Chapter 2

REWARDS

I opened my eyes. One minute I was sleeping, dead to the world, the next, I was aware of everything. I felt energized. I felt like I could take on the world and still come out on top. Then, my mind remembered what today was.

I had a date with Melanie, today!

Suddenly, it was like I couldn't move fast enough. There were so many things to do, so many things to get ready, my tux for example. Truth was, there was not much to get ready as I'd already taken care of most things, but as energized as I was, as anxious as I felt, I needed to work out most of that anxiety and energy.

I made breakfast, which was a rare thing seeing as I was never a morning person. I needed a way to work out that energy.

Mom was surprised but pleased. I'd at least relieved her of her duty for a while, even if it was for a single morning. Dad was bemused. He made a smart-ass comment about teenagers and their eagerness, but mom put him in his place. Seems like it runs in our blood to be this anxious on our first dates, for the men in our family, that is.

I left for school a good fifteen minutes earlier than I normally did. I'd never been late to school but it was the first time I was the first few to reach school.

At school, the few people that were there were staring at me. I was sure that it was my unusual time of arrival. Who was I even kidding? They were looking at me, wondering if the supposed date was going to happen and if my coming to school earlier than unusual had anything to do with it.

I paid them no attention. Four days of being the center of attention will make you develop thick skin. It helped that I'd never taken people's opinion to mean much to me.

I was rewarded for my effort as I saw Melanie arrive in her car. It was the latest model of BMW convertible which should have alerted me that the girl was from a wealthy home, but I hadn't been paying attention.

I watched her as she gracefully came out of her car. She wore a light green top that accentuated her bust with a scoop neckline. She also wore a flowery printed skirt with hints of green and white to complement her top. She looked absolutely beautiful, but I could be biased. Melanie will always look beautiful to me, even if she was in rags; this much was evident when I saw her last night without her make-up and still thought she was beautiful.

Then my eyes flitted to her right hand and I saw it. It was a white and green flower corsage that I'd had delivered to her home very early that morning. It was the reason why I came this early to school. I wanted to know if she'd wear the corsage or not. I'd placed my money on her not wearing it but it felt good losing this time, even if it was to myself.

I looked up from where I was staring with almost an open-mouth at her hand and at the corsage to her face. She surreptitiously glanced at me and our eyes met. There was mirth in her eyes. She had no doubt worn the corsage to rattle me. I smiled at her.

And just like that, it was like I never existed in her world before. It didn't bother me. It never bothered me. Why should it? She was behaving no differently from how she'd always behaved. I mean, until few days ago, I never even existed in her world. So why should I now? And why should it bother me when I knew that she was going to spend that evening with me.

With a smile to myself on my small victory, I turned and walked towards the campus. I was immediately besieged by Jeremy.

"Dude, you got to tell me that you're going out with her tonight man," Jer said as soon as he was upon me.

I smiled at him. "Good morning to you too, Jer," I greeted, a little too cheerfully.

He ignored my greeting. "So?" he persisted.

"So what?" I asked back.

"Don't give me that!" he admonished. "You know what I'm talking about. Did you succeed in getting her to accept?" he asked.

I debated telling him or not. Jer had been my best friend for God knows how long and I'd never knowingly kept secrets from him. There are few things I'd keep from him. But, Melanie had made it clear that NO ONE was to know we were going out together. Did that include Jer?

"I'm sorry, man," I apologized, which was confusing because I was apologizing for lying to him while actually my apology was for out rightly lying to him.

"You didn't get her to go out with you?" he asked, his face showing his obvious disappointment of the very notion.

I shook my head in the negative while wincing. It was difficult lying to him. I didn't know if I could keep up the charade if I opened my mouth.

"Well, that's fucked up, dude, completely fucked up," he lamented.

"Tell me about it," I replied finding my voice.

He was quiet for a moment as he thought about something. "But you do have a plan, right?" he asked, hopefully.

I nodded. "Yeah, but it kinda depends on her," I confessed.

