Backlog: Sam and Tina
Who: Sam and Tina
When: Saturday February 4, 2012
Where: Park
What: Running into each other
Tina called goodbye to her dad as she ushered Joey out the front door. Their dad had brought home some work that he wanted to get done. So, Tina had offered to take Joey to the park so that he could have a bit of a peace and quiet. Seven-year-olds weren’t exactly well known for their ability to keep quiet, or at least her seven year old brother wasn’t, especially not on a Saturday morning.
“So, what are you going to do first when we get to the park?” She asked him as she walked with her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. Joey might still need someone to accompany him to the park, but he was past hand holding age.That almost made her sad, he was getting so big, so fast.
“Swings,” he declared firmly. He scrunched his forehead up in thought as he started to bounce, instead of walk, down the sidewalk. “Or maybe slide. Or jungle gym. Or monkey bars. Or...am I allowed to climb trees?” He eventually shrugged, clearly fine without making an actual decision.
Tina laughed. Now that was more like Joey. He’d been kind of quiet for awhile after the blackout, but now that his wrist was all healed, he seemed to be back to normal. The fact that he’d added monkey bars to his list of things to do was a good sign, considering a fall from the monkey bars had been what had caused his injuries during the blackout. She’d make sure to point that out to her dad later, she knew he worried.
“Well, kiddo,” Tina reached forward and ruffled his hair, “sounds like this is going to be a busy trip. I’m getting tired just thinking about all the stuff you’re going to do.”
“That’s because you’re old.” Joey stopped and turned to grin impishly at her.
“Hey now...” Tina narrowed her eyes at him playfully before lunging forward, with the goal of grabbing him so that she could tickle him. Of course, in typical fashion, he was one step ahead of her and he dodged her and took off, forcing her to chase him all of the way to the park. When did he get so fast? She wondered as they slowed to a stop at the entrance to the park. Panting, she tried to catch her breath.
“I win.” Joey grinned triumphantly.
“This time,” Tina added to his statement. “You win this time.” She pushed his shoulder gently. “Now get, you brat, go have fun. I’m going to go sit over there on that bench.” she pointed to the empty bench. “If you need anything, come on over. I brought some juice and stuff for later if you want it. And if you get too cold, you say so, and we’ll head home. I don’t want you to catch something.”
Joey didn’t need to be told twice to go have fun. The park was one of his favorite places to be, even when it was winter and cold out. He barely paid attention to his sister’s spiel about getting sick from being cold. “Kay, bye,” he waved over his shoulder as he ran off in the direction of the jungle gym.
With Joey off playing, Tina moved towards the bench she’d pointed out and took a seat. It was cold but it wasn’t freezing, which was good. She pulled out her iPod from the bag she’d packed with juice and snacks and slipped the ear buds in before putting it on shuffle. She was content to just sit and listen to music, scanning the park occasionally to make sure she still knew where Joey was.
They were barely in the park good before Stevie took off running. “Stevie...STEVIE!” He called, jogging after him. The park wasn’t too large, but his brother moved so quickly that he could lose sight of him in a second.
“That boy goes to my school, Sammy,” Stevie called out over his shoulder. He headed straight for the monkey bars.
Sam shook his head, laughing a little at his brother’s enthusiasm. He figured Stevie would be okay as long as he stayed where Sam could see him. He looked over and saw Tina sitting on the bench. At least, he hoped that was her name. He was like 90% sure it was. She was the girl who liked ninjas. That much he knew.
Walking over to the bench, he smiled down at her. “Are you saving this seat for someone?”
Tina looked up at the boy who walked over to her, surprised when she realized that it was Sam that new kid from school. Pulling her ear buds out of her ears, she smiled back at him. “Nope, it’s all yours if you want it.”
“Awesome,” he said as he sat down next to her. It was colder here than back in Tennessee, but he didn’t mind it so much. “What are you listening to? Anything good?”
“Bit of everything,” Tina shrugged. “A lot of the Beatles. What kind of music do you listen to?”
“I have a lot of country on mine like a good Southern boy, but I have some rock and J and K Pop and some alt bands. We should switch iPod and compare,” he suggested, pulling out his own and holding it up for her to see.
