A "PERFECT" LOVE AFFAIR

Felicia . . . Felicia Monique Perry is what her parents agreed to name their precious little baby girl, when they had her at a young age; the eleventh grade in high school, one month before they turned seventeen years of age. Her mother and father came to the conclusion that, after she was born, their baby being raised in a stable environment would be best. So, Felicia was raised by her maternal grandmother and grandfather, which enabled her mom and dad to attend college. They pursued individual careers, but never parenthood.By the time life slowed her parents down somewhat, Felicia was content with remaining in the confines of a loving home, under the care of the best people in the world; not her parents. When she was old enough to understand the situation, Felicia hated that her grandparents never changed her last name from her mother’s to theirs.

Felicia’s granddad became ill when she was in the seventh grade, and her young life was now filled with helping her grandma take care of him. She had to wash clothes, clean the house, prepare small meals, and run back and forth to the corner store to purchase what they needed. Her granddad always told her that the most important thing a person can do in their lifetime, is take care of those they love the most, which is what he worked ever so hard to do for her and her grandma. Felicia never forgot what her granddad said, and she helped take care of him until the day he died in their home. She would always have fond memories of how he kissed her on the forehead and cheeks when he tucked her in for bed, and how he kissed her grandma on the forehead and lips, to greet her whenever he returned home. The impression they made on her would stick throughout her lifetime.

Felicia lived around the block from a girl named Tracey, and down the street from another girl named Sydney. Life was grand growing-up with them and playing outside, especially during the long summer days while on vacation from school. She instantly knew that these girls would be her friends for a long, long time.

The three of them got into some of the most mischievous situations. But, if they were going to be in trouble, who better to do so with? They flattened the tires of an older couple in the neighborhood, who blabbed that they broke their living room window, after they were warned not to throw rocks in the first place. They bleached the grass of the neighbor who complained that he didn’t want them playing on it. They spray painted the outside of a party store because the owner squealed that they stole candy bars. Tracey was always the gang leader, but Sydney and Felicia never felt as if their hands were tied behind their backs, when they wreaked havoc on whoever tattled on them.

After the three of them completed middle school, they were allowed to go to high school together, permitted they behaved themselves. That would never happen. They were begged not to carry their nonsense to high school, which was supposed to be the best years of their lives, let their parents and Felicia’s grandmother tell it. Ironically, Tracey, Sydney, and Felicia went to the same high school that her mom and dad had attended. The only reason she went along with this unwanted memory of her runaway parents, was because the school was closest to where they all lived.

Their first year of high school flew by, and Felicia, Sydney, and Tracey managed to stay out of trouble . . . for the most part.

“Come in, sit down, and shut your traps!” their tenth grade English teacher, Mrs. Gray fussed. “I haven’t even had my morning coffee, and I have to deal with students coming into my class late.”

They had heard about Mrs. Gray their freshman year, and didn’t quite know what to expect. As Sydney, Tracey, and Felicia walked into the classroom, late, they were trying not to giggle at their teacher’s disheveled look, so early in the morning, which didn’t seem to bother her one bit. Mrs. Gray excused herself to get coffee from the teacher’s lounge, but not before she politely threatened the entire class and told them not to get out of their seats or talk too loudly.

She re-entered the room and looked as if she had taken a mini vacation. Guess morning coffee will do that to a person.

“Listen up militants. I have a life outside this classroom, aside from this school. Needless to say, I am not the kind of teacher who has time to be checking classwork, homework, quizzes, tests, mid-terms, and final exams. Every school year I recruit two students to do the dirty work for me. Who dares to step-up to the challenge?” Mrs. Gray solicited.

No one raised their hands.

Felicia gave Sydney and Tracey a look, trying to get one of them to agree to do this with her.

“Who wants to be a teacher’s pet? Not me!” Tracey whispered.

“I’ll do it, if you will, Felicia,” Sydney accepted the offer.

Felicia and Sydney both raised their hands.

“Isn’t this something? I didn’t expect two of the three late birds to be my right hand men for the year, or young women, or whatever you call yourselves. Meet with me for a few minutes after school today so I can explain what you two need to do for me. Little do you know, you have signed your young lives away,” Mrs. Gray said, and then laughed wickedly.

Sydney raised her hand again.

“What is it?” Mrs. Gray said, but barely looked her way.

“I think I want to change my mind,” Sydney teased.

“I never gave you the option to do that,” Mrs. Gray played around.

“What have we gotten into?” Sydney asked Felicia, ever too late.

“Calm down, it can’t be that bad! As much as we hate to study for tests, this could work to our advantage! Think about it! We can check our own papers!” Felicia proposed, then smirked.

“Our tenth grade year is going to be great! Or, at least being in this class!” Sydney remarked.

“Looks like you missed out, Tracey!” Felicia whispered to her.

“Oh, if the two of you get to use this to your advantage, you had better include me and change some of my test scores. We’re best friends, and have always had each other’s backs. Don’t act brand new on me now,” Tracey politely threatened them.

“Let’s just see how it goes,” Sydney informed them.

