Chasing the Boy

Chapter One

It was June 5, 1992, the eve of my high school graduation. It was a night that had been a long time coming. The ceremony was held at Saint Agnes Church and was brutally hot. Since the church was not known for being temperate, it had been no surprise. The senior class had spent the last four years going to mass in the old church. In the winter it meant cold noses and goose-pimpled flesh, and in the summer it meant sweat trickling down your back and, if you were a girl and had to wear the standard uniform skirt, having the back of your legs stick to the wooden pews.

As soon as the ceremony ended, my friends and I ditched our caps and gowns and headed for the Farm, a park in Arlington. It was one of our favorite hang-outs, known for its great view of Boston and giant blue slides. As I stood and appreciated the sky-line, my best friend, Nicky, brushed past me, launched herself onto the blue monster and careened down the giant slide.

"We're free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, free at last," she yelled as the wind blew through her crimped blonde hair and carried her words back up to where we stood, watching her.

I laughed. "I don't think Martin Luther King would appreciate your equating our liberation from high school with his struggle to overthrow the oppression of racism," I called down to her. She got off at the bottom, ran a hand over her hair, which was wild with static electricity, and looked up at me.

"He never went to Arlington Catholic," she hollered back.

"Arlington Catholie! Did you hear that, boys?"

The voice came from somewhere behind me. I spun around to find its source and spotted a group of six boys standing not twenty feet away. I don't know how they had gotten so close without us hearing them. Secret ninja skills? I doubted it.

"So what?" Nicky asked breathlessly, coming to a halt beside me. She must have bolted up the hill the moment she heard a male voice, and her cheeks were rosy from the exertion. "What's the big deal if we went to Arlington Catholic?" she asked in a challenging tone. Nicky was always challenging someone.

A boy with wavy brown hair stepped forward and looked my friend up and down. He was cute, with brown eyes that crinkled when he smiled, and hair that fell over his forehead. He was wearing khaki shorts, a tee-shirt that said Smells Like Teen Spirit and Timberlands. He was also wearing a fanny-pack, which made him look a bit like my dad. I could tell from the look on Nicky's face she liked what she saw.

"Don't get your panties in a twist," he said. His friends laughed behind him, like it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard. "We went to Arlington High, that's all. But now that I've met you, I wish I'd gone to A.C.. I'm Fred." He held out his hand for Nicky to shake. When she took his hand, he held onto hers a little longer than necessary. The image of Billy, her boyfriend, came to mind.

"Hi guys," Ali said. Never the shy one, she bounded forward and eagerly introduced herself. She was 4' 11" and always moving, like a little hummingbird, flitting around from place to place. Kate ambled over too, her massive, brown curls bouncing off her shoulders as she moved. Just like that, the evening had turned into Singles' Night.

When I saw him, I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Like, I actually had to catch my breath. He wasn't that tall, but taller than me for sure, and he looked like an athlete. His skin was dark, as if he'd already spent a few weeks working on a summer tan and his hair was long enough to brush his shoulders. It shimmered. golden honey, in the soft light cast by the street lamps. It was his eyes that got me though – they were a warm, deep brown, like chocolate. I loved chocolate.