“Sure,” Tina agreed easily, unplugging it from her head phones and handing it over to him. It wasn’t like there was anything especially embarrassing on her iPod, okay maybe the show tunes a little bit, but those were mostly from glee. She was kind of curious about his country music, that was one thing she’d never really listened too.
He handed her his iPod and pushed his earbuds into his ear. They were kind of cool. They were Skullcandy and he’d gotten them for Christmas. Plugging into her iPod, he set the songs to random and sat back against the bench. The first song he heard was “Chemistry of a Car Crash” by Shiny Toy Guns. He wasn’t a huge fan, but he liked some of their stuff. Namely, this song. He smiled over at her and nodded appreciatively.
She took the offered iPod and plugged it into her headphones before scrolling through the list of songs, looking for something interesting. She scrolled past a few songs she recognized and liked, instead stopping when she got to a title that intrigued her. “Camouflage” by Brad Paisley sure sounded like a country a song. Hitting play she almost immediately resisted the urge to laugh out loud, the lyrics were ridiculous. Was this seriously a song? She couldn’t help but smile listening to it though, it was kind of hysterical and oddly catchy.
Stevie and who he assumed was Tina’s brother went running by and he chuckled, shaking his head. “I miss being little like that.” It seemed easier. He was learning that life was different in public school and because he was a jock, he was kind of expected to only hang with them, but he didn’t think Tina was a part of that crowd. So, was he not supposed to be even talking to her?
Tina nodded in agreement, her eyes following the two boys as she wistfully remembered the days when she’d chased Mike around this same park without a care in the world. Back then Mike hadn’t been a jock and she hadn’t been, well whatever it was her social status classified as, sub-basement loser or something like that. Sure her and Mike were still friends, he was still her best friend, but that was outside of school mostly. She knew that the pressure from the other cool kids got to Mike sometimes and that tended to make her feel like she was dragging him down.
Tina looked away from Joey and the boy he was playing with, eyeing Sam a minute. Sam seemed to have fallen easily into the popular crowd at school, but he also seemed a whole heck of a lot nicer than the majority of the other popular kids. Like there was the fact that he was even sitting beside her talking to her right now, she bet none of the other jocks would even give her the time of day. “Being little like that was pretty awesome. I mean, there were always cookies waiting after a hard days work fighting pirates. Don’t get much better than that.”
“I was always a pirate! The ninjas would never let me be on their team,” he was only still a little mad about that. “You’re right though. I wish I could just spend my Saturday mornings with a big bowl of cereal in my pajamas and watch cartoons. I mean, I still do kind of, but then my mom wants me to like do stuff around the house and clean my room and stuff.”
“Wait. You were a pirate? Uh oh...” Tina narrowed her eyes, feigning suspicion. “I guess I’ll let it slide. Those ninjas who wouldn’t let you be on their team were probably just pirates in disguise or something anyway.” She smiled at him. “Parents do have that knack for wanting you to do stuff though, huh? Why do they care so much what your room looks like anyway?”
“I know!” Sam exclaimed, shaking his head. “My mom says my room smells like a monkey cage, but I don’t think she just tries to make me feel bad. I think monkeys are awesome,” he said more to himself than to her.
Tina chuckled, just barely catching his last comment. Monkeys were kinda awesome. Not that she’d really want her room to smell like a monkey cage. “Parents totally just say stuff to try and guilt you into doing whatever they want. I swear they get a handbook when your born that tells them things to say to you to convince you to clean up and stuff. That monkey thing is probably in there.”
Sam smiled at her. She was really cool. The second cool girl he’d met at McKinley. He’d mostly been hanging out with cheerleaders. They were boring usually and really mean. Plus, they seemed to hate when he talked about...well everything he liked to talk about. The stuff they were always going on about, half of it he didn’t understand and the other half of it he didn’t really care about. This stuff with Tina was probably the most fun he’d had since he hung out with Mercedes.
Stevie and the other kid ran by again and Sam got an idea. “Hey, why are we letting them have all of the fun?” He handed her back her iPod and pocketed his. “I’ll race you to the swings. If you lose, you have to...swing as high as you can and then jump out.” He’d wanted to win, but after he said that, he figured he’d let her win. He kind of wanted to jump out of the swing.
She liked the way he thought, swings were awesome. “Deal,” she grinned, taking off immediately hoping that the slight head start would mean that she’d win. Not that losing would be so bad, she’d probably jump anyway.
