by Karl Stephany

Created on: July 23, 2010

The Best Pb and J Ever

Tyler headed home, his feet almost pounding the ground. It was a dumb fight he and his two friends Patrick and Jacob got into. They sided up with each other and took off running, leaving him behind.

"Big deal," Tyler mumbled to himself, "They don’t know nuthin anyway."

Tomorrow they would probably be back being friends as usual. Tyler knew he could always find something to do and those guys couldn’t because they didn’t have any imagination.

The street was quiet with only a few cars and nobody was walking. The lilacs in front of the house he was passing smelled strong and sweet as he passed by.

Passing by the next house he heard a voice say:

"Hi Tyler."

Turning he saw Melissa sitting on the porch smiling at him. She was the new girl in his classroom and he had only talked to her once before.

"Hi Melissa. I didn’t know you lived here."

"We just moved here a couple weeks ago from Bentley Street on the other side of town."

"Have you got time for a visit?"

"Sure," Tyler said walking up to the porch and sat down next to her.

"Do you live around here?" she asked.

"A couple blocks from here passed Franklin Street."

"I was thinking of making a peanut butter sandwich. Would you like one?" she asked.

"I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," Tyler said. "I eat them all the time."

They went in the house and her mother was just going out to work in their garden.

"Mom, this is Tyler. I want to make us a peanut butter sandwich."

"Hello Tyler," she said smiling, then looked at her watch saying, "I guess that would be okay since it is a few hours before dinner."

"Don’t make a mess though." She said walking out the back door.

"We won’t, Come on Tyler, I make the best pb and j you ever ate."

Tyler watched as Melissa got out the bread, peanut butter and strawberry jam. She also brought a banana and a can of whole peanuts.

"What’s the banana and the peanuts for?"

"You’ll see," she said with a giggle.

Melissa got some butter out and buttered four slices of bread then put peanut butter on two slices and grape jam on the other two. She took a handful of peanuts and sprinkled them on the ones with peanut butter. Then she cut the banana in slices and put those on the jam slices. Fascinated Tyler watched her as she put them together.

"I never had a peanut butter sandwich with sliced bananas on it or whole peanuts either."

"You’re in for a treat. Would you like a glass of milk?" she said going to the refrigerator.

"Yes please," Tyler said nodding his head.

They took the sandwiches and milk out on the porch and sat on a wood bench.

Tyler took a couple bites and said, "Wow Melissa, this is the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I ever ate."

"I knew you’d like it," she said, her eyes shining. "I like it because it has a lot of crunch."

"Mine are usually kinda dry."

"Butter helps."

Tyler thought he wasn’t going to tell Patrick or Jacob about his new friend Melissa or her great sandwiches. They will probably find out and be really jealous. He smiled thinking about it.

Melissa turned to him and said, "I think I have enough money for us to go see that new Disney movie downtown. Would you like to go with me tomorrow? It’s Sunday and we don’t have to go to school."

"I would love to do that. I think I got enough for popcorn and sodas."

On the way home Tyler had a spring in his step. The fight he had with his friends seemed all but forgotten. Tomorrow he would have a new adventure with a brand-new friend. And she’s cute too.

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