Sweet Caroline

“Ugh! I am so glad I only work the one day out of the two days they come in here,” Judy grumbled as she scraped the dried ketchup off one of the walls.

Maggie rolled her shoulders as she paused in her mopping. “Lucky you. I have to work both days, and they always make more of a mess than a bunch of five-year-old kids at a birthday party.”

Caroline laughed as she continued wiping down chairs and benches. “Yep, they do leave a mess, but management loves Tuesdays and Thursdays because of the sales they bring us.”

“Eh, that’s true, but they aren’t the ones here an extra half hour cleaning up behind them either. I still have a math test to study for, plus a pile of Biology to do,” Dale added.

“Tell me about it,” Caroline agreed. “If I don’t study tonight and pass that test, I won’t be here Thursday.”

Maggie looked up from putting up her mop to ask, “Why?”

“Because I’ll probably be buried in the bad grade cemetery.”

They all laughed at Caroline’s silliness. They all knew of her struggles in math. It was the one class she had to study extra hard to get an A in. Everything else came easy for her.

“Yeah, dad asked if I needed a tutor, and I told him no. I’m telling you it’s getting harder, and well, I might end up needing one,” Caroline grumbled as she dumped her dirty bucket of water out.

“Don’t give up, Caroline, and if you need some help, I’ll help you,” Dale said as he patted her on the shoulder.

“Thanks, Dale. Well, are we done?”

Hearing a trio of groans and yes’s, she headed for the breakroom to grab her purse. Once everyone had gathered up their things, they headed out, locking the door behind them. Since she didn’t have a car, she took off walking at a fast pace. She enjoyed the nighttime air after being stuck inside all day.

With a yawn, she glanced down at her watch and groaned, ten-thirty. With a sigh, I know it’s either going to be a long night tonight or an early morning trying to get my homework done. She yawned again. Morning it is.

After only going a few steps more, she heard something and stopped to look around. Seeing nothing, she swallowed hard and picked up her pace.

“Hey, Caroline, hold up!”

Slowing down once more and turning her head, she looked back. Andrew. As he jogged up even with her, she asked, “What are you doing out so late?”

“I’ve been out jogging. I needed to clear my almost fried brain after all my homework was finished. You’re out later than usual tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, well, the high school football and cheer teams hit the ‘Tasty Treat’ tonight.”

Rubbing a hand over his chest, he muttered, “Yeah, we are a bit messy, aren’t we?”

“Yeah. Tonight, we even had to clean ketchup off the wall. Yuck.”

Andrew laughed, admitting, “That was Ben. He had a bit of trouble getting the pack open.”

Caroline just gave the nod and continued to walk. Her nerves were quickly becoming frayed with her long-time crush walking next to her. It was like her brain froze up, and she couldn’t think of anything intelligent to say, so she stayed quiet. Since she wasn’t speaking to him, she honestly thought he would become annoyed and walk away. He surprised her by walking all the way home with her.

When she reached the end of her driveway, she stopped and looked over at him. In a whisper, her voice shaking a bit, she said, “Thank you for walking me home, though I’m not sure why you did.”

He tilted his head slightly as if he were studying her, then asked, “Do I make you nervous?”

Caroline looked away as she shrugged.

“There’s no reason to be nervous of me, and I walked you home because even in our small town, it isn’t safe for a girl alone to be out so late. I also wanted to talk to you, but you’re noticeably quiet.”

“I always walk home alone. I’m fine,” Caroline told him softly. “I’m sorry I didn’t speak though, I just….”

“It’s fine,” Andrew told her. “Well, until next time then, Caroline.” Then, with a wave, he turned and jogged away.

Almost in a daze, Caroline made her way up the driveway, into the house, and up to bed. Once she was in her room, the door closed, she whispers squealed, “Andrew walked me home because he wanted to talk to me. Andrew, my crush, wanted to talk to me, unreal.”

Exhaustion hit her hard then, so, after changing her clothes, she fell into bed with a smile on her face. As she slipped into a dream world, she whispered one last time, “Andrew.”

Caroline groaned and slowly pried her sleep-heavy eyes open the following day when her alarm went off. She moaned again when she remembered she still had homework to do. Looking at the time and seeing she’d hit the snooze at least twice, she squeaked and shot out of bed. The room spun for a minute.

