•✦─Late Summer, 1949─✦•
Sally Jean, age 11
Mama was buried next to Anne in the backyard of the shack. Sally Jean and the Mayberrys were the only ones at her funeral, and Sally Jean cried into Mrs. Mayberry's shoulder throughout the service.
Afterward, Mrs. Mayberry would explain to Sally Jean that she was going to stay with them for the time being, since Sally Jean didn't have any other family that could take her in.
Mrs. Mayberry cleared out Simon's old room downstairs, getting the boys to haul some of the furniture from the shack to furnish the room with. Sally Jean got her Mama's bed and dresser, and even the vanity Mama used to put on her makeup at before the sadness started.
Mrs. Mayberry also went out and bought Sally Jean new things for her room, like frilly, pink sheets and matching curtains, and new clothes to stock her dresser with.
They were pretty clothes. Dresses with patterns and sailor collars and pretty, little bows at the neck. Sally Jean loved wearing her new clothes. They made her feel like a movie star. She didn't have to wear her old feed-sack dresses anymore.
It was exciting, and as she grew, Mrs. Mayberry bought her more clothes to accommodate her changing body. Sally Jean quickly found that she enjoyed clothes and accessories and makeup and all the things the older boys liked to pick on her about.
They said she acted like a city girl with how she obsessed over what movie stars wore to awards shows or what new product of makeup was being advertised in one of her magazines.
On occasion, Mrs. Mayberry would let Sally Jean get into her makeup. Her only rule was that the girl wasn't allowed to wear it out of the house, because she believed she was too young for it. It took up until her first day of junior high for Sally Jean to be allowed to wear makeup.
Even though it wasn't a lot, the fresh coat of mascara Sally Jean wore made her walk with a pep in her step down the long, dirt road that led to the only bus stop on their side of town, Paulie, Jory, and Clyde trailing behind her.
"Geez, Sally Jean, stop walkin' so fast," Clyde joked. "The bus stop ain't gonna run from you!"
"Leave her be, Clyde," Paulie said. He was dressed in his good clothes, and his unruly, dark curls had been cut down the day before to look his best for school. "It's a good thing she's happy about school." He sidled up next to Sally Jean, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Cherish the feelin' while it lasts, Pipsqueak, 'cause Lord knows it won't last forever."
"You're just sayin' that 'cause you always get crap grades," Jory said from behind them.
Paulie shrugged, dropping his arm from Sally Jean's shoulders. "Guess we can't all be nerds like you, Jory."
Jory ignored his brother, his eyes tracking a plane in the sky as he walked with his hands tucked into his pants. "I'm not a nerd."
"Right, 'cause you're a big football star now," Clyde teased. "Now you're just a dumb jock."
"A dumb jock who gets good grades," Jory shot back.
Clyde frowned. "Still a dumb jock."
"Quit being jealous, Clyde. It's not a good look for you."
Sally Jean glanced over her shoulder, catching Clyde's red face as he pressed his lips together and looked down at his feet in anger.
He had changed over the years, losing some of the baby fat in his face. Though he'd grown taller, he wasn't as tall as Sally Jean.
Sally Jean had hit a growth spurt over the summer, coming to stand as tall as most adults she came across. Unfortunately, that was the only place she had grown. She was still as flat-chested as a boy and had long, awkward limbs that she thought were too skinny.
She didn't look like the pretty girls in the magazines that she liked, with their soft bodies that filled out dresses and pants in ways Sally Jean couldn't.
Mrs. Mayberry said she would grow into her looks one day, and Sally Jean kept hoping that day was sooner rather than later.
"Well, looks like we got here in the nick of time," Paulie commented as they came upon the bus stop, kids already standing around it as the yellow bus clambered down the dirt road.
The two oldest Mayberrys broke off from the group, Paulie heading to join a group of older boys he liked to laugh and make jokes with, and Jory heading straight for his girlfriend.
Maude Parker.
Maude Parker was in Jory's grade and could've been in print along with the pretty girls in Sally Jean's magazines.
She was easily the prettiest and most popular girl in school, despite only being a sophomore. Her hair was perfectly curled and pretty and blonde, and her skin was lightly tanned and completely unblemished.
She didn't have the ugly freckles that dusted Sally Jean's nose and cheekbones and was the opposite of Sally Jean in her figure as well. Where Sally Jean was tall and lanky, Maude was short and perfectly plump in all the right places.
Sally Jean envied her something fierce, but not just because of her looks.
But because she had Jory as well.
Standing next to Jory, they looked like the perfect couple. If Maude was the prettiest girl in school, then Jory stood opposite her as the most handsome boy.
His hair was a warm brown color, almost matching his tanned skin, and his eyes were the brightest blue she'd ever seen. Like the color of a robin's egg.
He stood almost as tall as his daddy, with wide shoulders and arms filled with lean muscle to match.
He was as handsome as a boy could ever be and reigned in Sally Jean's head as her supreme thought.
Jealousy burned like a bonfire in her chest when she saw him with Maude. It hurt, so she turned around to face Clyde.
"They're so nasty together," she complained. "Always touchin' on each other and stuff." It always felt good to speak ill of them. Warmed her aching heart.
"Yeah," Clyde grumbled, shifting on his feet. Sally Jean figured he was jealous, too. Probably had a crush on Maude like all the other boys did.
