This Was Not the Plan (gxg)

Chapter 36

"I want to take you on a date." Kendall stated out of the blue.

A few weeks had passed since thanksgiving. Kendall and I spent all our afternoons and weekends together. It was a Thursday afternoon; Kendall and I were lounging on her bed, doing homework. Well – Kendall was doing homework – I was doodling in my notebook.

"Oh?" I said, looking up at her.

She set her calculous book down and leaned back on her hands, "do you not want to go on a date?"

"Of course I want to go on a date with you," I smiled, "I guess I'm just surprised."

"Why does that surprise you?"

"Well, we haven't exactly been out together since we started dating. At least not without our beards."

"Exactly! I want to go somewhere with you other than one of our houses."

I laughed, "Yeah, we are starting to become shut ins."

"Carful, you're mom hears you say that and she might think I'm encouraging you to become a hermit."

We both laughed hard at that. Over the last few weeks, mom had become very fond of Kendall. I was convinced it was because Kendall was so driven and had lots of potential and goals for herself. Knowing Mom, she thought being around Kendall would motivate me into doing better in school, or fight for some kind of passion.

Mom was also highly impressed by Kendall's cooking. There was a night Kendall had offered to help with dinner. Mom put her in charge of mashed potatoes after I had boasted about how incredible they were at thanksgiving. She fell madly in love with Kendall's cooking after that.

I had to admit, Kendall had really helped me and mom repair our relationship slightly. We didn't really talk about what happened the weeks after my suspension, but the tension had started to ease. She didn't push me to go to youth group as much, she didn't constantly ask about my schoolwork, and she even started taking an interest in my art. That was thanks to Kendall too. She had asked me to give her a fake tattoo, so I drew a simple outline of a german shepherd that resembled Schmidt. When mom saw it she was impressed. Ever since, she occasionally asked if I had drawn anything new.

It was weird having her more interested in my life, but it was a nice change. The attention made me feel special for once. Not like a disappointment.

But, as much as I loved that her and Kendall were getting along so well, I feared for the day she found out about us. It was the first time ever that mom had actually showed she loved me, and I actually felt loved by her. I had to keep reminding myself that it was most likely going to go away if she found out. We would go back to how it was before. Or worse.

"Are you ready to be out in public together?" I asked, pushing the thought of mom finding out to the back of my mind.

"I'm becoming more comfortable with the idea. But to start I think I it'll be easier to stay in my part of town. Not many kids that go to our school hang out over here."

"Maybe we can go to that bowling alley you like so much?"

"Yeah?" Her face lit up, "I thought you retired from bowling?"

"Id be willing to come out of retirement, plus it'll be more fun now that I'm dating the best bowler in town." I winked.

"I wouldn't say the best in town," she laughed, rolling her eyes.

"You're so modest,"

That earned a second eye roll, "so, do you want to go tomorrow? It'll probably be busier than the last time we went but it will still be fun."