Knee Deep in the Friend-Zone by LG Putzer

Chapter 1

I wasn’t having the best day in my life. As soon as my friend Jenna, who I secretly wished could be more than a friend, found out what I’d done, I’d be lucky if she would still want to know me.
The truth is, the pressure got to be too much for me. I was desperate! I know you’ve all been there: Everyone is counting on you, your parents are already bragging to everyone they know. You need to make the grade. What would you do in my position? Let opportunity pass you by?
I’m Robert Isaacs, but everyone calls me Bobby. Jenna Richards and I have been friends since kindergarten. Well, that’s where we met. We were both kind of disasters at the time—I had to wear a brace on my leg because I had broken it in two places falling out of a tree I’d climbed on Labor Day weekend, and Jenna had to wear special glasses a few hours every day because she had what they called a lazy eye. One of her eyes didn’t see as well as the other, so they gave her glasses with one lens popped out where the bad eye looked through it, and a pitch black lens to cover up the good eye.
The other kids made fun of her, and no one would play with her. I knew what she was going through; I had trouble making friends, myself. I was really shy when I was in kindergarten.
One day Jenna sat next to me and said, “Hi, would you be my friend?” As they say, the rest is history. But that was years ago. We’re fourteen now, but we were thirteen when the story I’m about to tell you happened.
Personally, I think people should just skip over thirteen. It’s the worst age to be. They should place a ban on middle school and let us get to the good stuff: high school, dances, and, marching band.
I almost forgot to tell you: I play the trumpet.
I still find it embarrassing to talk about what happened, even though it’s been like a hundred years since I did it.
It all began in the spring of eighth grade. Jenna, my other friend Steve and I were in gym class.
Jenna and I met Steve in the first grade, and we could tell right away that he was really smart. He had the good sense to yell at the other kids when they made fun of Jenna or me. So, anyway, Mr. Billings, our gym teacher, was trying to teach the class the joys of baseball. Okay, so some of us have athletic ability and some of us play the trumpet. Is that such a crime? Anyway, it was my turn at bat. I could feel Mr. Billings’ bulging, bloodshot eyes on me. I got a really bad cramp in my stomach as I tried to position my hands on the bat the way he showed us to do.
This girl, Angie, who was destined to be the youngest Olympic gold-medalist baseball pitcher ever, was pitching. She had an arm that could knock out Chris Kramer, the school bully. I’ll tell you more about him later. Anyway, she pitched the ball. It was just a stupid softball, but when Angie pitched it you would swear it was a regulation-sized hard ball, like the ones they use in the professional games.
Do you need me to tell you that I swung and missed?
“Strike one!” Mr. Billings yelled out, as if he was a real umpire. “It’s a baseball bat, Isaacs, not a violin! Just swing it!”
Mr. Billings made a lot of us feel like we were worthless. He had to have known someone in a high place to get away with being so sadistic all the time.
Anyway, we each got to be humiliated three times before sitting back on the bench. I readied myself for the next pitch.
“Striiiiike twoooo!” Mr. Billings yelled, throwing up his hand with two fingers in the air to make sure we knew the number of times we’d failed. “Jesus, Isaacs, my four-year-old daughter can swing better than you!”
People wonder why teenagers have self-esteem issues.
Then Angie was kind enough to pitch me a ball I could actually hit. I ran down to first base as if my life depended on it—which it did, come to think of it.
Jenna was watching.
I can’t explain what it was about Jenna. For years we had been the best of friends. The three of us were inseparable since the first grade. Well, not every single minute. Sometimes Jenna would go hang out with Rainy Jackson and do their mall thing that girls like to do. Or if Steve were out of town, Jenna and I would just hang out together. Like last year during spring break, Steve had to go down to Florida to visit his grandparents, so Jenna and I decided to keep each other company and hang out playing video games at each other’s houses. Jenna would listen to me play my trumpet and tell me what songs she thought were good.
It was great. We spent the week going fishing, watching movies and riding our dirt bikes.
Jenna was a pretty could dirt bike rider. There’s this place in the park that has really cool dirt bike paths with hills and ramps and stuff. When there wasn’t snow on the ground, Jenna, Steve and I would go riding there all the time. In the winter we’d go ice-skating on the pond.
Anyway, Jenna and I got to hang out over last spring break.
One day we decided we’d ride the paths at the park. We both got up early in the morning. Actually, Jenna got up early one morning and came over to wake me up. Both of my parents had to go to work, but Penny was fifteen at the time, old enough to look after Jon and me on her own.