"I heard your mama talkin' about havin' Maude and her family over for dinner tonight. You hear about that?"
Clyde nodded. "Yeah. She figured it'd be a good idea since Maude and Jory are gettin' serious. Jory said he could see himself marryin' her."
Sally Jean's skin felt weird, like it had gone cold all of a sudden, and her heart dropped like a brick in her chest. "Oh," she breathed out, wounded. "Well, that's stupid. They haven't even been friends for long, and your mama said that you gotta be good friends with your spouse, didn't she?"
Clyde nodded. "Yeah, but they aren't gonna get married. Mama said Jory's just in the honeymoon phase."
"Huh? What's that?"
"Mama said it what happens when you first start likin' someone. She said you go through a love spell. You think you're in love with them until you wake up months later and realize that you weren't."
Sally Jean glanced back at Jory, watching him laugh as she wondered if she was under the "love spell" Clyde was talking about.
And if she would ever wake up from it.
•✦───✧✦✧───✦•
After dinner that night, Sally Jean and Clyde decided to break away from all the adults in the dining room and climb up their favorite tree to watch the sunset.
Even though Sally Jean was in one of her nice dresses that shouldn't be climbed in, she didn't care. She was just glad to have something to keep her occupied. She didn't like sitting around with Maude and Maude's parents as they all laughed and chatted about Jory and Maude being together.
It made her sick.
So much so that Mrs. Mayberry had to ask why Sally Jean was hardly touching her food at dinner.
"Maude's not even all that pretty close up," Sally Jean grouched from her spot a couple of branches below Clyde. "Did you notice?"
"Eh, not really. I thought she looked fine."
Sally Jean frowned to herself. "Well, you weren't looking hard enough, then."
Clyde finally settled onto the branch they liked to sit on, helping Sally Jean up a few seconds later.
They sat for a while in silence, watching the sun move towards the horizon through the branches, swinging their feet.
"Why don't you like Maude?" Clyde asked after a while. "She seems real nice."
Maude was nice, another thing Sally Jean hated about her because it was hard to hate a nice person.
"I never said I didn't like her," Sally Jean replied.
"Yeah, but you're actin' like it." Clyde looked over at her, eyeing her strangely.
"What?"
He looked away. "Nothin.'" She watched as his eyes narrowed on something in the distance.
Sally Jean followed his gaze to the backside of the cattle barn, where two figures were pressed up against each other and away from the ranch house's view.
It was Jory and Maude.
"What are they doin'?" Sally Jean whispered to Clyde, her frown so prominent her eyebrows were nearly touching. "It looks like he's attackin' her. What do we do?"
Clyde shook his head. "He ain't attackin' her, he's kissin' her."
Sally Jean recoiled. "That don't look like any kissin' I've ever seen!"
"Well, it is. Jory was tellin' Paulie 'bout it while we were muckin' stalls last week. Said it's fun kissin' girls, and that I'd agree one day."
Sally Jean kept looking at Jory and Maude, feeling her face heat. She briefly wondered what it felt like to be kissed, to be wrapped up in someone's arms in something other than a friendly embrace.
"Why don't we try?"
Sally Jean whipped her head toward Clyde. "What?"
He shrugged. "Why don't we kiss? See if it's really fun and all."
Sally Jean was intrigued by the idea but didn't want to do it with Clyde. Clyde felt too close to her like he was a part of her. It didn't feel right.
"I don't know, Clyde. That's kind of weird."
Clyde frowned. "Oh, come on, Sally Jean, it'll be fine."
She shook her head. "Only people goin' steady kiss, and we ain't goin' steady."
"But we might one day."
Sally Jean didn't like that idea, either. "But we aren't right now."
"Let's just try it, Sally Jean. What's the worst that could happen? We'll just get more experience for when we get to high school."
"It don't feel right, Clyde."
"Come on, aren't you just the least bit curious about it?"
They stared at each other for a few moments, long enough for Sally Jean to give in to her curiosity and scoot closer to him, feeling nervous as she leaned in, her lips puckered and eyes pinched closed until her lips met his.
After a few seconds of stillness, she opened her eyes, meeting his stare. She quickly pulled back, tugging the collar of her dress over her mouth to wipe away his kiss.
"That wasn't fun at all," she complained. "And you were lookin' at me!"
Clyde frowned. "Well, you were lookin' at me, too!"
"Because I was waitin' for you to do somethin'!"
"Well, I didn't know what to do! It's my first time, too." He shook his head to himself. "Maybe it'll be better when we're older," he theorized. "Wanna try again then?"
Sally Jean had no desire to ever repeat their kiss with him again, but nodded anyway, thinking that he would forget about the whole conversation.
He wouldn't.
•✦───✧✦✧───✦•
1,994 words.
Question: Would you ever read a book that is split into three parts?
The first tells the story of one character, the second tells the story of another character, and then the third tells how they meet and how their stories intertwine
For reference, both the first and second parts tell the stories of two different girls and each has their own love story, so it'll be like reading two books in one.
Lengthy question, I know, but I got this idea for a book and it has two stories going on at once. I really don't want to do multiple POVS because I think it might get confusing, but I also don't want to split it up into two separate books.
I don't know, y'all let me know what you think!
PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT TO MAKE ME SMILE!!!