When: Saturday February 4, 2012
Where: Park
What: Running into each other
Tina called goodbye to her dad as she ushered Joey out the front door. Their dad had brought home some work that he wanted to get done. So, Tina had offered to take Joey to the park so that he could have a bit of a peace and quiet. Seven-year-olds weren’t exactly well known for their ability to keep quiet, or at least her seven year old brother wasn’t, especially not on a Saturday morning.
“So, what are you going to do first when we get to the park?” She asked him as she walked with her hands in her pockets to keep them warm. Joey might still need someone to accompany him to the park, but he was past hand holding age.That almost made her sad, he was getting so big, so fast.
“Swings,” he declared firmly. He scrunched his forehead up in thought as he started to bounce, instead of walk, down the sidewalk. “Or maybe slide. Or jungle gym. Or monkey bars. Or...am I allowed to climb trees?” He eventually shrugged, clearly fine without making an actual decision.
Tina laughed. Now that was more like Joey. He’d been kind of quiet for awhile after the blackout, but now that his wrist was all healed, he seemed to be back to normal. The fact that he’d added monkey bars to his list of things to do was a good sign, considering a fall from the monkey bars had been what had caused his injuries during the blackout. She’d make sure to point that out to her dad later, she knew he worried.
“Well, kiddo,” Tina reached forward and ruffled his hair, “sounds like this is going to be a busy trip. I’m getting tired just thinking about all the stuff you’re going to do.”
“That’s because you’re old.” Joey stopped and turned to grin impishly at her.
“Hey now...” Tina narrowed her eyes at him playfully before lunging forward, with the goal of grabbing him so that she could tickle him. Of course, in typical fashion, he was one step ahead of her and he dodged her and took off, forcing her to chase him all of the way to the park. When did he get so fast? She wondered as they slowed to a stop at the entrance to the park. Panting, she tried to catch her breath.
“I win.” Joey grinned triumphantly.
“This time,” Tina added to his statement. “You win this time.” She pushed his shoulder gently. “Now get, you brat, go have fun. I’m going to go sit over there on that bench.” she pointed to the empty bench. “If you need anything, come on over. I brought some juice and stuff for later if you want it. And if you get too cold, you say so, and we’ll head home. I don’t want you to catch something.”
Joey didn’t need to be told twice to go have fun. The park was one of his favorite places to be, even when it was winter and cold out. He barely paid attention to his sister’s spiel about getting sick from being cold. “Kay, bye,” he waved over his shoulder as he ran off in the direction of the jungle gym.
With Joey off playing, Tina moved towards the bench she’d pointed out and took a seat. It was cold but it wasn’t freezing, which was good. She pulled out her iPod from the bag she’d packed with juice and snacks and slipped the ear buds in before putting it on shuffle. She was content to just sit and listen to music, scanning the park occasionally to make sure she still knew where Joey was.
They were barely in the park good before Stevie took off running. “Stevie...STEVIE!” He called, jogging after him. The park wasn’t too large, but his brother moved so quickly that he could lose sight of him in a second.
“That boy goes to my school, Sammy,” Stevie called out over his shoulder. He headed straight for the monkey bars.
Sam shook his head, laughing a little at his brother’s enthusiasm. He figured Stevie would be okay as long as he stayed where Sam could see him. He looked over and saw Tina sitting on the bench. At least, he hoped that was her name. He was like 90% sure it was. She was the girl who liked ninjas. That much he knew.
Walking over to the bench, he smiled down at her. “Are you saving this seat for someone?”
Tina looked up at the boy who walked over to her, surprised when she realized that it was Sam that new kid from school. Pulling her ear buds out of her ears, she smiled back at him. “Nope, it’s all yours if you want it.”
“Awesome,” he said as he sat down next to her. It was colder here than back in Tennessee, but he didn’t mind it so much. “What are you listening to? Anything good?”
“Bit of everything,” Tina shrugged. “A lot of the Beatles. What kind of music do you listen to?”
“I have a lot of country on mine like a good Southern boy, but I have some rock and J and K Pop and some alt bands. We should switch iPod and compare,” he suggested, pulling out his own and holding it up for her to see.
