I've have had the tattoo for as long as I can remember. My earliest memory was asking my mother where it came from and what it meant, but she wouldn't tell me. Now that I am older I know what the words say "Can I sit here? Where is the ketchup?" An odd phrase to be tattooed, and even now, at ten I'm still wondering what it means..

I got many questions about the tattoo, kids always give me weird looks and parents wonder why someone would tattoo a minor. However, that all became clear when I changed schools Before third grade; the day I met my best friend.

On the first day of school, I was a fish out of water.

Then came lunchtime.

The cafeteria was overflowing with students. None of the faces familiar. No one was interested in a small girl with dirty blond hair who sat by herself at an empty table. I guessed that was going to be me until middle school, the lonely weird girl that no one wanted to talk to. Then I saw him.

He had short, blonde hair and glasses that seemed too big for his round face. He stepped out of the lunch line with his tray, looking around for several minutes before walking up to me.
"Can I sit here?" He asked, "… And, uh, where's the ketchup?"

Numbly, I pointed him in the direction of the condiments table at the far end of the cafeteria. Once his back was turned I found myself unconsciously rubbing my right arm where my tattoo was. I had the oddest sense of déjà vu…

The boy with blond hair and glasses returned to the table. Placing his tray next to mine he sat down.

"By the way," he said, "my name's Jay. What's yours?"

I smiled at him.

 

"Carrie."

 

 

Later that evening my parents and I talked over our day. My mother did the normal things a stay at home mother did; whatever those were and my father had some complicated  job with machines and computers that I didn't understand.

 

"How was your day dear?" My father asked as he passed my mother the mashed potatoes. He was a tall man in his early forties, but to me he was simply dad with his hornrimmed glasses and kind dark eyes

 

"Fine." My mother replied in a tired sounding voice, " It's nice to be able to do my yoga class again… Now that Carrie is back in school."

 

Then the attention turned to me.

 

"How was your day Carrie?" My mother asked. "Any questions about your tattoo?"

 

This was always my mother's first question when I encountered a new situation. How had people reacted to my tattoo and were parents and other adults freaked out.

 

"Fine, mom." I replied wearily. "No, no one asked."

 

"Good." My mother replied, "I suppose we'll have to worry about it more when you're wearing short sleeves."

 

"How was your day Care Bear? Did you make any new friends?" My father asked. The name "Care Bear" had been my nickname since I was a toddler, but I was now to the age where I was getting tired of it.

 

I speared a piece of meat with my fork.

 

"Fine." I replied quietly. "Yeah I've met a few people. I met this boy named Jay, we had lunch together and I think he's in my class."

 

"That's nice." My mother replied. "Hopefully you won't be so lonely now Carrie."

 

The rest of the conversation floated around me. My father was talking about his job to my mother so I finished eating quietly. Once I had finished I excused myself.

 

"May I please go to my room?"

 

"Absolutely, sweetheart." My mother replied.

 

"Didn't give you homework already, did they?" My father teased.

 

"Dad!" I groaned, "It's the first day of school!" I grabbed a pillow from the chair in the living room and pretended throw it at him but he merely moved out of the way.

 

Parents can be so annoying, I thought as I made my way up to my bedroom. It was worse than having a brother or sister, or I imagined it was.

 

Once in my room I settled down a book I had neglected to finish before school began. I would have little leisure time once I started having homework so I decided to take full advantage of it. Halfway through a chapter however, my mind wandered to my conversation with Jay earlier that day. He was funny in a weird sort of way and he was friendly despite seeming "totally weird" as other kids would put it. I liked it that he didn't ask a million questions about my tattoo, that he just saw me as "Carrie" and not as "the kid with the tattoo" that made me feel better. I could still see him in my mind with his blonde hair, crooked teeth, and oversized glasses. For the first time that I remembered, I consciously smiled without my dad having to crack some corny joke.

 

 

Even in class Jay and I were inseparable, having seats an arms reach apart. We almost always were partners on any given school project the teacher assigned mostly because he was the person I was most comfortable with, I felt out of step with any of the other kids.

