Strong Allies

St. Anne\'s

As I lounged at the top of the steps at recess on the last day of eighth grade, surveying my kingdom, surrounded by my crew, I could have no idea what fresh challenges awaited me in only a few months. I knew high school was going to change my life, but how? Was I going to get a gritty reboot, complete with beer and organized crime? A fun, colorful anime world of quirky new friends? Comedy or drama? Hard to say.

Today though, today I was in my element.

It was as if all barriers had come down for the day. Total chaos, girls from marching band hugging girls from the dance team, fake as hell in a sense but also tinged with the gravity of deathbed sentimentality. I almost wished we weren"t leaving so I could re-match every single one of them.

And everybody was signing yearbooks like it was going out of style. I myself was sitting there holding Reid Salazar"s yearbook, stricken immobile by writer"s block. Reid was such a fantastic guy; he just spread waves of happiness everywhere he went. It wouldn"t look good if I wrote more than two sentences, because I didn"t know him that well, but how could I cause him to remember me fondly with two measly sentences? I found it impossible to think as he towered over me, shaggy blond hair falling into his dark eyes, long fingers fidgeting with impatience. So in the end I just scribbled, "You are a beautiful person and I hope you get everything you ever wanted in the years to come. Yours truly, Philio X. MacDonald."

Beside me, Christopher LaRoche and Daniel Pohl, my first ever match who were still best friends after three years, were reading over my shoulder and laughing at me for how much I cared. But it was friendly laughter. They knew I couldn"t help it.

"No-Phil-ter rides again I see," Christopher said, referencing an old nickname of mine.

I grinned, passing Reid"s yearbook back. "To the bitter end, Chris."

"No, seriously though, we appreciate you and your giant heart," said Daniel. "We"ll miss you bro."

I patted Daniel on the shoulder. "Don"t lick any sidewalks in high school, Daniel."

"I"ll make sure he doesn"t," said Christopher.

Daniel blushed and grinned at his friend. "You know darn well you were the one who dared me to do it."

"Sure," said Christopher. "Which means I am the only person with the power to prevent you from doing it again."

Suddenly Lauren Etter, Sarah Rowland, and Maddie Rosenthal approached me together, a bit apologetically. I had barely spoken to them since two years ago, when I"d matched Lauren, a tearful transfer student, with two of the coolest girls in school. But I took it as a compliment when my former cases ceased all contact.

"Hi, Philio!" said Lauren.

I smiled. "Hi!"

"How"s it going?" she asked.

"Pretty great," I said.

She paused. It was obvious the three of them had come to me because my reputation preceded me, but they couldn"t seem to figure out how to say so tactfully. Meanwhile, Christopher and Daniel eyed me enviously, impressed that Maddie and her crew wanted anything to do with me.

"So ..." I said, helping them out. "I guess you guys probably want to get matched."

She nodded. "I"m going to St. Joe"s, but Sarah"s going to Immaculate Conception, and Maddie"s going to St. Francis. It"s a disaster!"

I smiled in sympathy, already flipping through my notebook. "Well, that"s too bad. You"ll be okay though. Half the class is going to St. Joe"s, so why don"t you try ..." I scanned the list. "Jackie Bozza? Do you know her?"

"Yeah!" said Lauren. "She"s cool. We had art together last year."

"Good," I said. "Because I already told her to match with you. She"ll be looking for a familiar face, too."

Lauren giggled. "You know everything, don"t you Phil?"

"And Maddie," I said, turning to a tall girl in a short skirt, "I"m going to St. Francis, too, so you know I"ve got you covered."

Maddie looked as unaffected as always. "Great. I"m probably okay anyway; my older sisters both go there now and I"m probably going to join the same kind of fine arts stuff as them."

I made a note of this. "Right, good to know, I"ll need to make some new contacts there so I can match the older kids."

"You"re really going to match up all the friendless kids at St. Francis?" asked Lauren. "Even the seniors?"

"We"ll see," I told her. "It"s definitely a goal. Now, Sarah," I said, turning to a shy girl with a big fuzzy blonde braid, "I think you might be the only one going to IC, so I can"t help you much there."

Sarah sighed. "Yeah, I don"t know anyone else planning to go there. It"s really small and nobody else really lives out that way."

I stood up. "Don"t you worry," I said. "Small schools are easy. Just be your old sunny self and you"ll be the most popular girl in school before long."

She knew I was just being cute, but she still gave me a big hug. "I"m going to miss you!" she groaned.

But she was lying just as badly as I was -- I hadn"t talked to Sarah in months. So I told her the same thing I tell all my clients.

"No you won"t."

And I hoped with all my heart it was true.