High School Sweethearts
Outside Mobil, Alabama, in a rural area is the county high school.
It’s not too big, about four hundred students attend. It’s the first
day and Jack Hill is a freshman this year. He gets up early so he
doesn’t miss the bus. It’s not that Jack likes school. He is already
trying to think of a way out of English class, math class and
History. Of course he has been trying to think of a way for the last
few years, along with countless others.
There was a couple of advantages to high school. It meant one
year closer to getting out of school for good. The second and best
reason of all was, girls were there. Jack decided he was going to
pick out the best looking girl and put the charm on her.
He got on the school bus that morning and looked at the girls
riding the bus. It was the same one’s as last year. The best
looking girl wasn’t riding on that bus for sure. When he got to
school he sat out front and looked all around. He watched as
other buses drove up and the kids got off. No, not any pretty one’s
on that bus either. There was a lot of nice looking girls, but he
wasn’t going to settle for just nice.
The bell rang and it was time to go in. Maybe the best looking girl
got there before he did and she was inside. He went to his first
class, no she wasn’t in there either. He checked the halls between
classes, the lunch room at noon. It was now time for the last class
of the day. She has to be in there, its the last class. He walked
into the class room, no not yet. She will probably be late, because
she is combing her hair in the bathroom. The students all came in
and the late bell rang. The teacher closed the door. The next few
minutes he kept his hopes up, but she didn’t show.
Then, someone called in a bomb threat. All of the students had to
go outside in the parking lot. It was raining hard and there were
no buses there yet, no place for any of them to get in out of the
rain.
Everyone was soaked by the time the school buses arrived to pick
them up from school. Jack got on his bus soaked and totally
disappointed. He was thinking there was no use in him going to
school tomorrow . This school only has pretty girls and he was
looking for the best looking girl.
The next day Jack got up late and slowly walked to where the bus
stopped to pick him up. When he got to school, he just went on in.
There was no need to look, he had seen them all yesterday. That
day there was a bomb threat too. Everyone in school went to the
football field this time to wait. At least it wasn’t raining today.
Kathy had a crush on Jack and he liked her OK. The two would
flirt, but it was not girlfriend-boyfriend, to Jack anyway. Kathy
saw it as girlfriend-boyfriend. Kathy talked about Jack Hill this
and Jack Hill that, all the way home on the bus to her friends. One
girl said Jack Hill, Jack Hill who is Jack Hill, I’m so sick and tired
of hearing about Jack Hill, I don’t like this Jack Hill who ever he
is and I’ve never laid eyes on him before. The girls all call her Sis.
Kathy went on talking about Jack Hill, what Sis said didn’t slow
her down none. Sis would just have to cover her ears, if she didn’t
want to hear about Jack Hill. Sis’s mom drove the bus they were
riding on, so she couldn’t get off and had to listen to it all.
The next day at school it was raining again. Some of the buses
and drivers were asked to stay in case another threat was called in.
That way they could bus the students to the near by grade school’s
gym. Sis’s mom was one of them that stayed.
The call came and the students were hauled to the grade school
gym. Kathy found Jack and said Come with me, I have someone
for you to meet. There was a bunch of girls sitting in a circle on
the gym floor. Kathy and Jack sat down behind one of the girls on
the gym floor, and was leaning back against the wall of the gym.
Kathy leaned forward and tapped the girl in front of them on the
back of the shoulder. Kathy said Hey Sis, Meet Jack Hill. Sis said
I don’t want to meet Jack Hill, I told you I hate him already! Kathy
spun her around and pointed her at Jack. Sis was laughing and
said I don’t like you.
Jack took one look and he knew this was her, the one he had been
looking for. Jack reached out and grabbed her ankle. He pulled
her over close to him, she slid real easy on the waxed gym floor.
Sis kept laughing and pretending to try and get away. She didn’t
try very hard at all. She said I’ll smack the tar out of you, who
ever you are. She knew who he was, and couldn’t keep a straight
face, she was all smiles. This gave Jack an excuse to hold both her
hands. She didn’t let it show, but she was holding his hands too.
Her hands were saying I like you too.
She might not have been to others, the prettiest girl in school, but
she was to Jack, and she was the one for him. Jack asked her
right then and there to be his girl. She laughed and said You don’t
even know my name. Jack didn’t care what her name was, he
liked her and liked her a lot. Jack said, Then tell me. Sis
wouldn’t tell him. So he decided to tickle her name out of her.
He tickled her and she laughed and giggled, but she wouldn’t open
her mouth to allow her name to escape. He would have asked
Kathy but she had left. Kathy started to cry for some reason, Jack
didn’t know why. He asked Sis again, Are you going to be my
girl? She kept on laughing and said, You still don’t know my
name. He said Then tell me or I’ll just call you Girl. Sis said My
name is.....Sis and laughed some more. Jack said OK I’ll call you
Girl, now Girl are you going to be my girl. Sis said I’ll tell you
tomorrow.