Jenna rang our doorbell. It was like seven o’clock in the morning, so both my parents were awake, getting ready for work. I could hear what was going on downstairs from all the way in my room.
“Good morning, Jenna.” My mom greeted her. “What brings you here so early this morning? Bobby is still asleep, honey.”
“He is? He told me to come over as early as I could,” Jenna said. “He wanted to get a head start so we could get to the dirt bike paths before all the other kids got there.”
“Oh,” my mom said, “Well then, come on in. You know where his bedroom is.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Isaacs.” Jenna ran up the stairs.
I could hear her running down the hall to my room, but I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to get out of bed so soon. It felt too good to just be able to lie there not having to rush around getting ready for school.
“Bobby!” Jenna pounded on the door. “Hey! Wake up! Get your lazy butt out of bed!”
I pretended to be asleep, but suddenly Jon was shaking me. “Jenna’s at the door.”
I opened one eye to find my little brother hovering over me, fully dressed. That was a first. It was a morning ritual for my mom to come into our bedroom and practically drag Jon by his legs out of bed so he would get ready for school. I was pretty sure I knew why Jon was dressed now, and I didn’t like it. He was planning on tagging along with Jenna and me to the park.
“Bobby, get up.” Jon pulled the pillow out from under my head, hitting me with it.
“Ouch, you jerk!” Bolting upright, I grabbed the pillow from my murderous freakazoid brother’s hands. “Cut it out!”
“Bobby, I know you’re awake.” Jenna was still standing outside my bedroom door. “I’m coming in.”
She barged in to catch me in my T-shirt and pajama bottoms. It was really embarrassing, having her see me like that.
I think that might have been when I first started to have these new feelings about her.
“Bobby, quick, get dressed,” she said.
I jumped out of bed, grabbed some clothes from my dresser drawers and ran past Jenna to the bathroom. I could hear her talking with Jon, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying over the noise I was making brushing my teeth. I could guess what the conversation was about, though, by the tone in Jenna’s voice.
Jon was trying to get her to talk me into taking him with us to the park.
After I finished getting dressed, I ran back into my bedroom and put my sneakers on. My parents had already left for work by the time Jenna and I ran down the stairs to the kitchen. Jon trailed close behind us.
In the kitchen, Penny sat at the counter in her bathrobe and slippers, eating cottage cheese from the container. Her hair was a mess. It was obvious that she had just rolled out of bed.
“No,” I told my brother, “you can’t come with us!”
“Why not?” His voice was whiny.
“Yeah,” Penny butted in, “why can’t Jon go to the park with you guys?” It was just like Penny to take Jon’s side. I always felt trapped when I was stuck in the house with just the two of them.
“Because he’ll just get in the way.”
“I will not!” Jon said.
“You guys are so selfish!” Penny glared at Jenna and me like we were the two meanest people in the whole world. She turned to my brother. “Forget about them, Jon. You and I can hang out together.”
Jon smiled at Penny, shooting Jenna and me a dirty look. I didn’t feel like staying around for breakfast with the two of them, so I went over to the pantry and grabbed a couple of breakfast bars.
“Jenna, here. Catch.” I threw one to her.
“Thanks.” Catching the bar with both hands, Jenna stuffed it into her backpack as we left.
I didn’t know what had started it, but I’d never gotten along with my sister Penny. She was bossy like my older sister, Stacy, except Stacy was bossy in a protective way, and Penny was just plain bossy. It was annoying! She enjoyed torturing me.
I think maybe it all started the day I was born. Before then, Penny was the youngest, the family favorite. Then I came along, and suddenly Penny wasn’t the star of the show any more. Right from the start she was jealous.
Anyway, I was happy to be getting away from her and heading for the park with Jenna.
“I’ve got an idea,” Jenna said. “Let’s see who can ride course A the fastest.”
“Okay. Who gets to go first?”
“You can, if you want.”
“What are we going to use to time ourselves?”
“We can use my watch.” Jenna unbuckled the wristband. “See? It’s got a second hand on it. We can take turns timing each other.”
“Okay.” I rode off to course A’s starting line.
Following on her bike, Jenna parked alongside the trail. “When I say go, okay?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.” I had my foot on the pedal of my bike, which was in the upward position. That way my take-off would be more effective.
“On your mark, get set…” Jenna paused strategically, to add a little suspense. “GO!”
Pushing down as hard as I could on my dirt bike’s pedal, I was flying down the course in seconds.