Chapter 2

Monday arrived and I wasn’t sure if it had taken too long or it had gotten here too fast. I was anxious about asking April to homecoming, even if Trey said she liked me, and a number of scenarios of what would happen when I asked her had run through my head.

I sat down to lunch and talked with April and Trey for several minutes. After some time, Trey started signaling me by raising his eyebrows and moving his head in April’s direction. I was nervous and, of course, ignored him.

After a couple of minutes of this, April finally asked, “Trey, what are you doing?”

“Uh, nothing, I’ve just got a kink in my neck that I’m trying to get out.”

“Oh. Do you want me to rub your neck and shoulders and try to get it out?” April was kind like that and so the offer didn’t surprise me although it did me make me a little jealous.

It made me a lot more jealous when Trey responded, “Yes that would be nice. Thanks, April.”

“No problem, Trey. What are friends for?” April responded as she starting rubbing his neck and shoulders.

“You better watch out or you’ll make Sarah jealous,” I said jokingly.

“Oh, you mean, his date to homecoming? Why would she be jealous? Everybody knows we’re just friends. Everybody knows I’m not interested in Trey.”

Well, she brought it up, so I suppose this was my opportunity. “Speaking of homecoming, what are you doing for it?”

“I’ve got no plans. Why do you ask?”

I decided just to go for it and ask her. “Would you like to go with me?”

She smiled for a micro-second and then her eyes narrowed and she quit massaging Trey’s neck and shoulders. “Why are you asking me, Jake?”

Uh-oh. This wasn’t in any of the scenarios that I envisioned. Why was she asking me this? What should I say? Did Sarah ask Trey the same question? I should have asked Trey about when he asked Sarah out. I didn’t know what the right answer was so I decided to play it safe. “Well, we’re good friends and I think we’ll have fun together.”

“I see.” She said in a funny voice. “I’ll have to think about it.”

Crap! What did I do wrong? Why the hell was Trey palming his face?

The rest of lunch was pretty silent and awkward and I was glad when it was finally over.

Trey grabbed my shoulder as we walked to class after lunch. “You fucked up.”

“What!? She said she would think about it.” I didn’t know what Trey expected me to say.

“Come on, man. Did that really sound like a yes?”

“Well, no, not really. What the hell, man. I thought you said she liked me,” I said defensively.

Trey rolled his eyes and shook his head at me. “You’re really an idiot for being a smart guy. She even hinted at the fact she likes you - ‘Everybody knows I’m not interested in Trey’”. He said the last part in a high voice in imitation of a female.

“So why did she want to know why I asked her out?”

“Because she saw me gesturing to you, you chickenshit, and because she wanted to make sure she wasn’t a pity date or a last resort. That you were actually asking her out because you like her - like boyfriend and girlfriend like her.”

“Oh shit.” I thought back to what I said and I winced. “I kind of did make it seem like a pity date or last resort thing didn’t I with what I said at the end?”

“Yep. And think about this, even if she ends up saying yes, which is definitely not guaranteed, you’ll be going as friends and not as actual dates and I know that’s not what you want.”

“Fuck! What do I do?” Trey was right. I was friend-zoning my own damn self.

“You know what to do.”

Yeah, I guess I did. I just didn’t want to do it. However, I decided to bite the bullet and get it over with - waiting any longer was just going to make things worse. Luckily, April’s next class was located close to mine.

“Uh, April, could I talk to you?” She had a frown on her face and seemed pissed off.

“What is it, Jake?” Yep, she definitely sounded annoyed. I really needed to fix things now before things built up to be even worse in her mind.

“Look. We are friends and I think we would have a good time together -”

“Yes, you said that before, Jake.” She cut me off. Damn, she wasn’t going to make this easy.

Well, like Trey said the other day, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’. “What I meant to say, what I should have said, was ‘April, I like you, and as more than just friends. Will you go out on a date with me to homecoming?’” There I said it. Now she knew how I felt about her. It was actually a bit of a relief to get it out.

