Second Chance

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Antoinette De Fiore needed to talk with someone. She needed reassurance that what she was going to do was right. She needed a friend to tell her, this afternoon before he arrived, that bringing Micah Vaughn to her prom was a good thing. She knew she wanted him to accompany her, had known before that first summer was over, in 1980, but she was again having some doubts.

“He’ll fit right in with your friends,” her mother had told her. “You’re just worrying over nothing.”

Was she? Micah attended a high school in Schenectady, 15 miles from hers. He was an athlete, a two-year member of Linton’s track team, and a two-year varsity athlete on the Schenectady School District soccer team. Three of her male friends interacted with him, two the previous spring during a track meet, the third during this past autumn during the soccer season. All three told her he was a nice person, brought her up initially, and had done nothing but smile when talking about her.

Micah accompanied his school’s football team last October to Albany, to Bleecker Stadium, where she and some friends met him. The two of them spent the first half together, alone, talking and kissing, before she introduced him. One of the friends there, Dianne Fitzsimmons, told her Micah was what Antoinette said: Kind, gentle, understanding, and special.

Antoinette reached for her phone, to call her friend Dianne, to see if she wanted to go to lunch and talk. It rang and she picked it up. It was Dianne.

“Oh my God I was just about to call you,” she said.

“You were? I’m calling to see if you want to go to lunch.”

She was surprised: Dianne wanted to do the same thing. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“Where do want to go? I’m open to anything.”

She thought for a moment. She was going to have a baked chicken dinner at the prom, but probably wouldn’t finish it. When she went to lunch on off days, she would go to the mall for pizza or to Jasper’s, a deli, for a sandwich and pickle. She thought pizza wouldn’t sit well on her nervous stomach, so she told Dianne the deli.

“Oh that sounds wonderful,” Dianne said to her friend. “I have a craving all of the sudden for a turkey sandwich.”

“I’ll meet you there in 15 minutes?” Antoinette asked. She was three blocks away from the eatery but knew her friend had to negotiate the city’s busy weekend streets.

“That sounds good to me,” Dianne answered. They said their goodbyes.

She grabbed her purse and a paperback from an end table. “Mom, I’m going out,” Antoinette said before leaving the house, before letting her mother know where she was going.

She quickly made her way to Jasper’s and found that, surprisingly, there was a table available. She told her server that she was expecting another to join her. The woman, the owner’s daughter Erin, smiled and asked if she wanted a drink or snack while waiting.

“Can I get a diet Pepsi, please?”

“Be right up,” Erin said with a broad smile and walked away.

Antoinette nervously fixed her setting, placing the knife and fork on top of the napkin on her left. She opened the book, an anthology of summer romance short stories Micah purchased for her the previous month before they watched a movie. He saw her thumbing through it at Walden’s and bought it. She didn’t open it again until last week: she was too busy reading for English class. Now, as the school year wound down, she had time to enjoy reading for herself. She opened the paperback to the bookmarked page and began to read.

Antoinette enjoyed the story she was currently reading. It was similar to how she and Micah met: A couple met as teens at a camp only to meet summers later and rekindled their attraction. It made her think about him, how she felt about him. She closed her eyes for a moment and thought of him.

The image of his face came into focus, from last month, back in her bedroom after the movie. They sat on her bed, the door open, and the light on. They sat facing each other, just staring into each other’s eyes. It was the first time they had done that. Before, they would take advantage of the solitude and make-out. This time, however, something about that night caused them to just sit and stare. She remembered him smiling at her. She thought of the sigh it caused, more due what she felt the smile meant that anything else. To her, the smile showed her his true feelings. He cared for her deeply.

A warm feeling rushed over her, as if he had his arms wrapped around her. There were times when that’s all he’d do when they were together, put his arms around her as she sat in front, leaning against his body. At times, that’s all she wanted: to be in his arms. She felt safe in them. There was something else she felt when she was there, a feeling she’s never had before.

“I love him,” she said to herself. She thought she would be scared to think that for the first time. Growing up, she heard the stories, how girls would believe they were in love with their boyfriends or some other male, only to find out it was something else, or worse. He would not feel the same.

She opened her eyes. She didn’t want to think about that, didn’t want to believe he didn’t feel the same about her. Antoinette sighed heavily.

“Everything okay Miss?” Erin asked. She returned with the glass of soda.

