Linda's Story

Because I Like You!

Linda O'Shea was honestly excited to get a phone call that Friday night while she was doing her homework. She picked up the phone, still focused on the science work before her. "Hello?"

"Linda? Hi, it's-"

"Danny! Hi!" She bit her lip- that was too excited. She cleared her throat, "what's up?"

"Wanna grab a bite to eat at the food court in the mall? I wanna ask you some questions."

Linda's heart fluttered at the possibility of eating with the cutest guy in school. "Sure! What time?"

"Twelve noon?"

"Sure. I'll see ya there."

*********

Linda didn't know why she was nervous as she chose a new outfit - she and Danny were very good friends. Her brother Jimmy had introduced them, and she sometimes babysat Danny's baby brother, Jamie. Although, Jamie was hardly a baby- he was almost seven.

She sighed as she pulled out a floral dress, pale purple tights to match, and white boots. It was the beginning of October, but it was colder than usual this year. She grabbed her purse and car keys (very grateful she had her drivers license already), and headed to the mall.

**********

Danny had rolled out of bed an hour before he was due to meet Linda at the mall. He took a quick shower- on the insistence of his mother- and threw on an old pair of worn out jeans and a light grey sweater. He wore his ratty old sneakers and didn't bother to brush his hair. He leaned against the entrance of the food court, waiting for the peppy blonde. She was far from the girls he normally went with- but he had to admit she was very, very pretty.

Linda spotted Danny in the crowd of people, and she cursed the blush that came to her cheeks when she laid eyes on him. "Get it together, O'Shea. You're just friends." She reminded herself under her breath, through gritted teeth. She put a genuine smile on her face and walked up to him. "Hey."

"Hey," Danny stood up straight from leaning on the wall. "Let's eat."

She followed him to the food cart with the hotdogs- she should've guessed- and made it a point to know his hotdog order.

While the guy was putting it together, Danny turned to her. "Want something else? I'm buying."

"Crepés sound amazing right now."

"Alright." So he payed for his hotdogs and steered the two of them to the cart with the crepés. Linda ordered two with Nutella and bananas- which he made a note of- and then they found a table to sit.

"So, what did you want to talk about?"

"You know Marianne Romano, right?"

Her heart dropped, "the girl you're going with?"

"Yeah. Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, anything." Why did she have a sinking feeling about this?

"Marianne thinks that we're stuck in a rut, and she wants to do something to spice it up."

"And you're asking me to help come up with ideas?" Her smile was gone, but the real question was why on earth was he asking the only virgin in the school?

"If you could, it'd mean a lot."

Linda sighed, "you want my honest opinion about you and Marianne, no bars attached?"

"No bars. Your honest opinion."

She sighed again, licking her canine. "I think you're doing yourself a huge disservice by having sex with that two-faced bimbo. She probably has a myriad of different sexually transmitted diseases, and she's manipulating you. She's got you wrapped around her little finger, like a marionette. And you'll probably get one of her sex diseases and become impotent, never to have children or un-protected sex with your future wife."