They were announcing to get back on the buses to return to the
high school. She tried to loose him in the crowd, but he wouldn’t
let her go. She said Let me go and I’ll tell you my name. When he
turned loose of her hand she dashed off through the crowd saying
I’ll tell you after school. Jack said, Where will you be? She said,
At the corner of the school in front. Jack said, Which side? Sis
said, The one by the foot ball field.
After school Jack was there waiting. He said, No sign of her yet,
she’d better show. Then he saw her running towards him. He lit
up inside. She was out of breath when she got to where he was.
While still trying to breathe Sis said, ... I got to go...My bus .... is
about ....to leave...I have to hurry!
Jack took her by the hand and led her around the corner and out of
sight . There he kissed her. She said, I have to go. Sis started to
leave, Jack said, You have to tell me your name. She said as she
was leaving, It’s Oma Green. Jack said, Does this mean you will
be my girl? She said, I’ll tell you tomorrow. And ran on off to
catch the bus. She acted like she didn’t want him to walk her to
her bus, for some unknown reason.
The reason was because her mother drove the bus and she didn’t
know how she would react. Sis didn’t know how to tell her either
because this was the first time she had A real boyfriend. She got
on the bus and it was Jack Hill this and Jack Hill that all the way
home. Another girl said, Hey I thought you didn’t like Jack Hill?
Sis said, That was before I met him.
When Jack got on his bus he was wearing one of those Texas
smiles. You know that starts over here and ends way over there
farther than your eyes can see. The bus driver said, Who was that
girl you were with? Jack said, What girl? The bus driver said,
The one your smiling about, the one you were just talking too.
Jack said, Oh her, thats some girl begging me to go steady with
her. The bus driver said, Well what did you say? Jack said, I told
her I would think about it and let her know tomorrow.
The next morning Jack was out front of the school waiting, he
said, I’ll find out what bus # she rides. There she was getting off
the bus it was bus #56 he rode #57. It was the bus that always left
in front of his. He said ain’t that something she has been right in
front of me all the time. When she came up to him, he asked how
long had she been riding that bus? She said For years, why? He
said, You’ve been right in front of me all the time, and I didn’t
know it.
Jack said, Are you going to be my girl? She said, Ask me again,
yesterday you didn’t even know my name. This time ask me and
use my name when you ask me. Jack thought Oh No what was her
name? He couldn’t remember it was such an odd name he hadn’t
heard before. He was so taken with her, he didn’t give much
thought to her name.
He tried to fake his way threw it, he said Sis, Will you... She said,
No, use my real name. Jack couldn’t remember and it showed.
Sis said, You forgot my name, you still don’t know who I am and
your asking me to go with you? He said I know I’m crazy about
you and I’ll learn your name, its a hard one to remember anyway.
She said, Well that is why everyone else just calls me Sis. But you
better learn it, since we -Are going steady!
She took him by the hand. He said, Give me your phone number.
Sis said, Tomorrow. He said, Don’t start that again. She said,
Will you go to church with me Sunday? Jack said, I don’t know
anything about church, what do I have to do in church? She said,
Nothing, just sit beside of me and listen. Jack said, OK I can do
that.
She tried to tell him how to find her house. He didn’t know where
she was talking about. She said, The church is easy to find, its on
the main road, be there at 9:45 Am. Jack was there at 8 Am, he
wasn’t taking any chances of being late.
Her mother drove her to church and she walked on in. Sis and
Jack walked in behind her. He was nervous and didn’t know what
to expect. She couldn’t wait to show him off. Everyone was so
friendly and polite. He thought this must be where all the nice
people go.
Sis’s mother was talking to another lady. The lady said, It’s so
nice of Sis to bring her boyfriend to church. Her mom said, I think
they are just good friends, not really anything serious. She was
sure wrong, it was love at first sight, for both of them.
Sis had been going to church since she was real little. Jack would
listen to what the preacher would say. Then when they were out of
church he would ask her questions. It was soon Christmas time
and time to have a play. Jack and Sis got to play Joseph and
Mary. They had recruited a lot of their friends from High School
to start going with them to church too.
This year they had enough young people to go Christmas Caroling,
and they had a hay ride before Thanksgiving. This little church
was growing. Jack was baptized and so was one of his friends he
had brought. They pinned up snap shots on the bulletin board of
the new people baptized and joining the church. The bulletin
board looked like the schools year book with so many students
there.
Jack and Sis were married and have been together almost 20 years.
A lot of people were led to Jesus and it started with one person
asking another, “Will you go to church with me”. What you sow
you do reap, the more you sow the more you reap.
Written by: Johnny lee Hall
