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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Love stories / Romance
- Subject: Character Based
- Published: 06/17/2012
The Boy Behind the Bear Suit
Born 1997, F, from Tennessee, United States.jpg)
I know she's worried about me. She has to be. I should've made something up, should've just told her I was visiting Mamie. But no, then she would've called her. Maybe I should've just told the truth about where I was going, but given some fake reason. But what other reason could I possibly have?
"Uh Mom, I have to be somewhere for a little while. I don't know when I'll be back, but I promise it won't be too late."
"You're not going to some party, are you?"
I made a face. "Yes, because you know how many wild parties I get invited to."
"Okay, but if I get a call saying you're drunk and need me to pick you up, I won't be happy."
A part of me wanted to ask her if she'd rather get a call from the police saying I had died in a car accident because I had driven drunk, but then she'd think I was implying that I really was going to a party and it would take time and energy I didn't have to convince her that I wasn't. So I just assured her she'd be getting no such phone call and left with a twinge of guilt for getting off so easy. And now I'm making the long drive I know I'm not ready for.
I've only had my license a couple of months and find it scary enough just driving to school. I know I'm insane for doing this, but I have to. It could be my only chance to talk to him. And I've been waiting for over a year now.
I keep the radio on the whole way, to ease my nerves about both driving and what I'm about to do. I get honked at once for driving too slow, but by the time I get there I'm just glad I remembered to turn at all the right places. I pull into the parking lot and take a moment to check my appearance and try to get my heart to slow down. I look fine, but my heart continues to beat at a ridiculously fast rate. "All right, let's get this the hell over with," I say before stepping out of my car. I didn't come all this way as a nervous wreck for nothing, and it's too late to go back now.
I walk toward the building with my head down. It's hard to think about anything besides the wind, which is bitter and cold. It's just about the coldest March I can remember and I look forward to the warm gym. The sweatshirt I'm wearing is barely enough and I bet I look stupid, shivering the way I am. But there's too many other things to worry about.
I enter the gym and see just the scene I expected. Unlike the quiet, freezing cold outside, where darkness is falling, it is warm and bright and full of the usual noise of a high school basketball game, especially a tournament game. The first quarter has just begun, and both schools are shouting and cheering as the players run back and forth on the court, the ball going from one place to another. There's a table set up in front of me, where two students, both girls, are selling tickets. I approach them awkwardly.
"Hi, that would be three dollars," one girl says. I know she can tell without asking that I belong to the "student" age group, but she doesn't know me and she's wondering if I'm even a student at this school. The school is pretty small and most everybody knows everybody else, so they must find it weird for a girl they don't recognize to be here, especially all by herself. But I simply pay for my ticket and they don't ask and I head toward the crammed bleachers and hope I'll find an empty seat somewhere.
I find some open space in the back row of bleachers where a middle aged couple sits at one end. I make my way up the steps.
"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" I ask, pointing to the room left beside them. They tell me no, and I say thank you as I squeeze past them and seat myself on the other end, as far away from them as I can. It's in the middle of the right side of the bleachers, which is ideal for finding someone, but I observe the many people, some dressed in Tellico Bears attire and deeply invested in the game, and others wearing clothes in colors completely different from the school colors of maroon and white who don't seem to care much at all what's taking place on the court. I wonder if I'm not just a complete idiot for coming and if I have any chance of finding him at all.
I look around for the tall, lanky boy with the curly, blondish hair and gray-blue eyes, but I don't see him. I tell myself he has to be here, that there's no way he's not. He loves his school, he loves basketball, and much to my dismay, he's friends with lots of girls on the team. And this is a huge game. So why the hell wouldn't he be here?
A girl sitting in front of me turns around and notices me searching. She's short and chubby with dirty blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and had been flirting with the boy beside her, who looks emo as can be and like he doesn't belong at a high school girls' basketball game.
"Do you go to this school? I don't reckon I seen you before," she drawls in a thick Southern accent. I briefly consider lying to her but decide that's useless.
"No, I don't go here, I'm from Maryville. You uh, wouldn't happen to know if Shane Bivens is here, would you?"
Both the chubby girl and the emo boy burst out laughing. "Yeah I know where Shane Bivens is," she says in a voice I'm sure is loud enough for everyone in the gym to hear. She points to the guy in the bear suit, who's doing the typical mascot duty of walking up and down the sidelines, trying to get the crowd fired up. "That's Shane Bivens."
I feel my face color and almost laugh in spite of my embarrassment. There was the guy whose Facebook I stalked, who I was obsessed with and thought I knew everything about, and I'd come to a basketball game at his school in hopes of finally meeting him in person and having the conversation I'd been waiting to have for a long time. And I had had no idea he was the mascot. How am I supposed to talk to him now?
