Many Chance Summer

Oh, Yeah. That.

On Wednesday, I am ready thirty minutes before Jamaal is supposed to pick me up so I go to see Susanne for a while to talk to her abut what she thinks Jamaal might be surprising me with. She's not behind the front desk so I linger around.

"Oh, hey, Jamie!" I spin around and i spot Jason running towards me. His shirt on.

"Hey, it's Janaeya. Again."

He blushes.

"Sorry, Janaeya."

"It's okay, Jason." I smile up at his tall stature. "Have you seen-wait, what are you doin' here?"

"I'm staying here." He shrugs.

"Oh, I didn't realize you also got a room here while..."

"While working the pool, yeah." He smiles and puts his hands on either side of his hips. "It's okay."

"You don't have anyone to stay with? You're parents or...?"

"No, we live in South Carolina. Money's kinda tight right now-" He scratches the back of his head and I watch his arm muscles flex incredibly. "But it's cool. I'll hang here for a while. They're comin' up to see me soon, I think."

"Okay, that's cool."

Jason looks me over.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah."

"That's too bad. I was gonna ask if you wanted to..grab a burger or something." He digs his hands in his front pockets.

I look down at my ballet flats and then look back up. I have to tell him. I can't lead someone on.

"I have a boyfriend," I say. "I'm going to meet him now, actually. Well, he's pick me up."

Jason's smile slightly drops but he looks pretty calm and collected.

"Okay, that's cool. Sorry, I didn't know but, uh..."

"No, it's not your fault."

I play with my bracelet. It's my favorite on with a cross on it.

"Yeah."

"Well, where's he takin' you?"

"The beach."

He raises an eyebrow, eyeing my attire.

"I don't think we're gonna swim." I laugh.

"Surprise?"

"Surprise."

"That's good. It's good to be surprised once in a while." He nods. "I think it tells a lot about a person."

"What does? How they act when they're surprised?"

"Yup, exactly."