Felicia and Sydney met with Mrs. Gray. She gave them permission slips for a parent or guardian to sign, and nicely made them promise with a verbal oath, hands on an English book, never to cheat themselves or their fellow students by changing answers on any papers. They were to take this proposal seriously. Felicia was to check Sydney’s work, and Sydney had to check Felicia’s; they were not to check their own. Mrs. Gray opened up and told them that she had two teen-aged girls of her own, and explained to Sydney and Felicia that if she would not tolerate her own daughters allowing bad decisions to rob them of making something of themselves, she would expect no less than that from them. Mrs. Gray gave them an ultimatum: Either give everything they endeavored to do the best they had to give, or nothing at all. Mrs. Gray made such an impact on them that day; they walked out of her classroom with a new outlook on life, sort of. She did turn out to be their favorite teacher, though.

Not two weeks into the school year, Sydney and Felicia were approached by their fellow English students, asking that they make sure they got good grades on their assignments and tests.

Whenever they looked at Mrs. Gray’s face, or thought about her pep talk, or checked the answers on the papers of their classmates, Felicia and Sydney’s consciences should have bothered them. Unfortunately, it mattered little.

One Monday morning as they sat and awaited a pop quiz, class was interrupted.

The school principal stated: “Attention everyone, I would like to introduce a new addition to your English class. Meet Terrance Thompson.”

He was extremely handsome, and all the girls in the room were staring and never took their eyes off him.

“Hey, everyone,” he waved.

“Speak, you rude birds,” Mrs. Gray fussed at the class.

“Hello, Terrance,” the entire class spoke and laughed.

“Welcome to Pleasantville. What are you standing there for? Are you still growing? Latch onto a perch somewhere young man,” Mrs. Gray broke him right in.

The principal sighed at the way she talked to all of them.

“I can move my backpack, and you can take this seat,” Tracey said.

She quickly forced him to sit next to her before any other female student had the chance.

“Make him feel at home. Back to your work,” the principal encouraged everyone and exited the room.

“Shut your books, clear your desks, and take out a pen, pencil, crayon, whatever. You all have twenty minutes to complete this pop quiz,” Mrs. Gray proceeded to say.

Terrance raised his hand.

“Are you trying to land a plane?” Mrs. Gray inquired.

“I’m not even prepared to take this pop quiz. I just got here,” he defended himself.

“Yeah, we can’t take this quiz because of Terrance!” the class yelled and snickered.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about you that quick, whatever you said your name was. Come up here and get the class syllabus. You can be excused this time. I’ll give you one week to catch-up as much as you can on the classwork and homework. Whatever you complete, give it to one of these two,” she said and pointed to Sydney and Felicia. “I will allow you to make-up the test from last week. Sydney, come pass out these quizzes. Felicia, I want you to collect them in twenty minutes. The rest of you, nice try, pains in my side.”

Felicia and Sydney didn’t know how Tracey was able to concentrate on her quiz, because she kept taking peeks at Terrance when he wasn’t looking.

When class was over, Tracey asked him what his complete school schedule was. As it turned out, they had one other class together.

Tracey was popular with most of the guys in school. When it came to interacting with them, she was more promiscuous, and way more forward than Felicia and Sydney. Tracey had four boyfriends their ninth grade school year alone, and now it seemed that Terrance was next on her list. She offered to walk him around the school so he could get familiar. All the girls looked at Tracey with envy, and she smiled with glee. Felicia and Sydney wondered how long it would take for her to pounce on him. He was quickly becoming her next unsuspecting “target,” or “victim.” Tracey was moving in fast and getting anxious about Terrance.

It killed Tracey to be out of school during the Thanksgiving holiday break, because she hadn’t seen Terrance, but she talked about him to Felicia and Sydney every day while they were out.

When they returned to school, she moved-in on her prey again.

“So do you guys think I should see if he has a girlfriend, and if not, would he like one?” Tracey rehearsed her favorite pick-up line.

“My goodness, give it a rest! He’s only been going here for two weeks!” Felicia told her.

“The point is she waited a whole two weeks! That’s a record for her!” Sydney exclaimed.

“Well, when I see what I want, I get it. Terrance is no exception. If I don’t put my bid in, some other chic in the school will. And since when have I ever let anybody beat me at my own game?” Tracey bragged.

“One thing’s for sure, you may get a chance to have your question answered. He’s coming down the hall toward us right now,” Felicia prepared Tracey, and wished she could forewarn Terrance.

Before Tracey got the chance to plead her case, Terrance approached them and asked if he could speak with Sydney in private. Tracey was in agony trying to eavesdrop. Felicia got the biggest kick out of her curiosity.

Terrance and Sydney talked for about five minutes.

“See you three in English class tomorrow! Have a great afternoon!” he bid them farewell.

“Okay, and you do the same,” they said in perfect harmony.

Terrance walked away so quickly, Tracey never got a word in edge-wise.

“What in the world was that all about?” she desperately wanted to find out.

“Mrs. Gray told him to see me about turning in his work, so he could get it checked and graded. I told him to bring all of it tomorrow and I would probably get it to her by next Monday,” Sydney said.

