Chapter 7: Angst

CHAPTER 7: ANGST

The following Tuesday morning, after the Sunday afternoon when Leonard stormed out of the Taco Bell, Deedee saw Leonard at school standing next to his locker. But when Deedee walked up to him, he slammed the locker closed, and hurriedly walked away without saying a word. On Wednesday evening, Deedee called Leonard on his Personal Device, but when he answered and she spoke, he immediately hung up. She tried to call again repeatedly, but got only his voice mail, saying that he was unavailable. Thursday evening found Deedee walking to the local Wendy's restaurant. A note at home said that dad was working late, and mom had to attend a school function in the afternoon and evening. DeeDee was to arrange her own dinner. How typical of mom and dad. When Deedee walked into Wendy's, she saw David Rosenthal and Leonard having dinner together. David was telling Leonard about a new manga that he had just read, called Majitora! But when she came up to their table to say "Hi !" , Leonard, without looking up at her, just said "....hi....." , and continued to stare down at his chili and hamburger, without acknowledging DeeDee at all, or speaking. Deedee talked with David for a couple of minutes, then got her food, and sat at the opposite end of the dining room. After dinner, she walked home, went up to her room, dressed for bed, and softly cried herself to sleep. She kept thinking over and over again---

" I've ruined my friendship with Leonard. And for what ? A Chibi Chess game ? "

A curious incident happened on Friday evening. Deedee sent Leonard a text message, and the following messages appeared on her P.D. screen---

DDR----- HELLO 2U

LEO----- WHAT DO U WANT

DDR----- WE NEED 2 TALK

LEO----- GO AWAY

DDR----- R U GOING 2 PLAY SUN

LEO----- DO NOT KNOW

DDR----- R U OK

LEO----- WHAT DUZ "ALMOST BE A GIRL" MEAN ?

DDR----- U B U / B TRUE 2 U

LEO----- THATZ WHAT BOTHERS ME / U BOTHER ME

DDR----- FER REAL ?

LEO----- ( CALL ENDED )

The connection was lost, and Deedee could not reconnect to Leonard's P.D. again.

The neighborhood Target store had advertised a two day Friday / Saturday clothing sale, so on Saturday afternoon, Deedee rode her bicycle to the store to see if she could find anything to fit her tall and slender body size. As she was pushing a shopping cart, browsing through the boy's clothing section, who should she see pushing a cart partly filled with clothes across the aisle in the teen / tween girl's section ? LOL, It was Leonard ! He might have caught a glimpse of her, because when she raced up her aisle and turned the corner, he was gone. What was Leonard doing in the girl's clothing section of Target?

Sunday morning Deedee woke up sad and tired. She became even sadder as the morning wore on, worrying about whether or not Leonard would show up to play. Mom and Dad were gone for the day for recreation; so typical of mom and dad on Sunday. She finally changed out of her P.J.'s about noon, and put on a medium blue Hard Rock t-shirt and hip-hugger jeans, and went up to the family room. An hour later, Sherry and Mazie came by. Sherry had on a light butterscotch chiffon blouse, shiny black stretch leggings, and shiny black ankle boots. Mazie wore what looked like a little girl's pink tennis dress. Sherry and Mazie were sitting on the couch, both with a somber look on their faces. Deedee was sitting in the easy chair looking as if she was just about to cry. A heavy cloud of uncertainty hung over the room like the beginning of a funeral, with nobody saying much of anything, and nobody in any kind of mood to play chess.

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Click on the Chapter 8 title to be taken to the concluding chapter of *Winning is So Sweet.*