"Shit," he cursed. "This is not what I thought I'll hear when I woke up this morning. You got to do something, dude," he implored.

"I'll try but to be honest, I think I may have over reached," I said.

"I did tell you that you were crazy," he answered.

"I know but I just... ," I trailed off. "I thought it was possible." "I know." He sighed. "I guess this is real world," he said as his pace increased.

I looked at my friend and my heart wanted to break. How could I do this to him? He was supposed to be my best friend, the one who I trusted above all. If I couldn't trust him with this, what does it say of our friendship?

I know what Melanie had said but I'd already told my family. Granted, family was family but Jer was like a brother. Should I even keep something like this from him? It was inhumane.

I looked up to tell him that I was just messing with his head, to tell him that it was all a joke but at that instant, I saw him looking to a group of four guys who ran in the same circle as us and shook his head, pointedly. One of the guys, Chris threw his hands into the air in jubilation while the other three looked dejected.

Whatever I wanted to say died in my throat. How could he do this to me? How could he have placed bets with the guys? It never crossed my mind that he'd placed his bet on me. I was filled with mild rage over what I conceived as his betrayal. And here I was feeling all bad about lying to him.

At that instant, I felt justified about lying to him. If I hadn't lied to him, it would have been all over school that Melanie and I were going out and that would be disastrous. I looked up to the heavens and thanked my stars that I'd not allowed sentiments influence me.

The rest of the day went slowly. I wanted to do nothing but go home and prepare for my date but my teachers were more interested in teaching. Besides, there was no way I could leave school without raising a few suspicious minds.

I was aware that my actions were being scrutinized, even more so than was normal for the last few days. People were curious to know what the situation was but the only people that really knew were myself and Melanie, and Emily, her friend.

I wasn't entirely sure about that one but I'd turned in my history class to meet her gaze. She'd averted her gaze but I'd still caught her looking at me, making me wonder if Melanie had confided in her best friend.

It made perfect sense that she'd confide in her best friend, at least that's what women did. It gave me pleasure that I'd been worthy of mentioning to her friend. The worst thing would be her not mentioning me at all. It never struck me as unfair that she gets to tell her friend and I don't. As far as I knew, I was getting the better end of the stick.

Lunch period found me in the cafeteria, eating lunch and surreptitiously glancing at my lady. Did she know that whenever she smiles, her eyes glints, making them almost fiery? Did she...

I was interrupted by somebody, by a group of somebodies.

"So, what's the plan?" Jer asked. He'd stopped at the table with three of the guys from this morning.

"Yeah, man. I can't believe you're completely going to let this opportunity slip," Mark almost whined. Listening to him, you'd think that he was the one going out with Melanie.

The other two guys, Jason and Chase nodded while looking anxiously at me.

I was overwhelmed with a strong sense of emotion, emotion I couldn't fathom and my eyes got blurry. I can't believe that these guys cared about me this much to worry about my love life. My eyes threatened to get blurry.

"Thanks, guys for your concern. I really appreciate it," I said with a voice thick with emotion.

"We know. We love you, you love us, end of story. Stop being gay and tell us what the plan is," Jason curtly said. He'd always been that curt, believe me.

We all laughed at his curt reply.

"The plan is to get her alone so that I could convince her, but seeing as she is stuck to the hip with her friends, I don't see how that's possible," I said while doing my best to appear dejected.

The four of them looked at themselves as if conferring amongst themselves.

"What if we could help you with that?" Jer asked, after their conferment.

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious to know what they would suggest.

"What if we could get her alone?" Chase clarified, which was the first time he was saying anything since this conversation started.

I looked pointedly at him, at each of them to know if they were serious; they were, dead serious.

"How—how would you do that?" I asked, perplexed by their suggestion.

Jer smiled at me. "All the years we've been friends and you have no idea what we're capable of," he said with a lopsided grin on his face.

I was about replying that when Chase asked, "We'll get her to speak to you alone, but can you do it?" He was looking pointedly at me, all of them were.

