Mr. Blue Sky

Clover knew this would happen. Liz and the old biddies chatted about young love in the kitchen. How did this happen? The saner of the sisters wanted to sink in to the floor and disappear forever.

“’Oy Clover!” Clyde shouted. “’Ho’s da bloke ya fancy?” Clover looked up as she heard a pop and a howl of pain.

“Huh?” she asked. All eyes fell on her. Clover shuffled her feet.

“His name is Greg,” she mumbled.

“Greg?” Aisha asked. The younger girl looked down at her skinny feet.

“Does he have a last name?” the leader old biddy asked.

“I… I don’t know…”

Aisha raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know?”

“Easy there, Aisha,” Muriel said. “The child just fell in love with this boy.” The leader turned up her nose.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” she said.

“What makes you say that?”

“How can she be love if she doesn’t even know this young man’s last name?”

“Don’t you remember the first time you fell in love?”

“Well… yeah…”

“Did you know his name at first?”

“No…”

“Well, there you go.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I am only making a point.”

“What does this have to do with me?” Clover asked. The old biddies returned their force on their target.

“Do you know anything else about this Greg-boy?” Lewis asked.

“I only met him once, but he did have short dark shaggy hair.”

The old biddies and Liz gave her an odd look as she spoke. Clover didn’t know why she wouldn’t stop talking. Any information out of her mouth would make things worse. Maybe she could turn around and walk away now. No harm would be done, right?

“Anything else about him?” Muriel asked. Clover lowered her head.

“His eyes,” she mumbled. All of the other females leaned in closer.

“His eyes?” they asked.

“They are a beautiful green,” the younger girl admitted. Liz rubbed her sister on the shoulders.

“Can you spot him out if you saw him?” she whispered. Clover’s eyes shifted away.

“I think so…” she said. Aisha clapped her hands.

“That settles it then,” she said. “We are going to go find this young man.” Everyone looked up at her with big eyes. Clover felt like crying.

“What?” she asked. Clyde, Muriel, and Lewis all mouthed, “What are you doing?” at Aisha.

“How are we going to do that?” Liz asked.

“We’ll think of something,” the leader said. Everyone fell down on the floor. Please make it stop, Clover thought.

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It would be getting worse as the day wore on. Liz and the old biddies wouldn’t stop asking Clover questions about Greg. The younger girl felt like running away. How am I going to get myself out this? Looking for an escape didn’t help either. Clover could feel their eyes on her back. Still, she had to try to escape from this potential debacle.

“Listen, is anyone hungry?” she asked over her shoulder.

“No,” Liz said. “We already ate at the house.”

“We already ate too,” Lewis said. Clover frowned to herself. That didn’t work, now what?

“Uh… there is a book I wanted to check out in the library, but it wasn’t in when the day I went. Can we stop by there and see if it’s in?” Her stomach turned as she drew her mouth closed. Please buy it! Please buy it! Please buy it! Aisha thought about this for a second.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt for a quick second,” she said. The other old biddies seemed to agree. Liz shrugged her shoulders with her hands on her pockets.

“I don’t mind,” she said. Clover sighed in relief. That should buy her some time until she could figure out what to do next.

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Clover pretended to be browsing the books as she kept one eye behind her. The rest of the party seemed to be too busy to notice her. Still, Clover had to be patient. One sudden false move and she could be caught. She puffed up her cheeks. I don’t want that. The young girl took one look around before she froze short.

Greg stood on the other side of the library looking at books in the non-fiction section. Clover felt her heart pounding against her chest. Oh! It’s happening again… Seeing that charming boy threw a wrench into her escape plans.

Run with Love