The Time of My Life [Completed]

Chapter 21: The Time I Got Stood Up

It was not who I expected it to be.

".....Zeke? What are you doing here?"

"I work here." He explained. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a miniature golf course. What do you think I'm doing? Waiting for my boyfriend who is obviously never showing up? Psh!"

"Well, I just got off my shift if you, um... wanna get some dinner or something."

"Like a date?" I asked.

He smiled. I think this was the first time I ever saw him smile. "Call it whatever you want, Jessie." Hearing him say my name. I don't know why, but it sent a chill down my spine.

"Okay." I followed Zeke to his car and climbed in. This is some night.

~•~

"Wait, so you're telling me that she dumped a smoothie on your head because you wouldn't talk to her?" I laughed.

"Yep. An eleven year old girl dumped a smoothie on my head because she thought I was boring." He laughed too. I think it was the first time I ever saw him laugh. That alone was enough to make me smile.

"In her defense, you barely said two words to me before today."

"In my defense, I'm a quiet person!" He shouted.

"You seem pretty loud right now." I couldn't help laughing yet again.

It turned out to be a pretty great night, though I am still mad at Brock. Zeke took me to dinner, and now we're sitting on the pier.  Watching as the moon rises above the water, and the waves begin to calm. It was, surprisingly, a lot of fun.

~•~

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

7:45 am

Okay, so I might have stayed home yesterday, but it wasn't simply to avoid Brock. It's also because it was 9/11. I'm from New York, remember? The attack happened just a year before I was born, and let's just say I would have a few more family members now if it weren't for that day.

I might have stayed home today too, but today is our first meeting for DECA.

I walked into Ms. Taggart's classroom with Spencer and I quickly go sit in the front row, in front of John and Spencer sits next to him. I noticed Kyrsten from the tennis team had walked in behind us and wave her over. Unfortunately, the girl behind her thought I was waving to them. That girl just had to be May.

"Hey, Jessie. Where were you yesterday?" May asked, taking the seat on my left.

"I was, umm..... I was sick."

Kyrsten took the seat on my right, in front of Spencer. "Coach isn't happy you missed practice again. And he said you only have one more chance next week to move up in the rankings before they're finalized."

"Great." I sighed. Just another thing for me to worry about right now. I turned around in my seat. "You coming to the match today?" I asked, getting John's attention.

"Yep, my practice got cancelled."

"Perfect." At least I'll have people to talk to.

Luckily, Ms. Taggart chose that time to swoop in and start explaining what DECA actually is to everyone.

DECA is basically a competitive business club. There are 3 levels to competition; Districts, States, and Internationals. It really bugs me that there is no National level.

The only requirement to compete at the state level is that you compete at Districts first. To go to internationals, you have to be in the top 5 in your event at States.

Each person chooses an event. The events range from Automotive Services, to Personal Finance, to Apparel and Accessories. There are a series of events available only to first year members, to even the playing field. Since I'm taking Marketing as a class this semester, that's the event I chose. Marketing is also a "Principle" event, so only first year members can compete in it.

The actual event consists of 2 parts. The first is a written test we all take before actually traveling to wherever the competition is. The second is a role play.

No, not that kind of role playing. I know what you all were thinking.

You basically just go into a room and sit across from a judge. They give you a situation like, you're a store manager and the judge is a new employee, and they ask you questions or you give a presentation or something. It's different every time. They judge you on what you tell them and if all the information is accurate. A lot of judges most likely don't even know anything about the subject. Many are just parents who want to feel like they're giving back to the school.

The District competition isn't for a couple months. I think it's the week before Thanksgiving. For that one we get the day off from classes. States isn't until February, but it's 3 days, and we get 2 off from school. Then internationals is in April and lasts an entire week! I can't wait!