“I’ll see him in class tomorrow, alright! Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, I will be ‘Mrs. Thompson!’ . . . Tracey Thompson . . . that has a nice ring to it, don’t you girls think?” she presumptuously stated.

“You want to know what I think?” Felicia posed the question.

“No, not really!” Tracey replied.

“I think you need to go home and study for the test we have to take this Friday,” Felicia encouraged her.

“I always study and pass my tests the honest way, might I add, without you two letting me skim by. Not one of my assignments has had to be altered. But, if I wanted to concentrate on my new love interest, I’m convinced one of you would make sure I got a good grade!” Tracey said.

“Yeah, we would!” Felicia and Sydney told her.

Several members of the football team yelled Tracey’s name, from down the hall.

“Hey, fellas, here I come! . . . They love me! Are you gals coming to watch them practice?” Tracey bragged, then invited Felicia and Sydney.

“No thanks, you go ahead. Call us later,” Sydney responded in a hurry.

“Suit yourselves, more attention on me. Talk to you later!” Tracey said, as she jogged away.

“Felicia, I have something serious to tell you!” Sydney said in a panic.

“What is it? You look like your dog just ran away.”

“Terrance told me to ask if you were seeing anyone, and if you weren’t, would I mind hooking the two of you up! He wants me to hook him up with you!”

Felicia was utterly speechless.

“Say something!” Sydney yelled.

“What do you want me to say? I’m in shock! My answer is no!”

“No to what? That you’re not seeing anyone?”

“Huh? No! You know full well I’m not seeing anyone. I’m not interested! We both know Tracey likes him and wants to be his girlfriend! I could never do something like that to her. Maybe you should’ve politely explained that to him!”

“Felicia, I did tell him Tracey likes him . . . a lot! He said he was flattered, but it’s you he wants to get to know better, not Tracey! What do I tell him?”

“Tell him she’s our friend, and for that reason I must decline!”

“Well, Felicia, to be fair, Tracey did talk to someone you liked.”

“Sydney, I only told you that I liked that guy. There was no way for Tracey to have known, and we vowed we would never tell her!”

“Felicia, we both know that Tracey goes through guys like a hungry person goes through an all you can eat restaurant. It’s almost as if her only goal is to date, conquer, and shelve guys like they’re trophies. She’s been like that as long as we’ve known her. So, why should Terrance have to experience that? What if she dumps him like the rest? What if he wants a serious relationship?”

“What if she’s really serious about him, Sydney?”

“What if she can go to sleep, and wake up another person? This is Tracey we’re talking about! Don’t get me wrong, I love her like a sister. But I know you, too, Felicia. What if you and Terrance really like each other and hit it off? Don’t you think you deserve that? Wouldn’t you like to just try and see? You would take a relationship much more serious than Tracey.”

“Syd, you act as if we can hide this from her! We’re in the same English class, we hang out everywhere together, and stay in the same neighborhood. What am I thinking? This is absurd! Tell him I said no.”

“Hold on a minute. You bring up a very good point. What if we can hide it from her?”

“Are you losing your mind, Sydney? This is the most foolish thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Why don’t you let me do some thinking and sort out the kinks? I’ll call you later and run some ideas past you.”

“Let you do some thinking? Run some ideas past me? I’m surprised you would even consider something like this. Don’t call me later with this nonsense. We should never have this discussion again.”

Sydney started walking away.

“Did you hear me, Sydney? I mean it! I’m serious!”

“Bye, Felicia! You’d better take my call later, or I’m going to be mad at you!”

“Yeah, that won’t even come close to how Tracey is going to react when she finds out about this, Syd!”

“She won’t find out, trust me!”

Sydney plugged her ears and kept walking.

Later that evening when Sydney called Felicia’s cell phone, she sent her to voice mail. Sydney texted her, but she never replied.

Felicia was extremely nervous to go to English class the next day, and couldn’t look Tracey in the face, knowing what she had discussed with Sydney. Terrance acted as if he hadn’t done or said anything.

When the bell rang, Felicia, Sydney, and Tracey were standing near the classroom door. Tracey walked over to Terrance, and they talked to each other for some time. Felicia assumed he had changed his mind about everything. Tracey was nodding her head as if she was pleased with what he was saying to her. They both waved goodbye to each other, and Tracey approached Felicia and Sydney again.

“How did it go? Does he have the honor of being your new boyfriend of the month?” Sydney boldly stated.

“Nah, he said he has a girlfriend, and told me how cute he thinks I am, but not before he mentioned that if he was single, he and I would be an item. I flirted with him and told him that while I hoped things work out with him and his girlfriend, I have no problem playing the wait and see game.”

Felicia let out a sigh of relief. She thought to herself: what a dog Terrance is, and wondered why if he had a girlfriend he would tell Sydney he wanted to show interest in her in the first place. Now, she would look at him differently, and thought Tracey was too good for him. Even though she wasn’t the ideal girlfriend, she was still their friend.

“You are too much, Tracey! You all but came right out and told him he should dump his girlfriend, and then he could have you!” Sydney said, disgusted.

“Well?” Tracey played it off.

