Donnie couldn’t help but to stare at her as she walked down the hallway with the rest of her class. She sure was pretty. Cindy Spencer. Man-o-man, was she something. She was in Miss Wooler’s fourth grade class. He sure wished that she was in his class. He was in Mr. Daine’s class. He liked his class. In fact, the only thing wrong with it, was the Cindy wasn’t in it.
Donnie had been liking Cindy ever since last year, which was the first time her saw her. His first school, Warrington Elementary had closed. It had been the oldest school in the city, and it was way overcrowded, so they closed it. The Warrington students were shipped out to the other surrounding schools. Donnie ended up at Bancroft at the start of third grade. That is where he laid eyes on Cindy for the very first time. His class was walking down the hallway going to the Library, and her class was coming in the opposite direction, and there she was.
Over the next year, he tried to do what he could to get her to notice him, but to no avail. His friends thought it was funny that he liked Cindy so much, and she didn’t even notice him. It didn’t help that she was taller than him too. They got a real kick out of that. Actually, she was taller than almost everyone in their grade grade. Some of the boys would tease her and call her the Jolly Giant. She and her girlfriends would try an chase them, but the boys were too fast.
At the start of fourth grade, he was hoping that they would be in the same class, but no such luck. They didn’t even have lunch at the same time. Her class had the early lunch, and Donnie’s class had the late lunch.
Donnie really wanted to get up the courage to go say something to her at recess, but it was hard to approach her, with her girlfriends around, and everything. They were a tough crowd. A break came though, when he saw where she lived. He was walking home from school with Derrick, Ray, and Bobby. He spotted Cindy, who was about a half block in ahead of them, walking with Birdie, Linda, and Janice. Cindy walked up to one of the houses, and the rest of the girls kept walking. “That must be where she lives.” He thought to himself. He made a mental note of the house, because he had a plan. It would take all of his nerve, but he had a plan.
The next day, Donnie got to school super early. He hid the rose, that he bought the previous night, under the window ledge. There was a bush in front of the window, so the rose was out of sight. After school, he sort of made himself scarce. He didn’t want to walk home with his friends. Not today. He had to do this himself. After waiting about a half hour, Donnie retrieved the rose from under the window ledge. Now came the scary part.
He walked slowly, trying to get up his courage. When he finally reached Cindy’s house, he stopped in front of the house. He slowly walked up the steps leading to the front door. His knees were shaking. He almost felt like turning around and leaving. Almost. At the door, he took a deep breathe, and rang the doorbell.
Donnie was hoping that her parents wouldn’t answer. The door opened. He almost fainted, he was so nervous. It was Cindy. He looked up at her. “Hi Donnie. What are you doing here?” She asked with a surprised look on her face. Donnie was shocked. She actually knew his name? Wow. “Uh, hi” he stammered. ” I…I…was walking home, and I found this rose on the ground.” He swallowed, and licked his lips. “I..I don’t really like flowers,” he continued, “and I thought since I’d be walking by your house, I thought you might like it, since girls usually like flowers, and stuff like that.” Cindy smiled at him. “How sweet.” she said. Donnie handed her the rose. “Uh…well, I better get going.” Donnie said. Boy, was he sweating. “Well, thank you Donnie.” Cindy smiled at him. “See you at school tomorrow.”
Everyone in the room roared with laughter at Donnie’s story on how he met Cindy. “He was so nervous.” Cindy laughed. “I see he finally got taller than you.” Someone in the room shouted. Everyone laughed. It was their 45th Wedding Anniversary, and Cindy and Donnie were having a little celebration with family and friends. “Hey Pop-Pop. So you were crushing on Grandma from afar, huh?” It was Greg. At twenty, he was their oldest grandson. Both of their sons had two children, and their daughter had one, for a total of five. They were proud grandparents. The DJ, Magic Trav, put “Flashlight” on the wheels of steel. Cindy grabbed Donnie’s arm. C’mon Pop-Pop. Time to dance.”