You know I think all that kind of shit is stupid," Nick retorted. "I'm just so worried about the whole thing," Wanda explained. The two of them were in their homeroom class and Wanda found herself unable to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. It was as if the cookie gram delivering team had read her mind because moments later, they began handing out cookie grams to each class. Wanda anxiously awaited a message from John where he would confirm he got hers, "John is a nice guy, even if he doesn't like me that way, he'll at least thank me," she thought. However, as the day went on, her confidence wavered. She checked her phone every hour and had received no message from him.

Two days had passed and Wanda still had not heard from John. "Maybe he didn't get my cookie gram?" Wanda postulated with her mother. "There is a possibility of that but if he did and can't be bothered to thank you, I don't think he's worthy of your affection," her mom responded. Wanda was determined to cling to that possibility and the next day, she arranged a conversation with the cookie gram team. "What's your name, again? And what is the name of the person you sent the cookie gram to?" the head of the cookie gram team asked. "My name is Wanda and the recipient was supposed to be John," Wanda replied. The head of the cookie gram team looked through a tote bag that had been placed on the desk beside her. "Ah, yes, now I remember. I am very sorry to say this, I was just about to email you. This never happens, I swear. But... um.... we forgot to make your order," the head of the cookie gram team explained. Wanda politely nodded her head and said she understood but deep inside her was a rage that felt so strong she could burn a whole city down.

Wanda remained determined to give John her cookie gram. "John will get my cookie gram, god damn it!" she thought to herself. The weekend following her discussion with the cookie gram leader, Wanda and her mother purchased some cookies from their grocery store, put them in a nice bag and attached a note to the bag with a clipart image of a saxophone with hearts and "To John, From Wanda, You saxy thing," written on it. "Maybe everything worked out for the best, we were able to pick the cookies this way. Who knows what the quality of the cookies your school chose was!" her mother said in her usual warm, positive manner. Wanda's mother had a knack for making her feel better, no matter how dire the circumstance at hand was.

Wanda decided to give John her homemade cookie gram before science class. She hadn't actually spoken to him since Mr Hamlin changed the seating plan which made her all the more scared. The door to the science classroom was locked so everyone had lined up outside. Wanda spotted John and approached him. She tried to engage in some small talk with him rather than just abruptly handing him the cookie gram but none of the topics she broached with him worked. "I... um... got you a cookie gram last week but they never delivered it... so.... um, I.... um thought I'd make you one myself," she said then presented him with the cookie gram. John stared blankly at her and eventually said, "Thank you," in a rather cold tone. Wanda politely nodded but in her heart, she knew this was far from the reaction she had hoped for.