Well, it was a relief until I heard her response. “No.”

I have to admit I was about ready to turn in my man-card right then and there and start crying, but then she continued.

“No, you can take me out on a date this week and we’ll see how things go from there.” She was smiling as she said this. By the time she was finished, I was smiling too. It wasn’t a date to homecoming, but it was a date and things sounded positive for a potential homecoming date.

“Sure, how about Friday, err, Saturday night?”

“Oh, I don’t rate higher than your poker game?” She said as another frown came over her face.

“No, no, we can do Friday night, I just -”

“It’s okay, Jake, I was just kidding. I know how important your family poker night is to you.”

“So, I’ll call you Saturday afternoon and we’ll figure out when and where?”

“Sounds good Jake.”

My parents had agreed to let me borrow the Accord with the stipulation that I bring April over some time to meet them. I thought that was putting the cart before the horse a little - who knew if April would want to go out on another date. I had to admit I had high hopes, though.

I arrived at April’s house at 4:00. We planned to see ‘The Bourne Identity’ at 5:00. It had already been out for a couple of months, so we knew we would have no problems getting seats.

I rung the doorbell and was greeted by a short, pretty black lady that looked like an older, darker version of April and a tall, muscular light-skinned black man with sharp, angular features.

“You must be Jake. I’m Henry and this is my wife, Holly.” He reached out and gave me a firm handshake.

“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah, just call us Henry and Holly. April will be down in a minute.”

“Okay, Henry.”

“April says you share a couple of classes together, Jake,” said Henry.

“Yes, we share Chemistry and English together. I first met her in Biology class last year.” I said.

“Oh, you’re taking honors classes, too, then?” asked Holly.

“Yes, ma’am. I’m taking all of the honors or advanced placement classes I can. I’m planning on going to college.”

“A man with a plan. Any idea on what you’re going to study?” Henry asked.

“I’m thinking of either computer science or computer engineering. I definitely like computers but I can’t decide if I want to go into the software or hardware side, although I already do some programming on my own.”

“Just about everything either has computers in it or is about to, so I guess you’ll have job security. I’m an accountant. So long as there is a government to tax things, I’ll definitely have job security,” Henry laughed at the last bit.

“So, what do you two have planned for the night?” asked Holly.

“We’re going to see ‘The Bourne Identity’ and then go have dinner at Calvino’s,” I said.

“That’s the movie with Matt Damon that came out a month or two ago, right?” asked Henry.

“Yep, that’s the one.”

“I really dig his flicks. Wanna dump the women at home and make it a guy’s night out?” He laughed and clapped his hand on my back.

I laughed along with him. “As much fun as I think that would be, I think April would hate me forever for dumping her on our first date.”

April had come downstairs in the last couple of minutes. “Geez, dad. It’s my first date and you’re already trying to corrupt my boyfriend.” April seemed to realize immediately she had called me her boyfriend and started to blush, but I was all smiles - who was I to complain if a beautiful woman wanted to call me her boyfriend?

“Let’s get going. I like to watch the trailers before the movie,” April said.

“It was nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. - err, Henry and Holly.”

“Nice to meet you too, Jake. Have a good time, April,” replied Holly.

We had eaten our side-salads and were just talking as we waited for our entrees to arrive. I had ordered lasagna and April had ordered fettuccine with alfredo sauce.

“I loved the movie, what did you think about it?” April asked.

“I really enjoyed it. I have to agree with your dad - Matt Damon makes good movies. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I think I may end up reading the novels. Of course, that might ruin the movies for me - usually, the movie is not as good as the book.”

“That may be true. But I think you can enjoy them as separate entities - they’re related but not the same thing. I think a book is more about using your own imagination, while a movie is kind of like taking a tour ride through someone else’s imagination and interpretation of a story.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s a good way to look at it. Of course, someone else’s imagination could still be junk.”