 

I was teased because, well, my tattoo was a conversation starter, but not as much as Jay who was constantly shoved and bullied by this boy in our class Thomas. Thomas was bigger than both of us and at least a few inches taller. He was burly, even for a 10-year-old with squinted blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. I was always caught in the middle of these spats, if only because I got in the way, no matter how big it was. This didn't seem to matter much to Thomas.

 

We were on our way to science class, which was held in the classroom across the hall when Thomas stopped us and shoved Jay against the lockers. It was funny how he always seemed to get away with it, funny, the teacher never saw.

 

"Four eyes!" He sneered, laughing.

 

"Thomas, leave him alone!" I snapped, aware the teacher was nearby.

 

"What a nerd!" Thomas huffed, ""why do you even hang out with him, tattoo girl?"

 

I didn't answer, I never had a good answer for his taunts.

 

"Come on, just leave him alone." I sighed, I didn't feel like fighting. I walked over and helped Jay to his feet. "Do you want to get detention? Come on, we're going to be late."

 

Thomas sauntered away, catching up with the rest of our class, but I knew this was far from the end of it.

 

The incidents between Thomas, Jay and I were like several pinpricks that kept jabbing, poking and hurting and it didn't seem to matter who they hurt Jay or me; the pain was the same. The teasing about everything that made Jay and myself awkward or unusual.

 

"Man, you guys must really stink if the flies don't even want to be around you!" Thomas jeered as Jay and I worked on our model rocket a short time later. "Must be Carrie's alien blood!"

 

"Hey," Jay said softly, "don't let him get you."

 

"Why do you say that?" I whispered back as I corrected a smudge on the nose of our rocket. "You're the one he's messing with."

 

"It's what friends do." Jay replied. He looked critically at our rocket. "Yellow stripes or blue?" He asked changing the subject.

 

"Yellow." I decided. "Maybe the tips of the fins too."

 

We set to work in companionable silence with no more being said about the school bully.

 

 

 

I didn't say any more about Thomas until I got home later that afternoon. Unfortunately, my mother noticed my expression  right when I walked in the door.

 

"Carrie? How was school? Why the long face?"

 

"The usual." I muttered. As I slid my backpack, with four of my favorite Disney princesses off my shoulder, undecided at the moment whether I was just going to toss it in the corner of the foyer or take it up to my bedroom.

 

"Thomas was picking on Jay again." I finally mumbled.

 

"Have you told the teacher?" She asked.

 

I shook my head, feeling the tears prick at the corners of my eyes.

 

"Don't bother," I replied shortly, still trying to keep my tears at bay, though unsure why I was crying in the first place, "No one cares anyway! No one cares about Jay except me."

 

With that, I grabbed my backpack and stormed up in the direction of my room leaving my mother speechless in the foyer below.

 

 

My favorite part of the school day (so far) was the ride home from school. When I could ignore the taunts coming from my classmates about Jay or myself.  I liked having time to talk to Jay, just him and me, anything we could do together was time well spent.

 

"Oh look here comes the nerd in the tattoo girl." Thomas sneered and a few of the other boys on the bus laughed. I did my best to ignore them as I followed Jay up the bus steps.

 

I had just sat down next to Jay when they started in again.

 

"Why do you have that tattoo anyway?" A girl asked. I would have surmised her question was out of general curiosity had it not been for her tone and the comments that followed.

 

"My brother said you had to be 18 to get a tattoo." Another boy I didn't recognize from across the bus aisle commented, "he said whatever they did to you was illegal and they probably get in big trouble."

 

The rest of the bus ride was relatively uneventful; I even managed to ignore the rowdy high schoolers in the back. I gave Jay a thin smile, one which he returned, it said about what we both felt, it was the school of hard knocks and we just had to deal with it.

 

After saying goodbye to Jay, who lived a little ways across town, I got to the bus stop at the on the corner of my street. Grabbing my backpack I headed off the bus, fortunately today no one bothered with the catcalls, I was odd and undercover, so I was usually the last person anyone noticed.

 

My mother was watering her plants when I came in. She looked so suburban with her brown hair tucked under her sun hat and her sundress and freckles; like my grandma's old movies.

