Lulu's Loves Read Free Page A

him it was too soon, I mean, one movie? He should at least take me out for ice cream or something.” As I said the words we both fell out laughing.
    “You’re a beautiful young woman, Lulu. Get used to the attention,” he said.
    “Says my father,” I giggled.
    He got up and went to his bedroom. When he returned he had something in both hands. He sat down beside me and laid one of the things he had down. He turned the other for me to see. It was a picture of my mom.
    “She was so beautiful,” I said. I touched the glass as though I could feel her. I felt a lump in my throat as I looked at the dark hair and brown eyes looking back at me. He didn’t say anything. He put the framed picture in my lap and picked up the other item. It was a mirror. He held it in front of me.
    “You look just like her,” he said.
     
    The next day at school, Jason was waiting at my locker.
    “What’s wrong with you? I’m a good guy!” His voice seemed full of anger, It felt like he was yelling at me. His face was even red. I didn’t understand that emotion.
    “Nothing’s wrong with me. I just think we should do some more things together before you decide that I’m your girlfriend,” I tried to explain.
    “Like what?” he snapped.
    “I don’t know, ice cream? Another movie? Pizza? We don’t really know each other that well, Jason.”
    “You don’t know what you’re missing,” he shouted as he walked away. There were other kids by the lockers and they were watching.
    I hate this kind of stuff.
    I was nice when I saw him later in the day and said hello. He ignored me.
    Ridiculous .
     
    I didn’t see him for a couple of days, and then on Friday, he was waiting at my locker.
    “Good morning.” I said, smiling at him.
    “Hey. I’m sorry.”
    “What are you sorry for?” I asked, as I gathered what I needed for my first two classes.
    “That I was a dickhead.”
    “Well, I’m sorry you were a dickhead, too,” I replied. He laughed hard.
    “I just like you Lulu, and I didn’t understand. It felt like you were saying you didn’t like me. I just didn’t understand. I’ve been trying to get your attention forever.”
    “Why me?” I asked, as I closed the door to my locker. I glanced quickly at my watch. We only had a few more minutes before we needed to get to class.
    “Because you have big boobs,” he said. He seemed so serious that I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. “Payback for the dickhead remark.”
    We both laughed and hurried on our way.
    That evening he called again. “How about ice cream tomorrow afternoon?”
    “That’d be nice.” I felt a warm feeling come over me and realized that I was blushing.
    Thank goodness he can’t see me.
     
    There was an ice cream shop at a strip plaza between his house and mine, we agreed to meet there. I picked out a sundress and decided that my bike wasn’t the ultimate means of transportation for my outfit. It was a nice day, so I walked. When I got there, he was sitting inside at a table in the corner. He rose to meet me at the counter.
    “Hi,” I said.
    “You look pretty, Lulu.”
    Oh! There’s that blush again!
    I looked over the selections and placed my order. “I’ll have a banana split please, the small one.”
    “With two spoons,” he added. The silly look on his face made me smile.
    Outside, we picked a round picnic table with a red and white umbrella covering it. He sat beside me.
    “This is nice,” I said.
    “It is. Let’s start over, okay? I want to get to know you, Lulu.” He thought a minute and added, “Tell me about your mom.”
    “Oh, I don’t want to do that.”
    I felt like a turtle that needed to pull back into my shell and hide. I didn’t like talking about my mom because it always made me cry. He put his hand on my back, a sweet gesture. “It’s just that…well, it hurts and I don’t want to feel sad. Let me tell you about my dad instead.”
    “Ok,” he encouraged.
    “It’s just the two of us, you know.