Shattered Appearances ✓

f o r t y - o n e: Date? What's a Date?

For almost every teen, they can remember when they got their first phone. It was most probably a cheap one because obviously, you wouldn't trust an eleven-year-old with an iPhone 7. Even though I loved my phone, it felt like it was dragging me down. It felt heavy and I desperately wished to get rid of it.

It was only a matter of time before he called and I had to answer.

In the meantime, I tried to forget about the future events and focused on the present. Summer vacation had begun and I had two months of freedom before I had to begin college. Only two months until I move back to Maryland. I couldn't be more excited.

Thomas was beside me, sitting on the grass, throwing his tennis ball up and down.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I'm perfectly content with laying on the grass and taking a quick nap."

I laid down and was about to close my eyes when I felt the ball hit me. I quickly rubbed the spot where it hit my head and throw the ball back at him.

"What was that for?"

"I don't know. I have a bad aim. I'm not a jock."

"You don't have to be jock to know how to throw a ball."

"True." He only responded by throwing the ball back to me. Suddenly there was a gleam in his eyes and he gave me a sly smile. Oh god, I know what's going to happen next.

"So what do you want to do for our date?"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't that I, though. I let the ball drop into the grass and roll away.

"What?"

"You know. A date. A gathering of people with mutual interests."

I thought about it for a moment before responding with a witty comment.

"Wouldn't that mean a mother and son going out to eat be a date? I mean, both of them have mutual interests in each other. Not romantically of course, but like a typical parent-child relationship."

"You know what I mean. So where do you want to go?"

"I didn't even say yes yet. Besides, how do you even know I like you that way? Did you read my diary?"

I was only joking, I learned long ago that writing everything you think in a journal would only lead to undesirable consequences.

"You really want to go there? You were pretty touchy during your birthday..."

Embarrassment crept up to my cheeks when I thought about that. That wasn't one of my finest moments. Kissing your best friend in front of your other friends when you told your sister it wouldn't happen if pretty embarrassing. It was worth it, though.

While I usually have a response to everything, I couldn't come up with a suitable response for that. "I got carried away. Concert vibes and all that shit."

"Great response." He said sarcastically. "But if you want me to ask then fine. I'll lock away my dignity for you."

He paused then picked a random grass leaf off the ground, "Do you want to go on a mutual gathering between two people of interest?"

I nearly burst into laughter, "What the hell was that? Worst date-proposal I've ever witnessed."

"Date." He visibly cringed at the words, "do you want to go on a date?"

I was silent for a couple of seconds before shrugging and replying, "Yeah, I have nothing better to do."

I took the grass leaf and put it in my pocket.