First Date

Jessica froze. Time stopped and she couldn’t think. What happened, you might ask. I’ll tell you what happened.

Jeremy Anderson spoke to her. That’s what happened. Oh that’s right! I forgot to tell you who I am. My name is Angela Reid, best friend to Jessica Rodriguez – the girl who froze. They say I'm a tomboy because... I don't really know but I think it's because I haven't had a boyfriend, ever, and yet I'm friends with the hottest guys in school (or at least that's what the other girls tell me).

Now back to my amusing story: Jeremy Anderson, captain of the basketball team, heartthrob of the year and undoubtedly the hottest guy in the school spoke to my best friend. But, that is not what made her freeze. The reason for her loss of all coherent thought is Jeremy asking her out. Before I tell you about that, let me tell you something about Jess.

Jessica Rodriguez is a junior at Central City high school, the same as me. She has reddish-brown hair and striking brown eyes and is most probably the shiest person I know. She is part of the volleyball team and is good at the sport but no one seems to notice it besides her friends and teammates. Before she met me, she barely spoke to anyone and up until now she’s still basically a part of the school’s walls, literally. No one notices her outside of our own group so it came as a shock that the hottest guy in school had asked her out. Unlike her, however, I am pretty popular although I have no idea why. But, that is a story for another time.

There are a total seven of us in our group. There’s me, Jess, Andrew – he’s a part of the football team, Kevin – he’s Jeremy’s teammate, Hitomi – a Japanese exchange student who’s the captain of the lacrosse team, Sheila and Sean – they’re twins and both are swim team champions. We’re an odd little group but we fit in together, no one minds what the other person does and we get along really well.

Today was supposed to be just another school day. So, we went about our business. Class as usual, then recess and back to class. After a tedious five hours, lunch came about. Every lunch we go to the quad and sit on the grass to eat. Today was no different. Jess and I were walking towards our friends while she babbled on about any and everything that came to her mind.

“Angie, do you have any plans for the weekend?” she asked me.

“Um, sorry Jess, I promised Dave I’d spend some time with him this weekend,” I said, talking about my four year old brother. She looked downcast but she quickly tried to cover it up with a smile.

“That’s alright. Anyway, did you hear about…” was all I heard before I tuned out her incessant chatter. Seriously, she’s my best friend but sometimes she talks too much.

Before long we had reached the group. They were sitting on the grass in the middle of the quad, under the shade of an oak tree. We were at one corner of the quad so we could see everything from our point of view. On the grass, there were other students milling around while some are on the bleachers. To my left, I saw the basketball team on the blue bleachers, to my right was the football team on the red bleachers while straight ahead was the Science building with its white-washed walls. Blue, red and gold are the school's colors so it is not surprising they would color the bleachers like that. From my vantage point I could see some of the younger students sitting by the fountain in the middle of the quad to keep themselves cool. I pulled my black hair up into a messy ponytail when I felt the heat coming from the ground as my chocolate brown eyes regarded everything in sight.

Anyway, back to my story. Andrew and Kevin were arguing about the better sport, Sean and Sheila were bickering about their food while Hitomi watched with amusement. Jessica went over to sit next to Hitomi while I opted to sit next to the arguing guys. I bopped them on the head which effectively stopped all noise. We began to eat our various lunches while talking.

Suddenly I noticed Jeremy stand up from his seat on the bleachers among his team and make his way to us. I immediately knew where he was going, or more specifically to whom. I nudged both Andrew and Kevin and subtly nodded at the direction of the upcoming guest. They turned back to me with conspiratorial smirks. My suspicion was confirmed when Jeremy stopped in front of our whole group, a light pink tinting his cheeks and suddenly his shoes looked to be very interesting.

I smiled to myself. ‘Who knew, the basketball captain was shy?’ I thought. Then I looked at Kevin, he was wearing a knowing smile with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I shook my head in amusement. Finally, after a long awkward moment Kevin broke the tense silence. Apparently the three of us were not the only ones to notice Jeremy’s arrival.

“Jeremy!” Kevin greeted. “Did I forget basketball practice or something?” he asked innocently.

“Um… um… Yeah! Actually Coach asked me to remind you that we have practice after school today.”

“Oh, cool!” was the reply. “Thanks for reminding me.” Kevin said, “Anyway, is that all you came to talk about?” he asked cheekily.

“Actually, no,” Jeremy replied “I wanted to talk to Jessica,” he said, finally looking at her. The girl’s curious expression turned into one of shock and wonder as she regarded him carefully as if expecting someone to jump out from somewhere to tell her that it was a joke.

“Should we leave?” Andrew jested. “We could go so the two of you could have some privacy, you know,” he suggested. Both Jessica and Jeremy blushed crimson at the implication.

“No, that’s alright,” Jeremy replied after a long moment of silence. He wasn’t looking at Andrew though, but at Jessica. It seemed like they were already speaking to each other through their eyes and all six of us in the audience exchanged knowing looks. “I just wanted to ask if you wanted to go out with me this weekend.” Jeremy said after taking a deep breath to steady his nerves. His question was addressed to Jessica and we all knew that. His eyes seemed to be asking her the same question that his mouth had just had.

Jeremy looked expectantly at Jessica but the poor girl was petrified in her place next to Hitomi. The next thing we knew, she had slumped in her seat, passed out with the silliest smile on her face.

To Jeremy, it was the best answer he had ever gotten, if the goofy grin he wore was any proof of what he was thinking. The six of us, meaning Kevin, Andrew, Sean, Sheila, Hitomi and me looked at each other with conspiratorial smiles and I thought, "This is gonna be the best first date ever."