My One Sentence Lesson
by Cydney Edwards
It was hotter than it should've been that day, for whatever reason, and Nellie said that it was because God was giving us a taste of Hell for being in the backyard with those boys knowing we weren't supposed to be - the boys laughed much harder than we did at her joke and still we danced and played jokes and tickled each other knowing we were surely not old enough to decide to break our parents' rules; but today was not the kind of day when you obeyed your parents; it was the kind of hot day when you as an eleven year old girl decided within yourself to wear shorts that fifteen year olds do, put your hair in grown-woman ponytails and throw water balloons at thirteen year old boys; yes, that kind of hot and we were determined to bear the sun like champions and let it soak into our disobedient pores until we were summoned by the street lights that beamed from the monstrous green poles at the curb; I remember Sean asking how many times I'd played in other people's backyards and I answered him more honest than I had planned on: "My mom doesn't like for me to play in backyards where strange people live, Not that you're strange," I added, sounding nothing like a fifteen year old, and at that he smiled as if he knew how big I'd smile in response - I remember the way Sean looked at me every day until that moment, probably because it was never the same after that; when Nellie turned on the radio and Usher belted out, Sean decided to join in like they had been on tour together; I remember scrunching up my face like a raisin at the way he sang the words to "U Remind Me;" I decided that he must've sang it to someone else to know all the words and ad-libs so perfectly, so I made sure I didn't stand by him for at least five minutes after the song went, still he smile from across the lawn chair circle we had arranged and pretended his poking gestures could actually reach me; I remember laughing at how free Sean was, never afraid to look stupid while I prided myself on how convincingly I could pull off being fifteen - At the moment I decided that I probably liked him, I scanned the yard and wondered where everybody had gone - Nellie, Camille, Robert, and the boy whose name nobody ever said were all missing; Sean didn't seem to notice, he just stood there dancing, mocking the sun and I wished that he would stop and notice that it was just us in the backyard so we could be puzzled together but I guess things like that didn't matter to him; "How about y'all come over here?;" we heard Robert holler from the side of the big red garage that Sean's bike sat next to, "What for?;" I asked back anxious, but before the question really slipped out of my lips I put it all together and so did Sean - He asked me if I wanted to go ride bikes up and down the block and I agreed, more excited than I allowed my face to show; we were not interested in that side-of-the-garage-type fun; I guess it wasn't as hot for us as it was for them; I guess they were a lot better than us at being older; good thing too because me and Sean didn't see any of our fifteen year old friends riding their bikes that day.