Stand Up

Chapter 9: Memories and Enemies

I sat in the small ice cream shop. I watched the neon sign as it blinked the word "Open". I watched the cars park and drive away through the window. A few families were here, probably getting their children ice cream. I kept glancing at the door to see if Kate would show up.

I texted her and asked her to meet me here. The reason I chose this small ice cream shop was because we always went here as kids. Almost everyday we'd come down here and eat ice cream. We never chose those fancy new popular restaurants. Never. This place was special. Just being here made me think of the memory.

Kate and I were drenched. We had just fallen in the creek nearby and were freezing. Water filled the inside of my tiny shoes. Our clothes were so full of water, they were weighing us down. Kate  had spotted a snake. We both got so freaked out that we fell in the creek. We quickly got out and ran like crazy as our mom's chased us. We ran into the small shop before we knew what it was. The man at the front counter smiled.

"Well hi there. What are you little kids doing all soaking wet?" He smiled a sweet, caring smile.

"I'm not little!" I said flexing my muscles. Now thinking back, I really was little. I was only five. "We were at this lake and saw a snake. Then we fell right in the water!"

"A really big snake! Like this big!" Kate opened her arms as wide as she could.

"Ha, wow." The man said pretending to be amazing. "My name's Travis. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand for us to shake, but I high-fived it. That got a laugh from everyone.

"Well Mr. Travis, I would like a chocolate dunked cone please." I stood on my tip toes to watch him type stuff into the cash register. Then the cash register dinged.

"Me too!" Kate said eager to get her ice cream. "But instead of chocolate, I want strawberry." Kate always got strawberry. It was her favorite.

We came there so much, they named it after us. Chocolate Isabel and Strawberry Kate.

I was woken back up to reality when the door opened and the little bell dinged. Kate strolled in holding her snake skin purse. Ha, a snake skin purse. Classic. She saw me and walked over to the table.

"Where have you been?"  She sat her purse on the table and sat down in the chair with a sigh.

"It was hard to get out of the house. My parents were delaying me, but at least I'm here now." She rummaged through her purse and grabbed her wallet. "I'll pay."

Kate pushed me up to the front counter and we ordered the usual. Chocolate Isabel and Strawberry Kate.

The man at the counter had bags under his eyes. He wore no smile. He had bad ache and messy hair. This place had lost it's cheer.

"Here's your ice cream." He handed us the ice cream and waited for us to leave. Kate began to take me back as I licked the chocolate.

"So, what've your parents said about you leaving?" We had returned to the table and Kate had a mouthful of ice cream.

"Well, I've been doing extra chores and helping out, so I think they'll let me stay until prom. As soon as prom is over I'll have to leave." She stared at me waiting for my reaction. Stay until prom? That was still good.

"Who are you going with to prom?" She avoided my stare.

"I don't have a boyfriend in Minnesota, but someone did ask me here." I was excited to hear her answer. "Jordan." My eyes became huge. He actually asked her out. I didn't even know he could talk.

"You mean that goth kid?" I was still shocked. Jordan's just not her type. Why would she want to go to prom with him?

"Yeah so he's my date, and he's actually not as bad as you think." Kate smiled a dreamy smile at the wall. Did she like him too?

Jordan is the tallest kid in high school. He dyed his hair black and has his ears pierced. He wears five necklaces at one time and has a skull ring. His eyes always have eyeliner and he's very mysterious. The teachers never call on him because they know they won't get a word out of him. He barely talks.

Jordan and I don't really get along. We've had our differences and some fights. Some things happened that I just want to forget.

It was in third grade during recess. I was swinging on the monkey bars with my friends. I could never make it across. Kate and Jane were cheering me on. Jane was an old friend who moved away.

"Come on! You can do it! Only a few more bars!" Kate was cheering. "You're almost there! Keep going!"

My legs were far from the ground. I looked down. It seemed really far away, but looking back it was nothing. I saw all of the wood chips beneath me. I forced myself to look back up.

My hands were sweating as I moved to the next bar. My arms hurt, but I was determined to make it across. I was going to face my fear of hieghts.

Jordan and his crew sat in the corner. They were talking, but Jordan had his eyes fixed on me. He walked up to me and smirked. The other kids followed clueless behind him.

He walked closer to me. My feet were kicking the air, almost hitting his head. He grabbed my knees and yanked me down. I fell flat on my butt. I tried to stop it with my hands. That made it even worse. My wrists felt like they were broken. Jordan and his crew were laughing.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Jane said running to my aid. She bent down and looked at my wrists. "Are you bleeding?"

" I don't know." I began crying. Kate and Jane brought me to a teacher and took me to a nurse.

Thankfully, my wrist wasn't broken. It was just badly bruised. I've always wondered why he would do that. Why did he hate me so much?

We ate our ice cream and talked. We heard the door open and looked to see who was there. I don't know who was more shocked.

Jordan casually walked into the shop and up to the counter. He was wearing his skull sweatshirt and jeans. Kate ran up there and grabbed him by the shoulder. She jerked him around. I slowly wheeled up to the scene.

"What are you doing here?!" Kate asked like she was mad. Why would she be mad? I'm the one who should be mad at my enemy.

"Chill, I'm just getting some ice cream." He turned around to place his order while Kate looked back at me and rolled her eyes.

"Why would you come here? Why not any other ice cream place?" He turned around and walked past Kate like she wasn't there. "Hey, I was talking to you."

He sat down at a table in the corner and ate his desert. Kate stormed up to the table and tried to get him to talk, but he wouldn't. He seemed to talk through the odd stares he would give her. Kate talked so quietly I could barely hear her, but I didn't really care what they were saying.

"Kate." She turned around to see me. "I have to go. Bye." I waved to both Kate and Jordan. Kate waved back, but Jordan didn't even acknowledge me. I didn't want to be in the middle of their fight.

I wheeled out of the building and went home. Soon I got a text from Haley.

Big surprise. Greg will tell u all about it tomorrow.