“Yes, yes everything is,” Antoinette lied. She smiled and thanked the server. She took a sip and put the negative fear aside.

“Toni,” she heard her friend. She turned around and saw Dianne. She stood and embraced the taller girl.

“You’re here quicker than I thought,” Antoinette said. She motioned for Erin to come over.

“I was lucky. There wasn’t much traffic out there.”

Erin arrived and Dianne ordered a drink and a turkey sandwich, on white bread, little mayonnaise. She asked for an extra pickle, “If that’s no trouble.”

“Of course it’s not,” the server assured. “Would you like chips or a salad on the side?” Dianne asked for chips.

Antoinette hadn’t thought of what she wanted to have: Micah’s image had distracted her. She thought quickly and ordered a roast beef on rye, Russian dressing on the side, no onion, but lettuce and tomato. She asked for chips on the side.

“What did you want to see me for?” Antoinette asked before her friend could ask the same.

“I’m nervous about tonight,” Dianne said.

“What do you have to worry about? You and Jimmy have been together for forever. What’s there for you to be nervous about?”

“It’s my gown.” Dianne leaned in closer and whispered. “It’s sort of risqué.”

“Risqué, how so?” Antoinette smiled, thinking what her conservative considered racy; perhaps the hem was two inches above her knee and not two below. She stifled a chuckle.

Dianne blushed. “It’s strapless and short.”

Antoinette was shocked: that was risqué, even for herself. “Does Jimmy know?”

“No. I didn’t tell him about it, just told him the color.”

“What’s the color?”

“It’s called ‘Blush’, sort of a dark, dark shade of pink.”

“That sounds beautiful. I can’t wait to see it.” Antoinette was going to tell her friend she had nothing to worry about, that Jimmy was going to love it, but Erin returned with their lunches. She waited until they were alone before speaking.

“I can’t see why you’re anxious over it. So what if it’s strapless. You’re going to look beautiful and Jimmy’s going to be tongue-tied because of it.”

Dianne giggled. “That’s one of the reasons I got it. I wanted him to drool over me again.”

It was Antoinette’s time to laugh. “You’re funny.” The girls took bites of the sandwiches and commented on how good they were.

“You were going to call me. Can I ask why?” Dianne took a bite of one of the three pickles she had on her plate.

“Yes, I was.” Antoinette exhaled deeply and closed her eyes briefly before speaking. “I’m so nervous about tonight.”

“Why are you? Worried if Micah’s going to drool over you?” Dianne looked at her friend and knew it was more to it than the comments she made. She took one of her friend’s hands and asked, “What is it, Toni?”

“I’m uneasy,” she began. “I think I made a mistake asking Micah.”

“Why do you think that? From what I’ve seen of you two together, there’s something between you, maybe more than what Jimmy and I have.”

“Well, he only knows you and Theresa. I wish he met more of us, got to know you and the girls better, before I brought him to the prom.”

Dianne squeezed her friend’s tightly. “Oh honey, don’t think that. He’s a jock, and you know them. They can fit in anywhere. Look how well he talked with us when he was at the football game. Did he have any problems then?”

“No, he didn’t, but this is different.”

“How’s this different? He was outnumbered four to one, and you know we wanted to ask him all sorts of questions. Like how he felt about you.”

“There’ll be more than four of you. There’s going to be so many people that will be looking down on him, since he’s not from Albany, since he’s from Schenectady. And, you know a few are going to be jealous.”

“You bet some are going to be jealous. He’s hot.” Dianne laughed at her own comment.

“Stop that. You know what I mean.”

Dianne knew what Antoinette meant. While attending Holy Names Academy, her friend met and dated Thomas Middleton. They were together for a year and a half. They split mostly due to his jealousy: he didn’t like others talking with her. When she left the Catholic school and went to public, he was there to welcome her and hoped they could rekindle the relationship, but she made it clear that it wasn’t going to happen. She let slip that she met someone over the summer, but never mentioned his name.

“Do you think Thomas will start something, say something?”

“Well if he does, Jimmy will help put an end to it. After all, what good is being the football team captain without being able to use it?” Both girls laughed.

“Look, Toni, all you have to do is be supportive of him, show that you’re his girlfriend and that you’re happy that he’s there for you. Micah’s a lucky man to have you in his life.”

“Di, you’re right. He is lucky.”

Both heartily laughed.