Tracey would always be Tracey; that was for sure.

Felicia was extremely relieved that a guy would not come between them.

As she was walking home, Felicia could hear her name being hollered, faintly. When she turned around, Sydney and Terrance were both running toward her at full speed. Her first thought was to take off running herself. Her second thought was to wait until they caught up with her and curse Terrance out. Her third thought was, why the heck Sydney was with him in the first place. She stood still, not clear on exactly what to do.

“You couldn’t walk toward us and meet us half way?” Sydney joked. “And why did you leave school without me, anyway? Any other time, we walk home together.”

“I waited around for you, as long as I could. My grandma needs me, and I told her I was coming straight home. What do you mean, meet us halfway?! You, I would meet halfway! Him, I will not; ever! How dare you tell Sydney you wanted to get to know me, when you have a girlfriend?! I’m so glad Tracey didn’t . . . ,”

“Felicia, calm down! Terrance never had a girlfriend! He only told Tracey that to make her back off! He wants you and him to get to know each other better!” Sydney shouted at her.

Felicia stood there for a long time, and didn’t know what to say.

“Earth to Felicia. So what do you think? Can I have your phone number and give you mine? Will you give us a chance? I would love for us to be boyfriend and girlfriend,” Terrance offered and smiled.

He had the nicest smile. Felicia was lost, looking in his eyes. If she had to make a decision to be his girlfriend based on how she felt at that exact moment, the answer would be a resounding: YES!

“Felicia, snap out of it! Have you heard one word either of us has said to you?” Sydney demanded to know.

“This is so unfair to Tracey. How can I?”

“Sydney has told me everything about the friendship the three of you have shared all these years. I can imagine how you feel. We can keep this between me, you, and Sydney, and be extra careful so Tracey won’t find out. What do you say?” Terrance proposed.

Felicia thought to herself, she would do anything he asked her, no matter what it was.

“Listen, you seem like a pretty nice guy, but I’m scared. Sometimes no matter how discreet you are, sneaking around usually comes back to bite you in the butt. I cannot think of any positive outcome with this.”

“Please? If something goes wrong, I’ll take the fall and explain everything to Tracey myself,” he spoke, with those eyes and that smile.

“Terrance, her number is, (313) . . . ,” Sydney sang like a canary.

Either this was going to work out, or it was going to be disastrous.

Terrance called Felicia that evening and they talked for hours. Oddly enough, she was now willing to consider his offer. Everything about him was so pleasant; it was as if Felicia was dreaming. No guy could be this perfect. She filled her grandmother in on the dilemma, who told her that if she spends her life wondering about what may happen, regrets would eat her alive. As far as Felicia was concerned, she had the approval she needed, with those words of wisdom. Her grandma never particularly cared for the “type” of girl she believed Tracey was, but told Felicia she would be out of her place to choose her friends.

Being in English class around Tracey wasn’t nearly as scary as Felicia imagined. Actually, it was very exciting keeping this secret. Terrance would wink his eye at Felicia, blow her a kiss when no one was looking, and send her text messages. She still felt terrible, but not enough to break it off with him. SHE was ‘Mrs. Thompson,’ and it felt good. As long as they could avoid Tracey, Terrance walked Felicia and Sydney to Felicia’s house after school. Whenever Tracey would ask why the three of them no longer hung out like they used to, Felicia and Sydney conveniently used the excuse that they had to stay after school to check papers.

The beautiful thing about Terrance was that he never got touchy-feely with Felicia, or came onto her in any way. When they were in each other’s company, they vowed to only hold hands and kiss on the cheek. Felicia explained to him, that was how her granddad used to kiss her. They agreed that no one ever got pregnant from only kissing on the cheek. Terrance was more than understanding about her apprehensions, and he was always a perfect gentleman. Sydney often told Terrance and Felicia that they were consumed with the way they felt about each other, and they had a very special relationship.

Felicia, Sydney, and Terrance carefully left school early one day to go to his house and meet his family. He had three older brothers, no sisters, and very loving parents who had been married for decades. Felicia now knew where Terrance got his loving demeanor from, and she immediately felt at home with all of them.

Felicia was on cloud nine dating Terrance. Sydney was enjoying being part of their espionage; taking every precaution to help them hide their relationship from Tracey. No matter where they went, Sydney accompanied Terrance and Felicia to ensure that they didn’t get into trouble, being alone together.

One afternoon, Sydney and Felicia had just completed checking the tests that the class had taken, when Terrance showed up to walk them to Felicia’s home. The three of them had no idea that this particular day Tracey was still on the field with the football team as they practiced, and she watched Terrance, Sydney, and Felicia walk away from the school. Felicia and Terrance were holding hands.

Felicia got a call from Tracey.

She let it go to voice mail.

Tracey sent a text message.

