Chapter 6: Double Date

Kevin cornered me first thing on Friday morning. “Dude, are you free tonight?”

I shrugged. “Got nothing planned. Why?”

He raised both eyebrows. “Can you double date with me?”

“What?” I stared at him. Kevin had never asked me to double-date with him before.

“After you blew me off on Saturday for Kelly—which I don’t blame you for, by the way, I’d have done the same thing—well, I sort of asked Lauren if she fancied going out instead.”

“Finally!” I grinned. “It’s about bloody time, mate. Where’d you find the balls?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. She was standing by her locker on her own yesterday afternoon, and I just went for it.”

“Good for you. But what’s this got to do with me?”

“She said she couldn’t come out on Saturday ‘cause she already had plans, but that she could go out tonight instead. The trouble is, her mum will only let her go out if it’s a double date with Lisa.”

Lisa and Lauren Simms were twins. I’d known them since we were all very small. In fact, I’d known most of my friends since we were little. Kevin had had a crush on Lauren for as long as I can remember. She was the more outgoing of the two, which is probably why she attracted more male attention than her sister, even though they were identical. Lisa, on the other hand, was more studious, and it often seemed like she was in her sister’s shadow.

It didn’t used to be like that. For years, most people couldn’t tell them apart. But for the last year or so, they’d started to differentiate themselves. Well, Lauren started to differentiate herself. For example, for as long as I can remember, they’d had the same hairstyle, but six months ago, Lauren had put some red streaks in her hair and cut it shorter so it only reached her shoulders, while Lisa’s was still halfway down her back and solidly raven-black, same as it had always been.

I nodded at Kevin. “In that case, count me in.”

“Thanks, mate. You’re the best. Hey, is this going to get you into any trouble with Kelly, do you think?”

“Why would it?”

“I just thought...”

“Well, don’t think, it doesn’t suit you.” I grinned, and Kevin grinned back. “Just go and find the twins and let them know we’ll pick them up at seven. But, mate, if I end up watching the same film two nights in a row, it’s your fault.”

Vicky let me borrow the car on the condition that I drop her off for her shift. She said she’d get a lift back, so I needn’t worry about ending my date early, which seemed a pointless thing to say because her Friday and Saturday shifts always lasted until well after midnight, and the chances were that the Simms twins would need to be home well before then.

I picked up Kevin at ten to seven, and the twins were waiting for us in their front yard when I pulled up as the hour struck. Kevin and Lauren sat in the back, while Lisa got into the front passenger seat beside me. Kevin and Lauren were immediately lost in their own little world, gazing into each other’s eyes and whispering. She seemed as excited as he did.

I think the crush may have been mutual.

“You look really nice tonight,” I said to Lisa.

She smiled demurely and said, “Thanks.” Then, after a pause, she added, “But not as nice as Lauren, right?”

Keeping my eyes firmly on Lisa, I repeated, “You look really nice tonight.”

This time she blushed, smiled and said, “Thanks.”

Kevin and Lauren only had eyes for each other throughout dinner, and I doubt they saw much of the movie either. When we got back in the car afterwards, I asked, “What time do you girls have to be back?”

“Midnight,” Lisa said.

I looked at my watch. “That gives you about an hour. Want to do anything else?”

“Could we go to The Rec?” Lauren asked.

The Recreation Ground was a large public garden with playing fields on the edge of town—one of the facilities set up by Liddington-Phipps when the factory opened. It was also where most of the teenagers went when they were on dates, to do the kind of things that teenagers do when they are on dates, if you know what I mean.

I parked as far away from the other cars as I could and switched off the engine. Kevin and Lauren were all over each other before it had even stopped ticking.

I glanced at Lisa. “Want to go for a walk around the lake?”

She looked behind her, then back at me and nodded. “Good idea.”

The boating lake was just a minute’s walk from where I’d parked, and it would probably take us about twenty minutes to stroll around if we took our time. It was a clear night, and the moon shone brightly high above us. The park was well-lit, so we couldn’t see any stars, just that big, bright moon.

“Thank you for tonight,” Lisa said softly. “It was important to Lauren. She was devastated when Mum said that any first date she went on this year had to be a double date.”

“I was wondering about that. She’s never done that before, has she?”

Lisa shook her head. “She decided I wasn’t getting out enough. She thinks there’s something wrong with me for spending all my time with my nose stuck in a book.”

“She knows you’re top of the class, right?”

“Like she cares. I want to go to university, but she thinks I should just pick some guy, settle down and reproduce. Just like she did.” She paused. Then sighed. “That might be good enough for Lauren, but it’s not good enough for me.” She quickly added, “I don’t mean that in a bad way, I love Lauren to bits and whatever she wants, you know?”

I nodded.

“But I want more.”

“And you’ll get it. I wish I had your smarts.”

She stared at me, and a cute little smile formed at the corners of her mouth, her lips tightly pressed together. Then she shook her head and let out a gentle laugh.

I raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You. Trying to make out like you’re not the smartest kid in the school.”

“I’m not.”

Her eyes went wide. “Like hell, you’re not! You’re so damn smart that you know better than to be top of the class. It’s alright for girls to do well, but you lads have a rep to maintain.”