 

"How was school?" She asked automatically in that way mothers do.

 

"Fine." I answered just as automatically, "they were picking on Jay again." I said this as a matter of course as if it were just another part of my day, which it was.

 

"You too?"

 

I didn't answer.

 

"Carrie, if something is going on at school I want you to tell me."

 

"Well I have!" I replied shortly.

 

"About your tattoo again?" She asked, her tone softer.

 

I pressed my lips together, but nodded.

 

"We can talk again about getting it removed, people do cosmetic surgery like that all the time."

 

I turned to head upstairs, I wanted to be alone.

 

"You said that was left up to me when I was old enough to understand." I replied, "I can make that decision when I'm ready." Then I headed up the stairs taking them two at a time, wondering once again what it was like to have a normal day when you were 9 years old.

2: Chapter 2

As the routine of school began to take hold Jay and I fell into a routine. Every morning I would wait for him, since my bus got to school before his did. He was bus 28 which was the first bus that got the pickups from  his side of town; me, I took the same bus to and from school.

 

My heart would always lift upon seeing him, who wouldn't upon seeing their best friend, then we would meet and talk in the corner of the cafeteria until the bell rang.

 

Usually Jay thought it was hilarious to sneak up behind me and  tap me on the shoulder (like I didn't know he was there) but usually I would be so occupied watching for him I didn't notice that he had gotten off the bus. Then I would jump a mile which would make Jay laugh even more. Before school was one of our few moments of solitude where no one bothered us and even Thomas kept his distance.

 

"Your mom still want you to think about getting your tattoo removed?" Jay asked after we had said good morning.

 

I nodded as it was hard to have a conversation over the group of boys playing table hockey on the other side the room.

 

"She said it's my choice," I replied, "but sometimes I think it's more trouble than it's worth."

 

Sometimes we would spend time talking about normal things not just our troubles, and Jay would do his best to try and make me laugh; that was always something he was good at. I was always disappointed when the bell rang because that meant our conversation (for the moment) had to end and it was time to focus on our lessons for the day.

 

One of the classes on the roaster for the students was music class. It was one of those classes sometimes I wondered why they even bothered. I mean, most of the kids couldn't even carry a tune (Exhibit A our brief stints with recorders. I'm surprised we didn't have the neighborhood dogs and cats running for the hills!) Then there was the time our teacher had had us write a song for an assignment, it was about candy, not exactly the deepest subject matter.

 

This brings me to now when we were all sitting in our chairs at the tables waiting for her to announce our next assignment.

 

"Our next assignment will be a play." The teacher, Mrs. Connery announced. She is a thin woman with graying hair and glasses, frankly I think she looks like a librarian.

 

The reaction is mixed nonplussed looks from the boys and somewhat tentatively excited looks from the girls. Well, it could go either way.

 

Mrs. Connery continues.

 

"Our play will be about any and all fairytales and there will be parts but everyone in the choir can dress up as their favorite fairytale character, whatever that may be."

 

There was more chattering from the class.

 

"Today, we will practice the songs as a group. Auditions will be in the next several weeks."

 

Then she began handing out the music. It was 4 or 5 songs in a folder the first few pages outlining the play and the characters. It was about what I expected, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, stepsisters, dwarves and other supporting fairytale characters.

 

We spent the rest of the hour practicing the music, which I actually enjoyed, though every time I looked at Jay he only pretended that his lips were moving. Had I not been in class I would laughed.

 

When I got home I told my mom about the play. She was in the kitchen as she often was when I got home from school either cooking dinner or cleaning, usually she was still in her yoga clothes from earlier that afternoon.

 

"Are you going to audition?" My mother asked.

 

I shrugged.

 

My mother sighed, giving me a long look.

 

"I can't help you if you don't say something Carrie. I really think this will be a good opportunity for you."

 

"I'll think about it." I replied finally, "I think I'm going to go up to my room and do my homework."

 

My mother chuckled.

 

"Such an odd child, what child does their homework right when they get home."

 

I turned around at the top of 'the stairs.