This brought Felicia face-to-face with what she had feared from the beginning of her relationship with Terrance. Felicia let him and Sydney read the text message, and asked them how she should handle this nightmare. Tracey called Felicia’s cell again, and this time Terrance answered. He explained to her that Felicia highly valued their friendship, and that because he spent so much time with her trying to catch up with his assignments, he began to have feelings for her. Surprisingly, Tracey calmed down. Not only did she say she understood, but admitted that Terrance and Felicia had a right to like each other or whatever they called themselves doing. Tracey added that she was only upset because it seemed as if they were avoiding her. Terrance persuaded her to think otherwise. Felicia got back on the phone and offered her apologies, then Sydney did the same. Tracey accepted and confirmed that this would not interfere with their bond. Felicia was a nervous wreck. Terrance hugged her for a long time to convince her that everything was going to be okay. Felicia thought she was going to melt in his arms. That made everything better.

The following day when school ended, the trouble started.

Terrance was out sick, thank goodness.

“Maybe all of us can go to the football game together after school tomorrow,” Sydney suggested to Tracey and Felicia.

“Will Terrance be joining us, Felicia, or will it only be us three?” Tracey addressed her.

“Look, Tracey, I don’t want this to be awkward, but I need to tell you that Terrance and I . . . ,” Felicia tried to get out.

“Listen up, you two traitors, I have something to say,” Tracey began speaking in a soothing manner. “Sydney, I can’t believe you were in on this and said nothing. And YOU, Ms. Felicia, stabbed me in the back in the worse kinda way, because you knew I liked Terrance. I thought we were girls! But since this is how you two want to betray our friendship, if you don’t stop seeing Terrance, Felicia, I will tell Mrs. Gray about how you and Sydney are hooking up our classmates.”

Felicia didn’t know about Sydney, but she personally felt as if she were having an out-of-body experience.

“Tell her! Who cares? I would rather for Mrs. Gray to know, than for you to think you’re gonna hold this over my head and use it against me whenever you feel like it! Yeah, you’re right; I thought we were girls, too! But if you can let our friendship be destroyed over a guy, then so be it! You probably would have slept with Terrance and dumped him like all the others, anyway! I’ve never met anyone like you before! I’ve wanted to find a nice way to tell you, as a friend, that you need to put out the fire in those hot panties of yours. The entire school talks about you, and I defend you. I’m sure they think Felicia and I are just as whorish as you are!” Sydney told her off.

“Who are you calling a whore?!” Tracey asked, with the nerve to be offended.

“Who’s asking?!” Sydney addressed the question, cynically.

“We’ll see if you have as much mouth, when I march down to Mrs. Gray’s office and . . . ,” Tracey tried to continue the confrontation.

“So what! Tell Mrs. Gray! I’ll tell her myself! What will that get us, expelled? Fine! We’ll snap back and regain Mrs. Gray’s respect. But you couldn’t get your reputation back, if you tried!” Sydney exclaimed.

Felicia wanted to just walk away and pretend none of this was happening.

“Let’s not say things we don’t mean, or that we won’t be able to take back! I thought maybe we could just talk about this like mature young adults. I don’t want to ruin our friendship, and I certainly don’t want Mrs. Gray to be disappointed in us. My grandmother would be hurt if she found out what I’ve been doing, but I suppose she would find it in her heart to forgive me. What do you say Tracey? Can we just forget about all of this?” Felicia begged.

“Not only will I tell Mrs. Gray, but I will tell the entire football team, who in turn, will tell everyone in the school, what a man stealer you are, Felicia! None of the girls in the school will trust you around their boyfriends! Maybe the guys will only want to talk to you because they think it’ll be easy to get you in the bed!” Tracey bellowed.

“That was an on point description of yourself, Tracey! Everyone knows Felicia isn’t like that!” Sydney yelled.

“Stop this arguing! I want the three of us to be okay,” Felicia pleaded.

“The only way that will happen, is if Terrance isn’t hanging around us everywhere we go. Why don’t you just get rid of him? Tell him you want to break-up. That way, I won’t feel bad,” Tracey had the nerve to say.

“If I break-up with Terrance, will you let this thing go, about our changing grades?” Felicia implored.

“Yep!” Tracey answered without giving a second thought.

“Why are you so wicked, Tracey? Why does that satisfy you? Why can’t you be happy for them? Felicia had better not break-up with Terrance! Whatever our punishment will be, we can take it! We are never caving in to your screwed up demands!” Sydney screamed.

Felicia pulled Sydney to the side.

Tracey was listening.

“Terrance and I will never be happy like this, Syd. I get the feeling Tracey will never let that happen. If he and I go our separate ways, hopefully me, you, and Tracey can salvage our friendship, and no one will ever find out what we’ve been doing with those papers for our classmates. Then, we can put this behind us,” Felicia negotiated.

“What if we agree to this and she still tells? Then what?” Sydney wanted to know.

“I won’t say anything,” Tracey instigated, beaming about what they were privately discussing.

“Shut-up, Tracey!” Sydney threatened her.

“I think we can trust that she’ll keep her word. What else can we do, really?” Felicia cowered.

“Fine! Whatever! Tracey, if you ever say something from this day forward, it will be your word against ours! What will the school do? Make the students do the classwork and homework again, and have us retake all of our tests? The only reason I’ll go along with this, is because I’m concerned about you bullying Felicia about Terrance, and I’m worried what people will mistakenly think as she walks down the hall! Why didn’t we see the real you before now? I’m not sure I even want to be your friend after this. Felicia can if she wants to, but not me!” Sydney exclaimed.

