Their Playground

Chapter 9

"So," Kim said as they waited for their food to arrive, "what did you think of the movie?"

Cole smiled, remembering the movie they had just seen. "I really enjoyed it," he answered. "I think I liked it more than the first one. How did you like it?"

"To be honest, I didn't think I'd like it much. I don't really care for that genre," Kim admitted. She decided not to add that she rarely even went to the theater to watch movies. "But I actually did enjoy this one."

"You see?" Cole grinned. "Told you you'd like it."

"Yes, yes, you were right," Kim said dramatically. "Thank you so much for suggesting that movie; my life is complete now, thanks to you." Then she shook her head, bewildered. What had gotten into her? She was acting like Sarah. Usually she wouldn't have dared to be make such a playful comment to a guy.

Cole didn't seem to notice her hesitation at the end. He merely laughed at her comment. He would have responded just as dramatically if the waitress hadn't arrived at that moment with their food.

"Here's your Caesar salad," she said cheerfully, setting a large plate in front of Kim, "and here's your chipotle burger. Enjoy your meals!"

After the waitress had left, the two of them dug into their meals. They were both starving after sitting through such a long movie.

It had been a fun day, that was certain. Well, at least once school had ended. Cole had taken her straight to the nearest Harkins and they had watched Into Darkness, the sequel to one of Cole's favorite movies. While she hadn't been too keen on the idea at first, she had found that she was enjoying herself. Cole's presence had helped, of course, as did the nacho cheese popcorn.

Cole had insisted upon paying for her ticket, since he had chosen the film. Though she had protested, Kim was secretly pleased. She was happy to find proof that chivalry wasn't entirely dead. She did, however, intend to pay for their dinner, if she could get him to agree.

As they ate, Kim's phone buzzed in her pocket, but she chose to ignore it. It was only until it had buzzed six times that she pulled it out, giving Cole an apologetic smile. "Sorry. It's Sarah," Kim explained, reading the caller ID. "She's not going to give up unless I call her . . . " Her voice trailed off.

"Oh! Sure, go ahead." Cole smiled knowingly, having met Sarah himself.

Kim slipped outside of the restaurant, hitting Sarah's speed dial as she walked.

"What took you so long?" Sarah demanded instead of saying hello when she picked up.

"Well, excuse me. I'm on a date, you know!" Whoops, she hadn't mean to let Sarah know just yet. Sarah would almost certainly overreact.

Sarah squealed so loudly Kim had to sharply pull the phone away from her ear. And there it was.

"Gosh, Sarah, just break my eardrums, why don't you?"

"Who is it?" Sarah asked excitedly, clearly not too concerned about Kim's eardrums. Kim rolled her eyes. Surely Sarah didn't think she was going around hooking up with a multitude of different guys. Then again, Sarah definitely had a wild imagination.

"Take a wild guess." Kim was reluctant to say the name out loud in case Cole happened to come outside and overhear his name in a conversation. That could potentially be an awkward situation.

"Cole? It's Cole, isn't it?" Gosh, Sarah was almost more excited about this date than Kim herself was.

"Yes," she answered, "and I have to get back to him because he is waiting inside by himself right now. You are causing me to be a bad date."

"Fine," Sarah huffed, "but you will call me later."

"Okay, fine. I will, I promise. Bye." Kim quickly hung up before Sarah could think of something else to say.

"Sorry about that," Kim sighed as she slid back into her seat. "But you know how Sarah can be." Though her words were slightly negative, she spoke them fondly.

The corners of Cole's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Don't worry about it. It's cool."

Kim put her phone away and took another bite of her salad. It was delicious, and she was quite irritated when she was interrupted once again by the sound of her phone buzzing.

She groaned aloud as she realized that Sarah had texted her. "She never gives up, does she?"

Call me as soon as you finish with Cole, Sarah had typed. We need to figure out what to do about Thomas.

Kim pushed the phone onto the table with a sigh. "You know what, I'm just gonna ignore her. She can wait. Developing patience will be good for her, don't you think?"

"Kim," Cole said instead of answering. Something was off about his voice. Kim looked up to find that his smile was wavering. "Who is Thomas?"

Oh gosh, this scene is gonna be cheesy. Why did I write it in? I don't really know. Ah, well. I may end up editing it out later. Just know that I am fully aware of how cheesy and clichéd it is and am cringing as I reread it. I apologize for the delayed update, but hopefully now that summer vacation is in session I will be back on track with my writing!