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Authors: Nicholasa Mohr
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came over to my house almost every day. It didnât rain once and the weather was nice and warm, so that everyone played outdoors. Even Vinnyâs brothers and sisters began playing outdoors with some other little kids. Vinny played a lot of softball with the other boys in the park. Weâd go there and watch the boys, or just hang out and play our games. Mostly us girls jumped rope, or played hopscotch and jacks. When we played tag with the boys, everyone noticed how Vinny was always catching me.
âHey, man, Vinny,â yelled Eddie Lopez, âwhy donât you catch somebody else for a change? Thereâs other people in this game, you know!â
I didnât even mind the teasing just as long as I could be with Vinny every day. Once when we were all playing hide-and-go-seek on our block, it was Vinnyâs turn to be it. This time instead of hiding with somebody else, I took off down the street and hid in an alleyway all by myself. When Vinny found me, he bent over and gave me a long kiss right on the mouth. Then he smiled and said, âYouâre it, Felita!â
I was so shocked that I stayed perfectly still. I couldnât even move. Nobody had ever kissed me like that before. I mean of course I had kissed boys before, like at Lydiaâs birthday party when we had to play spin the bottle. But I didnât like any of those boys and thought the whole thing was just sloppy.
âFelita, youâre it!â I heard all my friends shouting. âCome out, come out, wherever you are!â I recognized Consuelaâs voice.
When I finally got back to the game, I felt like I was walking on air and my insides were dancing all by themselves. Even though Vinny still hadnât asked me to be his girl, now I knew that we liked each other in a way that no one else could understand.
Â
The month of May seemed to go by real fast. Final term tests were due just before graduation. Next year our class was going on to junior high school. Everyone was trying to study extra hard, since no one wanted to stay back. Mami decided that from now until June, Vinny and I should meet for only one lesson a week, on Wednesdays. I wasnât very happy about it and neither was Vinny. But we did have a lot of schoolwork to get through and this time we both admitted Mami was right. Besides, I was doing extra work on a project with Mrs. Feller, the librarian. We were making a large paper banner painted with our school colorsânavy blue and gold. It said:
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATES OF P. S. 47 WE ARE THE BEST
We were also making a huge autograph album to be used on stage during the ceremonies. It was five feet high and four feet wide. We used papier-mâché and paint to make it look like it was real leather. On the album cover I made a drawing of our school building and underneath I painted the words PLEASE SIGN ME. On the inside cover I painted: NAMES OF GRADUATES. Kids could sign their names underneath. I worked almost every day on this project so that we could have it ready for graduation. I had two other kids as helpers, but Mrs. Feller and I did most of the work.
When I wasnât staying after school to work on the album, Vinny walked me home. I also got to see him on Wednesdays for our lesson. Mami was frantic with her shopping and preparing for our trip. I was glad too, because that way she had too much to do to be keeping tabs on me. Vinny and I had already had our last lesson two days ago. Today we decided that we would walk the long way home from school so that we could say good-bye by ourselves without Mami being around.
We decided to stop at a small park that was far enough from school and our block so that we wouldnât bump into anyone we knew. Except for some older people feeding the pigeons, no one was around. We sat on a bench all by ourselves.
âJuly Second is when we all go to P.R., Vinny. Thatâs not very far away.â
âI know. But think, Felita,
âHey, man, Vinny,â yelled Eddie Lopez, âwhy donât you catch somebody else for a change? Thereâs other people in this game, you know!â
I didnât even mind the teasing just as long as I could be with Vinny every day. Once when we were all playing hide-and-go-seek on our block, it was Vinnyâs turn to be it. This time instead of hiding with somebody else, I took off down the street and hid in an alleyway all by myself. When Vinny found me, he bent over and gave me a long kiss right on the mouth. Then he smiled and said, âYouâre it, Felita!â
I was so shocked that I stayed perfectly still. I couldnât even move. Nobody had ever kissed me like that before. I mean of course I had kissed boys before, like at Lydiaâs birthday party when we had to play spin the bottle. But I didnât like any of those boys and thought the whole thing was just sloppy.
âFelita, youâre it!â I heard all my friends shouting. âCome out, come out, wherever you are!â I recognized Consuelaâs voice.
When I finally got back to the game, I felt like I was walking on air and my insides were dancing all by themselves. Even though Vinny still hadnât asked me to be his girl, now I knew that we liked each other in a way that no one else could understand.
Â
The month of May seemed to go by real fast. Final term tests were due just before graduation. Next year our class was going on to junior high school. Everyone was trying to study extra hard, since no one wanted to stay back. Mami decided that from now until June, Vinny and I should meet for only one lesson a week, on Wednesdays. I wasnât very happy about it and neither was Vinny. But we did have a lot of schoolwork to get through and this time we both admitted Mami was right. Besides, I was doing extra work on a project with Mrs. Feller, the librarian. We were making a large paper banner painted with our school colorsânavy blue and gold. It said:
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATES OF P. S. 47 WE ARE THE BEST
We were also making a huge autograph album to be used on stage during the ceremonies. It was five feet high and four feet wide. We used papier-mâché and paint to make it look like it was real leather. On the album cover I made a drawing of our school building and underneath I painted the words PLEASE SIGN ME. On the inside cover I painted: NAMES OF GRADUATES. Kids could sign their names underneath. I worked almost every day on this project so that we could have it ready for graduation. I had two other kids as helpers, but Mrs. Feller and I did most of the work.
When I wasnât staying after school to work on the album, Vinny walked me home. I also got to see him on Wednesdays for our lesson. Mami was frantic with her shopping and preparing for our trip. I was glad too, because that way she had too much to do to be keeping tabs on me. Vinny and I had already had our last lesson two days ago. Today we decided that we would walk the long way home from school so that we could say good-bye by ourselves without Mami being around.
We decided to stop at a small park that was far enough from school and our block so that we wouldnât bump into anyone we knew. Except for some older people feeding the pigeons, no one was around. We sat on a bench all by ourselves.
âJuly Second is when we all go to P.R., Vinny. Thatâs not very far away.â
âI know. But think, Felita,
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