 

"A child that wants the rest of the night off."

 

If I had known the school play would turn into a powder keg of tension I would've steered clear of it, but it wasn't like I had a crystal ball. Jay, for his part, was roped into it because there were so few boys willing to play Prince Charming. In contrast, there were many girls who really wanted to be Cinderella including me. I was looking forward to auditions with a kind of nervous excitement, I was sure I would probably fail, but I really wanted the part. I wanted it more after one afternoon when the role of the Prince was still up for grabs.

 

It had come down to two boys, Carter, a quiet boy, who I hardly ever talk to, and Jay. Jay looked uncertain as the class sat in a circle with me in the middle.

 

"Okay Carrie," Mrs. Connery said, "you pick, one of the boys will play the Prince and the other will have a smaller role in a "commercial" between the scenes."

 

Well thanks a lot. I thought, that really made my decision easier.

 

"I bet you want Jay to play the Prince," Thomas teased, "maybe you'll actually kiss!"

 

Jay and I exchanged a look, but neither of us said anything. By now, we were used to the taunts and how much they hurt.

 

It was as if Thomas' words had made up my mind for me. I chose Carter for the smaller role and Jay would be the Prince, even now, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be Cinderella. Was it worth the teasing?

 

When I left music class that afternoon Mrs. Connery was putting Jay through his paces. He sounded pretty good, as good as a quiet, nerdy 9-year-old could sound, but we weren't going for a Grammy either. Though maybe I was a bit bias.

 

"Auditions for the lead of Cinderella will be tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 PM, anyone interested leave a note with me and I will let your teacher know."

 

"You auditioning?" Jay asked.

 

"Sure." I replied with more confidence than I felt. "It be cool if we could do the play together." I didn't mention Thomas, that was something neither of us wanted to talk about.

 

By the following afternoon I was a basket case. My palms were sweaty and I was surreptitiously wiping  them on my jeans as I stood outside the music room. I was one of a handful of girls who had shown up and from where I stood outside the door they tried to sing Cinderella's solo (with varying degrees of success).

 

Finally it was my turn. When she opened the door Mrs. Connery called my name.

 

"Carrie Hansen."

 

I nodded at her and walked in. The classroom was empty except for the chairs propped up on tables and the piano which had various pieces of sheet music strewn across the top of it.

 

Mrs. Connery sat down at the piano.

 

"Well Carrie, whenever you're ready. If you need the lyrics I have extra copies."

 

I nodded mutely, grabbed the sheet music from the top of the piano and stared back at her.

 

So I took a deep breath as she began to play then she nodded, indicating I should start singing.

 

It didn't go as bad as I thought, but it also didn't go as well as I thought either. I probably sounded like a strangled canary, but if that meant I could share the stage with Jay that's all that mattered.

 

When we had finished Mrs. Connery spoke again.

 

"Well done Carrie. I'll announce who got the role in class next week. You can go back to class now."

 

I walked back to class in silence. Anything would've been better than having to deal with my classmates for the rest of the afternoon and facing decimals on top of that.

 

 

So the day to announce the lead roles had arrived. Most people knew Jay had the role of the Prince since he had gotten it by default, but Cinderella was one all the girls wanted, and who wouldn't want to be a princess. First Mrs. Connery announced the other major roles: the stepsisters would be played by Amber Hurdley and Connie Winston. They were like a yin-yang while Amber was a dark and Connie was fair. At least they had one thing going for them, they were very average.

 

"The Prince will be played by Jay Swenson."

 

I inwardly cheered, but I didn't even look at the rest of my classmates, I didn't want to catch Thomas' eye, the idea made my stomach squirm uncomfortably.

 

"Finally," Mrs. Connery paused for dramatic effect, "the moment you've all been waiting for, the role of Cinderella will be played by… Susan Hartwood."

 

My stomach sank, but what had I expected? I wouldn't be the one up there with Jay after all. Susan was a pretty little girl with blonde hair and bright blue eyes; she definitely had a face for the stage alright.

 

I was still wondering what I could've done better after class when Mrs. Connery came up to me.

