Free Pulse of Heroes by A.Jacob Sweeny Page B

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under the clothes, and why she had the clothes on the floor to
begin with. Although Samantha was sympathetic, what she really
wanted to talk about was the winter formal. In fact, she burst with
enthusiasm telling Michelle every little detail of the night, right
down to the kind of punch they served. Michelle was happy for
Samantha; she could imagine her smiling from cheek to cheek, and
she always got that little blush when she was really happy.
    Of course, Michelle wished that she could
have been there too, and had a wonderful date like James who not
only got Samantha a corsage but also gave her a matching bouquet of
flowers.
    “That's wonderful,” Michelle said to
Samantha. “You're lucky to have such a nice guy like James.”
    Samantha immediately yelled back at Michelle
that she shouldn't forget that James was lucky to have someone like
her.
    “Okay, okay. I didn't mean it like that. You
know exactly what I meant,” Michelle giggled while holding the cell
phone a few inches away from her ear.
    When Samantha asked Michelle what she had
been up to, Michelle felt conflicted as to what to tell her, and
instead of answering there was a moment of uncomfortable silence
that lasted a little bit too long.
    “Michelle, what's wrong?” Samantha asked,
sounding sincerely concerned.
    Michelle had to think of something. “Oh,
nothing,” she answered. “I just spaced out a little bit. I think
it's from being sick you know.”
    Samantha wasn't buying it. She knew Michelle
well enough to pick up on when there was something bothering her.
It didn't sound like Michelle was in one of her contemplative
moods; Michelle was holding something back, she was sure of it. But
she also knew how stubborn Michelle could be, and recognized that
trying to pry information out of her was a losing battle. Michelle
would tell her whatever she needed to when the time was right.
    The girls made plans to meet the next morning
for an early walk and then Michelle was going to join Samantha's
family for a late breakfast. After hanging up, Michelle realized
that she had made a mistake by accepting Samantha's invitation,
because she and her mom were going to have to go back to the mall
to try and get something to wear for that stupid dinner. Oh well,
she thought, she’d have to eat fast.
     
    The next morning was nicer than what was
expected. The weatherman had said that there was a 68% chance of
precipitation, but it was beautifully sunny and warm out. Michelle
knocked on Samantha’s door as quietly as possible so she wouldn’t
wake up the rest of the household, but when no one answered she
went to the side yard and began throwing the little prickly round
seeds that collected under the maple trees at Samantha’s bedroom
window. They were very light, and it was difficult to get them to
reach the second floor, so Michelle set out to find small pebbles
to get the job done right. She was actually surprised at how hard
it was to find any sort of rocks or gravel around Samantha's yard,
but eventually she came across a small cactus garden and gathered a
few pebbles from there. Michelle had a pretty good aim, and hit
Samantha's bedroom window on her first try. Samantha appeared at
the window and motioned to her that she was coming downstairs. A
few minutes later, Samantha was at the front door and immediately
gave Michelle a big hug.
    “Why didn't you just text me?” Samantha
asked.
    “Oh, I don't know. I've seen it done in the
movies so many times that I thought I should give it a try,”
Michelle answered jokingly. “Actually I left my cell at home,” she
added.
    The girls started their walk slowly, but
every few minutes they added speed to their gait. Eventually, they
were fast-walking, so much so that they began sweating. About a
year ago Samantha's mom, who was a nurse, told Samantha that
jogging was actually quite traumatic to the joints and the knees,
and that fast-walking would burn the same amount of calories and
give her the right cardio