Memoirs of a Fat Girl

Almost two months later, the time was finally right. I gave Sandy his Valentine’s Day present.

After a big family dinner at my parents’ place last Friday, I loaded us up in my car and feigned driving to his house. We really were going to his house but there was something I wanted to do first; something I’d been wanting to do with him for a very long time.

Although his face doesn’t easily betray emotion, Sandy was pretty surprised when I stopped the car on a random side street and then pulled a shawl out of nowhere to blindfold him. He did have a very nice smile on his face though, and made sure to hang on to Joey’s door while I sped and swerved us to get there. I had to take the most obscure and confusing route, see, to make sure he couldn’t map in his head where the car was going.

Only a few minutes later I made it to our location, and undid the shawl only after he swore to keep his eyes closed. I knew that was a safe bet, because Sandy always keeps his word. I still had to laugh though, as I maneuvered him around the car and through the parking lot. He was looking down, eyes closed, still smiling, and moving at a snail’s pace. “You’re very unsteady on your feet without your eyes, Ace.”

“Uh, yeah.”

The walk wasn’t far, and it wasn’t long until we were standing exactly where I wanted us to be; on the few metres of flat ground between the doors and the steps. I told Sandy it was okay to open his eyes and he did, taking only a few seconds to realize that we were in front of the public library where, 15 years ago, he first kissed me.

I was just 16 then and he was 18, two kids who really liked each other, pecking on library property. Now, as adults in our 30’s, we kissed the kisses of grownups and for a fleeting glimpse, felt young again. “You know I don’t consider myself a sap, Ace. Is this way to sickly sweet?”

“Nope.”

Back in the car, he held my non-steering hand the entire way back and we didn’t say much, looking at each other every now and then with wide smiles. We may be adults now but with each other, even if only sometimes, we’re still kids at heart.