“Who cares if we remain friends or not? As long as Felicia and Terrance don’t date in my face, I’m satisfied!” Tracey happily stated.

Felicia turned and walked away with tears in her eyes. Her grandmother was right about Tracey.

When Felicia got home, she called Terrance to see how he was feeling. He knew right away that something was wrong, but Felicia played it off, and mustered-up the nerve to tell him that they needed to breakup. Instead of telling him the truth, she lied and said she felt things would eventually get too serious, and she didn’t want to end up like her mom; young, pregnant, and finishing-up her high school years with a child. Terrance asked Felicia to reconsider, and said he would never do anything to make her feel pressured to sleep with him; their relationship wasn’t about that. He admitted that he was hurt and confused, but would respect her decision.

Felicia spoke with her high school counselor the following day, and got her classes changed so she wouldn’t have to face Tracey or Terrance in English class. If she saw either of them walking in the hallway, she hurriedly walked the other way. She wished she could just go to another school, but if she asked her grandmother to transfer her, she was afraid she would want to know why.

Terrance continued to text with Felicia, and it was so difficult for her not to tell him what really happened. He found out her new class schedule and met her at her locker one day. Felicia began to cry and attempted to walk away. He wouldn’t let her and stood in her way to prevent her from avoiding him. He wiped her tears, kissed her on the cheek, hugged her, and said they would always be friends first, no matter what. That made her feel better and worse, but at least she was in his arms. Felicia couldn’t bear things not being the same between them and it depressed her. Whenever he saw her in the hallways, he always smiled and winked at her, and she wanted to ask him how he seemed to have moved on so easily.

The drama continued. Tracey intentionally slept with a guy Sydney liked, in order to antagonize her for keeping the secret between Terrance and Felicia. It was hard to talk Sydney out of doing something to Tracey that she would later regret.

Their friendship with Tracey ended, but at least she kept her word, and never said anything about Sydney and Felicia altering assignments and tests.

********

Felicia could not have been happier that they were graduating! She wanted nothing more than to end that chapter in her life. One thing was for sure, aside from being acquainted with Sydney and Terrance, high school was anything but the best time of her life, like her grandmother said it would be.

Tracey’s family moved out of the neighborhood, and Sydney and Felicia were elated! Now that they were away from the high school atmosphere, and no longer had to deal with Tracey, Felicia began to wonder if things could still work out between her and Terrance. Over the summer, his text messages slowly came to a halt. She wanted to call him and ask why, or just to say hello, but never got the nerve. Instead, she shared her feelings with Sydney, and talked to her grandmother about him.

Felicia decided to busy herself by enrolling in college. She majored in Social Work and was employed part-time at a nursing home. She loved her job. It brought back pleasant memories of helping take care of her granddad, and she became attached to all the seniors at the center. She would always be grateful to her grandparents that she was able to continue her education. When her granddad died years ago, her grandmother took some money from the life insurance payout and put it away; enough for Felicia to attend college, with plenty leftover to go into a bank account. Her grandma said the extra money was secret ‘rainy day,’ money, which a woman should have stashed away so that her husband doesn’t know, in case things didn’t go as planned or thought. Felicia could take care of not touching the stashed away money, but thought the ‘having a husband’ part, was far-fetched and unrealistic.

One afternoon, Felicia completed the admission process for an older gentleman named Mr. Terrance Brown, and he became her favorite resident. She made sure she checked on him more so than the other seniors. He was the reason she forced herself to dial her Terrance’s cell number one day, but it was no longer in service. She didn’t have the courage to go by his parent’s home to see if she could get his new contact information, so she put Sydney up to calling their house phone three-way. Gratefully, that number was still the same. Felicia was beside herself when his mom answered the phone. They talked and caught-up for hours. Sadly, for Felicia, six months after they all graduated from high school, Terrance’s girlfriend had gotten pregnant. After she gave birth to their daughter, he proposed, she accepted, and with his parent’s blessing, they got married! What girl wouldn’t marry him? He was raised to do the ‘right thing.’ That news crushed Felicia’s world. She hated herself for procrastinating, and not getting in touch with him! His mom gave them Terrance’s contact information. The new revelations were too much for Felicia to handle and she refused to write the number down or program it in her phone. Sydney took his cell number, and asked if Felicia was going to call him, but she declined. The idea of Terrance being married was what Felicia needed, to force her to move on with her life, even though she was miserable finding out what she had that day.

The next year brought more pain. Mr. Terrance Brown, the resident in the nursing home, died, and Felicia had a hard time getting over that. She became distraught, but attended the funeral and was very supportive to his family. It was a haunting reminder that she had lost her Terrance. And to make matters worse, Terrance’s mom told her that he and his wife had just welcomed their second child. Felicia thought she would die hearing that news.

