An Unexpected Hero

‘Tis the season for sneak previews. It’s like shaking the gift box before Christmas to guess what’s inside. We’re all excited to share with you, so I guess we’ll get right to it. (This is not the final edit.)

Chapter 1

Lynnette made it over the fence, but her shorts didn’t. She stood, trapped against the linked metal squares with right leg partially suspended midair, and tried to figure out the best way to unhook her bottoms without having to come all the way out of her clothes. She had been playing tag with her mentee and decided to get away by scaling his family’s backyard fence, hoping he’d choose to double-back around to try to catch her in front of the house. She had wanted to use the bush to hide herself until he ran past her so she could run to home base before he realized where she was. It didn’t quite work out as planned. Zakai had gone the way she anticipated, but Lynette never made it to the cover of the bushes. Somehow, she’d managed to create a long rip in the fabric of her backside, and the hem of the shorts had gotten caught on a metal loop. Getting over was relatively easy. Jumping in reverse to remove the clothing still trapped on the fence was impossible.

Zakai ran to her. “Tag! I got you,” he panted. “You didn’t even try to get away when I came around the corner. You must’ve known you’d be caught, huh?”

“Yeah, I’m…definitely caught.” Lynnette tried to find a comfortable way to lean against the fence to hide her butt. “Could you please tell Marcel I need him to help me do something?”

“I can help. I’m strong and almost a teenager.”

“Um, I’d prefer Marcel this time, buddy.”

“Ugh, fine.” He pointed at her. “But you still lost.”

Lynette watched him jog to the front of the house. She wasn’t on the side with the gate and couldn’t see anyone from the garden side. She hoped Zakai wouldn’t get distracted by the food coming off the grill and forget he was delivering a message. This was the first time she was at the Washington’s house for a family day by invitation of Marcel, and this was not the impression she wanted to leave as a potential girlfriend. This is what I get for trying to impress boys. I haven’t jumped fences since I stopped playing kickball in fifth grade.

Marcel appeared from behind the house. Lynnette placed one hand behind herself to attempt to cover the exposed area. He stood next to her, leaned so his cheek was barely inches from hers, and waited.

Confused, Lynette paused for a few seconds, raised her eyebrows, and asked, “Was I supposed to notice that you shaved earlier?”

“What? No, Zakai said you wanted my help.” He chuckled. “I thought you were being coy and actually wanted alone time to kiss me.”

She kissed his cheek as if she were pushing his face away. “There. Yes, you’re cute and all, but that’s not why I sent him for help.” She stood upright. “Somehow, my shorts got caught when I jumped the fence.”

Marcel stepped back to get a better view then laughed loudly. “What in the world? How did you manage that? I thought this only happened in cartoons.”

“I’m not entirely sure. I think my shorts were too long or had too much space at the bottom, and a barb snagged and caught the hem.” She turned to attempt to remove her clothing from the hook but couldn’t get in the proper position to reach behind herself. She leaned against the fence as if giving up. “You can stop laughing now.”

“Give me a minute,” he choked out while holding a finger up. “This is a first. I’ve never known this to happen to anyone. I just keep picturing you as an animated character, running with all your might and unable to go anywhere because something is holding your suspenders.”

Lynnette wanted to laugh and knew that she would one day find this situation embarrassingly hysterical. At the moment, she could only think that she would be exposed in more ways than one. She did not want her thigh and butt to show, and she knew she couldn’t walk around covering a hole for the remainder of the day. She looked at the nearby houses, hoping people didn’t notice her or secretly film her in her predicament. “Marcel, please…?”

“Okay, okay.” He positioned his hands on the bar as if he were preparing to do a pommel horse routine and lifted himself over the fence, both feet going across at the same time. “That’s how you’re supposed to jump.” He pecked her forehead before wrapping his arms around her thighs to lift her. “And for the record, this isn’t barbed wire. It’s a chain-linked fence. Barbs are meant to injure you when you attempt to cross them.”

Lynnette held his shoulder to balance, unhooked herself, and checked the damage once she was back on the ground. She hadn’t expected the jean material to tear. Well, I guess falling in the clothes was like pulling on the fabric. It’s not like I was hanging shorts up to dry.

He watched her pull the material closed to cover the hole and laughed again.

“It’s not that funny, Marcel,” she insisted.

“Aw, c’mon. You have to admit that it’s not something you see every day.” He playfully tapped her arm. “It could have been worse.”

“How? What’s worse than having your date help you get unstuck?”

He pointed to the neighbor’s house. “You could have been dangling from the pointed end of our 6-foot privacy fence.”

Lynette looked to her right and imagined herself literally “hanging by the seat of her pants” and forced a smile. Had it been one of her friends or cousins, she would make sure she brought up the embarrassing moment for giggles at every opportunity. But she was barely amused now. She wanted a pair of bottoms without a hole in them, and she hadn’t thought there would be a fashion emergency requiring a wardrobe change…