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Buster nudged Alex as conversations flooded back to his ears. He’d been caught staring again, and he knew that if he kept it up, his friends were going to start asking him questions…but he couldn’t help himself. She was too beautiful to ignore, and he wanted to observe her whenever he could. He needed to get to know her and try to find a way to talk to her, even if only for a moment, to see if she was really as amazing as she seemed.
Buster finished chewing a bite of food, “We said which one if your favorite?” he asked again. Alex blinked at his friends, “Which one of what?”
Buster rolled his eyes as he stabbed another bite of food with his spork, “The Mondo Morphers, remember? There’s a spin-off now, I like the green one. Which one do you like?” he asked. Mondo Morphers was the biggest series at Grebe Middle at the moment, but Alex hadn’t watched. He’d been too busy doing research, too busy reading.
But he had to give an answer. Alex poked at his fruit cocktail, “I don’t know, the leader,” he said blankly. The others nodded, but Buster eyed him suspiciously as he worked hard to finish his food. They didn’t get long for lunch, but Alex was more worried about the lack of time to see her.
She sat three tables over and one back. Prunella, Fern, and Jenna sat around her smiling and laughing, probably having the girl equivalent to their conversation about Mondo Morphers. Alex still didn’t know how Prunella and Marina earned this lunch period since they were a grade ahead of him, but he didn’t care. Otherwise he’d only see her in the hallways or at the library. One time he saw her at the soccer field too playing with other blind kids. He wanted to stay and watch, but he couldn’t.
His friends hadn’t had crushes yet. Buster was obsessed with cartoons and conspiracy theories. Arthur liked cartoons, comics, and doing whatever he could to avoid his younger siblings. George was studying with his father and Mr. Ratburn to be the next Jim Henson just with wood instead of…whatever his puppets were made of.
Alex was ahead of the curve. He enjoyed reading, and he found himself secretly enjoying romantic ideas. He wondered if something like that could happen to him, and then Marina came along. She was…everything. He supposed, at least. He had a lot to learn, but all he knew right now is that he felt electrified whenever she was around.
The bell chimed and interrupted his thoughts. He looked up from his half-eaten food and realized Prunella and Marina had already left while he was lost in thought. He frowned and moved solemnly back to class.
After school, he went with Buster to the basketball courts at his condo. Rain was moving in, but they wanted some outside time while they could get it. They played Horse, and Alex wasn’t doing so well. He shot a basket, and the ball ricocheted off the rim, off the fence behind the goal, and all the way across the space as Buster looked on in awe…and Alex stood dumbfounded, his thoughts on Marina.
Buster tossed a basket and rang it perfectly. He tossed the ball back to Alex, and it bounced off his chest and rolled away. Buster stared at him as Alex stammered out a lazy excuse, “Sorry, I wasn’t looking.”
“You were staring right at me,” Buster argued, adding, “Are you okay? I’ve never beaten you before. Are you letting me win?” he interrogated as rain started to fall. Buster groaned and retrieved the ball as they moved back to Buster’s unit and upstairs to his room.
Alex took a seat on Buster’s computer chair as Buster landed on his beanbag chair with a POOF! Buster eyed him, “You never answered me back there. What’s going on?”
Alex rolled his eyes, “I’m sure you all already know, it’s obvious,” he answered, but Buster shook his head, “No, it’s not obvious. Arthur thought you were getting sick at lunch today, that’s why he refused to come with us after school. George agreed with him.”
“I’m not sick,” Alex huffed, hanging his head, “It’s nothing, never mind. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Hey, come on now! We’re friends, remember! And if you’re having a problem, I want to help you with it,” Buster offered, but Alex held up his hand, “No, I’m not having a problem, honest. Don’t worry about it, okay? You’re too young.”
Buster laughed, “Too young? I’m two weeks older than you! I can’t be too young!” he said, his smile fading, “You’re not being abused or something, are you?”
“No, no, no, it’s not that!” Alex said quickly. He shook his head, “Seriously though, you wouldn’t get it. Don’t worry about it.”
Buster sighed, “I’m sorry you don’t think I could help you. We’re just worried about you is all, all of us. You’ve never been like this before.”