Upon graduating from college, Felicia was hired full-time at the nursing home and handled the contracts and paperwork for new residents. In a short period of time, she became Manager of Resident Affairs, and had the responsibility of working closely with the owner to run the nursing home and keep the staff members in line. She couldn’t have asked for a better life or career. This was a huge promotion and a fulfilling accomplishment, so she decided to take her grandma out to dinner to celebrate her achievements.

They were studying the menu trying to decide what to order.

“Felicia, is that you?” she heard a very familiar voice say.

She was scared to turn around, and scared not to turn around.

When she finally did, she was staring back into those eyes, and overpowered by that smile.

“Hey, Terrance! What are the odds that I would run into you here? This is my grandmother, Mrs. Lee . . . Grandma, this . . . is Terrance . . . from high school,” she nervously introduced them.

“Nice to finally meet you, Grandma Lee,” he said as he kissed the back of her hand, then sat down and joined them.

“So, you’re the infamous Terrance Thompson, huh? I always asked Felicia why she never introduced you to me. Do you know the stories I’ve had to hear about you?”

“That’s the reason, right there, Grandma! You’re a tattletale! Can you give me some dignity?”

“Oh, really? What have you heard about me, Grandma Lee?” Terrance asked and smiled.

“Everything!” her grandma blabbed.

“NOTHING! Grandma, please!” Felicia quickly interceded.

“Hopefully, all good things,” he laughed.

“How could it not be all good things, Terrance?” Felicia asked, shyly.

“Glad to know you still feel like that.”

“Yes, she does,” her grandmother kept instigating.

“Grandma, would you stop it?”

“What have you been up to lately, Felicia?”

“Not marriage and children,” she sarcastically, yet playfully answered.

“Well, that’s how the cards played out for me! I was married, and had a child, before I turned nineteen!” he chuckled.

“Yes, I heard!”

“I know! My mom told me she talks with you and Syd on a regular basis, and tells both of you all my business!” he mentioned, then he and Felicia laughed out loud.

“Yes, we call Mama Thompson and check on her quite frequently. We love our long chats. That’s how we’re able to find out what you’ve been doing.”

“Oh, like spying on me?”

“I guess you could say that,” she giggled.

“You know, Mom is very fond of you and Syd. She tells me all the time, the two of you are her girls.”

“That’s so sweet. We love your mom, Terrance!”

“She also mentioned that when my number changed, she gave the new one to you and Syd. Why haven’t either of you used it yet?”

“I could ask why you don’t use our numbers, either, Mr. Thompson.”

“You’ve got me there. Well, it would be better for me to get a call from female friends, than to make one!”

“Your wife isn’t going to kill me! I don’t make a habit of interfering in people’s lives like that!”

“I would have explained to her that we all went to high school together.”

She wanted to ask him is that all it was.

“I’m skeptical. Women can be funny about their husbands being in the company of one other woman, much less alone two; and me and Sydney at that! And how would you explain to your wife that you and I were more than just friends?”

She sat in anticipation of his reply.

Her grandma was looking back and forth at both of them like she was at a tennis match, smiling herself, like a school girl.

“There was that, wasn’t it?” he laughed out loud again. “Maybe things turned out the way they should have.”

Maybe things didn’t turn out the way they should have, Terrance, is what she wanted so badly to tell him.

“Perhaps, but we’ll never know now, will we?” she put the question to him.

“I guess not.”

Felicia could tell he was thinking about her question.

“Are you joining someone here tonight, Terrance?” her grandma intervened.

“Actually, I had just eaten dinner here a short while ago with my brothers and a few friends. I left my cell phone. Had I come back a few minutes sooner, I would have missed you ladies.”

“Things happen for a reason, you know,” her grandma said.

“Yes, they do,” he replied, then touched Felicia’s hand. “I still can’t get over the fact that Syd is married and has three kids!”

“Yeah, isn’t that crazy? Sydney, of all people! We still talk at least once or twice a week! We’ll always be best friends.”

“Do you guys still see Tracey, or talk with her?”

“She moved out of the neighborhood after we graduated and Sydney and I haven’t spoken with her since,” Felicia stated and left it at that.

“Probably for the best. What about you, Ms. Felicia? I have yet to hear Mom tell me about any love interests of yours! Is marriage or kids in your future? Do you have a prospective husband on stand-by?”

He had no clue that, as far as she was concerned, he was her love interest, her ideal husband, and the father of her future kids.

“This girl is too busy to settle down! I tell her all the time, that being a work-a-holic is going to put her right in the hospital,” her grandma tattled on her.

“I heard you’re still at the nursing home.”

“Yes, I’m still there. I manage all the resident affairs.”

“She does more than that, Terrance! She’s being modest! Felicia practically runs the place, on top of taking care of her old granny!”

“That’s fantastic!” Terrance exclaimed.

“I know that since we graduated, you’ve been trying to go into business with your three brothers. How’s that coming along?”

“I graduated from the trade school I went to, and hit a few snags, but now . . . ,”

The restaurant manager interrupted them and gave Terrance his cell phone, which rang almost instantaneously.