I smiled uncomfortably. I didn't like the way this was going. I already had a date with Melanie but I couldn't tell them that because it would betray her trust. But what was I going to do? I realized that I wanted to know what they would do. I wanted to know how far they would go for me; I was that curious.

"Okay," I said at last. "If you could get her to meet alone with me, I'll do my best to convince her to go out with me," I finished.

"You have to promise, man," Chase intoned.

"Yeah, you have to," Mark seconded.

"No chickening out after we'd done the brunt of the job," Jason finished in his usual curt manner.

I looked at Jer to see where he stood on the matter. "Don't look at me," he defended. "Left to me, you'd be stuck in your room watching porn for the rest of your life," he joked.

We laughed at that. I knew that he was the one who most wanted me to go on this date, except for my family that is.

"Promise, man," Chase reminded me.

I looked at all four of them as they stared anxiously back at me. I wanted to laugh and call an end to this charade but at the same time, I wanted to see what they had up their collective sleeves.

"Alright. Get her alone with me, and I'll get her to go out with me, I promise," I said while holding up my hand.

"Cross your heart and hope to die," Jer couldn't resist adding.

We laughed at his comic relief.

"Finish your lunch and go to the supplies room and wait there," Chase said, getting back to business.

"The supplies room?" I asked in mock shock. "You guys have to be kidding me." Jer shook his head. "We kid you not." "But you have to be original. There's no way she'd ever agree to go to that place," I complained.

"Do you want privacy with your lady?" Mark asked, cutting to the crux of the matter.

I nodded in reply. "Then, just go in there right about now and allow us to do our job," Mark ordered.

I knew that if I put up more fights they'd get suspicious, so I got up like they ordered and made my way to the supplies room.

The place was not all that bad for a meeting with my fair lady. I just didn't know if my friends would come through for me, for themselves, actually.

I wandered through the supplies room, inspecting the different treasure which it held, while all the while looking at my watch. My friends had better come through because my next period was almost upon me.

I turned to the door when someone opened the door to the room expecting to see any of my friends telling me that the joke had been on me, but it wasn't what I expected that I saw. Before me was Melanie, the woman of my dreams looking at me with a smile on her face.

"What—how—what—uh—um," I stuttered. I was surprised to see her there. In fact, I was so surprised that I couldn't form any meaningful sentence. I couldn't believe my friends had come through. What had they done?

"I believe from the look on your face that you don't know anything about this?" she asked with just a hint of anger, her earlier smile completely gone from her face.

"I—um—uh," I stuttered again. I was still at loss for words.

"You're going to have to do better than that," she said, patiently.

I shook my head. The woman of my dreams was here with me and I was making a fool of myself. What was up with that? I gotta stop stuttering before I blow every chance I might already have with her. If only I could get over my surprise.

"You seemed more articulate last night at my house," she intoned.

I found my voice. "That was because I'd thought through every possible scenario in my head and was prepared. I'm just surprised that my friends got you to come here. What did they say to you, by the way?" "That's between them and me. I believe you have a convincing to do," she observed.

"Tell me about it," I replied.

"Why didn't you just tell them we are already going out?" she asked.

I looked at her, not believing that she was the one asking that question. "You did say not to tell ANYONE about us going out tonight," I answered.

She raised her eyes in surprise. "You didn't tell anyone?" she asked.

I blushed in embarrassment. At my reaction, she seemed disappointed. "I told my parents and my Grand Pa, but that's all," I clarified.

"Those are the only people you've told?" she asked in surprise.

I nodded. I couldn't find a better reply to that.

"Wow," she said in amazement.

"You sound so surprised," I observed.

She looked at me. "Well yeah. I figured you'd shout it to the whole school by now." I smiled at her obvious small confidence in me. "You looked terrifying last night," I retorted.

She surprised me by laughing out. "You surprised me. And I don't like surprises." "Is that for just last night or a clue for me?" I asked interestedly.

She looked at me. "You seem sure of yourself," she observed. " ... For a guy that was just about to eat his tongue." I smiled at her riposte. She had a sense of humor that I liked. "I have to be," I said. I wanted to add 'if I could ever have a chance with you' but I didn't.

