Susan x Neil

(2+2)=(4)

Stuart wasn't in the gets-picked-last category. He had an earring in his left ear, spiky hair dyed blond, was at least six inches taller than her and played basketball for the school, although not the first team. He wasn't the best looking boy in school, or the most popular, but he hung with that crowd and didn't look out of place.

Mrs Maxwell, the geography teacher, had rushed off in the middle of class for two minutes that turned into twenty. Popular opinion put the blame on a dodgy curry. When Stuart perched himself on the desk next to Susan's, she assumed he was bored and doing the rounds. When he said, "Hey, Susan, you have a beautiful smile, you know?", she thought he was using her for practice, like an actor running his lines. It didn't bother her.

"Thanks very much. Nice of you to say so." She carried on reviewing her notes from the last lesson.

"Doing anything fun this weekend?" he asked.

She lifted up her notebook, looking for the pen she'd put down a second ago. "Nothing exciting. Just studying, probably."

"I was thinking of going to the movies. Wanna come with me?"

"Eh?"

"The movies. Will you come?"

Some kind of prank? Possible, although Stuart didn't seem the type. "Who else is going?"

"Just you and me. You know, like a date."

"Eh?"

"You know, a date. Me, you, popcorn. What do you say?"

What could she say? She said, "Mm, okay."

After double maths, Susan told Neil she couldn't come round on Saturday because she had a date.

Neil jerked his head back like she'd thrown water in his face. "What?!"

He didn't have to act so surprised, but she couldn't be offended as her reaction had been much the same.

"That's great," he said, once she'd finished telling him about Stuart. "I mean, you like him, right?"

"I don't know. He's got a cool haircut."

"Well," said Neil, "what more could you ask for?"

~*~

The rest of the week flew by. She spent Saturday morning choosing her outfit—nothing too fancy, nothing too tight—and took the bus into town. As the bus pulled in at the depot, the anxiety of being stood up chipped away at her confidence. She almost expected it and wondered how long to hang around if he failed to appear. Half an hour? An hour? She imagined herself standing outside the cinema in a deluge of rain, a forlorn, lonely figure.

She needn't have worried. The skies remained cloudless, and Stuart stood waiting for her as she approached the multiplex. They started chatting immediately. It felt comfortable and fun. The movie was a big, noisy blockbuster she had no real interest in seeing, but that didn't matter. She spent the two hours wondering if he would try to kiss her. How should she react? Would she like it?

Afterwards, they went to a coffee shop with large sofas and baristas covered in piercings and tattoos. If you asked her later what they talked about, she wouldn't have been able to tell you, but she remembered laughing a lot and having a good time.

Eventually, he walked her back to the bus depot and, as her bus pulled up, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. And then he waved her off. It was perfect. Even if he never asked her out again, she would always have this memory.

He called her the following day, and they talked for nearly an hour. He invited her to come bowling the following Saturday with his mates. She recognised a few of the names, one was Rachel from her maths class, so she accepted without hesitation. By the time she ended the call, she was already thinking about what to wear.