Alphabet Girl

Chapter 2

Paisley and Carrie sat on one of the few scattered picnic tables at Sycamore Park. They equally paid for their Caesar salad and pizza with healthy apple shakes. To think a month from now they wouldn't be able to eat at the park together like they always did every Wednesday, a tradition they started back when Paisley was thirteen.

The parks department had installed a new kiddie pool that year for kids ten and under could swim in; only five children were able to be in the pool at a time. This year, the parks department set up a jungle gym. Paisley sprained her ankle on the new playground accessory weeks after the installment. She and Carrie bet they couldn't paint standing on top of the gym. Needless to say, one of them won. the other lost. The girls' moms banned them from going on the gym ever since that day. They didn't care, though. The gym was, after all, for children younger than them.

"Did you sell the house yet?" Paisley asked.

Every week since the house got redecorated to be sold, Paisley watched couples walk in and out of the red bricked house built identical to hers. Some couples appeared to be a worthy pair who would take care of the house the same way the Geodes did. Other couples Paisley didn't like at all.

They had this snobby look on them that clearly read A) they smoked B) talked with this nasal type voice and with an accent C) would complain over the little things like the noise level or say that Paisley was painting too loudly D) not attend her dad's barbecue E) probably had this annoying dog that would bark all night and bite anyone who even got one inch to their masters or this naked ugly cat who would claw anyone's eyes out.

Paisley shivered at the thought of the possible naked cat. She was allergic, sure, but the cat didn't know that.

Carrie drank some of her shake. "They're going through the paperwork already, yeah." She drummed her fingers against the table. "Apparently this guy stopped by during the open house last Sunday and wants to buy it cuz the house is close to his work. Mom says he's pretty handsome, has freckles." She suggestively raised her eyebrows.

That caught Paisley's attention. She loved freckles because she had some on her pale skin and dusting across her nose like spots on lilies and a few freckles scattered on her knuckles and fingers.

"Do you get to meet him soon?" she asked. Paisley swatted at a hovering bug and started munching on another slice of pizza.

"He's coming over for dinner Saturday. Do you want to join us?" The answer was pretty obvious from the visible grin on both girls' faces.

"Um, hello?" She dramatically waved the hand with the slice of pizza, leaning across the table slightly. "This man has freckles. Your mom thinks he's handsome. I'm definitely going to dinner to meet him."

Carrie laughed. "Right. Right. How silly of me."

The girls finished their dinner and walked home, their arms linked together. They've learned how to walk on the same space, how to run in the same space while they kept their arms linked, what the quickest routes to home and school were, which shops sold the best jewelry and ice cream. They learned everything there was to know about their town together.

The woman who had a recycled books stand fought and survived leukemia. The man who painted the mural at the theater was Italian and allowed the girls to help. The boy who stood at the corner was a high school dropout street performer, trying to make money for his girlfriend and son with his guitar. A girl lived in the alley behind the supermarket because her parents kicked her out of the house after they found out she was a lesbian, but she never told her girlfriend because she didn't want to burden her. There were lots of people who had a background story, and Paisley knew all of them because of Carrie.