Chapter Twenty: Spoony:

Ah, Spoony. What can I say about him? There’s so many stories. So many stories. I will keep it down to a condensed version. I’ve known this guy since I was in middle school. Maybe even earlier. He was the leader of our group. (He declared himself at such.) He was the one with the crazy ideas. We just followed behind. What else could we do? Our little town had nothing to do. It was good thing Spoony had the master plans. Otherwise, we would’ve gone crazy.

Roger Novak, AKA Spoony, was crazy. I forgot why we called him Spoony. It just kind of stuck. He towered over most of the boys in our grade. He always had a problem with acne. Nothing he did could get rid of it. Spoony didn’t wear glasses. I think he had contacts at one time. I don’t remember. That boy didn’t know what a comb was. Spoony always wore suspenders. No bowties. I give him credit for that. The only pricey thing he ever wore were Nike sneakers. Nobody ever questioned his style. If they did, he didn’t care. That was just how he was.

I met Spoony on the beach on the summer before she started middle school. The details of that day are still hazy. I think I was playing near the water. My sisters were elsewhere at the time. I don’t know what they were doing. Mom was talking to a friend next to her. I don’t remember who it was. I just stood near water, looking around.

Suddenly, somebody splashed me on the leg. I turned to see this tall, goofy kid, grinning at me. His swimming trucks looked like they were ready to fall off.

“Why did you do that?” I asked. He just grinned and shrugged. I stared at him. Who was this guy? He reached down and splashed me again.

“Stop!” I shouted. He wouldn’t stop splashing me.

“Cut it out!” I yelled. I splashed him back. As you can predict, a splash fight followed. Neither one of us wanted to give it. Honestly, I just wanted him to stop. He thought that I was playing with him. We kept splashing until we got tired. I looked over at him, panting.

“Why would you do that?” I asked. That stupid grin wouldn’t leave his face. I wanted to scream at him. Who was this guy?

“Roger!” someone yelled. “It’s time to go!”

“Yeah!” he shouted. That weird boy marched out of the water. I felt myself getting angry.

“Come back here!” I shouted. I started to run after him. I reached out for him as I tried to tread water.

“Nathan!” I heard mom shouting. I turned to see her standing further up on the sand.

“It’s time to go!” she said. I frowned and narrowed my eyes. Damn it! I wanted to get that little creep. But I couldn’t disobey my mother. I marched over to her. I though that it would be the end of that.

Boy was I wrong.

The next day, I started middle school. Frankly, I wished that I still was on vacation. My mom wouldn’t hear it.

“You have to go to school,” she said. “Get going.” She didn’t give me a chance to argue with her. I was pushed out the door and there I went. The first day of school didn’t leave that much of an impression on me. It was school, after all. Not many children are happy about school. When I walked into the hall, I froze. No way. You can’t be serious. But it wasn’t a cruel joke. There he was. That tall jerk stared at me, waving.

“Yo!” was all he said. He’s talking like nothing happened yesterday. Did he even remember me?

“Uh… who are you?” I asked, pretending not to know him.

“I had fun yesterday,” this big oof said.

“Uh-huh,” I said. He just stood there, staring at me. What the hell was wrong with this guy?

“What?” I asked. He stuck out his hand.

“I’m Roger,” he said. “Let’s be friends.”

“Why?” I asked. Roger shrugged.

“Cause,” he said.

“Cause why?” I asked. He just smiled and shrugged. Right then, I knew that he wasn’t going to leave me alone. And guess what? I was right. Through that first day, Roger wouldn’t stop following me around. I just couldn’t get rid of him. By the end of the day, I just threw up my hands.

“Fine!” I said. “We’ll be friends!”

“Sweet!” he shouted. He gave me a huge bear hug. I tried to push him off.

“Get off! You’re being gross!” I shouted. Roger just chuckled and grinned to himself. I rolled my eyes. To make a long story short, that’s how I first met Spoony and became friends with him.

I don’t know when he will be in Wellfleet. It could be tonight or three days from now. Spoony didn’t say when. All I can do is brace for the hurricane coming my way.

“You ready to go?” my mom asked. I sighed and forced myself to smile.

“Sure!” I said through gritted teeth. Mom clapped her hands together.

“Great! Let’s get going!” she said. She walked up to the front door.

“Girls, we’re going to the farmer’s market!” mom shouted. “Be good while we’re gone!”

“Okay,” I heard my sisters mumbling upstairs. Mom unlocked the door and went outside. I followed behind with my phone buzzing in my pocket.