Categories > Original > Drama > The Stupid Boy and the Outsider
Chapter 4
Its Thursday morning and Jackie's at her therapy session. I ended up hanging out with JD, Jerby, Kevin, and Nick. There's an empty lot right behind Jerby's home so we went there and played some wiffleball. We didn't play an actual game or anything. We just had a contest to see who could hit the farthest. I was in a heated argument with Jerby about whether my ball went past the back post or not.
"My last hit totally went past the post, man," I said.
"No way was it at least five feet in front," Jerby argued. "And mine hit the post, so I win."
"Mine totally went past the post and besides my first one doesn't count 'cause Kevin distracted me," I argued back.
"It's not my fault you have ADD," he said causing everyone to laugh.
"Whatever man I totally won," I said.
"Does that mean you won a kiss from me?" I turned around to see who said that. There stood Kristine, Francis, and Cindy walking towards us.
"Yes because I clearly won," Jerby said stepping between us.
Kristine scoffed. "Well then Francis can do it," she said pushing Francis toward Jerby.
"Eww... no. He's so fat," Francis said backing away.
Jerby's shoulders slumped a little as he walked away. That was a pretty mean thing for Francis to say. He wasn't that fat, it was all baby fat. I'm sure it'll be gone in a few months or so.
"So I see you decided to ditch Mathews and Rada today," Kristine said walking closer to me.
"No, they had other things to do, that's all," I said.
"Oh," was all she said. She took a look around. Her friends were off to one side talking to each other and the guys went back to playing wiffleball. "I've been meaning to ask you," she started to say as she led me farther away from everyone. "Jackie and Bernadette are always together. Are they like... you know... lesbians?" She whispered the last part.
This caught me off guard a little bit. I've never thought of it. They just seemed like normal girls. "No, I don't think so."
"Have you ever asked?"
"No, but really I don't think so." Berna's dated a few guys before, I'm pretty sure she's not a lesbian. Jackie... well, she doesn't talk about anyone she's had crushes on. But hey, if she likes girls that's cool too.
"Well, you never really know these days," she said with a shrug. "Anyway, are you doing anything this weekend?"
"Umm... I don't know." She totally wants to ask me out. "Why?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go out or something." See? What did Itell you?
"I gotta check with my parents. I don't know if they got stuff going on or whatever." You gotta play hard to get sometimes.
"Okay, well you figure that out and give me a call alright?"
"Yeah, alright." She walked away and I just knew she was trying to tempt me with those swinging hips. So this is puberty huh? Man, it came pretty late for me, but it hit me faster than Superman trying to circle the Earth 20 times in aminute.
After one last game we all headed home. It was around 2 and we were hungry. For some reason I felt the need to see if Jackie had any plans this weekend too, so before heading home I went over to her place to ask if she could come over. Mrs. M let me in and there she was sitting on her couch reading. Who knew a C average student was so into reading?
"Hey," I said to get her attention.
"You used the front door," she said putting her book down, "and you're alone."
"I just finished a game of wiffleball, I'm tired," I said. Her sarcasm can be pretty dry sometimes. It almost looked like she was seriously surprised. "Wanna come over for lunch?"
"You're two hours late for lunch I think," she said looking at the clock.
"So just come over and we'll hang out while I eat."
She gave me a weird look, but agreed anyway and we walked over to my house.
"What'd you do today?" She asked.
"I went out with the guys and played some wiffleball," I said. "Jerby thinks he won, but I totally did." That got a little giggle out of her. It was nice seeing her laugh last night. She needs to do that more often.
"How was therapy?" I asked.
"It's not therapy," she said a little annoyed. "It's counseling. But to answer your questions it went okay." I just nodded. I wanted to tell her about Kristine to get her opinion, but I couldn't get myself to tell her. I knew that they had a kinda bad history, especially since Jackie's other best friend is Berna. So I just sat there and nodded waiting for her to say something else."Apparently he thinks I'm not a good friend."
"What? Did he really say that?" I don't think therapists should be saying things like that.
"No, but I guess it's kinda true." It was my turn to give her a weird look. "I brought up your birthday and that I didn't know what to get you so he was like,'Well what kind of stuff does he like?' And I'm like, 'I don't know.' So now Ihave to find out 10 things about you and share it with him next week."
