“I’m hungry, too,” I tell him. “But I always eat more once sweater weather arrives.”
He laughs. “My mom used to say that if no one could see her gaining weight then there was no reason not to do it.”
“I’ve always loved your mom,” I tell him with a smile of camaraderie. “She was so much more laid back than mine.”
“My parents were pretty great to grow up with.” He sits across from me and picks up his menu.
After we order our meals, a double cheeseburger for Noah and fish and chips for me, I tell him, “I heard some gossip at school today.”
“Is old Mr. Pinkerton finally going to retire?” he wants to know. “That guy has been at Elk Lake High since my dad went to school there.”
I take the paper wrapper off my straw and put it into my drink. After taking a long slow sip, I tell him, “I heard that Leah and Decan’s sister is pregnant.”
His eyes pop wide open. “That’s too bad.”
“It really is. I also heard that her boyfriend broke up with her because she wouldn’t have an abortion.” I hesitate before adding, “Not that I know if any of this is true.”
Noah cringes visibly. “I’m guessing it is. I’ve worked in high schools for a decade and in all that time whenever the news of pregnancy got out, there was usually something to it.”
“People can be awful when something like this happens.”
“Remember when Ellie Scott and Tony DeMarco got pregnant? You know Alfonse on my team? That’s their son.”
“I didn’t know that. But, yeah, I remember the scandal. Especially when they not only decided to keep the baby but to get married, too. I don’t think anyone was in support of that decision.”
“Probably because most young marriages don’t last,” he says. He looks up quickly and clarifies, “High school marriages, not, you know, post college ones.”
“Relax, Noah,” I tell him. “I know you’re not talking about me.”
“I’m sorry how things turned out for you.” He sounds sad for me, too, which makes me like him even more.
“I’m glad I discovered who Brett was before getting in too deep.”
“You mean before having kids?”
“Yeah,” I say hesitantly. “I guess that’s what I meant.” Now would be the time to tell Noah why Brett really left me, but for some reason I don’t want him to think of me as defective. Even though I know that’s the truth.
Noah unrolls his silverware and puts his napkin into his lap. “Do you think that’s why Leah and Decan missed practice today?”
“Probably,” I tell him. “When Leah missed yesterday, she claimed she had a friend who needed her help. I’m guessing that friend was Margie.”
“What would your parents have done if you’d gotten pregnant in high school?”
I snort loudly before telling him, “They probably would have called that showUnsolved Mysteries.”
With a laugh, he asks, “Why’s that?”
“Aside from my senior prom, I didn’t so much as have one date in high school.” I don’t mention that’s because no boy could compare to him.
“That’s surprising,” Noah says before adding, “but girls get pregnant all the time on prom night.”
“Not when they go with Ken Jacobs, they don’t.”
He thinks about this for a moment before asking, “Ken Jacobs fromBrigadoonfame?”
“And every other musical that followed after you graduated,” I tell him.
“Why did you go with Ken?” He’s clearly questioning my decision to go with an unsuccessfully closeted gay guy. Unsuccessful, because Ken had a bigger hitch in his giddyap than any girl I knew,andhe wore more eye makeup. His desire to play the part of a ladies’ man aside, his secret was out in the open.
