Chapter 13: Saturday

I woke up Saturday morning feeling the best that I had felt in a long time. As I woke up I realized that the first thing I thought about was Leslie. I knew I was in trouble when I started to think about her all the time. I was definitely going to call her that day and ask her to go out with me on Sunday.

Leslie wasn't the only reason that I felt good though. I realized that it was the first time since the attack in the school parking lot that I felt physically pretty good. My ribs didn't hurt and I felt pretty good in general.

After my usual morning ritual, I decided that I needed to make plans for the day. I called Larry and asked him if he was up for going to the gym. He was thrilled that I was ready to get to our workout schedule, so he was going to pick me up later in the morning and we would head over to the gym.

After I got off the phone with Larry, I called my friend, Tom. I wanted to see what had happened with Mary the night before and also to firm up our plans for going to the party that night.

"Tommy Boy, what's up?"

"Hefe! I'm glad you called. We still on for the party tonight?"

"Actually, I'm still up for it. That's one of the reasons that I called."

"Cool. You want to ride over with me?"

"Sure. You want me to get Lars and Steve lined up to ride over there with us too?"

"Yeah. That sounds good. I'll head over to your place after dinner and we can pick those guys up if they want to ride with us."

"Sounds good. I am going to the gym with Larry in a bit, so I'll talk to him then."

"Okay."

"So... What happened last night with Mary?"

"Oh, ah, nothing really. She's very cool though."

"Did you end up hanging out with her the whole night?"

"Pretty much. We sat together at the game almost the whole time and then we talked more after the game at the restaurant."

"Are you going to ask her out?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind taking her on a date somewhere."

"Did you get her number?"

"No, but I figured that I could get it the next time I see her. It's not like I don't pass her in the halls at school all the time. How about you and Leslie? What's up with you guys? You were glued to her all night long."

"I'm definitely into her. I always have a great time when we're together. She and I connect in ways that I have never connected with any other girl before."

"Uh, oh. Sounds like Hefe's in love!"

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, buddy. I don't know about being in love because I don't know what that feels like, but I know that I want to be with her all the time. It's actually kind of scary."

"Damn man. You do have it bad. Seriously, though, that's great. Isn't that what everyone wants?"

"I don't know. I think some people just want to get a piece of ass."

"Okay, I can see that," he laughed. "Hell, I want that too!"

"Well I have news for you. You don't get a choice. When you start feeling for someone like I do about Leslie, it just happens. You get sucked in. You don't make a conscious choice about it."

"Well I don't feel that way about anyone at the moment, so I'll settle for the piece of ass if it is offered at this party tonight."

"You do that! I would too, if I were you."

"You make it sound like you'll turn it down if sex is offered to you tonight by some hottie."

"I will. I'm going to this party to have a good time, but I'm going to ask Leslie out. I don't want to screw that up."

"You're pussy-whipped and you don't even know if she'll go out with you."

"I think she will. I'm going to call her after we get off the phone and see if she wants to go on a date tomorrow."

"Good luck, man. Let me know tonight what she says."

"I will."

"Where are you going to take her?"

"I'm not sure. I was thinking about a hayride and then maybe the haunted house."

"That's a cool date. She'll like that. Maybe I should have gotten Mary's number so I could take her.

"I am sure that I could get it for you from Leslie if you want to ask her to go. We could even double if you want. It might make it easier for you to get her to go."

"That's a great idea! Are you sure you don't mind? I don't want to mess up your chances of getting somewhere with Leslie if you want to try."

"You have a one-track mind," I laughed. "I think that I will be on plenty of dates with her. I'm not going to try to get her in the sack tomorrow."

"Okay. Your loss," he joked. "I guess you should get that number for me. I think it would be a fun day to go with you guys if Mary wants to hang with me."

"All right. I'll get the number for you. I'll call you back."

"Cool. Talk to you then."

I hung up with Tom and called Leslie. Her father answered the phone and asked who was calling. I told him who I was and asked it I cold talk to Leslie.

"Oh. Are you the Jeff that intervened for Leslie that night in the parking lot?"

"Yes, that's me."

"I want to thank you for what you did that night. I have been meaning to call you and thank you, but things have been crazy at work and I always get sidetracked."

"That's okay. You don't have to thank me. I just did what I thought was right. I would have done the same thing for anyone."

"I'm sure you would have, son, but I want to thank you all the same."

"You're welcome, Mr. Mathews. I'm glad I was there."

"I am, too. Before I get Leslie for you, I just want to say something. Leslie needs to go out with some boys. I have been afraid that she wouldn't go out with anyone after being attacked like that. I just wanted to let you know that even if she doesn't know it, I think it is good for girls her age to go on dates and meet boys. She probably thinks that I wouldn't let her date anyone, but that's not true. If you ever hear her say that I won't let her go out on a date, you call her bluff. I don't want her to hide behind me when it comes to stuff like that. She deserves to be happy and I think more social activities would be good for her."