 

"Carrie, I know you really wanted the part of Cinderella."

 

I nodded, there was no use denying it.

 

"I have a better idea, why don't you come up with an idea for one of the commercials. It can be anything fairytale related, you can even dress up if you want."

 

I could feel my face brightening.

 

"That's great!" I exclaimed, "Thank you!" I hurried off to tell Jay, but I was halfway back to class before I realized I had no idea what I was going to do.

 

Let me tell you something about my Aunt Iris. She was probably my one "wacky" relative. While my mother was fair with reddish hair and freckles my aunt was dark with curly dark hair and sallow skin. She was what my dad called a free spirit and  was the only person in my family that understood me.

 

Aunt Iris was the only person that never said a word about my tattoo she just treated me like everybody else, which was a relief. Over the weekend after the casting announcement I rode my bike over to Aunt Iris' since she only lived a few streets over, it was moments like this I enjoyed having a relative so close. She smiled when I knocked on the door.

 

"Carrie, isn't this a pleasant surprise! You know it's going to be too cold to ride your bike soon.. Why don't you come on in," She offered, "I got cheese and crackers and that's way better than  milk and cookies." She winked.

 

While I munched on cheese and crackers I filled Aunt Iris in on my dilemma with the school play.

 

Of course she had a solution.

 

"Why don't you do a jingle, you know they were all the rage when your parents and I were growing up." She waved her hand. "Look em up on YouTube!"

 

After browsing videos for several minutes Aunt Iris' face brightened.

 

"I got it! Sleeping beauty sleeping pills!"

 

I grinned, already knowing where she was going. Then she laid out her idea and I grinned even more. After she had constructed the jingle on the old rickety piano in the living room we were both laughing hysterically.

 

"Then you dress up as sleeping beauty. Trust me, you'll be far prettier than that Susan girl!"

 

I hugged her.

 

"Thanks Aunt Iris, you're a genius!"

 

She chuckled.

 

"So I've been told."

3: Chapter 3

Apparently Aunt Iris' idea was a hit! Mrs. Connery loved it and so did most of the class, so at least for the next week I got a brief taste of popularity and no one mentioned my tattoo.

 

The next thing I had to do before we started really rehearsing in the school gym was figure out the minor details of my commercial. I would be dressed up as sleeping beauty but Aunt Iris' jingle mentioned a frog so we needed someone who didn't already have a part play the frog, which was apparently the "minor role Mrs. Connery had anticipated.

 

The part, of course went to Carter, who as it was barely said two words to me, although the only words he did say were: "yeah, okay" when Mrs. Connery told him he had the part.

 

This was going to be interesting, I thought, two introverts working on a project; I would be surprised if anything got done. Although where did that leave me and Jay? We were both introverted and we got along fine, but that was different, much different. Carter's part, however, was simple; all he had to do was hop out on the makeshift stage in a frog custom Mrs. Connery had found, there wasn't that much to rehearse. I think I had the harder part because I had to sit there for a couple minutes in a chair holding a doctored pill bottle which read "Sleeping Beauty Sleeping Pills" while the chorus sang the jingle; I didn't know how I would feel about that; amused, proud, or embarrassed. I already had butterflies for opening night enough as it was.

 

My next dilemma was exactly what to wear. Aunt Iris insisted I look like a princess and found me this old dress from a thrift shop. Between her and my mom they tailored the dress to fit me, but overall it wouldn't been my first choice. It was dandelion yellow and made out of some satiny material that made me sweat; that wasn't ideal if you were going to be in front of an audience for an hour and a half..

 

By the time my mom and Aunt Iris were finished hemming and tailoring the dress it looked decent enough, and I guess I looked okay. Mom promised she would fix my hair and she and Aunt Iris spent almost an hour arguing over who was going to do what, if I hadn't been so nervous I probably would've laughed.

 

Finally, when I looked at myself in the mirror on opening night I wasn't disappointed. Aunt Iris had done something to my hair so it fell soft and wispy around my face, she had even put a little bit of makeup on me, which made me feel strangely more confident. I continuously smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles from the skirt of the dress on the way to school, I was beginning to feel butterflies again.