"Ten things, that's easy."
"Yeah, but it just got me thinking..."
"You think?" I asked as a joke. And here comes her hand. She hit me! When is this whole hitting Joe thing gonna stop?
"Like I was saying," she continued. "I really don't know you, so I'm not a very good friend." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess I really do need these counseling sessions."
What do you actually say to that? That was the first time she's ever been open with me. Usually we just talk about random things going on, stuff she's heard, stuff I've heard, but we've never actually talked about our friendship or feelings and stuff.
"Sorry to go a little emotional on you," she said after that long silence.
"No, its okay," I reassured. After a while I decided to just say it. "Listen, Iknow you don't really like her, but Kristine kinda asked me out today."
Her face was blank. "Okay," was all she said.
"You're okay with that?"
"As long as she isn't causing me any trouble I'm fine with it. It's Berna that would be mad." It's true. Jackie didn't hold grudges like Berna did. I shiver at the thought. Berna can be colder than ice sometimes.
Later that night, before Jackie had to go home, I got her to come with me to ask my parents if I could go on the date. Yeah, I needed her there as a crutch. I'm okay with admitting that.
"Mom, Dad," I said walking into their bedroom and leaving Jackie out in the hall. "I was wondering if I could go out this Saturday."
"With who?" My mom asked while folding some laundry.
"With a girl," this definitely got her attention. "Her name's Kristine. I was hoping to take her to a movie or something." Wow I feel like I'm in an episode of Full House.
"Oh, your first date?" She seemed a little more excited than I'd thought.
"On one condition," dad said looking up from his papers. "Kevin or I have to drive you."
"Kevin will do it!" I said right away. What guy would want their dad to drive them around on their first date? I heard Jackie clear her throat behind me."What?" I asked.
"Don't you think you should ask Kevin first?"
"He'll do it, don't worry." I looked back to my parents thanking them and walked out. I pulled Jackie behind me to my room. Kevin and Nick were on the floor working on a song. I sat next to them pulling Jackie down with me.
"Kevin I gotta ask you a favor."
He looked up from the guitar in his hands. "What is it?"
"Can you drive me and Kristine to and from the movies Saturday?"
Kevin looked toward Jackie probably to see how she was taking it. I guess he knew she'd be okay with it. "Sure," he said.
At that moment mom came to the room and says, "Your father and I were thinking about it," she started to say. That's probably not good. "We were thinking that you and Kevin should double date or something."
"What?" Kevin and I asked.
"Mom, I don't wanna play chaperone," Kevin complained.
"That's why you should make it a double date or you could just hang out with some other friends."
"But mom," I started to complain.
"No buts Joseph. If you want to go on that date then Kevin has to be there."She walked out of the room without letting us respond. We knew that that was the deal, the final offer.
"I'm not being your chaperone," Kevin said to me.
"So bring a friend," I said. I really want to go out on this date.
"I can't get a date and Brandon's still on vacation." Brandon was Kevin's best friend. He had other friends, but Brandon was his closest.
Kevin continued to strum the guitar while I tried to think of a solution for this.
"Why don't you take Jackie," Nick spoke for the first time since I entered the room.
"That's a great idea!" I said. Of course I said it. If it gets me a chance to go on that date, then I'll think it's a good idea.
The three of us looked over to Jackie waiting to hear her response. "You don't have to go if you don't want to," Kevin told her. Why does he hate me this much?
"Come on Jackie, it'll be fun," I urged her. Did I mention that I reallywant to go on this date?
"Umm," she shrugged. "I guess if Kristine doesn't mind."
"I'll call her now," I said jumping up from the floor. I ran down stairs and started calling around to find out her number. I know I'm stupid for not getting her number first, but it's a small town someone I know should know her number. After 15 minutes of calling around I got it. I called and explained the situation to her.
"So Jackie's gonna be there?" Apparently, she's not so happy about that.
"Well, Kevin has to come with us and he asked her to come so he wouldn't be alone." There was a pause. I guess she was thinking about it. "Soo..." I prompted her.
"Just as long as they leave us alone during the movie," she said.
"Yeah!" I said a little too loud. "I mean, yeah." That was better. "They'll stay out of our way, don't worry about it."
After finalizing out plans for Saturday and getting off the phone I ran upstairs to my room and jumped on my bed. This was gonna be great.