"So you came here to see Shane huh? Want me to holler at him for you?" The girl asks. I decline her offer earnestly.
"No, please don't do that. Actually I uh, think I'm gonna go. Nice meeting you."
Not quite able to decide how I'm feeling, other than humiliated and stupid, I stand up and start to leave.
"Wait, you're leaving already? But the game just started. I'm sure you can talk to Shane later."
I tell her no, it would really be best if I left and if I was helping the school, I didn't mind wasting three bucks. But she still has one more thing to say.
"You know, I never got your name. What is it?"
"Portland."
And with that I'm gone. I march straight to my car, letting the wind nip at me all it wants to. I get in it and just sit there, not quite ready to drive again. I replay the whole scene in my head, and start laughing. Of course he's the mascot.
I wonder if I really should've just stayed for the whole game and tried approaching him at the end. But the things I need to say to him are serious, and nothing can be too serious between two people when one of them is wearing a bear suit. But I'm sure now that they've met me, I'm all that girl and boy will talk about the rest of the game. But whatever.
I sit in my car for way longer than I expected to, just sitting and staring through my windsheild at the brick school building I wish I spent seven hours a day, five days a week at, instead of my own school. If Mom had just moved like I wanted her to, I would'nt have had to make this trip in order to talk to Shane.
Suddenly there's knocking at my window that scares the shit out me. Even though turning to see a big bear head is anything but comforting at first, my reaction quickly changes. The bear starts to laugh in charmingly boyish way, and I open my door. The bear removes his head, and there's the handsome, if somewhat sweaty, face I came to see, grinning.
"I was hoping you'd still be here," he says. My heart has never been more out of control.
"How did you know I came? And aren't you supposed to stay in there?"
"Riley Stevens told me a girl named Portland came to see me and didn't know I was the mascot. It's half time, so I thought I'd come out and see if maybe you were still here."
Ah. So that's why she had to know my name.
"We need to talk you know."
"Yeah, we do. But, do you um, mind if we talk in your car? Even in this suit it's freezing out here."
I glance at the passenger seat next to me and can't believe Shane Bivens is about to sit in it. "Sure, hop in."
"Thanks."
He walks to the other side of the car and gets in. He looks at me for a long moment, and I get uncomfortable under his gaze.
"You're even prettier in person," he says, and I know that this visit isn't a waste of time after all.
The Boy Behind the Bear Suit(Kerri Dominique)
I know she's worried about me. She has to be. I should've made something up, should've just told her I was visiting Mamie. But no, then she would've called her. Maybe I should've just told the truth about where I was going, but given some fake reason. But what other reason could I possibly have?
"Uh Mom, I have to be somewhere for a little while. I don't know when I'll be back, but I promise it won't be too late."
"You're not going to some party, are you?"
I made a face. "Yes, because you know how many wild parties I get invited to."
"Okay, but if I get a call saying you're drunk and need me to pick you up, I won't be happy."
A part of me wanted to ask her if she'd rather get a call from the police saying I had died in a car accident because I had driven drunk, but then she'd think I was implying that I really was going to a party and it would take time and energy I didn't have to convince her that I wasn't. So I just assured her she'd be getting no such phone call and left with a twinge of guilt for getting off so easy. And now I'm making the long drive I know I'm not ready for.
I've only had my license a couple of months and find it scary enough just driving to school. I know I'm insane for doing this, but I have to. It could be my only chance to talk to him. And I've been waiting for over a year now.
I keep the radio on the whole way, to ease my nerves about both driving and what I'm about to do. I get honked at once for driving too slow, but by the time I get there I'm just glad I remembered to turn at all the right places. I pull into the parking lot and take a moment to check my appearance and try to get my heart to slow down. I look fine, but my heart continues to beat at a ridiculously fast rate. "All right, let's get this the hell over with," I say before stepping out of my car. I didn't come all this way as a nervous wreck for nothing, and it's too late to go back now.
I walk toward the building with my head down. It's hard to think about anything besides the wind, which is bitter and cold. It's just about the coldest March I can remember and I look forward to the warm gym. The sweatshirt I'm wearing is barely enough and I bet I look stupid, shivering the way I am. But there's too many other things to worry about.
I enter the gym and see just the scene I expected. Unlike the quiet, freezing cold outside, where darkness is falling, it is warm and bright and full of the usual noise of a high school basketball game, especially a tournament game. The first quarter has just begun, and both schools are shouting and cheering as the players run back and forth on the court, the ball going from one place to another. There's a table set up in front of me, where two students, both girls, are selling tickets. I approach them awkwardly.