“Yeah, but…I’ve never been better, honest,” Alex said. Buster’s eyes lit up, “Oh! You’ve got a crush on someone! You could’ve just SAID that, I won’t tell!” he exclaimed.
Alex held up his hands, “Hush, shh! Do you want the whole neighborhood to hear?!” he hissed.
“Sorry,” Buster whispered, bouncing in his chair, “This is exciting! You’re the first one of us to have a real crush that isn’t…never mind. Who’s the lucky person?” he asked, adding, “I hope that’s not your worry. I mean, we all went to Ratburn’s wedding, we’re okay with whoever you like.”
“It’s not that, I just…it’s different than that but sort of the same, and it doesn’t matter. She’ll never notice me,” Alex lamented.
“Don’t sell yourself short!” Buster said cheerfully before remembering and lowering his voice to a whisper, “Seriously, you just have to figure out a way to put yourself out there, and I can help with that. Any of us could, you just have to tell us who it is, and—”
“No, no, I can handle this on my own,” Alex interrupted. Buster frowned, “Well…that hasn’t worked for you so far. If you change your mind, you know we’re all here for you,” he said, studying the rain outside the window as it pounded on the roof. Buster grimaced, “You might want to call your mom, I don’t think you can get home in this alone.”
Alex knew he was right, so he went downstairs to their wall phone to make the call. His mom agreed to pick him up in a few minutes, so he went upstairs to wait. To Buster’s credit, he changed the subject completely and started talking about Mondo Morphers again. Alex pretended to be interested. It was the least he could do after being so walled off from his friend.
Alex arrived at school the next day and had an epiphany. He was vibrating throughout the school day as he waited for the chance to do what he wanted to do…not that he knew the specifics. His idea was a sound one, but it would put himself out there in a way that was terrifying…yet exciting. If he was successful, he could get to know Marina face-to-face. If he wasn’t, she might hate him forever, but it was a risk he had to take.
After school, he ran to the public library and looked for Miss Turner among the stacks. He found her shelving books and startled her at first, but she was happy to head up to the reference desk to help him find the books he wanted. Once he acquired them, he rushed home and locked himself in his room to get to work.
Figuring out the braille alphabet was only his first hurdle. He quickly realized his methods were flawed—his paper was too thin, and the tool he was using to raise the paper was too much for the paper to handle. After gathering some cardstock from his mother’s scrapbook supplies, he suddenly realized he was doing the message backwards—he was flipping the paper upside down, which made the message go the wrong way once he flipped it back.
Alex dug out his thinner paper again to practice, but then it was dinner time. He begrudgingly went downstairs to join his family, who reminded him of a math test he had the following day as well as other assignments he had due. He had completely shirked his student duties for his letter, something his parents were not going to tolerate.
Defeated, he returned to his room after dinner and did his homework. When he was done, he took a shower and went to bed, his dreams filled with dots and paper, his fingers pulsing from all of the work.
Prunella stood beside Marina’s locker as she felt through her books. She’d used butcher paper to cover them so that she could stick on a braille label and know the titles for herself. Prunella stood guard as she worked to find her lab manual for her science class.
“He’s watching you again,” Prunella noted. Marina sighed, “Well I hope he enjoys himself, Pru, he’s not bothering anyone.”
Prunella scoffed, “Well he’s bothering me. Why does he keep looking at you all the time? Kids usually don’t do that for very long. I mean, you’re blind, it’s not like you’re a circus act.”
Marina found her lab manual and pulled it into her bag, “I’m sure he’s not watching me like I’m a freak; he’s known me a while, remember? Besides, he’s keeping his distance and being respectful. He can do whatever he wants if he keeps that up,” she said, but she knew Prunella didn’t like that answer. Marina decided she didn’t care as they fell into step and moved back towards the eighth grade hall. Prunella was on alert as they turned the corner, and she stopped to look back. Marina barely registered this as she stopped and waited for her friend to join her.
Prunella gasped, “He’s putting something in your locker!” she hissed. Marina rolled her eyes, “Whatever, Pru, can we please just go to class? We’re going to be late at this rate.”
“I want to know what it is,” Prunella demanded as they stomped towards their science classroom. Marina shook her head, “Fine, I’ll tell you as soon as I know…which will be tomorrow. You’ve got the dentist appointment today, remember?”