Her eyes bore into me, evaluating me, scrutinizing me. I allowed her that.

"You look beautiful today," I said after some time, cutting short her scrutiny.

She smiled at my compliment. "Someone sent me a corsage with green and white flower. He didn't exactly leave me with much choice." I smiled back at her. "Note taken. I'd do better next time." "You're cocky," she observed.

"Not cocky. I just... ," my voice trailed. "I like talking to you. You make it easy to talk to," I finished.

"Note taken," she replied.

"So what do I say to my friends?" I asked, not knowing what to say to them. I wanted to not betray her trust but I couldn't leave my friend hanging like that, not after everything they've done.

"Do you trust them?" she asked her eyes boring into me. At my nod, she continued, "Seeing as they have gone through such trouble to get us together, I say you tell them." I sighed with relief. She'd just settled a major problem for me.

"But," she moved menacingly towards me. "If I hear any word around school that we are going out tonight, you wouldn't like what I'd do to you," she threatened.

She was only a few feet away from me but her threatening look made her look every bit an amazon warrior. I had no doubt that she would do what she threatened.

I nodded at her, showing her that I understood the import of what was at stake. Just then, her scent wafted to my nose. By God, did she smell good?

"You smell nice," I observed, my eyes roaming appreciatively all over her.

The menacing look left her face as she turned and left. I stood there not believing that I'd just spent an inordinate amount of time with the girl I've always dreamt of but never thought could be reachable. Things sure have a way of changing. I sent a silent thanks to my Grand Pa for making me promise to do this.

I left the supplies room to meet the expectant faces of my friends. I almost laughed at the look on their faces. That was before my mind connected the import of what they'd done.

These four guys have always been in my circle of friends but I never knew that they cared this much about me to go to this extent. I don't know what they did but they talked to a girl they wouldn't normally talk to because of me. Now, the tears came out.

I wiped the tears off my face and smiled at them. "Thank you," I mouthed at them.

"So?" Jason, ever the curt one asked. I smiled broadly at their looks.

I pulled them into the supplies room. "You have to promise never to say anything of this to anyone else, not even to yourselves," I addressed them.

They looked around each other and one by one they nodded.

"We're going out tonight," I admitted.

There were gestures of victory by the guys. I smiled at them. Look at them; they were happy that I'd scored a date with Melanie. What about me that was going out with her?

"Remember, no word of this to anyone, ever," I admonished.

"Relax, dude, we're happy that you got your date, thanks to us. We're not going to mess it up for you after all the work we did," Jer observed.

I wanted to reply him but the bell rang at that moment. With another thanks to them, we left the supplies room to our various periods. Today had been a day of revelations.

The rest of the school day went without any problem or bother from either my friends or the rest of the student body.

When I got home that afternoon, mom was there as usual, but what was unusual was the enthusiasm with which she greeted me.

"Wow, if I'd known that I'd be treated this way, I'd have asked a girl out since," I remarked when it was obvious that mom was going to continuing fussing over me.

"Don't be a smart-ass," she chided. "I'm just glad that my baby is growing up." "Your baby? I've not been your baby since I stopped breastfeeding and you know it," I retorted, somewhat irritated by her calling me her baby.

"Don't worry, when you have a kid you'd understand what I mean," she explained. "I'm happy you're following your heart, pursuing what you think will make you happy." I smiled at her astute remark. "Well, I have you and Grand Pa to thank for that. If it wasn't for you, I don't think I'll be able to summon the courage to do this." "Don't say that. Yeah, we gave you the push you needed but you're still the one that did the whole thing by yourself. Now, my baby is going on a date!" mom added, excitedly.

"All the same, if it weren't for you people, I don't think I'd be here." "You should remember that next time you think of doing something stupid," mom admonished.

"Something stupid?" I asked scandalized by the mere thought. "I'm the most responsible seventeen year old and you know it," I defended.