I didn't know what to make of this conversation. Leslie always hinted that her father was very strict and here he was encouraging me to ask her out.

"I'll, ah, keep that in mind, Mr. Mathews."

"You do that, son. I'll go get Leslie and tell her you are on the phone for her."

"Thanks."

I waited for minute while he went to get her and eventually she picked up the phone.

"Jeff? Is that you?"

"Hey Leslie. Yeah it's me."

"I was hoping you would call."

"Why's that?" I teased.

"No reason. I just hoped you would call."

"Oh, well here I am."

"Yeah? So what's up?"

"I had a great time with you last night."

"Thanks. I had a great time, too." I could almost hear her blushing on the other end.

"That's why I'm calling. All of the time that I have known you we have spent time together, but it has always been just hanging out. I wanted to see if you would like to go on a real date with me."

"Yes! I would love to. When? Tonight?"

"No, I can't tonight. I'm going to that party with the guys tonight, but I would love to take you out on Sunday, if that is okay with you."

"Oh, you're still going to that party? I was hoping you wouldn't go."

"I already made plans with the guys for that and I can't back out on them. My parents always told me growing up that you should never change plans and dump one friend just because something better comes up later. Once you make plans you stick to them."

"Okay, I understand," she replied. Then she brightened up a bit. "So you think that I'm the something better coming along?"

"Definitely. If I didn't already have plans for tonight I would have asked you out for tonight. The sooner the better."

"Aww. That's sweet, Jeff. I'd love to go out with you on Sunday then. Where are we going to go?"

"I was thinking of going on a hayride and then maybe over to the haunted house when it gets dark. We could even ask Mary and Tom to double if you want."

"That sounds like a fun date. I guess we could ask Mary and Tom to go. Tom would have to ask Mary out, though. I'm not going to let him off the hook that easy."

"I'm sure he would have no problem with that. I don't think he has her number, though, so you'll have to give it to me and I'll call him with it."

"Okay, here it is..."

We talked a bit more about the date and she seemed very excited. "If we go with Tom and Mary we won't get to spend too much time alone though." I was surprised that she suggested that.

"We can snuggle up on the hayride and I think I can find us some alone-time at the haunted house."

"Just how are you going to do that?"

"You'll have to wait and see."

"Okay. I'm looking forward to it."

"Good. It's a date then. Don't make any plans for dinner, either. We can grab something while we're out."

"Okay. So... you'll call me tomorrow and tell me what time you are coming to get me?"

"Yep. I'll call you in the morning and we'll arrange a time for the afternoon."

"Okay. Thanks, Jeff. I'll be thinking about you tonight."

"All right. I'll be thinking about you as well. I'm sorry that it worked out this way."

"It's okay, really. I just don't like that girl, Missy. She has plans for you. I can tell."

"I don't really care what plans she has for me. I don't have plans for her, so that's her problem. I'm just going to the party to have fun. I'm not going there to be with her."

"Okay. I just don't trust her."

"Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Then don't worry about Missy. She's not a problem."

"Okay Jeff. Have a good time. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Okay. Talk to you then."

"Bye."

After we hung up I called Tom back and gave him Mary's number. He did get her to agree to come out with us the following day, so we were on for our double date.

Larry and I had a great workout that day. I was out of shape a bit from taking the time off, but it felt great just to be back in the gym. Larry made me take it slow so I wouldn't hurt myself. I'm sure he saved me a lot of pain by doing that because several days later I was very sore.

We went through the usual routine, but I dropped the weight down on my sets considerably from what I was doing before my injuries. I felt confident that I would be back up to where I was before in no time. I figured it would take about a week or two to get back up there. It turns out that it took a bit longer than that, but I made steady progress each day.

I took it easy at home the rest of the day on Saturday. I wanted to be well rested for the party. It sounded like it was going to be a good one and I wanted to be awake and ready for some partying when we got there.

Tom picked me up after dinner and we picked up Larry and Steve as well. Tom knew where Jessie lived, so we had no problem finding her house. By the time we got there it was about 9:00 and the party was in full swing. We had to park about three blocks away because there were so many cars parked on the street already. I actually thought that it was a bad thing that there were so many people there because it really increased our chances of the party being busted by the police. It didn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that there was a big party going on.

All that had to happen was for one of the neighbors to complain about noise or something and the police would show up. I told the guys my concern and we made a plan for getting out of there if the cops showed up. We would meet back at the car rather than looking for each other at the party if the cops came. That way we could get out of there faster. Parties like this had been busted before in our town, and I didn't want to get arrested. My parents would kill me.

We walked up to the house and decided to ring the bell instead of just going in. Jessie actually answered the door and welcomed us in. She told us where the beer was and told us to make ourselves at home. As we started mingling with the other kids from school I noticed that a lot of the guys that I was friends with were already there and some of them were actually talking to the girls. Miracles do happen.