The Sea vs.the Music

Editor's Note: This is the first entry of a six-entry short story

By Barbara Trainin Blank
Writer, Editor
Blank Page Writing

Betsy loved her father. He was wise and learned and understood her well. Partly because of his exciting profession in community service she wished she could have been a boy. Maybe not literally; just a feeling that males had it better in the world. Her mother’s life seemed circumscribed. She had a career before Betsy’s older brother was born but had given it up for housework and child-rearing. Boring, Betsy thought.

She preferred being thought a tomboy—though she wasn’t athletic. Preferred wearing her hair short and no makeup. She disliked when boys looked at her too much.

That remained Betsy’s strong feeling till, at age 13, she attended a summer program for kids entering high school. It was based on the coast of the Mediterranean, warm and placid compared with oceans. The program was full of activities but left plenty of time for swimming.

Mostly Betsy talked with the few guys she knew from elementary school—seeing them as non-threatening pals. Then one night, during a sunset swim, Betsy took a particularly strong kick and hit the leg of a boy she didn’t know. They apologized to each other, awkwardly. Suddenly she felt something strange. A tingling. She and the boy—named Alan—began a short conversation. The next day they sat together for breakfast. All of a sudden Betsy didn’t want to be a boy anymore. It was more fun talking to a boy as a girl.

The two did a great deal of talking after that. Then the teasing began. Someone had gotten wind of the fact that they were in the sea a lot together, which started a minor “scandal.” Their ages being what they were, no one suspected anything intimate. But they were subjected to teasing, of the “Betsy and Alan kissing” type. He hugged her twice, especially on the program’s last day.

Betsy didn’t think she’d see him again. They lived several miles away, and of course, didn’t even have junior licenses. But one day, he called, asking her to come with him to a rock concert. Of course, they'd have to be driven/chaperoned by an adult, but my father wouldn't have it. Rock music wasn't what she was supposed to be listening to, and she was "too young" to date. Alan was disappointed and didn't call again. She was disappointed too; she had liked him. True, she preferred classical music and Broadway, but what was the matter with a little rock?

Years later, she married, in a hum-drum way. One day, her brother called with surprising news. One of his neighbors had a cousin named Alan, visiting from out of town. An entertainment lawyer. Upon hearing my brother's unusual last name, he asked: "Are you related to Betsy X?" When my brother confirmed the family connection, Alan commented: "She was the most-interesting girl I ever knew." One time her father didn't understand her.

To be continued