Model Ricans

Sky Bowman

I can't believe Sky Bowman is calling me. "Mom, I'm gonna switch to the phone in my room." I run like a racehorse to my bedroom, wait for Mom to hang up the kitchen phone and try not to breathe like a maniac into the receiver. "Oh my God, you're crazy."

"I do a pretty good impression of a girl."

"I am impressed."

Silence. I'm guessing he is supposed to speak next, that's usually how things go, and besides, I don't wanna just talk about me, me, me like Marga says I do, so I try my best to be patient for him to talk.

Finally he says, "So? What are you doing?"

Relief. But I'm not sure what to say. Do I lie? Do I tell him I'm doing something more fabulous? The truth stumbles out before I can think of something more clever. "Nothing." Oh my God, I'm such a dummy. "I mean, washing dishes. We just ate dinner."

"Cool. What'd you eat?"

"Rice and beans and pork chops. One of my favorites."

"Georgie's mom makes rice and beans every time I'm at his house. They called the pork chops something like chu-bacas."

"Chuletas," I laugh. "I never thought about it, but yeah, I guess we do! What did you eat for dinner?"

"Mac and cheese. A couple hot dogs. American food, I guess."

We're both silent for too long, but then Sky Bowman blurts out, "I read that note. The one Stacey Quinn wrote to you in our last math class... before the end of school? Something about her marrying Bobby someday and you marrying 'you know who?'"

Oh my God, I'm going to die. How the heck did he get that stupid note? Shit. I wrote back to Stacey and she must have given it to him. Ug. What a bitch. If I can time travel, maybe I should go back to that moment and make sure he doesn't get that note. But then again, maybe that's why he is calling me. Hmmm. I finally say out loud, "I'm sure you can guess who it is."

"Georgie?"

I laugh a little too loud. I cover my mouth, but then I remember that Mom thinks I'm talking to Marga so I let loose. "No!"

He laughs with me. "Manuel?"

It's obvious that Sky Bowman is playing with me, so I don't say anything for a few seconds. It's weird to hear so much silence between our phones. I can hear the static. It's driving me crazy so I blurt out, with a heavier New York accent than usual, "Don't play dumb, you know it's you."

He laughs.

Little ol me made Sky Bowman laugh. It's a genuine laugh, not the kind of fake laugh I hear from some of the popular girls in school while they look at someone else. I could listen to Sky Bowman laugh all night long.

"I couldn't even pass math. Why do you want to marry a bum like me?"

Before I can answer, Mom yells out, "Desiree, ven aqui! You need to finish drying these dishes!" So I say, "Um, I'll tell you tomorrow. I gotta go. My mother's gonna kill me if I don't finish the dishes before Wheel of Fortune is over."

He laughs. "You're funny. See ya." He hangs up the phone and my whole spirit shoots up to the sky and bursts into a million colors until Mom yells my name again.

Bam!

My spirit falls back to the ground. As I run down the hallway, on the white tile, a great idea starts brewing. While I'm drying the dishes and wiping the kitchen counters with my extra special way of impressing Mom — making sure the faucet is super shiny — I'm rehearsing the lines in my head.

"Can I invite my new boyfriend to dinner?"

Oh wait, they would die if I said I had a boyfriend.

"Can I invite my friend who is a boy to dinner?"