 

All the students in the third and fourth grade were supposed to meet in their classrooms before going to the gym. The classroom was chaos! There were students in various states of dress, too many girls to count in "princess" dresses, and boys in vests and dress pants, which I assumed their mothers had meticulously ironed beforehand. My eyes found the two people I had been trying to locate, Carter, dressed in his frog costume with the head under his arm, and Jay, who was dressed in his prince costume, looking lost and uncomfortable, though he smiled when he saw me giving me a thumbs up.

 

I made my way over to him.

 

"You're going to be awesome!" I enthused, giving him the once over. For a minute we just stood there in the crowded classroom grinning at each other.

 

"Yeah? You too." Jay offered, running a hand nervously through his blonde hair. "Your commercial is going to be great!"

 

"Thanks."

 

We smiled at each other again, but the spell was broken when the teacher Mrs. Hansen finally called us to order telling everyone to line up. We would meet up with the rest of the classes in the hallway on the way to the gym. There was a kind of nervous energy buzzing around the school and under normal circumstances I would play that energy off of Jay, but he was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, I followed the rest of my classmates towards the gym, here again we separated into lead roles and secondary roles. Everyone else was in the chorus.

 

Carter and I weren't needed until the beginning of the second act so there was a ways to go before we needed to be on stage. For now, everyone prepared to take stage and the chorus filed onto the risers. From where I was I could see the families of the students filing into the bleachers, then Mrs. Connery made her introduction and the lights went down. It was time or the show to begin.

4: Chapter 4

Overall, I was happy with how the play had turned out. Mrs. Connery was pleased too and the next class period after the performance she congratulated us on a job well done; particularly Jay and Susan, but she made sure each of us felt special for the part we had played.

 

My commercial had been well received and when Carter had hopped out on stage next to me in his frog costume everyone in the audience had laughed, at least Aunt Iris had been right on the money about that one. Even the week after the play I reminded myself to thank her again.

 

 

 

After the play, school went back to normal and Jay and I went back to being invisible, which was perfectly fine with us, we were perfectly fine in our own company our only obstacle  was Thomas' daily taunts.

 

 By now, the weather had shifted, moving from the comfortable fall weather with twinkling sunshine to the breezy, chilly overcast days. While it hadn't snowed yet, the cooler temperatures were making the adults grumble and making students break out heavier coats regardless of whether they chose to zip them or not. I was grateful it hadn't snowed yet because snow meant snowballs which meant Jay and I were easy targets. At least with my long sleeves my tattoo wasn't visible for ridicule and curious stares.

 

The only thing I liked about the cooler temperatures was meant the holidays were coming and the closer the holidays were the closer it was to my birthday. Funny enough that was the other thing that Jay and I had in common, we both had birthdays in December eleven days apart, his was on the first and mine was on the twelfth.

 

 

It was sometime after Thanksgiving when I got the invite for Jay's birthday party. He handed  it to me with a small smile and a twinkle in his eye.

 

"So," I asked, "what do you want?"

 

Jay shrugged.

 

"Whatever." He replied, "I just would really like it if you were there."

 

"I will be." I promised.

 

 

"That's nice he invited you." My mother said when she saw the invitation. "It's so nice you actually have a friend now."

 

This was what my mother said every time I mentioned Jay, I wish she wouldn't, it made me feel more isolated than I already was, it was like Jay and I were in our own little club. That, I wouldn't change the world.

 

"So what are you going to get him, Carrie?

 

I shrugged.

 

"I don't know." I replied, "I don't know what boys like, mom."

 

My mother laughed.

 

"I think even at my age I'm still trying to figure that out with your father. Between his birthday, Father's Day and Christmas I think I run out of ideas."

 

I giggled.

 

"Well, I guess I'll just get something he likes. I mean, he's not really like other boys… He's quieter and he doesn't like that toy gun stuff."

 

Now it was my mother's turn to laugh.

 

"I think Jay will be happy with whatever he give him Carrie, because it came from you."

