* * *
"Thank you again, Guy, for helping me with this work. If Frank were still alive I wouldn't have needed to call you over here."
Guy wiped the sweat from his brow as he pushed the lawnmower into Mrs. Johnson's garage. "No worries, Mrs. J," Guy replied with a sigh. "I needed to do some manual labor, anyway. I've got a lot of things on my mind and this helps clear my head for a while."
Mrs. Johnson motioned for Guy to follow her into the house, where she had a tall glass of cold ice water waiting for him in the bright and airy kitchen, along with his favorite chocolate chip cookies. Sitting at the kitchen table near a bay window overlooking the backyard, he took a huge sip and grabbed up one of the cookies.
Mrs. Johnson busied herself at the sink washing some vegetables from her garden. "What's going on, young man, that you consider mowing the lawn a pleasure?"
Guy sat for a moment, trying to think where to begin. He glanced out the window and saw the sun setting over Mrs. J's backyard. Thirty-seven more days to go before school was out.
"Can I ask you something, Mrs. J?"
"Sure you can. Anything."
Guy watched Mrs. J carefully and asked, "Have you ever done something so terrible that you didn't think you'd ever be able to make the proper apology to the person you wronged?"
Mrs. Johnson paused, turning to Guy with a look of concern in her eyes. "Oh, Guy. What did you do?"
"The question should be what didn't I do." He put down the uneaten cookie. "I've really messed up."
"You know, Frank used to say that nothing was so far gone that an apology wouldn't fix it. I'd like to think he was right."
"I really hurt this person. It was a long time ago." Guy stopped for a moment, then said softly, "And just a few days ago, too." He pushed back from the table and groaned, "Actually, I've pretty much been messing up for the past eight years, I guess."
He closed his eyes briefly, and all he could see was Aldys. Beautiful Aldys, glaring at him in the darkness of her car as he verbally abused her once again. He felt despondent as he realized how messed up things were. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Not for the Big Man on Campus. It was supposed to be easy, idyllic. Instead he felt like garbage.
He needed to apologize to Aldys. Before anything else happened to mess up his chance at reconciliation.
Guy opened his eyes and found Mrs. Johnson looking at him sadly.
"Nothing is so far gone, Guy," she repeated softly. "You need to apologize to her for what you've done. Before it's too late."
He hadn't told her any specifics, and yet he realized that Mrs. J probably knew exactly whom he was talking about. After all, Mrs. Johnson had known Aldys almost as long as she had known Guy.
Guy stood up and moved over to Mrs. Johnson to give her a quick hug where she sat. Kissing her affectionately on the forehead, he gave her one more quick squeeze and murmured, "Thanks, Mrs. J."
* * *
The next day at school, Guy found flyers posted all over the place for an Ozomatli performance at Delloser Hall that night. He grabbed a flyer from a junior who was passing them out as he walked down the stairs with Tommy and Jason.
"Oh yes," he said to them. "I'm so there. This band is so good. Have you heard this band play?"
Tommy, whose ancient car was in the shop yet again, tapped Guy on the chest and said, "I'll steal my mom's car and I'll drive."
As they came around the corner near their lockers, Guy saw Josie staring at them, plastered against the wall as though she didn't want to be seen. Over the past few weeks Guy had been gratified to see that she had toned down her makeup to a more natural look, and she looked nice this morning in her tight shirt and hot pink cardigan sweater over capri pants. In fact, she looked very cute.
Jason interrupted Guy's thoughts by crowing, "Yo, this show is gonna be rufalicious!"
"Jason, it's not a stick of gum," Guy responded in an exasperated tone. "It's rufus." They passed Josie and Guy looked at her briefly. He half wanted to stop and speak to her, say hello or something. "Rufus," he repeated idiotically, tearing his gaze away from Josie's dark blue eyes.
As he got his books out of his locker for his next class, he nodded goodbye to Tommy and Jason as they left to go to their class. The past few days had been miserable for him, but after his talk with Mrs. Johnson the evening before he felt a lot better about things.
