The Girl in the Striped Bikini

Chapter Twenty

Kendal Bryce

Earlier that same day...

I stare at myself in the mirror, and wonder what the heck I am getting myself into.

One date. One real date. That was all he asked.

"Before you say anything," Jude says as I sit down in front of him at our regular table, "can you hear me out for a couple minutes?"

I cock my eyebrow at him, intrigued. I take in his appearance. He was sporting his usual look; board shorts and a tank. You can tell by his hair and skin that he had already been out in the water for a few hours. Jude was going to be a professional surfer someday, I had no doubts about that. He was also the best instructor they have at the academy. People always assume being the California surfer guy he appeared to be, he was all looks and no brains. But Jude was more than that, he was an impressive guy.

"Fine," I respond with a half smile, "You have two minutes."

He smiles brightly. "Shouldn't take that long anyways... So, I feel like I need to be given a proper shot. And before you interrupt me like you're so good at," he holds his finger up before I could barely open my mouth, "I want you to realize one thing."

"And that is..." I prompt.

"We've never actually been on a real date."

Furrowing my eyebrows in confusion, I quickly say, "But what about prom? Was that not a date?"

Jude shakes his head with a sly grin on his face. "Nope, that just started out as friends going to prom together. I want a real date. Where I pick you up, take you to dinner and maybe see that movie you've been dying to see. Then at the end of the night, you can make your decision."

It wasn't a bad idea. Jude was right, we have never been on a proper date. Sure, we have hung out thousands of times, but that was only ever as friends. And I owe it to him and myself to see how a date would go. I might question it later if I don't.

"Okay," I say after a moment of thought. "One date."

Jude's grin grew wider if that was possible. "It's a deal," he said and held his hand out to shake mine.

I look at his hand and laugh. He's such a goof. But I took his hand in mine and shake anyways.

Coming back to reality, I start working on my hair again.

My stomach is in knots and I'm afraid to go through with this date. I thought I had already made my decision. Now with this date looming in the near future, it's making my head get mixed up again. What I'm really worried about what it'll do to Jude if this date doesn't work out like he's hoping.

When I had approached Jude at Blue Oyster that day, that was going to be it. I was going to tell him. I was going to let him down gently and hopefully keep our friendship in tact. But he had other plans. I have to admit though, I admire his persistence.

.  .  .

Thirty minutes later, I found myself ready and walking down the stairs. I still had about twenty minutes to kill until Jude was supposed to get here.

Approaching the living room, I see Dad relaxing on the recliner watching some History Channel show on the JFK assassination. I sit down on the couch and stare at the screen, not really listening. Too nervous to listen.

Dad clears his throat and looks at me. "Where you off to?"

"You're not gonna believe this," I say. "A date."