"Hi, that would be three dollars," one girl says. I know she can tell without asking that I belong to the "student" age group, but she doesn't know me and she's wondering if I'm even a student at this school. The school is pretty small and most everybody knows everybody else, so they must find it weird for a girl they don't recognize to be here, especially all by herself. But I simply pay for my ticket and they don't ask and I head toward the crammed bleachers and hope I'll find an empty seat somewhere.
I find some open space in the back row of bleachers where a middle aged couple sits at one end. I make my way up the steps.
"Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" I ask, pointing to the room left beside them. They tell me no, and I say thank you as I squeeze past them and seat myself on the other end, as far away from them as I can. It's in the middle of the right side of the bleachers, which is ideal for finding someone, but I observe the many people, some dressed in Tellico Bears attire and deeply invested in the game, and others wearing clothes in colors completely different from the school colors of maroon and white who don't seem to care much at all what's taking place on the court. I wonder if I'm not just a complete idiot for coming and if I have any chance of finding him at all.
I look around for the tall, lanky boy with the curly, blondish hair and gray-blue eyes, but I don't see him. I tell myself he has to be here, that there's no way he's not. He loves his school, he loves basketball, and much to my dismay, he's friends with lots of girls on the team. And this is a huge game. So why the hell wouldn't he be here?
A girl sitting in front of me turns around and notices me searching. She's short and chubby with dirty blonde hair pulled into a messy bun and had been flirting with the boy beside her, who looks emo as can be and like he doesn't belong at a high school girls' basketball game.
"Do you go to this school? I don't reckon I seen you before," she drawls in a thick Southern accent. I briefly consider lying to her but decide that's useless.
"No, I don't go here, I'm from Maryville. You uh, wouldn't happen to know if Shane Bivens is here, would you?"
Both the chubby girl and the emo boy burst out laughing. "Yeah I know where Shane Bivens is," she says in a voice I'm sure is loud enough for everyone in the gym to hear. She points to the guy in the bear suit, who's doing the typical mascot duty of walking up and down the sidelines, trying to get the crowd fired up. "That's Shane Bivens."
I feel my face color and almost laugh in spite of my embarrassment. There was the guy whose Facebook I stalked, who I was obsessed with and thought I knew everything about, and I'd come to a basketball game at his school in hopes of finally meeting him in person and having the conversation I'd been waiting to have for a long time. And I had had no idea he was the mascot. How am I supposed to talk to him now?
"So you came here to see Shane huh? Want me to holler at him for you?" The girl asks. I decline her offer earnestly.
"No, please don't do that. Actually I uh, think I'm gonna go. Nice meeting you."
Not quite able to decide how I'm feeling, other than humiliated and stupid, I stand up and start to leave.
"Wait, you're leaving already? But the game just started. I'm sure you can talk to Shane later."
I tell her no, it would really be best if I left and if I was helping the school, I didn't mind wasting three bucks. But she still has one more thing to say.
"You know, I never got your name. What is it?"
"Portland."
And with that I'm gone. I march straight to my car, letting the wind nip at me all it wants to. I get in it and just sit there, not quite ready to drive again. I replay the whole scene in my head, and start laughing. Of course he's the mascot.
I wonder if I really should've just stayed for the whole game and tried approaching him at the end. But the things I need to say to him are serious, and nothing can be too serious between two people when one of them is wearing a bear suit. But I'm sure now that they've met me, I'm all that girl and boy will talk about the rest of the game. But whatever.
I sit in my car for way longer than I expected to, just sitting and staring through my windsheild at the brick school building I wish I spent seven hours a day, five days a week at, instead of my own school. If Mom had just moved like I wanted her to, I would'nt have had to make this trip in order to talk to Shane.
Suddenly there's knocking at my window that scares the shit out me. Even though turning to see a big bear head is anything but comforting at first, my reaction quickly changes. The bear starts to laugh in charmingly boyish way, and I open my door. The bear removes his head, and there's the handsome, if somewhat sweaty, face I came to see, grinning.
"I was hoping you'd still be here," he says. My heart has never been more out of control.
"How did you know I came? And aren't you supposed to stay in there?"
"Riley Stevens told me a girl named Portland came to see me and didn't know I was the mascot. It's half time, so I thought I'd come out and see if maybe you were still here."
Ah. So that's why she had to know my name.
"We need to talk you know."
"Yeah, we do. But, do you um, mind if we talk in your car? Even in this suit it's freezing out here."
I glance at the passenger seat next to me and can't believe Shane Bivens is about to sit in it. "Sure, hop in."
"Thanks."
He walks to the other side of the car and gets in. He looks at me for a long moment, and I get uncomfortable under his gaze.
"You're even prettier in person," he says, and I know that this visit isn't a waste of time after all.
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