My elementary and high school
“Are you a goodie-goodie?”
My heart leapt in my chest. He was talking to me. Was he talking to me? Yes! He was talking to me!
“I, uh . . .” Wait a . . . Was I a what? A goodie-goodie? What was a goodie-goodie?
“Uh . . .” I thought I knew what it meant. I had a pretty good idea, but . . .
I was stuttering. He was staring at me. My cheeks were burning. The cement sidewalk where we stood was crashing into the school parking lot — six inches below.
“Umm, no. No, of course not. I do bad stuff all the time. I mean . . . What do you mean ‘a goodie-goodie’?” I flubbed and looked at him at last.
He laughed, clearly having a good time. His blue eyes sparkled as he did. “I mean a goodie-goodie. You know — someone who always does what they’re told.”
“No way,” I said, more quickly this time. “Not a goodie-goodie . . . Though it’s true I don’t enjoy getting in trouble,” I added.
“Hmph — what I thought,” he smirked.
Nooooo! “Uh.” This was going all wrong. Was I a goodie-goodie or wasn’t I? Was it bad if I was? What did he want?
Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mom’s black sedan appear at the edge of the school’s driveway. A mixture of relief and disappointment washed over me. “Ugh, my mom’s here. Gotta go.” I reached for my backpack on the brick plantar bed behind us. He lunged for it and snatched it away as I did. “Got to or want to?” he teased, holding the backpack above him, out of my reach.
“Got to!” I said, flushing again. He was holding my backpack!
“Goodie-goodie.”
“Nooooo!”
“Ha. Just kidding,” he smiled. His auburn hair glinted in the afternoon sun. “Here.” He lowered the backpack and held it out towards me. I grabbed it and hugged it, bear-style, and began shuffling backwards towards the car, tripping over the crashing curb as I did. “Thanks,” I mumbled. My cheeks were on fire again, but his eyes were on the car. He waved to my mom in the driver’s seat, then looked back at me. “No problem. So . . . See you tomorrow?”
“Um, yeah. Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow.” I got in the back seat, but as we drove away and my mom began her, “So how was school?” my mind was elsewhere. I watched his silhouette shrinking in the rear view mirror — and all I could think was: See you tomorrow? What did that mean? Did that mean he would TALK to me tomorrow?!
…
Stay tuned for why in the heck I wrote this vignette. It’s based on a true story and shows . . . Well, I won’t give it away just yet. But in order to make my next point, I need you to see better . . . me. Me in all my innocent, naive, 14-year-old glory.
..
shift 
Well…I hope you are goodie-goodie! If you read my awful story about school, I was an interesting student to say the least. Being on the other end makes for some great stories but the reality is that you get further in life doing the right things.
I will be waiting for the next installment!
Yup. I’m a goodie-goodie, Steve. There’s no way around it, as you’ll see. Funny thing is my boyfriend is anything BUT a goodie-goodie. He was a total rebel growing up!!!
Can you send me the link for your school story? I’d love to read it but just haven’t been able to keep up lately. :/
https://thesidewedge.wordpress.com/2015/01/28/dirty-deeds-my-brother-scott/
https://thesidewedge.wordpress.com/2015/02/04/dirty-deeds-my-brother-scott-part-2/
We will just say that I was a creative child…
I remember getting that question at that age, too. Never did know how to answer…
I knew the answer, but didn’t know if the answer was okay. It has taken me a long time to accept myself, and accept that who I am is okay…
Thank you for the lovely comment. I’m so glad others can relate. Happy weekend!
14 huh? :) THAT brings back memories :) This is a sweet story Jess, hopefully with a sweet ending!
Yup, fourteen… I thought I was so grown up, too… It had a semi-sweet ending — the one it was supposed to have. I may get around to writing more about it someday. We’ll see…
Happy weekend!
What a nice little story, Jess. I loved the description and felt how shy you were…maybe even afraid. A “goodie-goodie”. It’s a phrase I heard directed a lot at me when I was younger. Always took it to meant someone who behaved, did their homework, basically it meant to me a hardworking wallflower.
It’s funny how as kids we get all excited when someone especially someone we fancy talk to us. Fast forwards a few decades later, we tend to be more wary about others approaching us. As kids, the little things make our world big.
Looking forward to reading the next part :) <3
Yup, Mabel. I was young, shy, and unused to being noticed by guys. I wasn’t really the “popular girl” in school growing up. And oh how true it is that time and experience gives us a whole new set of emotions when approaching a new relationship. Jaded would be a good way to describe it.
Thanks as always for reading! You are so awesome. Hope your weekend is off to a great start!
Oh god no, you put me right back in that time period. I was definitely a goodie-goodie. I think that i was the only kid who took Nancy Regan’s just say no campaign to heart. I liked all the cool kids but i was like, hey just say no guys…
Lol. Nancy Reagan was a little before my time, but that would’ve been me too, Sreejit. Me, too…
Does your comment section allow music videos? Cuz I have this urge to post “Goodie Two-Shoes” by Adam Ant! hehe ;-)
Oh wow, unbelievable choice. I must have been 7 when that came out. Used to have a poster of him on my wall. It’s hilarious seeing this now. Not at all what was in my memory.
Haha! Glad you remember this, Sreejit. Hilarious how things can seem different as adults than they did when we were kids.
Lol, that’s hilarious!! I am dying. I had never seen this before. Thank you for sharing, Professor!
I hope it put a smile on your face & a chuckle in your giddy-up! ;-)
Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to see what is coming next. You’ve done such a good job of making your 14 year old glory relatable. I can recall a few different times when I felt similar to what you’ve described. Great writing!!
Thank you so much, Amy! I’m glad you liked the story and my writing! I tend to overthink things — a.k.a. worry too much — when writing stories.
Hope you’re having a great weekend!
I can COMPLETELY relate to over-thinking things when writing…well, anything!
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend as well :)
You – a goody goody?
NO!
Lol, Hoss. YES!
But striving hard against it every day!