SUNGLASSES AND ROCKETS Part 1 : New Moon

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

It was Monday, August 2, 1999. I was on my way to school. I was attending summer school, although I wasn't exactly just along for the ride. I had failed a couple of courses during the semester and now I had no other choice but to pass the exams on August 11...if I wanted to graduate and start college in September.

I admit that my mind had been so far away from schoolwork that the humbling grades I'd gotten at the end of the school year hadn't taken me by surprise. All that time I'd been going along as if in a dream, and when I occasionally came back down to Earth, it was only to help out where I could with Dr. Fuller—I had made myself into a kind of servant of his—or to visit the fascinating Dr. Masterton.

Vanessa had bewitched me.

And I still had not gotten up the nerve to talk to her. My shyness weighed on my conscience something terrible. So many times I had had her right next to me, so many times I had stared at her beautiful face, right in front of mine!

But no. History repeated itself over and over: my tongue tripped me and my mind went blank. Not even the shadow of a clear thought came into my head. To the contrary, my hand would shoot up, and I would make my escape like a frightened squirrel. So, that's how my final, fleeting, anti-climactic moments with her went.

However, the moment arrived for me to take charge of my destiny. That summer morning I made one of those decisions that usually change a man's life: that day I would talk to the woman of my dreams. That same day, I would ask her out. Yes, I would dare to approach her. There would be no going back. Six months had passed since the first time I saw her! And I still hadn't gotten further than my pathetic "Good Morning." I simply could not put off asking her out any longer. I would either tell her how I felt or go crazy. I would have to act swiftly and surely; I didn't have much time left. Vanessa would go back to Venezuela that same week.

I should take the plunge as soon as possible.

It was recess. Darwin accompanied me on my daring venture. Of course, my good friend had enrolled in summer school; it was a noble gesture of solidarity that I appreciated greatly (later I'd find out that he had to attend summer school; but that little detail did not detract from the nobility of Darwin's very likeable personality).

We knew where to find her. She would surely be found in the cafeteria, surrounded by her friends, who throughout the semester had kept me at bay as if they were her bodyguards. They didn't leave her side, even for an instant!

Without hesitating, we left the classroom and made towards the cafeteria. We didn't exchange even one word during the short journey. My friend was all too aware of the magnitude of the affair, and he respected my meditative silence. A crucial phase of my existence was about to begin.

We reached the doors, and we stopped. Girls and boys came and went, but they did it so calmly! I felt completely alien to the casual, relaxed atmosphere that my companions were enjoying. Once I entered the building, there would be no turning back. When I left, I would no longer be the same Gordon Goddard I was before. My life would have changed forever. I would enter as a boy, but I would leave as a man.

My stomach lurched.

Darwin told me, his voice hushed:

"Gordo, the hour has arrived. Go, and come back with your woman."

I noticed a look of wisdom behind his spectacles.

I swallowed hard, and I valiantly pushed open the door. I stood there with my hands on my hips, as if I were a cowboy that had just sauntered into a saloon in the Wild West. It was lunchtime. Almost all the tables were occupied. The level of noise varied from table to table. After a few moments of searching, my eyes found her. The Venezuelan girl was sitting at a small table near the other entrance, about 30 feet away. She was alone! My heart was pounding. I could hardly breathe. Agitated, I turned towards Darwin, as if to verify that this really was the moment. My friend gave me the thumbs-up. Gathering up my courage, I started to walk towards her. I was getting closer.