The Banana Split Affair (13 page)

“Any boy, that is, except for the one she wants most!”

Susan stood in front of the telephone, staring at it as if it
were some strange thing she had never seen before. She picked up the receiver, then quickly dropped it. It was the tenth time she had tried to make her phone call. But every time she got ready to do it, she got scared and hung up.

“Call him!”
Chris had advised her after she poured out her sad story of her date with Jason Simms. “Look, you two only went out together once. You need more time than that to find out if you like someone or not. Besides, you were so busy trying to act like me—or the way you thought I would act—-that you never even got the chance to find out if you have anything in common or not.”

“What if he hangs up on me?” Susan protested. “He made it sound as if he never wanted to see me again. I made such a fool of myself that I can hardly blame him. But I don’t want to make things even worse by having him refuse to talk to me on the phone!”

“Come on, Sooz. If this guy is as nice and as reasonable as you claim he is, he’ll at least hear you out.”

“But what should I say?”

“Hmmm. According to the contract of the Banana Split Affair, you’re not allowed to tell him that you’re really someone else. And we agreed that you’d act like me no matter what. But what you
can
do is apologize for your behavior and say that the reason you were acting so strange was that you were nervous. And then ...”

“Yes?”

“And then ask him out.”

“What?” Susan shrieked.

“You heard me perfectly well. I said, Ask him out. Girls call boys and ask them for dates all the time. Where have you been, twin?”

“I know that, of course. But Jason ... Jason
hates
me! Why would he possibly agree to go out with me again?”

“Because,” Chris had explained patiently, “you will have explained that the person he went out with Saturday night was not the real you. That you want a second chance so that he can see who the real you is.”

“What if he says no? Or gets mad? Or, worse yet, laughs at me?”

“Look, Sooz. If he reacts that way, then we’ll both know what kind of guy he is, that he’s not worth wasting time on. But if he’s halfway decent, he’ll accept your apology and agree to give it another try.”

Finally Chris had managed to convince her more retiring twin that she had absolutely nothing to lose by calling Jason. So Susan stood in front of the telephone for almost fifteen minutes, trying to muster up the courage to dial his number

As she timidly reached for the receiver one more time, she heard Chris call to her from her bedroom, “Call him! Call him already! It’s a rainy Sunday afternoon, the best time to find someone in. If you don’t call,
I
will!”

“Okay, okay,” Susan called back. She picked up the receiver and this time dialed Jason’s number

Maybe he won’t be home, she thought. Maybe he left town.

Then she heard his voice. “Hello?”

“Hello, Jason?” Her throat suddenly got dry, and her stomach started to ache.

“Yes, speaking. Who is this, please?”

“Uh, this is Chris Pratt.”

After a painful silence that seemed to last forever, he cleared his throat and said, “Oh, hi, Chris. How are you?”

“I’m fine, Jason. Listen, I feel kind of strange calling you like this, especially since things didn’t go too well last night.”

“I wouldn’t say ...”

“Please listen, Jason. I know I acted really stupid last night. I said a lot of dumb things. But I want you to know that I’m not really like that. Not at all. I was very nervous, that’s all. I was trying too hard to impress you. And so everything came out all wrong. I could tell as soon as I said anything that I sounded ridiculous. But for some reason, I kept right on talking. Even
I
didn’t recognize myself!”

“Well, gee, Chris, I don’t know what to say. It’s just that you seemed so different last night from the way you were when we first met. Of course, I was pretty flustered that day, but still, I didn’t remember you being so ... so ...”

“So smart-alecky.” Susan supplied the word for him. “I hope you understand, Jason. I’m not usually so hard to get along with. And I was hoping that maybe you would agree to, uh ...”

“Yes, Chris?”

“Weil, there’s a basketball game at my high school Wednesday night. I was wondering if you’d like to go.”

That had been Chris’s idea. “Boys love basketball,” she had insisted. “And you won’t have to worry about making conversation for hours on end. Besides, since you’ll be going out on a weekday, you’ll both have to get home early. It should be nice and informal, with very little pressure. Try it!”