Its Thursday morning and Jackie's at her therapy session. I ended up hanging out with JD, Jerby, Kevin, and Nick. There's an empty lot right behind Jerby's home so we went there and played some wiffleball. We didn't play an actual game or anything. We just had a contest to see who could hit the farthest. I was in a heated argument with Jerby about whether my ball went past the back post or not.
"My last hit totally went past the post, man," I said.
"No way was it at least five feet in front," Jerby argued. "And mine hit the post, so I win."
"Mine totally went past the post and besides my first one doesn't count 'cause Kevin distracted me," I argued back.
"It's not my fault you have ADD," he said causing everyone to laugh.
"Whatever man I totally won," I said.
"Does that mean you won a kiss from me?" I turned around to see who said that. There stood Kristine, Francis, and Cindy walking towards us.
"Yes because I clearly won," Jerby said stepping between us.
Kristine scoffed. "Well then Francis can do it," she said pushing Francis toward Jerby.
"Eww... no. He's so fat," Francis said backing away.
Jerby's shoulders slumped a little as he walked away. That was a pretty mean thing for Francis to say. He wasn't that fat, it was all baby fat. I'm sure it'll be gone in a few months or so.
"So I see you decided to ditch Mathews and Rada today," Kristine said walking closer to me.
"No, they had other things to do, that's all," I said.
"Oh," was all she said. She took a look around. Her friends were off to one side talking to each other and the guys went back to playing wiffleball. "I've been meaning to ask you," she started to say as she led me farther away from everyone. "Jackie and Bernadette are always together. Are they like... you know... lesbians?" She whispered the last part.
This caught me off guard a little bit. I've never thought of it. They just seemed like normal girls. "No, I don't think so."
"Have you ever asked?"
"No, but really I don't think so." Berna's dated a few guys before, I'm pretty sure she's not a lesbian. Jackie... well, she doesn't talk about anyone she's had crushes on. But hey, if she likes girls that's cool too.
"Well, you never really know these days," she said with a shrug. "Anyway, are you doing anything this weekend?"
"Umm... I don't know." She totally wants to ask me out. "Why?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go out or something." See? What did Itell you?
"I gotta check with my parents. I don't know if they got stuff going on or whatever." You gotta play hard to get sometimes.
"Okay, well you figure that out and give me a call alright?"
"Yeah, alright." She walked away and I just knew she was trying to tempt me with those swinging hips. So this is puberty huh? Man, it came pretty late for me, but it hit me faster than Superman trying to circle the Earth 20 times in aminute.
After one last game we all headed home. It was around 2 and we were hungry. For some reason I felt the need to see if Jackie had any plans this weekend too, so before heading home I went over to her place to ask if she could come over. Mrs. M let me in and there she was sitting on her couch reading. Who knew a C average student was so into reading?
"Hey," I said to get her attention.
"You used the front door," she said putting her book down, "and you're alone."
"I just finished a game of wiffleball, I'm tired," I said. Her sarcasm can be pretty dry sometimes. It almost looked like she was seriously surprised. "Wanna come over for lunch?"
"You're two hours late for lunch I think," she said looking at the clock.
"So just come over and we'll hang out while I eat."
She gave me a weird look, but agreed anyway and we walked over to my house.
"What'd you do today?" She asked.
"I went out with the guys and played some wiffleball," I said. "Jerby thinks he won, but I totally did." That got a little giggle out of her. It was nice seeing her laugh last night. She needs to do that more often.
"How was therapy?" I asked.
"It's not therapy," she said a little annoyed. "It's counseling. But to answer your questions it went okay." I just nodded. I wanted to tell her about Kristine to get her opinion, but I couldn't get myself to tell her. I knew that they had a kinda bad history, especially since Jackie's other best friend is Berna. So I just sat there and nodded waiting for her to say something else."Apparently he thinks I'm not a good friend."
"What? Did he really say that?" I don't think therapists should be saying things like that.
"No, but I guess it's kinda true." It was my turn to give her a weird look. "I brought up your birthday and that I didn't know what to get you so he was like,'Well what kind of stuff does he like?' And I'm like, 'I don't know.' So now Ihave to find out 10 things about you and share it with him next week."
"Ten things, that's easy."