“Excuse me, ladies. I have to get this,” he told them. “Yes, pumpkin . . . I had to come back to the restaurant and get my cell phone, I left it here . . . No, I’m not hanging out late with the fellas, or my brothers. They’ve all left me, and I’m on my way home. Can I bring you and the kids something? . . . Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

Terrance hadn’t changed at all. He was still the same sweet, mannerable guy Felicia remembered from high school. She wondered why it couldn’t be her on the other end of that call, and why she was such an idiot for not going after what she wanted. She hated that she hadn’t taken a chance before now.

“Sorry about that, ladies. I had to take that call.”

“It’s your wife and kids. No need to apologize to us,” Felicia hated to say, and was dying inside.

“Well, duty calls. Nice to finally meet you, Grandma Lee,” Terrance said and kissed her cheek.

“What a gentleman you are! Nice to finally put a name with a face!”

“Thank you, darling, and likewise.”

He stood up, opened his arms, and motioned for Felicia to stand-up and hug him. She hoped she didn’t have a stroke. She got up and leaned in. He wrapped his arms around her and everything was better in her world again. This felt so right, yet so wrong at the same time. She had to tell herself that he was married and no longer hers. He didn’t let go for a few seconds. If he kissed her cheek, she would need CPR. He did, and she didn’t, but she could feel her heart beating at twice the normal rate.

He finally let her go.

“It was really good seeing you, Felicia. Who knows, maybe we’ll run into each other again, here or somewhere else. Make sure you tell Syd I said hello next time you talk to her.”

“I’ll do just that. Take care of yourself, Terrance.”

She watched him walk toward the door and out of her life again.

He turned around and smiled at her, then blew her a kiss, and waved goodbye.

“Felicia Monique Perry! You and Terrance meant more to each other than you’ve told me! It wasn’t just a simple high school crush! Anyone with eyes can clearly see that the two of you still have strong feelings for one another, whether he’s married or not!” her grandmother gave her opinion.

“Grandma!”

“Don’t Grandma me! Felicia, honey, tell me what happened. Even though you were only sixteen when you met, I can tell you had something very unique.”

Felicia started to cry. She confessed what took place with her and Sydney changing grades while working for Mrs. Gray, then what happened involving Sydney, Tracey, Terrance, and herself.

“I said I never liked that home-wrecking girl!” her grandmother fussed.

“Grandma! Everything I just told you, and all you could focus on was Tracey?” Felicia laughed as she wiped her tears.

“I know her kind from experience. Let me tell you, sweet pea, I had to deal with a “Tracey” of my own, after I got married. There was a woman who was trying to take your granddad away from me. I showed her!”

“What did you do?”

“I went over to her house with him. I nudged him and he politely told her that he would not be coming back to her house to fix another darned thing! Nothing intimate happened between them, which is the only reason I allowed him to continue to be a part of my life!”

“How come you never told me?”

“Didn’t seem appropriate, before now.”

“I think you would have stayed with Granddad no matter what! I could tell by the way he looked in your eyes, that he was crazy about you!”

Now Felicia finally got what Sydney always said about her and Terrance.

“True, but I had to let your granddad know how to keep his guard up around other women. He was just plain nice, and a little naïve. A lot of women took advantage of that. But, we got through it. I never had to deal with another woman interfering again.”

“Wow!”

“Baby, if I may offer my two cents, you should not have let Terrance go. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure you can.”

“If you could turn back the hands of time, would you much rather have dealt with Tracey’s threats, although they were pretty serious, or deal with losing Terrance and suffering through this pain that’s still torturing you?”

“Definitely the humiliation of what Tracey planned to do. But, Grandma, what do I do now? It hurts so badly not having him in my life! Some days I don’t know if I can make it. I still cry when I think about him. Just when I feel I can move on, I see or hear something that reminds me of him, and it devastates me. A person should never have to feel like this over another human being.”

“Felicia, as heart-wrenching as this is, I don’t have any answers for you. Had you just taken a chance, or told me back then, maybe the two of you would be together. I feel so sorry for you. But, who knows? Don’t be so quick to give up on love.”

“I haven’t given up on love, Grandma. I’ve only given up on Terrance loving me! I can’t torture myself thinking about what could have been. Question is, how long will it take for me to get over seeing him tonight?”

“My poor baby. Let’s start by ordering dinner and dessert.”

“That’s a good start. Thanks for your support, Grandma, and thank you for loving me!”

“My pleasure! That’s what Grandma’s are for!”

The relief from her thoughts only got her through dinner. When she got home, and was alone in her room, she began to cry again. How could she deal with the pain she felt? She wondered if Terrance was thinking about her. It wasn’t very likely. . . Married with two kids.

She had to find a way to shake this off, all over again, so she offered to work over-time at her job, and signed-up for additional courses at the college she graduated from.

While Felicia was at work one afternoon, her grandma became ill. The realization settled in and Felicia panicked because, on top of how she felt about her love life, if she were to lose her grandmother, someone would have to let her be buried alongside her, six feet under the ground. A young woman at the nursing home suggested that since her sister, Janette, was looking for work, she would be a great home companion to Felicia’s grandma. Much like Felicia, Janette was single, had never been married, and didn’t have kids. The three of them bonded instantly, and that made Felicia feel relieved.