“Sure,” Tina agreed easily, unplugging it from her head phones and handing it over to him. It wasn’t like there was anything especially embarrassing on her iPod, okay maybe the show tunes a little bit, but those were mostly from glee. She was kind of curious about his country music, that was one thing she’d never really listened too.
He handed her his iPod and pushed his earbuds into his ear. They were kind of cool. They were Skullcandy and he’d gotten them for Christmas. Plugging into her iPod, he set the songs to random and sat back against the bench. The first song he heard was “Chemistry of a Car Crash” by Shiny Toy Guns. He wasn’t a huge fan, but he liked some of their stuff. Namely, this song. He smiled over at her and nodded appreciatively.
She took the offered iPod and plugged it into her headphones before scrolling through the list of songs, looking for something interesting. She scrolled past a few songs she recognized and liked, instead stopping when she got to a title that intrigued her. “Camouflage” by Brad Paisley sure sounded like a country a song. Hitting play she almost immediately resisted the urge to laugh out loud, the lyrics were ridiculous. Was this seriously a song? She couldn’t help but smile listening to it though, it was kind of hysterical and oddly catchy.
Stevie and who he assumed was Tina’s brother went running by and he chuckled, shaking his head. “I miss being little like that.” It seemed easier. He was learning that life was different in public school and because he was a jock, he was kind of expected to only hang with them, but he didn’t think Tina was a part of that crowd. So, was he not supposed to be even talking to her?
Tina nodded in agreement, her eyes following the two boys as she wistfully remembered the days when she’d chased Mike around this same park without a care in the world. Back then Mike hadn’t been a jock and she hadn’t been, well whatever it was her social status classified as, sub-basement loser or something like that. Sure her and Mike were still friends, he was still her best friend, but that was outside of school mostly. She knew that the pressure from the other cool kids got to Mike sometimes and that tended to make her feel like she was dragging him down.
Tina looked away from Joey and the boy he was playing with, eyeing Sam a minute. Sam seemed to have fallen easily into the popular crowd at school, but he also seemed a whole heck of a lot nicer than the majority of the other popular kids. Like there was the fact that he was even sitting beside her talking to her right now, she bet none of the other jocks would even give her the time of day. “Being little like that was pretty awesome. I mean, there were always cookies waiting after a hard days work fighting pirates. Don’t get much better than that.”
“I was always a pirate! The ninjas would never let me be on their team,” he was only still a little mad about that. “You’re right though. I wish I could just spend my Saturday mornings with a big bowl of cereal in my pajamas and watch cartoons. I mean, I still do kind of, but then my mom wants me to like do stuff around the house and clean my room and stuff.”
“Wait. You were a pirate? Uh oh...” Tina narrowed her eyes, feigning suspicion. “I guess I’ll let it slide. Those ninjas who wouldn’t let you be on their team were probably just pirates in disguise or something anyway.” She smiled at him. “Parents do have that knack for wanting you to do stuff though, huh? Why do they care so much what your room looks like anyway?”
“I know!” Sam exclaimed, shaking his head. “My mom says my room smells like a monkey cage, but I don’t think she just tries to make me feel bad. I think monkeys are awesome,” he said more to himself than to her.
Tina chuckled, just barely catching his last comment. Monkeys were kinda awesome. Not that she’d really want her room to smell like a monkey cage. “Parents totally just say stuff to try and guilt you into doing whatever they want. I swear they get a handbook when your born that tells them things to say to you to convince you to clean up and stuff. That monkey thing is probably in there.”
Sam smiled at her. She was really cool. The second cool girl he’d met at McKinley. He’d mostly been hanging out with cheerleaders. They were boring usually and really mean. Plus, they seemed to hate when he talked about...well everything he liked to talk about. The stuff they were always going on about, half of it he didn’t understand and the other half of it he didn’t really care about. This stuff with Tina was probably the most fun he’d had since he hung out with Mercedes.
Stevie and the other kid ran by again and Sam got an idea. “Hey, why are we letting them have all of the fun?” He handed her back her iPod and pocketed his. “I’ll race you to the swings. If you lose, you have to...swing as high as you can and then jump out.” He’d wanted to win, but after he said that, he figured he’d let her win. He kind of wanted to jump out of the swing.
She liked the way he thought, swings were awesome. “Deal,” she grinned, taking off immediately hoping that the slight head start would mean that she’d win. Not that losing would be so bad, she’d probably jump anyway.