"Yeah, but it just got me thinking..."
"You think?" I asked as a joke. And here comes her hand. She hit me! When is this whole hitting Joe thing gonna stop?
"Like I was saying," she continued. "I really don't know you, so I'm not a very good friend." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "I guess I really do need these counseling sessions."
What do you actually say to that? That was the first time she's ever been open with me. Usually we just talk about random things going on, stuff she's heard, stuff I've heard, but we've never actually talked about our friendship or feelings and stuff.
"Sorry to go a little emotional on you," she said after that long silence.
"No, its okay," I reassured. After a while I decided to just say it. "Listen, Iknow you don't really like her, but Kristine kinda asked me out today."
Her face was blank. "Okay," was all she said.
"You're okay with that?"
"As long as she isn't causing me any trouble I'm fine with it. It's Berna that would be mad." It's true. Jackie didn't hold grudges like Berna did. I shiver at the thought. Berna can be colder than ice sometimes.
Later that night, before Jackie had to go home, I got her to come with me to ask my parents if I could go on the date. Yeah, I needed her there as a crutch. I'm okay with admitting that.
"Mom, Dad," I said walking into their bedroom and leaving Jackie out in the hall. "I was wondering if I could go out this Saturday."
"With who?" My mom asked while folding some laundry.
"With a girl," this definitely got her attention. "Her name's Kristine. I was hoping to take her to a movie or something." Wow I feel like I'm in an episode of Full House.
"Oh, your first date?" She seemed a little more excited than I'd thought.
"On one condition," dad said looking up from his papers. "Kevin or I have to drive you."
"Kevin will do it!" I said right away. What guy would want their dad to drive them around on their first date? I heard Jackie clear her throat behind me."What?" I asked.
"Don't you think you should ask Kevin first?"
"He'll do it, don't worry." I looked back to my parents thanking them and walked out. I pulled Jackie behind me to my room. Kevin and Nick were on the floor working on a song. I sat next to them pulling Jackie down with me.
"Kevin I gotta ask you a favor."
He looked up from the guitar in his hands. "What is it?"
"Can you drive me and Kristine to and from the movies Saturday?"
Kevin looked toward Jackie probably to see how she was taking it. I guess he knew she'd be okay with it. "Sure," he said.
At that moment mom came to the room and says, "Your father and I were thinking about it," she started to say. That's probably not good. "We were thinking that you and Kevin should double date or something."
"What?" Kevin and I asked.
"Mom, I don't wanna play chaperone," Kevin complained.
"That's why you should make it a double date or you could just hang out with some other friends."
"But mom," I started to complain.
"No buts Joseph. If you want to go on that date then Kevin has to be there."She walked out of the room without letting us respond. We knew that that was the deal, the final offer.
"I'm not being your chaperone," Kevin said to me.
"So bring a friend," I said. I really want to go out on this date.
"I can't get a date and Brandon's still on vacation." Brandon was Kevin's best friend. He had other friends, but Brandon was his closest.
Kevin continued to strum the guitar while I tried to think of a solution for this.
"Why don't you take Jackie," Nick spoke for the first time since I entered the room.
"That's a great idea!" I said. Of course I said it. If it gets me a chance to go on that date, then I'll think it's a good idea.
The three of us looked over to Jackie waiting to hear her response. "You don't have to go if you don't want to," Kevin told her. Why does he hate me this much?
"Come on Jackie, it'll be fun," I urged her. Did I mention that I reallywant to go on this date?
"Umm," she shrugged. "I guess if Kristine doesn't mind."
"I'll call her now," I said jumping up from the floor. I ran down stairs and started calling around to find out her number. I know I'm stupid for not getting her number first, but it's a small town someone I know should know her number. After 15 minutes of calling around I got it. I called and explained the situation to her.
"So Jackie's gonna be there?" Apparently, she's not so happy about that.
"Well, Kevin has to come with us and he asked her to come so he wouldn't be alone." There was a pause. I guess she was thinking about it. "Soo..." I prompted her.
"Just as long as they leave us alone during the movie," she said.
"Yeah!" I said a little too loud. "I mean, yeah." That was better. "They'll stay out of our way, don't worry about it."
After finalizing out plans for Saturday and getting off the phone I ran upstairs to my room and jumped on my bed. This was gonna be great.
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