“Well, sure, Chris. That sounds like fun.”

Susan breathed a sigh of relief that was so loud she was certain that Jason heard it. “Great! It starts at eight....”

“Fine. I’ll borrow my father’s car again and pick you up at seven-thirty.”

“Okay. See you then.” Susan hung up the phone, then yelled, “I did it! I did it!” She skipped into her sister’s bedroom.

“And? What did he say?”

“Why, he said yes, of course.” Susan grinned at her sister “Did you ever have any doubts that he would?”

With that, Chris threw a pillow at her “I hate to say I told you so, but I told you so!”

* * * *

Susan’s second date with Jason proceeded much more smoothly. She was careful not to make any more outrageous remarks. Instead she filled Jason in on as much as she knew about her school’s basketball team.

Then, during the game, there was hardly any time at all for conversation except during halftime. And then Susan proudly introduced Jason to as many of Chris’s friends as she could. She was in a wonderful mood; she was even able to spare a smile and a friendly wave for Richard Collier, whom she spotted standing by the refreshment stand over in the corner of the gym.

The game was over by ten, with the home team’s four-point lead giving them another victory. Everyone’s spirits were high, including Susan’s and Jason’s.

“That was an exciting game!” Jason exclaimed as he and Susan followed the crowd to the school parking lot. “I had no idea your school had such a good team! It was almost as much fun as watching a pro team.”

“Yes, they are pretty good,” Susan agreed. In truth she had only been to three or four games in her entire life, and she had had difficulty following it.

“Are you hungry?” Jason asked. “Would you like to go out for something to eat?”

“I’d love to. Unless, of course, you have to return your father’s car early tonight, as well.”

She had meant for her comment to be a joke. After all, she had known full well that Jason had merely been looking for an excuse to escape from their deadly date Saturday night when he made up that lie. Even so, he cast one of his bewildered glances in her direction.

Here I go again! Susan thought, biting her lip. Saying the wrong thing again. I thought I’d learned my lesson!

“No, we have time,” Jason answered quietly.

Susan suggested they try an ice cream parlor nearby that was popular with the kids in her school, especially after games. The high spirits of her schoolmates would make it more exciting than any hamburger place.

Susan and Jason found a free table in the back, far enough away from the boisterous crowd that they could hear each other talk. They were there to get to know each other, not to celebrate the school team’s victory.

“That’s quite a rowdy bunch,” Jason commented after he had ordered a Chocolate Nut Supreme and Susan had asked for a Hot Butterscotch Sundae. “Are you friends with those kids?”

Susan surveyed the crowd. Sure enough, many of the kids who were playing the jukebox and dancing and talking and screaming at the top of their lungs were Chris’s friends. She even recognized some of them from the party at Slade’s a few nights before.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I am,” she replied. “Those are the important kids at school, for the most part.”

“ ‘Important?’ What do you mean by that?”

“Oh, you know. Student government officers, team captains, cheerleaders ... like that. Important.”

“Oh.” Jason was wearing a strange smile. “It seems funny that you would use the word ‘important’ to describe people like that.”

“Why?” That was the word Chris always used, wasn’t it?

“Because they’re not really any more ‘important’ than any other student in your school. They may be more active or more visible or even more popular...’ ”

“You know what I mean. Those are the kids that count. The kids that everyone knows.”

Jason shook his head slowly. “Yes, Chris, I know what you mean. I’m just saying that it’s kind of strange that you think of them that way. It’s almost as if they were better than everybody else, just because they have a lot of dates and go to a lot of meetings after school.”

Susan was dumbfounded. She was glad that their waitress arrived just then, bringing two heaping ice cream concoctions to distract them. Nothing more was said about either Chris’s friends or the words that were commonly used to describe them.

Susan and Jason slurped up their desserts with so much concentration that there was little time for conversation. When they finally finished, Susan leaned back in her seat and said, in her most Christine-like manner, “Boy, I bet there were about nine thousand calories in that. I can feel myself growing fat right before your eyes.”

