I'll Be Seeing You by Lurlene McDaniel

about it. Seems kind of rude to me, but still they ask.”
    She understood completely. “People are nosy. You have to ignore them.”
    He gave a short laugh. “ ’Course my friends Steve and Jason tell me to consider the plus side.”
    “Such as?”
    “It’s a cool way to meet girls.”
    “Whatever works.”
    “But I told them I’ve already met the perfect girl.”
    Her hand had grown clammy on the receiver and she was having trouble keeping it tight on the slippery plastic. “That’s nice of you to say.”
    “That’s why I want to get together with you.”
    “Well I—”
    “Not right yet,” he added hastily. “I’d like my eyesight to clear up a little more so that I can see you. I’d like to ditch the patch too. I mean, when you can only see out of one eye, there’s no depth perception. Uncool. I can’t judge how close or how far away something is, which makes me fumble around a lot. But it sure beats not seeing at all.”
    “I’d guess so.”
    “Anyway, I want to meet you. See you with my own eyes. Steve and Jason are still talking about you.”
    She couldn’t think of anything to say, but she was desperate to keep a meeting from happening.
    “Listen to me,” Kyle said apologetically. “I’m going on and on about me and I haven’t once asked how you’re doing. How’s the leg?”
    “I’ve ditched the crutches. And my doctor says I might be able to shed the cast by the middle of next month.”
    “Maybe in time for Valentine’s Day?”
    Carley’s eyes darted to the calendar posted on the wall behind the desk. Sure enough, February fourteenth was pretty much in the middle of the next month. “Maybe.”
    “Well, whether you’re in a cast or not, I’d like you to go to our school’s spring dance with me. It’s on the weekend after Valentine’s Day.”
    “I don’t dance.”
    “I don’t either, but so what? We’ll just go together, sit, and watch the others. It’s being held at the big Marriott downtown; there’ll be a banquet and everything. It’s going to be really nice. Of course, I can’t drive because of my eyes, but we’ll go with Jason and Steve.”
    “I won’t know anybody.”
    “You’ll know me. Plus, you’ve met Jason and Steve. Their girlfriends are pretty nice. We’ll all have a great time together.”
    Just then the door of the bookstore opened and a customer walked inside. “Uh —canwe talk about this later? Business is starting up and I have to go to work.”
    “You bet. But don’t hang up without giving me your home phone number.”
    Quickly she told him, then said goodbye. Janelle came behind the counter as she was hanging up the phone. “Thanks a lot for making me take that call.” Nervous perspiration caused Carley’s bangs to stick to her forehead.
    “I’m not going to lie for you. I did that once and I hated it.” Janelle smiled at the customer who was browsing the stacks. “What did Kyle want?”
    “He can see again and he wants to meet me. He wants to take me to some dance his school’s having.” Carley sagged into a chair behind the counter. “Not me of course. You.”
    “And who’s fault is that?”
    “I’m not in the mood for a lecture.” She glanced around to see if the customer had his back to the front desk. She hated the idea of the man staring at her once he saw her face. “I’m going into the back room and start unboxing and cataloging.”
    “I wish you’d been honest with Kyle from the very beginning.”
    “Well, I wasn’t, so start helping me figure out a way to keep this face-to-face meeting from ever happening.”
    Janelle threw up her hands and backed away. “Oh no, baby sister. You’re on your own this time.”
    “Aw—come on.”
    Janelle ignored her plea. “I’m going to see if this man needs help.” She swept from behind the counter and hurried over to the browsing customer.
    Carley hauled herself to the backroom, where boxes of new books were stacked and waiting. She lowered herself onto a nearby