 

 

Jay's party was the last weekend in November. His actual birthday wasn't until the following week, but it was easier to get people together on a Saturday. I had never been to his house before so that was a whole new experience for me, I hadn't had friends who invited me over to their houses.

 

It was my dad who drove me and spent most of the car ride giving me a pep talk about "how to be social" to which I was only half listening.

 

"Now Carrie, just make conversation, say hi to people and ask about their interests. That is how you make friends." My father instructed firmly.

 

I wanted to tell him that was easier said than done that my social status had already been established months ago and it would be near impossible to change. I was already considered an oddball and hanging out with the "class nerd" didn't really help. Not that I cared. I continued to stare out the window, the sky was a light shade of slate gray befitting the onset of winter and snowflakes were drifting lazily downward. It hadn't really snowed heavily since the weather had turned but rather flurried. I was still looking forward to  "real snow" over Christmas.

 

Jay's house was off a small street called Timber Knolls. It was easy to find because it was the first house and the only house on the street with lots of cars in front of it. At the end of the drive my dad dropped me off.

 

"Watch your step, it's icy!" He called as I scampered out of the car, "Have fun, I'll pick you up at 4."

 

Clutching my present to my chest, I raced up the driveway and when I turned around I waved letting him know I had heard. Then I headed up the stoop and rang the doorbell.

 

The first person I saw when the door opened I assumed was Jay's mother. She was a shorter woman with blondish hair, a kind face and smile.

 

"You must be Carrie. Jay has told me a lot about you. Come on in." Then she yelled up the stairs which I assume led to the bedrooms.

 

"Jay! Carrie's here!"

 

Then came Jay from the top of the stairs, he took the stairs 2 at a time as he came down to meet me. He was wearing an old sweater and jeans, my eyes traveled down to his feet-no shoes-just socks.

 

"Hey!" He called as he reached the stairs. (This was our standard greeting).

 

"Hey," I replied easily, "happy birthday."

 

"Well it's not till next week, actually." He shrugged, chuckling.

 

"So you want me to wait till next week give you your present?" I dangled the bag I was holding in front of him.

 

Jay laughed.

 

"No. Just for today I'll let it pass."

 

Mrs. Swenson interjected into our conversation.

 

"Presents can go on the table in the living room. Everyone else is in the family room in the back."

 

I did as instructed while Jay hovered at my shoulder. The house was cozy and simple with a small sitting room in the front. On the table Mrs. Swenson had indicated was a pile of presents.

 

"Back here." Jay instructed and I followed him from the living room, past the dining room, and through the kitchen to another sitting room where there was a small group of kids (mostly boys) watching TV. I didn't know most of the people so I stuck with Jay though he made brief introductions. The only boy I remembered was their neighbor that Jay was friends with. His name was Adam; he had light brown hair and a nondescript face. He looked like any other 8-year-old and was the only person other than me Jay really talked to. I figured they had been friends for a while.

 

While we waited for cake and ice cream to be served Jay and I trailed after the small group of kids. The Swenson's had a small loft above the family room with the TV, I watched the kids running around in a daze; Jay and I much preferred sitting and talking quietly to running around and playing with other children our age. I was relieved Mrs. Swenson called everyone for cake and ice cream.

 

By the time we sat down, Mr. Swenson had appeared from upstairs. ( I hadn't seen him when I arrived). He was a quiet, thin man with crooked glasses and Jay's blue eyes. I caught him smiling when he saw me sitting next to Jay (we had been inseparable since I had arrived), like we were at school. It seemed that his parents were glad Jay had a friend. However, as the only girl I felt a bit awkward, but I was happy to spend the afternoon with my best friend regardless.

 

I found myself reluctant to leave when my dad picked me up later that afternoon. I liked the Swenson house; it was something about it that remind me about Jay in general. After wishing Jay "happy birthday" again I left while we yelled goodbye to each other. Jay promising he would be there for my birthday the following week.

 

Over the next several months I spent a lot of time at the Swenson house. Jay and I played computer games in his dad's office, and watched TV lying on the living room floor. Those were the best times I had so far because, to me that was bought having a friend was all about. Until this year that was something I could have only dreamed about.