Who Is Lucas Ryker O'Riley?

5. LOSING SOMETHING SUCKS

As football season went on, so too did the new school year.

Now that we were in 7th grade, we were no longer the neophytes of middle school. Most of the returning faces were familiar, except I could see that maybe half the boys and girls had varying growth spurts over the summer.

Some of the boys, including my brother Dave, started to get their first chin whiskers, or even a little peach fuzz in some cases, while maybe a third or half the girls were starting to sprout honest to goodness breasts, or "proto-breasts" as some of the smart-ass guys would say.

Girls had "proto-breasts" when their nipples began noticeably protruding from their chests, but their breasts hadn't quite started to grow any more than a mosquito bite swelling, just yet. At least half the girls that were starting to sprout, were beyond "proto" stage and now sporting A-cup bras or at least training bras.

By the middle of the school year, it seemed two out of three girls were sporting real bras and over half of them actually needed them. There was no way any of us could miss that fact.

Mandy was one of the girls who not only started wearing bras, but she was also obviously filing the A-cups and I certainly noticed.

Most Saturdays after our football games and a quick shower, our parents would take us to the mall for pizza or an ice cream desert. Mandy was practically a fixture in our home and was always invited to most every family function. Mandy had endeared herself to us all, so it was natural for my parents to consider her an honorary family member and treating her as such.

We had a routine where, after lunch or ice cream, we would go see a matinée movie. One particular Saturday after our family lunch celebration, My parents and Dave got tickets for an action flick and Mandy and I got tickets to see a new horror film called "Say My Name" or something like that.

I had recently found out, when our parents and siblings weren't around, watching scary movies either at Mandy's house or mine, during the entire movie Mandy would lean in really close to me, and hold my hand or put her arm around me, grabbing me like I was a comforting stuffed animal, and I liked it. I figured this horror film would very likely inspire much of the same response. At least I hoped it would.

Sure enough, at the first sign of scary trouble, Mandy buried her face into my neck, grasping my arm as if she'd fall off of a cliff if she'd let go.

That was the moment I remember leaning over and planting a kiss right on her . . .
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forehead.

Yes, forehead, did you think as a seventh grader, one who was only the age of a sixth grader, that I'd be so bold as to plant a kiss on my best friend's lips?

At the time, I didn't put much thought into why I did. I did wonder if I shouldn't have done it. Well, until after the movie was over.

As we exited the screening room, Mandy grabbed my hand and we walked, hand in hand out of the theater.

There was no doubt that we were best friends, and yet no discussion of our actions during the movie, ever occurred nor did we hold hands again.

Soon football season was almost over and we made it through the playoffs into the final league championship game. We ended up coming in second place, losing the championship game to the West Valley Chiefs. They were a team of all star ringers from all over the area and everyone knew it, but we didn't make it easy for them.

These were the kinds of days when good parents and good friends earn their stripes. Today proved it as our parents and Mandy consoled us, telling us how proud they were of how well we played despite the final score.

Eventually their message got through and they were right. We had nothing to be ashamed of, the coaches also tried to emphasize how proud they were, telling us pretty much the same thing our parents did, but it finally registered when Mandy smiled at me, gave me a quick sweet kiss on my cheek, and put her arm around my waist as we walked back to the car.

The lesson I learned that day was that losing something sucks, but it's not the worst thing in the world.