Understanding Teenagers

37: Friend Date

Ava's POV

"Why are we standing outside?" I asked Sara. "Seriously like crap, I'm hungry and it looks like it could rain again at any moment."

"Calm down girl. Don't worry, we're going to get a free meal. Trust me."

I couldn't help myself from laughing. "How are we going to get a free meal. Is this place secretly a food kitchen?"

She ignored my comment as an elderly man walked into the building. Her phone buzzed a few seconds later. "OK, we can go in now."

We walked in as the man at the front desk greeted us leading Sara to ask for a table for two. It turned out we were the thousandth customer that evening which meant we were getting a free meal just like Sara predicted. And because of that, we didn't have to wait to be seated at a table. We found ourselves sitting at a table and both ended up ordering the Spiced Mexican Soup with Limon. As we waited for our order, Sara looked at me with a large grin as if she wanted to mock me or something. Her smiled really stood out this particular night.

"What?" I asked.

She took a sip of her water. "Nothing. Just wondering how your skin got so tanned."

A snort came from my nose with my eyes rolling. "Crap, you weren't wondering that at all. Look at your skin? How'd you get so tanned?"

"I guess it comes from going to the lake in the last couple of weeks. You should know. You've been there."

"Either way, you look so much better than me."

Leaning forward on her chair, her face showed some thought, leading her to take a breath. You know what I've been wondering? Why do you sometimes start off your sentences with the word 'crap'?

That question completely caught me off guard. "Crap, I don't do that. Crap, I just did it. Crap. Sorry. Crap. I have to stop." Such an embarrassing moment.

She howled in laughter. "Oh, Ava. What are we going to do with you?" She found it in herself to calm down. "Have you ever considered starting your sentences with the word poop? Poop, I'm going to be late. Poop, I have to take a poop."

"Eh, take a crap sounds better."

"I guess so." Another sip of her water was taken. "Got to pay our respects to John Crapper for coining the phrase."

"You know he didn't actually invent the toilet?" I blurted. "That was actually Sir John Harrington. Although, it didn't exactly look like our modern-day toilet." Without realizing it, my mouth was just blabbing on. "Alexander Cummings actually had the patent on the toilet. About sixty years later, John Crapper made innovations to the toilet and going to the bathroom. In reality, we should be saying I need to take a Harrington." It wasn't until that last sentence that I realized I needed to shut up.

Sara didn't seem to mind though. "You certainly are the history expert. They should just hire you to teach history and fire our crappy history teachers."

...

After enjoying our meal that evening, we found ourselves standing next to a fancy garden fountain with water coming out of three different spots.

"What do you say Sara, you down for swimming in the fountain?"

She laughed. "No, but my quarter is." She pulled out her quarter. "Have any wishes you want to make?"

She handed me the quarter. My hand trembled as it reached for the quarter and my heart began racing. As my hand took the quarter, I could feel the warmth of Sara's Skin. Her eyes stood out like a diamond in the moonlight. Taking the quarter, I looked at the fountain. There were a million things I could think of, but there was one that I desperately wanted to make.