She scoffed at the idea. "You're responsible, maybe even more responsible than your peers but you're still a teenager." "And what's that supposed to mean?" "It only means that once in a while you're prone to give in to your teenage tendencies." "I do not!" "Do too!" "I do not! And you know it!" "Do I have to remind you of Spring Break last year?" she asked in her solicitous motherly tone.

Spring Break last year had been a bad moment for me, a moment of weakness and bad judgment. A group of us high schoolers had gone to a party hosted by a fraternity at UCLA. We'd been happy to be invited which was a favor by a good friend of Jer's family. The party had had all the hallmarks of a typical college party; pretty girls, booze and one that I'm ashamed to mention, dope. The party had been busted by college security and my parents had been contacted to pick me up from hold up. It wasn't a pretty moment for me, more so because I was more than a little bit tipsy.

"Wow, you're never going to forget about that are you?" I asked her.

She shook her head in the negative. "Not as long as you insist that you're more responsible than your peers.

"That's fair enough," I conceded.

"So, what are you doing about your hair?" she asked after a lull in our conversation.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, not getting her drift.

"I mean, what are going to do about your hair. You're not planning on going out with your hair like that, are you?" she asked.

"Well," I hedged. "I never thought about it." She laughed at my discomfort. "And you said you had everything planned out," she remarked.

"I do have everything planned out," I defended.

"Except for your hair, that is?" she asked, a smug smile on her face.

"Okay, you win," I conceded.

"Don't feel bad about it. I knew you didn't think of it. So I made you an appointment." "Thank you, mom. I really appreciate it." "What are mothers for?" she asked in her signature line.

"To remind their kids when they've screwed up," I answered and we laughed to that.

"You better go do your hair if you want a chance with Melanie." I rose from where I sat and made my way to where she sat. I kissed her on the forehead, conveying my thanks for all that she'd done, for thinking about me like this.

"Thank you, mom, for everything." She squeezed my hand before shooing me out of the house. Well, it seems I have an appointment with a barber.

While my hair would never be called unkempt, it wasn't all that in good shape, especially for tonight. It has been quite a while since I barbed, quite a while that I can't even remember the last time.

So, when the barber was through with my hair, even I could see the difference in how I looked. While I wasn't a supermodel handsome, I wouldn't be too modest as to deny that I was good looking, almost to the point of being called beautiful, that is, when I spruced myself up.

When I came home, dad was already home and he and mom were preparing dinner, together. Seems my parents were going to take this opportunity to rekindle their love life.

I went up to my room and rushed through my preparation. I had reservations for seven at the restaurant and it was already 6:09 pm. It didn't exactly leave me much time to take my time and I didn't want to be late in picking up my date.

I took a moment to look at myself at the mirror. And I liked what I saw. The gray suit I wore fitted my tall lean 6'2 frame, making me appear like a powerful man of means. The white shirt and ash gray tie only complemented my looks. With my haircut, it was one of those moments when I could truly admit to myself that I was beautiful. And I felt it.

I turned from the mirror and made my way downstairs. Mom was holding a recording camera as I descended the stairs, much like I expected. I had a suspicion that Grand Pa was behind that.

"Oh my God, my baby looks beautiful," mom exclaimed while still holding the camera.

I blushed in embarrassment. While it was no problem admitting it to myself, to have my mom say it out loud was kind of embarrassing.

"And he's blushing. Dean, my baby is beautiful and he's blushing," mom continued to exclaim into the camera.

"Yes, he looks like his father did the day he went on a date with the love of his life," dad intoned. Not you too dad.

Mom turned to dad and I could literally see her swoon. She leaned in and they both kissed, passionately.

I coughed to remind them that I was still in the house. They both disengaged from the kiss and turned to me but not before I saw mom give dad a lustful gaze. The old man was going to get lucky tonight.

Dad came and hugged me. "Good luck tonight, son, ' he wished me.

"Thanks dad," I replied.

Mom handed dad the camera and came and hugged me, tightly. "I'm so proud of you," she exclaimed.

