Both of our casts were covered with autographs and drawings from our family, friends and even teachers. We had each been the first to sign the other’s cast. I’d written, Thanks for a fun Christmas BREAK, ha-ha! Leah on his; he wrote, Cast Buddies for Life! Matty on mine. By the time our casts came off, they were filthy dirty and stunk something awful; but we both thought they made cool keepsakes.
I recall that afternoon so clearly: Matty rode with my mom and me from my doctor’s appointment back to my house; my mom started dinner while Matty and I headed up to my room to put my cast away. My parents never objected to Matty being in my bedroom. They had to have known in later months and years that he came in through my window some nights; he made quite a bit of racket climbing up the trellis to my second-floor ledge. I don’t know if they just trusted us completely - after all, they thought of Matty as a son - or if they were too naïve to worry about us being alone in my bedroom together. Regardless, Matty was free to come and go as he pleased; and, unless he snuck in via my window late at night, the only reason I ever shut my bedroom door was to keep my sisters out.
“Where did you display your cast?” I asked, looking around for a space to show mine off. I rarely went to Matty’s house, and I had only been in his bedroom twice. I cleared a section on my white bookshelf for my cast to set. Matty had gone back to the pond and brought back some stones from the shore to commemorate our big accident; I placed a few on the shelf surrounding my cast.
“It’s on the top shelf of my closet,” he said with a shrug. “My dad didn’t want it out for anyone to see; he said it wasn’t anything to celebrate or remember. He even tried to throw it away, but my mom intervened and said I should keep it. She said it was a good reminder for me to never be so stupid again. I figured the closet shelf let me still see it without my dad having to.”
I wanted to say something, but I was also afraid to criticize Matty’s parents, especially his dad. I had once said something about them being too strict and Matty had snapped at me that I didn’t know them. I realized it was best for me to just listen to Matty complain about them but to keep my opinions to myself. They were, after all, his mom and dad and pretty much the only family he had.
I realized I needed to change the topic away from our casts. “Well, a few more weeks of sitting out gym class and I’ll be back to being the volleyball champion of our grade,” I said seriously, although I was clearly joking.
“Are you kidding?” Matty replied, laughing. “You are the worst volleyball player ever. I don’t even think you can call yourself an actual player. More like a wanna be!”
“Hey! I have hit the ball at least twice! I once even got it near the net, if not exactly over it!”
“You hit the ball with your face, maybe; but not with your hands!” Matty said before he launched into an impression of me trying to duck and dodge the ball.
“That’s not how I do it! Check out my form,” I said as I started to mimic the moves of the girls who were actually on the volleyball team. “Ouch!” I stopped as a shooting pain went through my arm, which I grabbed. I leaned back onto my desk, a tear forming in my eye. My arm was frequently achy; the surgeon said it would be months, maybe years, before the discomfort went away. He even told my parents I may need another surgery once I grew up if scar tissue formed. I realized I was going to have to be careful not to aggregate it further. “If this stupid pain keeps up, I might never have to ever take P.E. again. So that’s a plus,” I said, trying to push the pained look off my face.
Matty looked at me sadly. “It’s my fault,” he said. “If we hadn’t gone for that walk, none of this would have happened. It’s because of me that you are in pain. I’m so sorry, Leah.”
“Oh, come on, Matty,” I said, forcing a smile on my face, even though the pain in my arm made me want to cry. “It was an accident. A freak accident, the way we both fell in the directions we did. I am sure we will look back on it someday and have a good laugh. In fact, I’m starting to think it’s funny now!” I let out a loud “ha-ha” to prove my point and to hopefully make Matty feel better.
“Well, I’ll always feel bad about it,” he said, stepping forward and placing his hands on my shoulders. He stood close to me, looking me in the eyes. My heart skipped a beat as I looked back at him; we’d never been this close together before. And then, suddenly, Matty lunged forward and planted a kiss on my lips. I was so caught off guard that I didn’t even reciprocate. But after Matty had stepped back, I was the one to move forward to place my lips on his. We stood there for what seemed like minutes but was only a few seconds, our lips pressed together but not moving. When we separated there was a loud “smack”sound, which made both of us laugh. That was not only our first kiss together, but it
