Sherry Mann

Young Love

Off in the distance, a lonely little red bird skips around from branch to branch moving its frail body. He seems so richly colored in comparison with the pale green but glistening leaves, but the bush looks like it will just curdle up and die if the bird does not hurry up and fly away. And it does. It darts its way to another potential home, which has probably been sitting there for centuries.  The thick branches that curled toward the sky had lost its brown color, and it remained scaled like a snake with scales of pale white and insipid green. The old branches and the twigs wrap around each other almost eternally. It reminds me of love that lasts forever. It figures. Only the trees would have it, thought Braunie. The bird looks around as though puzzled but flew away as soon as the front door opened.

“I wish I was a bird,” Braunie says. She sits on the steps of the porch underneath another worn tree that seems to hold on for dear life with its knarled and pale brown branches that hang directly over her head.

“You’re such a dork. You come up with the most stupid things,” says her sister, Rachel.

“Yeah, well, birds seem to have it so easy. They get to hop around and fly.”

“Aren’t you about to leave to go pick up your loser?” Rachel asked.

“Rachel, don’t call him that. You don’t even know him,” replied Braunie.

“Oh, I know them kind of guys, and I know them well.”

“I’m sure you do,” snickered Braunie. Rachel was a lean girl, one of those girls you just want to trade bodies with, except you’d want to keep your own head. She wasn’t the brightest girl; well she just didn’t make the brightest decision when it came to down to guys. But here I am today about to pick up a hot date.

Rachel went on describing how the guy should be the one to pick the girls up and that people seem to have it all backwards these days.

“I’m just thinking. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m just tired of staying in bed and depressed all day long. I can’t be like this forever,” says Braunie.

“You better be careful. Don’t get desperate and fall into this guys arms like you did Scotty.”

“Will you shut up about Scotty. He’s the last person I want to talk about. I’m leaving now.”

I was hoping that Brian would take my mind off of Scotty. Scot was my ex-boyfriend’s name; I would always call him cutey, but he hated it. I guess he thought it took his manhood away, so I called him Scot with a y. It sounded close enough to cutey to me anyways; he wouldn’t get it. Well, things didn’t work out for us. He said that he felt that we should separate because of our differences in beliefs. I was Catholic, and I strictly believed in abstinence, and he strictly believed in well, the opposite. I was taken by surprise when he wanted to break up, but a little voice would always tell me that something wasn’t right. I took the opportunity to break up when I could because I knew I wouldn’t do it if he didn’t. 

I knew that prom was near, and I was not going to go single. For some reason, in the back of mind, I wanted Scotty to see me with another guy. I would not let him think that I didn’t know how to initiate another relationship. I had always told him that I was afraid to talk to other guys before I met him. We only started dating because my sister didn’t want to date him, and she passed him to me. She never really expected and even wanted us to date. She just selfishly passed him on to me to get rid of him; she simply saw right through him. She met him as a friend, but he liked her more. She has already been around the block with most of the guys her age in school. I never did really figure out why she thought twice about Scotty. Well, I’m here. He sure looks tired. Oops. Maybe I should have left when I called and said I was on my way. I just haven’t been myself lately.

It’s about time. Man this girl is hot. I guess good things do come to those who wait, Brian thought.

“Hey Brian, sorry for the wait. Are you ready?”

“No problem, I’m ready. Let me tell my dad that I’m leaving.”

“Okay.” This is strange for me. My parents passed away in a fatal car accident when I was fifteen. The car overturned in a car pileup going about seventy miles per hour. Since then, I’ve been living with my grandparents for two years. They give me so much freedom that I don’t have to worry about telling them when and where I go. They forget anyways. I’m so used to doing things for myself that it seems strange when friends make a big deal about receiving permission, curfews, rules, and whatever else. The only bad thing that I have to do when needed is work. My grandparents are retired, but they only make enough to barely support themselves. They have just enough to buy me and my sister second hand clothing and, of course, food and girl stuff. If I wanted anything else, I had to buy it. That meant I had to work. Prom is approaching, and I must have a prom dress. I applied in the summer to work at Landry’s at the Kemah boardwalk, and I went through the training. I start working tomorrow at Landry’s, and I’ll work every weekend.

“So where are we going?” asked Brian.

“I was thinking the mall.” 

“The mall? You don’t want to go to the movies?”

I didn’t like going to the movies. It made me think of Scotty. That’s all we ever did was watch movies. Brian tried again. “What about the ferry in Galveston? Do you want to go on the ferry?” I really could not get my mind off of Scotty. That was another one of our special places where we went to on dates, especially when we were younger and were looking for a cheap place to hang out.

“Sure,” I said. “We’ll go to the movies then make a trip to the ferry.” I might as well work on getting Scotty off of my mind.

I met Brian through my friends at school. They were tired of me being all depressed and single, so they tried to match me up with someone. The initiator of them all was Tessa. She was dating a guy from Texas City, and he had a good-looking friend who was single, named Brian.

At the movies, he puts his arm around me, and I sit as stiff as a board. I was so thankful when we got out of the movies. The sun was already setting when we left the theater. We get to the ferry, and unfortunately there’s a long line. I actually feel silly in the car next to this guy that I hardly knew. What were we supposed to do? I could tell he had an idea of what he wanted to do. Out of no where he comes up with the line, “You know what I’m thinking about?” I uninterestingly answer, “what?” He answers, “How beautiful you are.” He leans over towards me and tries to kiss me. I was so grossed out. I mean how lame! I went ahead and let him drool in my mouth. I needed a date to prom anyways, and I could use him. He had dark brown hair and blue eyes, my favorite features. He was tall and well-built, but for some reason he didn’t quite interest me. However, he and I would look good as a couple at prom. Later I drop him off, and I’m set for a date for prom. I just need a dress.