Prunella groaned as they entered the classroom, “Mom should cancel it, who needs teeth anyway?”
“You’re being ridiculous, Pru,” Marina whispered as they took their seats, “I moved to Grebe for middle school hoping we could have a good time at school together, and you are acting feral over this kid. What’s so wrong about him anyway?”
“It’s suspicious,” Prunella fired back as the intercom beeped. Her mom was already here to get her for her cleaning. Prunella groaned and stormed off to the front office. Marina shook her head at her friend and got to work.
As school released, Marina went to her locker by herself. Her mom would meet her at the front office since Prunella wasn’t here, but she had plenty of time to check her things. As Prunella noticed, there was an envelope on top of her lower shelf of notebooks. Marina ran her fingers over the paper expecting to feel handwriting.
Instead she felt letters, braille letters: TO MARINA FROM ALEX. Heat rose to her cheeks as she heard footsteps nearby. She carefully shoved the envelope into the nearest notebook and shoved it into her bag.
“Ready to go home, sweetie?” her mom called. Marina nodded and closed her locker before following her mom out. Her heart pounded in her ears as she wondered why he would write her in the first place, let alone take the time to learn how to do braille. It had taken her ages to learn the language and how to write it, yet he was writing letters for it? She was shocked.
Once in the car, her mom asked her about her day, but Marina gave quick, one-word answers. Her mom got the message and left her daughter be. When they got home, Marina announced that she had loads of homework before darting into her room. Her mother didn’t question her as Marina entered her room and shut the door.
She knew that any minute now, Prunella would either show up or call her home wanting to know what the letter was, so she had to know…but more for herself. Anyone willing to go that far for her wasn’t a threat…she hoped.
Marina pulled out the letter and felt the heaviness of the paper. That surprised her as she oriented it and began to read Alex’s letter:
DEAR MARINA—I HOPE THIS LETTER FINDS YOU WELL. I HAVE A CONFESSION TO MAKE. I WOULD LIKE TO GET TO KNOW YOU, BUT I DON’T KNOW HOW. WHAT DO WE EVEN HAVE IN COMMON? I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW. MY PHONE NUMBER IS
The ringing of the landline interrupted her thoughts, which were swirling like a hurricane. He liked her. Marina had read about people liking others in her books, but she never expected someone to like her, and she never thought there would be anyone able to find a romantic gesture that worked for her. Rose petals spelling out I HEART YOU? She couldn’t see that. What was the point of a sunset proposal? All she’d notice was how cool it felt.
But Alex had found a way.
“Honey, it’s Prunella. Do you have time to talk to her? She sounds frantic,” her mother announced through the closed door. Marina opened it and accepted the cordless phone.
“H-Hello?” she stammered.
“Oh my god, what did he put in your locker to have you talking like that?!” Prunella exclaimed angrily.
“Calm down, it’s not what you think,” Marina said. Prunella seemed dumbfounded, “How? He doesn’t even know you—”
“He’s like to,” Marina cut in. Prunella was silent for a beat, and Marina wondered if she was still as angry as before.
Prunella was now the one stammering, “W-wait, he…you got a crush letter before I did?”
“In braille,” Marina added. She laughed, “What? I thought this was something terrible and awful. He’s only been gawking at me for weeks. You thought he was being mean.”
“Well…I can be wrong sometimes. Maybe,” Prunella pouted before adding, “I’m happy for you, he’s nice I guess. Does he want you to go out?” she asked, “It’s a little quick to say yes to that.”
“Yeah, but he didn’t ask that yet, just to get to know me. That’s fair I think,” Marina answered. Prunella agreed, “Yeah, fair. You got a letter before ME and it was in BRAILLE! He learned braille for you, that fink. He’s making me look bad.”
Marina grinned, “I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it, he just…knows you’re unapproachable.”
“I am NOT—okay, I am,” Prunella laughed, adding, “I guess you need to meet him somewhere?” she asked.
“I’m going to call him and…I don’t know what to say, but I’m going to call him,” Marina blushed. Prunella shook her head but agreed to get off the phone. Marina held the receiver in her hand, her fingers trembling as she returned to the note. She dialed, her heart pounding in her ears. A boy wanted to get to know her, and she wasn’t sure if he’d like what he found, but she was excited.
~End