He had resolved to go out of his way to leave Aldys alone and not antagonize her and to apologize to her as soon as he was ready to face her and hear the undoubtedly horrible things she had to say to him. He had also resolved to try and not give in to the cowardice he had been feeling around his schoolmates with regard to their status in school. He still didn't feel comfortable just yet with the notion of calling them out on their snobbery and cruelty, but knowing that he was determined not to give in to it now made him feel better.
* * *
"Dude, what do you mean you can't go?"
"Just what I said, Tommy. My neighbor called and asked me to come over and help her with something. I said yes before I remembered that we were going to Delloser tonight. But if I finish up early, I'll come out to the show and hang out."
* * *
"That was all you needed, Mrs. Johnson?" Guy asked in disbelief. "You just needed me to check the lock on your back door?"
Mrs. Johnson answered innocently, "That's it. Sorry if I made it sound like something more than that."
Guy laughed and replied, "Mrs. Johnson, what did you really call me over here for?"
"What, did you have to cancel any plans for tonight?"
Guy shook his head mildly, saying, "Nah, I was going to go see a band play at Delloser Hall, but that band will come back in the future. I'll just see them next time."
Mrs. Johnson frowned worriedly. "Guy, I'm so sorry. I'm so selfish�I should have thought to tell you not to cancel plans on account of me. You've only got a few weeks left of school with your friends."
Guy snorted and said, "Don't worry - it's not a hardship to get out of spending time with them, sometimes."
Mrs. Johnson sat quietly for a moment before speaking again. She surprised Guy by saying, "Guess who came over to see me today?"
"I've no idea."
"Aldys Harrison. She hasn't been over here in ages. She told me she's hoping to go to Northwestern in the fall. She's so smart�I'm so proud of her!"
Guy hoped that Mrs. J didn't notice his body's stiffen in response to hearing Aldys' name. He could feel his heart jump in his chest when Mrs. J said Aldys was possibly going to Northwestern. That was his top choice of school as well.
"She had plans tonight, too. She was going to meet up with her friend Josie at Na-Na's. They are probably there right now."
Guy stole a glance at Mrs. Johnson and saw that she was sneaking her own glance at him. Guy pursed his lips at the realization of what Mrs. Johnson was saying. Then he laughed out loud and hugged the old woman to him.
"All right. Looks like I suddenly have someplace to be. Will you be okay without me?"
"Well, Guy," Mrs. J responded teasingly, "the living room needs repainting, but it can wait, I suppose."
"Yeah, whatever, Mrs. J."
Upon leaving the house, Guy got into his car and turned the key in the ignition. Na-Na's. His redemption was apparently sitting in a booth at Na-Na's right now. While Tommy and the gang were nowhere around to bother him.
Guy smiled grimly as he gave himself a pep talk. "It's now or never, Guy," he said to himself, gripping the steering wheel. And with that he backed out of his parent's driveway and began driving to Na-Na's.
* * *
As he pulled into the parking lot of Na-Na's, Guy could see Aldys sitting alone at a booth near the front window. He quickly got out of his car and went to the front door, still unsure of what he was going to say to her.
Walking into Na-Na's he was greeted with loud music and conversations floating all around the large caf�. Without thinking twice he strolled over to Aldys' booth and sat down opposite from her. She had an open book in front of her: Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'.
Startled by his sudden appearance, Aldys slammed the book shut and muttered, "Uh, someone's sitting there."
"Then I'll leave when they come back."
"Actually, Josie's not here yet�but she'll be here soon."
"Fine. I'll leave when she gets here. But I need to talk to you. Now."
"What do you want, Guy?" Aldys asked stiffly, looking out the front window of the caf�.
"Look, Aldys. I know you hate me�that's been painfully obvious since the seventh grade. I also know that it doesn't matter what I say because you won't listen to me and give me an honest chance. I understand that." He took a deep breath. "But despite that, I have some things that have needed to be said for a long time, and I'm going to say them whether you like it or not."
Aldys looked at him in silence, her eyes bravely meeting his earnest gaze.
Seeing that she was listening, Guy took a another deep breath before continuing. "Whatever you think about me, Aldys, just know this. I don't hate you. I never have. I admire you, I am in awe of you, and more than anything, I've discovered recently that I really miss you."
