The Sixth Grade: Part Six

In the LDS church, once kids turn twelve they are moved from the classes and activities meant for kids to the classes and activities meant for teenagers. This is a big rite of passage. In my class of kids my age, I was the very first one of my friends to turn twelve. I was so excited to begin hanging out with the teenagers, it meant that I was practically grown up. Every Wednesday night there was an activity for the teens to do. Most weeks the activity was segregated by gender, but once a month the activities included both genders. My first activity was one of those activities. I was so excited for the activity, feeling so grown up. But when I got to the activity, I quickly became lonely. All of the girls were older than me, and they were all in junior high or high school, and not very interested in hanging out with a little elementary school kid like me. Luckily for me, Johnathon Nolan was there.

Johnathon was my age and had moved into the neighborhood a few years earlier. He came from a huge family and he and his best friend Michael were inseparable. I had known them for a while but we had never really hung out before, because you know, boys have cooties. Johnathon turned twelve a month or two before I did and he was in elementary school with me. Johnathon was a small boy, short and skinny with pale skin and dark hair. His best friend Michael was a good foot taller than him but just as pale and gawky. They looked like cousins and acted like brothers.

The activity was a compass scavenger hunt that took us all around the neighborhood. Everyone took off racing at the beginning of the race, determined to be the first one back with all of the clues. I took off running initially, but quickly became tired and fell behind the rest of the group. My pace slowed to a walk and I watched as the distance between me and everyone else increased, swallowing the lump in my throat that had inexplicably formed. The sun was beginning to set as I walked down the familiar street, past the Berger’s house not quite to the Miggin’s house. Up ahead I saw someone waiting for me to catch up. Johnathon. We walked side by side, talking, no longer worried about racing the rest of the world. Over the next few weeks Johnathon, Michael, and I began to hang out more and more during recess. Johnathon always seemed to know where to find me. I fit in with Johnathon when I didn’t seem to fit in with anyone else. I had never noticed before, but he was actually pretty cute.  In a nerdy kind of way.