The contrast between the graceful jacaranda blossoms and Jon’s stony face was stark, as he remained completely still, arms crossed over his chest, staring out over the street at the suburban houses on the other side. His grim expression belied the whirlwind of thoughts that were sending the gears in his head spinning into a frenzy. Most of the thoughts were negative.
Jon was so focused on his internal tempest that he didn’t even hear the footsteps coming up behind him.
“You were never a C-minus, you know.” Sarah’s hand rested on the bark next to Jon’s head. “You were always an A. An A-plus, really. From the moment you started talking about Karyn up in my room, I knew it. I guess, I don’t know, I needed to feel like I was superior, somehow?”
Jon opened his mouth to talk, his expression telegraphing the insult that was still formulating in his head even as he began to deliver it.
“No,” Sarah stopped him with a practiced poised gained from years of experience dealing with Biff. “I’ll let you know when it’s your turn to talk. Right now it’s my turn.”
Their eyes met in a brief battle of wills, and Jon silently acquiesced, slumping slightly against the tree.
“You’re a good guy, Jon. Or at least, you were a good guy. I might have ruined you. I just saw you answering all of my questions, earnestly, honestly, and I thought to myself ‘all this kid needs is a little confidence boost, just a cheerleader who’s in his corner.’ And, well, who knows more about cheerleading than me?”
A cool wind blew between them, a frond of flowers briefly interrupting their view of one another.
“I barely recognize the Jon I met two nights ago when I look at your face. You didn’t need to change. I’m sorry that I made you feel like you needed to change. You were perfect as you were, you just needed some polishing around the edges. Just a little boost.” Sarah let out a low chuckle. “Give an inch, I guess.”
“Are you finished?” Jon grunted.
“No, I’m not. I want you to know that I really believed in you and Karyn. I still do. I still want you to live a long, happy life together. I want to meet your children. I want to see the two of you grow old together. I want it so badly that I’m willing to swallow my own pride and forget everything that’s happened this morning, if you can just show me that the Jon I got to know yesterday is still in there. Show me that whatever you’re doing now, it’s just some fluke. Got up on the wrong side of the bed, whatever. Be genuine with me right now, like you were when I told you that you were a C-minus, and I swear I’ll do everything I can to make sure you and Karyn make it in the end. Show me that you’re not really the same kind of jerk that Biff is.”
Sarah’s eyes glowed with an empathy that she wasn’t used to outwardly expressing. Her whole life, she’d learned to be guarded. To put up a front so that all everyone saw was her carefully-manufactured perfection. In that moment, her perfect image felt secondary. After all, how could she ask Jon to show his genuine self, if she wasn’t willing to do the same?
“If you can’t do that, I might have to cut you out of my life right now. And I don’t want to. So please, just give me a sign. Any indication at all. Let me know that there’s still hope for you.”
Sarah leaned down and gave Jon a soft kiss on the cheek, brief and mournful, before turning to walk back into the house.
Jon brought his hand up to where Sarah had just kissed him. It felt like there was an energy left by her lips on his skin, which was seeping into him and spreading throughout his body. Jon winced. He suddenly felt a pain in his chest. Not an emotional pain, a physical one. Like he had a cracked rib.
A moment later, his face felt like it was splitting open. Not completely. Just halfway, like he was healing from a wound that hadn’t been there a moment ago. Jon blinked in confusion as he could feel his muscles shrinking on his body, one by one. As a rubbery film materialized under his shirt to wrap itself around his chest. As his thoughts cleared, and his expression softened.
Sarah had just reached the front steps to the house when she heard a small, reedy voice singing from behind her.
“Who can turn the world on with her smile?”
She stopped. Took her foot off the bottom step.
“Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?”
She turned. And there was Jon, still sitting in that jacaranda tree, but now facing her. Tears building in his eyes. He looked smaller, somehow. Like he’d physically shrunk. His face was swollen, his eyes somewhere between mournful and pleading.
“Well, it’s you, girl, and you should know it.”
The tension dropped from Sarah’s body as relief surged forward to replace it. Her eyes matched Jon’s, as she walked back to the jacaranda tree.
“Each glance, and every little movement…”
Jon didn’t manage to finish the line. Sarah was hugging him. It didn’t hurt, but Jon could tell that if he tried to sing while wrapped in her embrace, his rib would register its complaint with his nervous system. So he let her hold him, just for a few seconds.
“I think we should start over,” Sarah finally said as she stood back up. “Hi. My name is Sarah McMillan. It’s nice to meet you.”
Jon let half a smile form on his lips. “My name is Jon Gibson. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Sarah gave a little performative look around. “It looks like you might need a ride. I don’t think anyone in there’s going to want to help you,” she gestured towards the house with a thumb. “Can I take you home?”
Jon’s half-smile grew into a full one. “Sure, new friend. I would love a ride home.”
