Me and Jewel had cooked it up between us, to make sure to spend plenty of time with her friends, and my friends Stinky, Tank and Jasper at school. Everything had been rocking along for a few months now, and everybody seemed happy. Jewel and I were spending second break off to ourselves at the playground most every day, except when it rained and we had to spend second break together in the gym break area. We really love those times together.

All of our friends had started getting along good together at lunch, and some of the teachers started calling us “The Lunch Bunch” because there were so many of us in the exact same place all the time. We were always cutting up, but not too loud and all of us were getting along pretty good. Stinky had started sitting beside one of the shy girls, her name is Shayla, and we noticed he didn’t smell bad as much after that. Even Tank was making eyes at the tallest girl – her name is Margaret – at the table with us every day. Me and Jewel thought that was the best thing in the world, and we were really right on top of the world.

I hadn’t had any trouble with Mullard Muldoon in a while; it almost felt like he forgot about me. Jewel would hold my hand every time nobody was looking, and tell me sweet stuff about how I looked great that day, and she pretty much rambled on about everything and I loved every minute of it. I had finally found somebody who can talk even more than me. I did catch Mullard trying to glare and “kill me with the stink eye” a few times, but more often than not, Jewel would see it and give him a glare that would dry up a pond!

Anyway, things were going good for everybody. Mamaw won the “Knitter of the Year” award for a quilt she made out of yarn, and I will tell you, it was a fine quilt. A perfect design of Jesus with his back turned, looking at the cross, and the colors in the yarn weave were about a hundred it seemed like. Mamaw worked on that for a whole year, and it was award worthy for sure. She had a big plaque, and a $250 prize and she was so happy, she showed everybody that would look her award, right there on the wall in the living room.

To top that off, Preacher had asked Mamaw to start giving the devotional on Wednesday night, to which Uncle Muddy teased her about “women ain’t supposed to preach from no pulpit.” She told him, “So what about Debra and Miriam in the Bible then? I think that ain’t what Paul was saying, besides you don’t know no Bible nohow, you too busy being so all-fired mad at your Maker to take anything He would instruct you with seriously.” Mamaw got all over Uncle Muddy about that.

But enough about that; Mamaw was so happy she had the idea she was going to invite my best friends over for a TV party, since a new series about Jesus was supposed to be on there and we had the new TV since Christmas, and she wanted all my buddies AND Jewel and three or four of her friends to come over and have a watch party during the spring break. I told Jewel and instantly her three besties said, “Can we come!” The other girls lived farther away, but they understood Mamaw only wanted to deal with a handful of us. Jasper said he might be able to come and bring his new girlfriend.

Yeah life was good, but it was too good. And then there is me. Wondering, arguing with myself in my mind. And my mind kept telling me, “This won’t last hoss. It’s too good to be true. It will just end up bad, like everything else good does. Remember what happened to your real mama and daddy! You were too little to remember the wreck, weren’t you? It killed them both. Maybe you are next.”

My mind made me so mad thinking and listening to all that gobbledygook, I felt real mad. But I can’t punch my mind in the mouth, so I told it to “Shut up!” and I must have said it out loud. Loud enough for Jewel to hear me, sitting alone with no noise in the break area.

Jewel asked, “Who are you telling ‘shut up’ to Pete? I haven’t said anything in awhile; not that you would ever say that to me, I hope not anyway.” I apologized and told Jewel, “Its all in my head really. I was thinking to my mind, “shut up mind.” My mind keeps telling me all this is too good, and good stuff just don’t keep being good for me. Something bad always happens, just like my real mama and daddy died in that car wreck when I was a baby, just like, just like…” and I just broke down crying right there at the picnic table, just me and Jewel by ourselves at the beginning of second break.

Jewel put her arm around me, and in the softest voice I ever heard her use, “Pete, its ok to cry sometimes. We get to be happy, and that is a good thing, and as I get to know you, I understand how hard it is for you sometimes to believe in things. I hear it from you all the time, but GOOD stuff does happen Peter, it really does. Maybe you should keep on telling your brain to shut up, and slow down and enjoy the good things now.”

And then she kissed me, right on the mouth. Tears, bright sunshine, messed up face, and sniffles and all. Just one little kiss. That was it. I know we ain’t supposed to do that at school, but that was the first time I ever had a real kiss from a girl. It was right there at the south end picnic table, break area just inside the boundary fence. And the sky was smiling, and when she kissed me, my mind immediately shut up. Right there in front of God and everybody who may have been looking.

Nobody saw us, nor would I want them to be gawking at me, kissing the most gorgeous girl in the universe for the first time. I wasn’t crying anymore, Jewel was smiling a glowing radiant smile that almost made me faint dead away. She asked me, “Was that OK for me to do that?” I told her, “Oh yes Jewel, oh yes that was the sweetest thing that I ever felt. Thank you. I mean it. You can do that anytime you want.”

She sighed the biggest sigh I had ever heard a girl do, and said almost in a whisper, “I think I love you Peter Hegelund.” Then she giggled, and motioned for me to get up from the picnic table. I swear I must have looked like a drunk hobo or something, because she literally had to help me off the bench, I was so woozy. When I finally managed to stand, I told her back, “I ain’t too sure about anything else sweetie, but I think I love you too.”

She gave me a big hug and told me, “That’s the first time you ever called me sweetie. That sounds really big coming from you, and I like that too. A lot.” I told her, “I won’t ever embarrass you in school like some boys do their girlfriends.” She replied, “Oh I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt Peter, but honestly I would not even mind. Just so long as it was you that did the embarrassing, and you were nice about it.”

She went on, “And you know how Mullard taunts you with ‘Sweetie Petie Hegelenie?” I told her, frowning, “Oh yeah, there is that.” She said to me, “Well now, you can hear me saying ‘you’re my Sweetie Petie Hegelenie’ every single time he tries that on you. That way it won’t hurt as bad. It will be me just being silly in your mind, instead of him being a butthead about everything.” I told her I liked that, and she kept saying it over and over as we got up. “Sweetie Petie Hegelenie, but you are my Sweetie Petie now, don’t forget that.”

We walked back to the school, and I walked her to her class, then went to mine, more like she walked and I literally floated, and I was more clear-headed than I had ever been. And my mind finally shut up like I had just punched its lights out. “Yeah, I get to be happy too.” I was thinking to myself. Jewel did not breathe a word to her girlfriends that day. And I never told anything to my buddies, all bragging or anything like that. No, this was our special day and I would hold this in my heart forever, like a special seashell you just don’t want to let go of.

When you put that special seashell up to your ear, even if its imaginary you can almost hear it say, “I love you.”