"You were my best friend for such a long time, and I wasted that. I let Tommy and the others affect my way of thinking, and I'm ashamed of that. I'd give anything to take back the past few years and be friends with you again. I think about you all the time, and how it could have been different. How it should have been different."
He paused for a moment as the waitress set down a cup of coffee in front of Aldys. He watched as Aldys' shaking hand pick up the cream and pour some into the steaming mug, stirring it in with her spoon.
Once the waitress walked away, Guy continued.
"Aldys, tell me what I can do to make it up to you. I don't want to finish high school knowing that there was something that I could have done to repair the damage that has been done."
Aldys took a sip of the coffee and settled the cup back in its saucer. Folding her hands on the table, she said, "I'll tell you what you can do to make it up to me."
"What?" he asked hopefully. "Anything."
"Do this in public," she replied.
"What?" Guy asked, confused. "We are in public."
Aldys smiled sadly as she looked into her coffee cup. "It's so easy for you to apologize to me here, when your friends aren't around. How about apologizing when your precious Tommy can actually hear you speaking politely to me? How about telling those girls that I'm a human being and that they can't make fun of me anymore. How about standing up to them once and for all and telling them you don't want to be a part of their group�or do you actually enjoy being around those shallow people?"
Guy stared at Aldys, dumbfounded. He hadn't expected this. He had hoped that he could apologize and that would be the end of it. But apparently Aldys intended to up the stakes.
"Aldys, can't you just accept my apology?"
"No, Guy, I'm afraid I can't. Not tonight. Not when it's done as a secret that no one else can find out about." Aldys glanced at her watch and began gathering her stuff.
"Where are you going?" Guy asked.
"It looks like Josie ditched me, so I'm going home."
"Let me take you."
Aldys glared at him as she took out her wallet and put some money on the table. "Don't be stupid, Guy. You aren't going to give me a lift home tonight."
"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't willing."
"Well, thanks, but I've got my own car, so I don't need you to drive me home. And you already told me where the dog park is�remember?" With that she stood up with her backpack and walked out of Na-Na's.
Guy quickly got up and followed her into the parking lot.
As Aldys approached her station wagon, a defeated Guy let out a loud groan and shouted into the dark starry night, "What did I do to deserve this?"
Aldys, feeling a bit sorry for Guy despite herself, called out, "Guy, don't be so hard on yourself. You know, school will be over in five weeks and all will be forgotten. I'll go on to Northwestern, you'll go to where ever you are going to school, and no one will any the wiser as to what we were like in high school."
Guy, sensing her reprieve, made his way over to where Aldys stood in front of her open car door. He leaned against the side of the car and said, "I've been thinking that very same thing for the past few weeks. You know, every day I wake up and tell myself how many days are left until this whole thing is done with."
Aldys laughed and said, "That's too bad. High school is actually kind of fun sometimes, you know?"
"You like high school?" Guy asked, surprised.
"Well yeah, I have great friends, I have fun in class, I'm inspired to do things with my life, and more importantly - I know that things will only get better from here on out." Aldys tilted her head up to the dark sky and closed her eyes. "It's going to be amazing!" she said dreamily.
Guy smiled back as Aldys opened her eyes and smiled back wryly at him. "Well, Guy, that's enough mind-bending from you for tonight. I'm going home." She got into the front seat of the station wagon and closed the door. Rolling down the window, she turned to Guy and said, "And let me know when you are ready to apologize to me for real. I'm anxious to see that train wreck."
Guy laughed humorlessly, stepping away from the car as Aldys started the engine. He was about to walk away to his car when Aldys' hand reached out and grabbed his. Guy turned back and met Aldys' serious gaze.
"Guy, I don't want to seem ungrateful here. Thank you for your apology tonight. It means a lot. And it's a step in the right direction. But I hope you see my point about making a real apology at the right time. Tonight was an easy out for you because your friends went to Delloser Hall. Apologizing for years of torture shouldn't be this easy. I hope you understand that."
Guy nodded mutely as Aldys brought her hand back into her car and put it into gear.
"I understand that, Aldys, but I'm just not prepared to do that just now."
Aldys studied him for one more moment, a flash of disappointment moving quickly across her face. "Then I guess we're done here."
With that, Aldys drove out of the parking lot, leaving Guy alone with his thoughts.
* * *