It's double-date night. That means East and me, of course, plus Katie and her "pick o' the day." And yeah, she makes those annoying air quotes as she says that. I do the same right back at her when I ask about just who her "date" might be. The truth, apparently, is incredibly funny.
We meet at Joe's Pizza. Joe doesn't sound Italian, but it is the best pizza in town. They serve pizza, and we eat it covered in Parmesan cheese and folded in half. It's messy food for a first date, but Katie doesn't seem to care. She's brought along her latest catch, Aaron, and East and I place private bets on when she will throw him back like just another fish in the sea. Neither one of us thinks he will make it through the evening. However, I think they might have been drinking a little before they got here, so we could both be wrong.
East and Aaron hit it off right away, which is a relief. It's hard to double date with people that have nothing in common. We finish off the pizza with an impromptu round of "Would you rather," which is where you ask people if they would rather do things like hike or bike, read a paperback book or Kindle, watch Star Warsor Star Trek, and things like that. We share a slice of cheesecake even though we are all pretty stuffed. As we walk back to our vehicles, I whisper to Katie.
"Aaron's the best so far," I say.
East walks up behind me and whispers in my ear, "He won't last the night."
****
We head out to the beach and walk up on a game of nighttime bowling. Someone has brought a bunch of glow sticks and put them in water bottles for bowling. By the time Katie and I get a turn, Aaron is nowhere to be found.
YOU ARE READING
The Trouble Is
Teen FictionAnnie has a list for everything. At two notebooks a year since kindergarten, she has thousands of lists stored in her perfectly aligned closet. There's List #27: How to Go Unnoticed in Class. And List # 93: What I Want in a Boyfriend. But let's not...
