Never Forget

Chapter 13 (Joshua)

Just do it J. Don't be a whimp. What's the worst that can happen? What if she rejects you? You guys can still be friends...maybe. Okay. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. I got this. I prayed about it. It felt good. I got this. It's time.

I was in my room pacing back and forth trying to pump myslef up. Why is this so hard? I asked myslef. Okay. Here it goes. I unlocked my phone and went to my contacts. I clicked on her name and waited. The phone rang about 3 times before she picked up. "Hello" her sweet voice came through the phone. "Hey Krista." I said.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. You?"
"I'm good."
"So what is your schedule looking like this week?"
"I'm working everyday except on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Why?"
"Well...I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with me?"
There was a silence that only lasted a few seconds but it seemed to drag on forever.
"I'd love to go on a date with you." She finally said. A sigh of relief came out of me. "Wow. I was all nervous and stuff."
She chuckled "Why wouldn't I go on a date with you? You're a great guy J." A smile spread across my face. "Is Thursday okay for you?" I asked her. "Thursday would be great."
"See you then."
"Alright. Bye."

***********************************

Thursday

I decided to surprise her and not tell her where we are going. I got ready and headed out to pick up Kris. When I got to her apartment she was already outside. She was wearing jeans, pink combat boots and a black tank top with pink flowers on it. "Hey." She said as she got into the car. "Hey."
"So where are we going?" She asked
"It's a surprise."
"Oh come on J. No hints this time?" She said with a hopeful look on her face.
"Nope" I chuckled. She's so cute when she's like this.

My plan was to take her to the aquarium but I had signed up to voulenteer at the soup kitchen and I didn't remember until last night so I figured I coukd take her with me. We arrived at the kitchen and I expained to her that I signed up to help. I took her inside and showed her the ropes. "You always have to wear a hair net, an apron and gloves."
"Okay." She said.
"It's really easy. You just have to take the food and put it on their plate when they come by. Smile and say 'Have a nice day' or 'Enjoy your meal'. After everyone has been served you can go around and make sure everyone is doing well."
"Got it." She said.
We put on our aprons and hair nets. I looked at her and I begin to chuckle. "What's so funny?" She questions me and puts her hand on her hip. "You look like my old lunch lady." I am able to get out before I burst into a fit of laughter. She rolls her eyes and says "Being a lunch lady is a very respectable job" she says matter of factly. "You're right Kris. I'm sorry" I say as I sober up from laughing so hard. People start coming in and we serve them with a smile. After everyone is served, Krista goes around to make sure everybody is okay. I'm too far to hear what she's saying to people but as soon as she starts talking to any person, their face lights up. She has that affect on people.

I watched as she approached two girls who looked to be about 16 - years-old and 6-years-old. She sat down across from them and started a conversation. I could tell by the movement of their mouths that she had asked them their names. Within minutes they were laughing and smiling. Even in the hair net and apron she looked so beautiful. "Busted." A familiar voice said. I turned around to see Shawn watching me watch Krista. I shook my head. "What are you even talking about?" I asked him trying to sound as confused as possible. "I see the way you're looking at her. It's obvious dude but you're secret is safe with me." He winks and goes to help out before I can respond. Our job at the soup kitchen is done so now it's time for the real date.

The aquarium I'm taking her to is about 35 minutes away from Rosewood. But The entire car ride we were playing this game where she says a word and I have to say a word beginning with the letter her word ends with. I lost almost every round. We finally pulled up to the aquarium. "Awww J! I haven't been to the aquarium in years. Thank you." She leaned over and gave me a quick hug.

We walked into the building and the first place we went was to see the turtles. They were in this huge tank. Swimming from one end to the other. "Aww they're so cute!" Krista says. "Yeah. They are." I agreed.

Next we went to see the sharks. There were big and small and some of them a little scary. "Sharks are so cool. When I was little I wanted a pet shark so I could scare away the monsters in my closet" she chuckled at the memory. "When I was little I watched Jaws and was deathly afraid of the beach." I said. We continued walking around the aquarium.

Without warning I pulled her into the gift shop. "What do you want?" I asked her. "Hmm" she said as she looked around. Then something caught her eye. She went to the back of the store and grabbed a stuffed penguin. She approached me with a huge smile on her face. I chuckled. "I see you like stuffed animals" I said.
"I love them. I've always wanted to have a collection of them. I only have one stuffed puppy named David." She said.
"You name them?" I asked as we walked over to pay for it.
"Yeah."
"What are you gonna name this one?"
"I was thinking Zackary."
"....oh."
"Is there something wrong with Zackary?" She asked
"He just looks more like a Kevin."
"Well. His name is Zackary." She said with a fake attitude.
"Yeah...Kevin." I said to mess with her. She rolled her eyes at me. We paid for Zackary...Kevin and headed to the car.
"What do you want for lunch?" I asked
"Ummm it doesn't really matter." She replied
"Chik-fil-a?"
"Yes!" She said with an instant grin on her face.

We went to the Chik-fil-a and she was happy. I looked at the time and it was almost 3:30. "We should start heading home." I said.
"Oh okay. Do you have something to do?" She asked.
"Yeah. The assistant manager at the hardware store texted me and said he needed some help with something."
"Oh okay."
"Yeah I didn't want to rush you or anything."
"Ohh it's totally fine."
We threw out our trash and headed home.