Cleetus was letting Fred have some leftover ice cream from his birthday celebration. The balloons were depressed, lying on the living room floor. He had cake and ice cream with just his mom and Fred. Fred was a basset hound, and his ears dragged the ground when he followed his best friend, Cleetus, anywhere he went. The hot Alabama air came in through the open window, blowing the curtain lightly. The room was quiet except for Mom’s running water. Cleetus sat at the table motionless, like he had the entire night, waiting for his classmates to show up to his 17th birthday party. Mom was washing the two plates they used for Cleetus’ birthday dinner. He paused by a hanging picture of his first birthday. Cleetus silently resented his dad for not showing up to the “party,” but Cleetus couldn’t blame him. Dad had suffered a heart attack when Cleetus was 14. He wished his mother goodnight, completed his nightly routine, and put the miserable birthday behind him. He rubbed his eyes, groaned, and finally fell into a deep sleep.
Cleetus had woken up the next day and got ready for another day of school, expecting to be taller since he had gotten older, but he was disappointed to discover he was still five feet and five inches tall. He muddled through the hall and walked by a neon sign that lit up “Eagletown High School,” and moved past what felt like thousands of happy couples staring at each other in the hallway before class. Jealously slowly flooded his mind as he watched Malcolm Morris, his frenemy, charm yet another girl with his stupid perfect smile and blue eyes. Cleetus had met Malcolm in kindergarten and “Mr. Perfect,” as Cleetus nicknamed him, followed him to high school. He could not get away from Malcolm. Malcolm ruined Cleetus’ already slim chances of getting a girlfriend. All the girls in his class and the class beneath him either met Cleetus at eye level or towered over him. No girl wanted a short guy. It was just a fact instilled in him since he stopped growing. Malcolm strutted into view and stopped Cleetus in the hallway. His sunny demeanor was infuriating to Cleetus this early in the morning.
“Well, Good Morning to you, Cleetus! Happy late birthday.” Malcom cheekily started.
“Good morning, Malcolm.” Cleetus rolled his eyes.
“What’s with the long face?” Malcolm crossed his arms and winked at some faceless redhead across the hall. Cleetus looked over and saw a glimpse of the girl float by.
“Nothing, man. Can you just let me go to class?” Cleetus tried.
“I’m just trying to make you feel better. I heard about your party.”
Cleetus slowly blinked and sighed while remembering the loss of sleep from the constant uproar from Malcolm’s legendary parties down the street.
“Yeah, whatever. Thanks.” Cleetus said as he pushed past Malcolm.
Cleetus looked around the room of his morning English class. His classmates stared at him while he sat down. He ignored the painful stares as he angrily pondered, why does Malcolm get everything, and I get nothing? It can’t be fair. I work to help my mom. Malcolm gets to drive a brand-new Ford F150 that’s never touched dirt, and I get stuck driving that stupid diesel I got from Dad.
Suddenly, Cleetus was pulled from his thoughts as a new girl walked into class. Something about her was intriguing to Cleetus. It was the girl from the hallway earlier. She was shorter than the rest of the girls he had tried to pursue. Cleetus gathered maybe that she was barely 5 feet tall. This mystery girl was everything Cleetus had ever dreamt of. He adjusted his baseball cap and combed down his hair subtly. The new girl sat down in a seat across from Cleetus. She looked over and waved at poor red-faced Cleetus. Was this love at first sight? He didn’t know, he was fixated on her auburn hair framing her face. His eyes moved down to scan her entire frame. She wore a blue gingham shirt and some faded blue jeans. She looked fresh off a music video set. Was this girl even real?
“Hi, I’m new here. I’m Jolene. What’s your name?” She grinned.
“I’m Cleetus. Pleasure to meet you.” He smiled gently and tipped the brim of his hat.
“How long have you been going here?” She leaned over her desk. She giggled lightly and twirled her hair around her finger. He couldn’t believe she was even real. He wondered if she would care about his height.
“Oh, I’ve been going here for the entirety of high school. If you need a tour guide, I would be honored to do so.”
“I might have to take you up on that offer, I barely found my way here before class.”
“Really? This school isn’t that big.”
“I know, but it’s a new school and I don’t know where any of the classes are. My family and I just moved here from Mississippi. I had to ask some guy named Malcolm where this class was.” Cleetus scowled at the end of her sentence.
“Was he some tall football player?” Cleetus asked.
“Actually yes. He wanted to take me out this weekend, but I was already late for class.”
Cleetus couldn’t believe it. A real girl resisted Malcolm’s charm. His lifelong prayers had been answered finally.
“I’m not as obnoxious as Malcolm, so if you would like me to tour you around school, or town, I can do whenever. You just have to mind my truck.”
Jolene rolled her eyes and pulled out a notebook and pencil. She scribbled down something and slid it over to Cleetus. He grabbed the small piece of paper, folded it, and placed it in his pocket. He silently thought I literally can’t believe what is happening right now.
“Here’s my phone number. We can hang out and you can show me around the yall’s cute little town.”
“What about after school? Are you doing anything?” he asked.
Jolene thought for a minute and replied that she was not doing anything after school that day. Her parents were all right with it. They met up by Jolene’s locker. She was so beautiful every time Cleetus looked at her. She made eye contact with him and smiled.
“I love how tall you are,” Jolene said. Cleetus’ jaw was on the concrete beneath him. He slowly blinked at the sweet girl in front of him. He thought of their future together and how this young woman was his soulmate.
“What?” He was completely puzzled.
“Everyone I have met towers over me. I think it’s nice to have someone on my level.”
“You are literally the first person to ever tell me that.” He laughed, playing it cool.
They climbed in his truck. It had chipped green paint on the side. He had to help Jolene up into the passenger seat. Cleetus drove himself and Jolene to a small vintage ice cream shop. The building had a pink exterior and round windows on the side. He proved how to be a gentleman and opened Jolene’s door and helped her down out of the tall truck.
The young duo walked up to the counter, and they ordered two ice cream cones topped with two scoops of chocolate ice cream. The pair sat down at a small table in the corner of the building and ate their ice cream.
“So, why is your name Jolene?” Cleetus asked. The catchy song was playing in his ear.
“Simply, my mama loved the song and saw my red hair when I came out. It clicked.”
“That’s so cool. My parents clearly hated me. They named me Cleetus willingly.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“I think it’s rather cute and charming.” She said as she giggled at him.
“Oh, thanks. You are so sweet.” Cleetus’ face lit up red.
“Anyways, what is there to do around here? Like for fun?” She asked.
“Here. Walmart. About it.” He chuckled lightly.
He looked at Jolene as she stared out the window. He loved looking at her and how she was composed eating her ice cream in front of him. Cleetus could live forever looking at how Jolene lit up every room she was present in. He liked watching the way her hair fell down her shoulders. She smiled gently at Cleetus. Who knew what she was thinking? She was unpredictable and he loved that about her. Cleetus mustered up all his confidence in one question. On the day after his birthday, Cleetus met his first and only love.
“Hey…Jolene, would you like to go on a date?” she beamed at him as he asked.
“Yes. That sounds like fun.” She replied