Rushing down the hall to the bathroom, she showered quickly and dressed. Then, counting down how much time she had left, she hurried back to her room, sitting down on her bed to complete her work. Once that was finished, she combed her hair, put on her shoes, and headed for the kitchen and breakfast.

“You were later than usual coming home last night,” Dad commented from where he sat at the table.

“Yeah, they left an even bigger mess than usual,” Caroline informed him, still feeling irritated at the mess they’d had to clean up the night before. She then began digging through the cabinet for something quick to eat.

Dad raised an eyebrow. “How much worse could they get?”

Caroling laughed as she sat down to eat her pop tart. “Oh, trust me, they outdid themselves last night.” She then told him the details of her wonderful evening.

Dad’s eyes were wide when she finished. “Wow, I have no words.”

Caroline laughed as she stood and grabbed her book bag. “Welcome to my world, Dad. Love you, and I’ll see you after work.”

“Love you too,” Dad hollered back as she raced out the door.

Arriving at school, Caroline made her way to her locker and quickly put the books she didn’t need in it, and pulled out what she would need. She was running a bit later than usual since she’d had to do her homework that morning, but she still managed to make it to class before the first bell rang.

The first three classes moved reasonably fast, and then it was lunchtime. Sitting down next to Dale, Maggie, and Rebecca, she dug into her meal.

“So, did you get your math finished?” Dale asked.

Taking a swallow of her drink, she nodded, then said, “Yes, I did. I just don’t know how good of a job I did on it.”

“If you like after we eat, I’ll look over it for you,” Dale offered.

Rebecca leaned into his side as she smiled up at him with a dreamy expression. “Isn’t my boyfriend a sweetheart?”

Dale’s cheeks turned pink, and Caroline chuckled at him.

“Yes, he is Rebecca,” Caroline agreed, “and I’ll take you up on that, Dale.”

So, after lunch, she went to her locker and grabbed her math textbook and homework page. Then she made her way to the gym, looking around until she spotted Dale and Rebecca up high on the bleachers. Making her way up to them, she cleared her throat to stop their kissing.

Dale sat back, clearing his throat, his cheeks red with embarrassment. He then took her homework sheet and began going over it with her. He pointed out what she’d done wrong and explained why it was wrong and why before helping her fix it.

It didn’t take them long to finish, and then she sat just looking around the gym. Her breathing picked up, and her hands began to sweat when she noticed Andrew playing one-on-one with his best friend, Darryl. As she watched him in motion, his movements fluid, he shot a ball into the basket, making it look so effortless.

As if he sensed her looking, he glanced her way, just as Dale leaned toward her and spoke in her ear, saying, “Hey, is Andrew looking at you?”

“Um…I’m not sure, maybe.”

“Well, if he was, he isn’t now,” Dale whispered. “In fact, he looked a bit mad about something before he stomped off.”

Looking out across the gym, Caroline saw Andrew heading for the exit doors. Darryl was right behind him. She wondered what had set him off and if he was indeed mad. However, she didn’t have too much time to think about it as the bell rang for them to head back to class.

The rest of the day moved slowly, and by the end of the day, Caroline hadn’t seen Andrew again. She was glad she didn’t have to work that evening because she wanted to go home and nap.

“Well, how did you do on your math test?” Dale asked as they put up their books and got ready to leave.

“An A+. Thank you so much for your help.” Since her hands were now empty, she gave Dale a side hug. When she did, she’d swear she heard a growl from behind her. She was puzzled by the noise but figured it was Dale’s stomach, and she was about to tease him when someone spoke.

“Hey! Hands off my man, you boyfriend stealer.”

Caroline turned to stick her tongue out at Rebecca. “Oh, but Becca, I likey your boy toy and want to make him mine,” she teased as she ran her hand over Dale’s chest.

Dale slapped her hand off his chest with a snort of disgust just as she heard another growl.

“Keep your hands off the merchandise, Caroline. I’m a one-woman man,” Dale informed her as he moved to put his arm around Rebecca.

“Fine, grumpy. Now go home and feed the bear in your belly before it eats its way out,” Caroline said as she closed her locker to leave.

Dale gave her a puzzled look at her comment. However, Rebecca just grabbed his arm, and his attention turned to her.

With a wave, Caroline left them, walking away toward the exit. She never noticed Andrew standing in the shadows, watching her with a possessive and longing look.