I smiled at her enthusiasm. She was always my biggest fan.

"Thanks mom," I answered.

"Dean, the boy doesn't have a befitting watch. I'm sure you could lend him yours," mom asked dad while wiggling her eyes at him.

"Sure, as long as he promises to be careful with it," he said while removing the said watch from around his wrist.

I removed my own electronic watch and we exchanged watches. I don't know about you but I felt different putting on that watch, like I'd suddenly become more valuable.

I looked at the said watch and it was already 6:17. If I was going to be early, I needed to move, like five minutes ago.

So, hugging my parents, I bade them farewell and rushed out of there. For my date, my parents had not spared anything. Dad had loaned me his priced car, a 2010 Ford Mustang. It was my father's dream car and I was highly honored that he trusted me enough to loan it to me.

I entered the car and I stared at the power steering. It was a beautiful and special car, made only for taking out beautiful and befitting dates. I took the wheels and smelled the car; it was perfect for impressing dates.

"Let's go get my date," I said to the car as I started it. As the car roared to life, I smiled at myself. It was going to be grand first impression.

Mindful of traffic and how late I was already, I drove carefully to pick my dates. I arrived in ample time, making me wonder if it was a matter of perception, my being late, that is.

I walked towards the door of the house. I was about pressing the bell-button when I had an epiphany. This was it! Right here, right now, I could decide to walk away, and nothing would happen, no fuss, no problem, only bruised ego. Or, I could press that button and have my life change with all its uncertainties. What was it going to be?

I took a moment to organize my thoughts. It wasn't a simple matter of keeping a promise any longer. No, it was more than that now. It wasn't only about pursuing my dreams any longer. Neither was it only about the fact that I loved Melanie. It was bigger than these reasons now. Then, why was I going to ring that bell?

I could always find another dream to pursue. I could always find another woman to love. Was I even sure I loved Melanie? All I had was an image in my mind of what I hoped Melanie would be like. What if she wasn't what I thought she was? What if she wasn't who I thought she was?

While I admitted these doubts, I also felt a strong desire to know what It would be like, going out with Melanie. So far, the only reason my mind has come up with is a series of what if's. I wanted to know if she was the woman I thought she was, the woman of my dreams. And I was sure that as little as I knew about love, I really did love Melanie and I wanted to find out if we had a chance together.

With my internal chaos resolved, I steeled my confidence and pressed the button. As I heard the chime of bell, I knew that there was no going back. It was now or never!

Instead of the cheerful lady, I was greeted by a carbon-copy of Melanie, a bit older but Melanie no less.

"You must be Andrew, Melanie's date. I'm Lisa, her mother," she greeted, equally as cheerfully as the lady from the other day.

"Now, I know where she got her beauty from," I said, still in a daze at seeing this perfect replica of Melanie. If Melanie aged like her mother, then I'd be one lucky man.

I chided myself. Hear me talk as if it was already a done deal that I was going to marry her. I still had to get through this date with her.

She smiled at my complement. "At least I see how you ruffle her feathers. Please come in," she invited me into her home.

I stepped into the house and once again I was struck by the elegance of the house. I turned and I was equally stunned by the elegance of the host.

"Melanie will be down shortly," she said as she ascended the stairs, no doubt going to help out Melanie with her last minute touches.

I stood awkwardly by the porch as I was left alone. I wondered where Mr. VanCamp was but I had no time to dwell on that thought as I heard the click of heels.

I looked up the stairs and my breath literally caught in my throat. The woman standing before me, at the top of the stair was a vision alright. She wore a tight fitted blue dress that came up to her mid lap. Her hair was well packed but flowed down her shoulders. And she wore heels.

I'm sure that her dress was spectacular but the combination of her natural grace and carriage added to her allure. The end product was a vision, a truly spectacular vision.

She was beautiful!

And she was mine for the evening.

I could not find my voice. I could not think anything as I watched her sensuously descend the stairs. Her eyes bore on me and her face had a hint of smile on it. I'm sure that the stricken look on my face was complement enough for her.