“Boy,” Jason said between spoonfuls of melted ice cream, “you sure know how to ruin something good.” He glanced up at her immediately. “Hey, I’m sorry, Chris. I didn’t mean that. Really. It just bugs me when a girl starts talking about how guilty she feels about eating something fattening when I’m out with her. Especially when she’s thin, like you are. For heaven’s sake, if you don’t want it, don’t eat it. But don’t try to make everybody else feel bad for eating it by pointing out how bad it is for you.”

Susan blanched. She had done it again. Whenever she tried to be true to the Banana Split pact and act like Chris, she made Jason drift further and further away. And she liked him so much! It wasn’t fair: The more time they spent together, the more she liked him. And the more
he
disliked
her!

“Are you finished, Chris?”

Susan nodded.

“I guess we should get going,” he said, glancing at his watch. “But there’s something I’d like to say first.”

“Sure, Jason. What is it?”

“This isn’t easy, Chris, but there’s no use in pretending. Look. You’re a nice girl and all, but I just don’t think you and I were cut out for each other. We’ve gone out twice now, and it seems that every time I start to relax and have fun, you make some crazy remark that ruins everything! I don’t think there’s much use in us going out together anymore.”

“Okay,” Susan said softly. “If that’s what you’ve decided.” She stared at the empty dish of ice cream that sat in front of her, unwilling to look him in the eye.

“You see, Chris, the kind of girl I usually go for is much quieter than you. You know the type. Some people consider them bookworms, or eggheads. I’m not much for school politics or hanging around with a bunch of kids who spend more time getting drunk and dancing and having a good time than reading or thinking or planning where they want to go in life. Not that there’s anything wrong with being like that. Sometimes I wish I could be looser and more fun-loving. But I’m kind of an egghead, too. The sort of kid that your friends usually make fun of. I’m afraid you and I don’t have much in common,” he finished.

If only he knew! Susan thought. If only I could tell him! The girl he’s describing is me, the real me! The other one, the Chris one, is only a part I’m playing. I wish I could explain! Oh, I hate this stupid Banana Split agreement.

“Jason,” she said cautiously, “I hear what you’re saying about you and Christine Pratt being very different. And you’re absolutely right. But let me ask you one thing. Do you think you could give me one more chance? I know you don’t understand why, but believe me, there is a reason. A very good reason. Could we try this again next week?”

“I don’t know, Chris. I don’t think it’s worth ...”

“Please,
Jason. You’ve got to trust me. You have to give me this one more chance.”

Jason sighed and shrugged his shoulders  “I thought I explained things pretty clearly, Chris. I don’t see why you have to make it even harder. You and I are just not right for each other.”

“I know we’re not. You’re completely right. I’m not disagreeing with you. I just want a chance to explain.... Just say yes. Even for half an hour?”

“Well, okay. Since it’s so important to you. Although I really don’t understand why.”

“Oh, thanks, Jason. Believe me. It’ll make sense later on. I can’t tell you any more, but trust me. I have my reasons.”

“Okay.”

Susan felt hopeful as she and Jason put on their coats and started for the cat

“Oh, by the way,” he said offhandedly as they slid out the front door of the ice cream parlor, “the date for the hearing has been set. It’s at the end of next week. You should be receiving notification any day now.”

A shiver ran down Susan’s spine. She had almost forgotten all about the hearing and the accident and the fact that she had lied about her real identity. The hearing would take place after the Banana Split Affair was over, but she would still have to explain why she had lied to the policeman. Was that a very bad offense, she wondered? Was lying to an officer a crime? There was no one she dared ask, not even Chris. She felt dizzy with fear. She was quiet as Jason drove her home, but her silence had nothing to do with role playing. She was numb with anxiety.

What now? she thought as she watched trees and houses pass by, dark and shadowy and slightly menacing. I may be able to win Jason back once I tell him the truth about the prank my twin and I are playing. But what about the courts? How will I ever explain why I lied?

By the time Jason took her home and walked her up to the front door, she was so jittery that she just wanted to get away from him and be alone. Before, she had wondered if he would kiss her good-night or at least say something pleasant about their evening together. But now she just muttered. “Good night,” and ran inside the house.