“It’s Been A Long, Long Time”
Listen to “The Semi-finalists”
Morning dawned cool and cheerful. Bonnie stretched and opened her pretty blue eyes. Six fifteen, the clock said. She yawned, turned over, and the next thing she knew the warm sunbeams were shining into her face and someone was rapping loudly on her bedroom door.
“Who is it?” Bonnie called in a raspy half-asleep voice.
“It’s just me, Bonnie,” returned a feminine voice.
“Oh, come on in, Carol,” she said, getting out of bed.
A vivacious curly-headed contemporary walked in and flopped on a chair. “My, but you’re up bright and early this morning. And so wide awake!”
Bonnie smiled and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”
“Almost 10:30,” Carol answered. “Are you going to play for Jim this afternoon?”
“Yes!” Bonnie started. “And I’ve got to get the house cleaned and my homework done before two o’clock!” With that, she got dressed hurriedly while Carol talked on.
“I just wondered if I could borrow your little pink purse for tonight,” she said. “Nick called and asked me out tonight!”
“How neat!” Bonnie was really glad for her friend—she had tried so hard to be the girl that he wanted. “Sure.”
“We’re going double with Ken and Cheri—they’re back together now! The guys are taking us out to eat, then we’ll come by the high school later to see who wins the Talent Festival.” Carol went on and on excitedly, and then suddenly she stopped. “You’re lucky, Bonnie.”
Bonnie stopped brushing her hair. “Me?” she chuckled. She could see her reflection in the mirror and the things behind her in the room. She was an ordinary plain-looking girl, living in an average house. “Goodness, why?” she asked.
Carol shrugged. “Well, Jim. You can be so sure of him.” Bonnie knew that neither Carol nor Cheri were sure of Nick or Ken. “But even if you didn’t have Jim,” Carol went on, “I don’t think it would change your cheerful personality.” And it was true. Bonnie’s sparkling eyes and contagious smile on her long freckled face, her willingness to work, the interest she took in anybody she talked to—this made her very attractive to all who knew her.
“Well, don’t try too hard,” Bonnie said, seeming to sense that Carol had been comparing herself and Nick with Bonnie and Jim. “I didn’t pay any attention to Jim, even after he quit Renée.”
“That’s what puzzles me,” Carol said, shaking her head as she got up. “Well, I’ve got to be going. I promised Cheri I’d be over for lunch.”
Bonnie fetched the little pink purse, then Carol was gone.
The time passed quickly. The house was sparkling clean; and Bonnie, in a fresh cotton print, was just closing her American government textbook when the doorbell rang.
“Have time to go over it once?” Jim asked, stepping inside.
“Sure!” She smiled sweetly. “Aren’t you scared?”
“Tell you a secret,” he said. “I’m petrified!”
When they finished, Jim escorted her out to his car. It all seemed too familiar. Renée might have sat in the center next to Jim, but Bonnie didn’t. Ever since their first date after the Renée episode, Jim and Bonnie had been as good friends as ever, but nothing more. It was only recently that he had even hinted that she was someone special—that is, except for the time when she had asked him, “But why aren’t you taking Renée to the A.S.B. social?”
And he had answered simply, “Because I like you better.”
Talented, handsome, athletic Jim Barker was a silent, almost mysterious easy-going gentleman—that was the way she liked him. There was only one short year before they’d be going to college, but of course quite a few years before marriage— Marriage! How could she dare think of it! She glanced at Jim whose serene steady eyes were intent on the road and on his driving. He smiled warmly, but if he had sensed any of Bonnie’s thoughts he didn’t let on.
The people were already filling the assembly hall when Jim and Bonnie arrived. He tuned up his instrument. Then they went backstage to wait for their turn on the program. Many others performed their numbers, classic and comedy, fast and slow, light and dramatic, mostly amateur, but some were superb. Among them was Jim’s beautiful and difficult, “Fantasia in D Minor.”
Finally, at a quarter to five, the emcee spoke. “Our result from the applause meter shows which five of the young people you have chosen as the best. Will you semi-finalists please come back as I call your names? Jim Barker!…” The audience broke into applause, and Bonnie gave a little squeal of delight. She was too happy to care who the other four were. She only heard the emcee conclude, “And we’ll see you again at eight o’clock tonight when the final winners are chosen.”
“Oh, Jim, I’m so proud of you!” she said when she had found him.
He squeezed her hand affectionately for a moment as he said, “You were half of it, angel.” Then, in a completely different mood, he said, “Say, how would you like to have dinner at The Blue Rose?”
The fanciest restaurant in town? “I’d love to!” she said.
< Bonnie and Jim | The Blue Rose Dining Room >