Mandy- Part 11

Sherry was eyeing me suspiciously, something was up and she wanted to know what was going on. I put my arms around her gently and kissed her cheek.

            “Okay, the truth is, I didn’t come down here to do the laundry. I heard a strange noise so I came down here to see what it was. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hear about this upstairs? Suit yourself but don’t say I didn’t warn you…there’s a bat in the root cellar.”

Sherry screeched and ran upstairs. She’s always been terrified of bats. I knew if I told her there was a bat in the root cellar she would never, ever, set foot in my basement again. My problem was solved.

    She was standing in my kitchen doing what I’ve always called, “The Creepy-Crawly Dance”. Most girls have this strange sort of shuffle/hop/wildly flailing arm thing that they do when they encounter bugs or spiders or whatever it is that they consider creepy-crawlies. She was doing that and it was absolutely adorable.

            “I warned you.”

She glowered at me and playfully swatted my shoulder. Once she stopped hopping around like a deranged frog, I gathered her in my arms.

            “Don’t worry; I’ll protect you from the bats and anything else that threatens your happiness.”

It was then that I noticed an overnight bag sitting on my kitchen table. Next to it, she had the kitty-carrier and Sherry’s little fur-ball was purring away.

            “Ruby and I thought you might like a little company tonight.”

            “Ruby?”

            “Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you…I named her Ruby after your grandmother. Is that okay? Oh, what was thinking? I’m sorry. I meant it as a compliment. I always adored your grandmother and-”

            “Shh”

I gently pressed my finger to her lips and she smiled.

            “You worry too much! I think it is very sweet that you wanted to honor my grandmother. I’m sure she would have loved the idea. She was a big softie when it came to cats, you know that. There’s only one problem though…what’s your mom gonna thing about you spending the night over here? I remember one time when we were kids and all three of us fell asleep in the basement, watching movies. Your mom flipped out on you and we didn’t even do anything. Not to be too presumptuous, but I’m pretty sure if you stay the night we wouldn’t be able to say that. I mean, we’d probably…um…”

I could feel a flush creeping up from my neck until it swallowed my entire head. It felt like flames were going to shoot out of skull at any second. My brain was screaming. You’re such an idiot! Why did you say that? Over and over, the same two sentences berated me. I couldn’t even finish my train of thought, although, in hind sight it was probably a good thing I didn’t finish. After what felt like an eternity, she smiled.

            “That’s what I was counting on.”
I felt my jaw drop and Sherry burst out laughing. To me, it was still inconceivable that she had feelings for me. I was nerdy, and not in the cool-hipster way. She, on the other hand, was intelligent, caring, stunningly beautiful, and so much fun. She could be with anyone and yet she chose me. I was still in shock as she gingerly took my hand and led me upstairs.