Robin, Boy Virgin: Original Series

Alright, alright. Date with Minnie. Ok. I was in my room, sitting in front of my computer, going through my wallet. I'd stopped at the bank on my way home from school and took out some money for movie tickets and popcorn. I figured I'd let Minnie pick the movie. That seemed like a good-date thing for me to do.

I was a little nervous. I wasn't too nervous, though, since it was just Minnie. I mean, not "just" Minnie, but... you know. Minnie doesn't scare me. And as I was getting ready, putting on a nicer shirt and running a little gel through my hair, I decided on a couple things:

1.) I was genuinely striving to have a good time with Minnie. Even if it ended up feeling like a friendly hang out, that was fine. I was going to be a good date.

2.) My reason for being a good date? I was going to be a good date because Minnie deserved it. She's nice and she and I are friends. My reasons were not going to stem from any kind of feeling that I was competing with Cora and her unholy date with Brandon.

3.) I would talk to Minnie about music, the movie, and pretty much anything except Cora. I would not mention Cora at all. And I wouldn't mention the above unholy meeting either.

I was particularly focusing on number two. I was proud of myself for wanting to have a good time with Minnie because she's my Jazz band pal and she is nice. I know myself well enough, though, to know that I'll still occasionally think about Cora. But, I'm going to focus on Minnie and our date. I was not going to be an ass and obsess about Cora.

Minnie and I had quickly agreed earlier at school today that I'd pick her up around seven. At six forty, I put on my jacket and ran downstairs.

"DAD?!" I called at the top of my lungs.

"He had to go to the office to meet with his boss. An emergency came up," Linda told me. She was sitting in the kitchen, looking at a newspaper and drinking a glass of juice. Oh. Well, fuck.

"Uh, do you know when he'll be back??" I asked anxiously. I didn't want to take the bus to Minnie's and then make her take the bus to the movies. That's shitty date material and it's better to avoid that if you can.

"Not for awhile, he said," Linda answered, looking up at me curiously. "Did you need something, Robin?" She asked, hoping to maybe help me.

"Uh, it's just... I have a date and I needed the car," I explained, disheartened.

"Oh, well here, take mine," She offered, easy as anything, and took her keys out from her purse and held them out for me.

"Oh, um, no I couldn't. That's ok," I muttered politely, feeling awkward.

"Go ahead. You don't want to make your date take the bus," She said, understanding my dilemma. I hesitantly took the keys.

"... are you sure? I'm not sure when I'm gonna be back," I said. Linda smiled, a little embarrassed. Oh, I see, ew, she had plans with Glenn to stay here overnight.

"Thanks," I decided to say, holding up the keys and ploughing past my question. I turned and began to leave the kitchen.

"Good night," I said to her.

"Um, Robin?" She called after me. I stopped at the front door and looked over my shoulder. Linda was standing in the kitchen doorway, looking at me.

"... have a good time on your date," She wished me sincerely. I meant what I said about Linda being "nice and all". She is a nice, genuine kind of person.

"... thanks," I said, giving her a quick, slightly awkward smile. She smiled warmly back at me.

I left the house and walked over to Linda's white, 2007 Nissan Altima. It was nice, respectable car, if a little boring. I put the key in the ignition and turned on the heat, since it was pretty chilly out, and then drove to Minnie's house.

I parked in the driveway, but left the car on, and then walked up to the front porch. Minnie opened the front door before I could get to it.

"Hello Robin," She said, closing the door behind her. She was wearing a knee length skirt with some dark nylons and flat shoes, the casual blouse she'd worn to school, and a warm winter jacket on top.

"Hi Minnie," I said, putting my hands in my jean pockets and smiling. Minnie and I walked back to the car.

"I would have rung the doorbell and, you know, braved meeting your parents," I assured her of my good-date qualities.

"Oh that's alright. I didn't think it was totally necessary for you to be put through that," Minnie said honestly. I chuckled.

"Is this your car or your parents' car?" Minnie asked as we climbed into the Nissan. Ooh. Fair question, yucky answer.

"Um... it's actually my dad's girlfriend's car," I admitted. Yeah, it sounds really bad said out loud.

"Oh," Minnie said, looking around herself, for a sign that an adult usually drove this car. "It's very clean," She finally commented. I laughed and backed out of the driveway.

I drove to the movie theatre that was in a nearby mall. I parked and Minnie and I went inside. I told her that she had the honours of picking the movie. After a few minutes of seriously contemplation and a few questions about my own actor preferences, she selected the epic drama that was playing. I was secretly relieved that she'd chosen to forgo the horror movie (since it's always a ploy for the girl to get scared and cuddle up against you) and she passed over the dreaded romantic comedy.

And I was kind of interested in seeing this movie. It was starring Gerard Butler and had to do with religion and war and this really different romantic sub plot. At least, that's what the previews had suggested.

I bought our tickets and we went to the concession stand. I bought us a super huge bag of popcorn to share and two drinks. Minnie got iced tea, I got Coke. We went and sat in the theatre, theatre 10.

Minnie, like the true odd person she is, spread a napkin on her lap and took a large handful of popcorn, put it on her napkin, and then ate the popcorn one at a time. But she didn't do it slowly, like she was self conscious about eating in front of me, she ate her popcorn at a normal pace. Just... one at a time. I went for not scarfing the popcorn and ate it like a regular person.

We commented on the previews about which upcoming movies looked interesting and which looked stupid. Eventually, the theatre became about half full. A nice full, you know? Not so full that it was uncomfortable and made you worry about disturbing everyone if you had to get up to pee. And then not so empty that you felt you should seize the opportunity to make out with your date.

As it turned out, Minnie was pretty cool to see a movie with. She was chalk full of interesting historical tid bits that related to the movie, and whispered them to me throughout the film. I, personally, don't have a problem when people talk to me during movies. I know some people are all "SHHH!!" and get like super absorbed into the movie and feel like they are undergoing a religious experience. Yeah, that's not me. So it was kind of neat to not only follow the movie, but learn stuff about it too. It was like I had my own little DVD commentary going, whispering away in my ear.

After the movie, I stood up and stretched my arms over my head. The thing had been like three hours long. Minnie stood up and handed me the near empty bag of popcorn. Somehow, we'd managed to eat it, even though Minnie ate her popcorn pieces one at a time and I had tried to not eat like a beast.

"I need to pee really quick," Minnie told me. Ok.

I waited for her outside the restroom, polishing off the popcorn and slurping up the rest of my Coke. When I was finished, I threw away all of our empty food and beverage containers. Minnie came out of the restroom, squirting some hand sanitizer on her hands. She rubbed her hands together in a rapid fashion.

"What do you want to do now?" Minnie asked me. Like I said, I was being a good date, so I had a plan.

"You wanna take a walk?" I offered mysteriously. Minnie nodded.

We walked just a block to the Danny's Convenience Market. I was going to treat Minnie to a "screamer". A "screamer" is unique to Danny's, it's a slurpee mixed with soft serve vanilla ice cream and you eat it with a stroon (part straw, part spoon). Yeah, it's a miracle and delicious. Even though it was November, the screamers would be worth it. People trudge through snow to get screamers. I used to take April for screamers all the time. She loved them. Everyone does.

I bought Minnie and me screamers. I eagerly watched Minnie take her first scoop of screamer.

"mmmMMM!" She said, her appreciation growing quickly. "Yum," She said simply and took a bigger scoop. I grinned and shovelled my own screamer in my mouth.

We kind of strolled down the street slowly, enjoying our screamers as we walked back to the car.

"... can I say something off the record?" Minnie spoke suddenly, stirring around her screamer.

"Sure," I said, spooning my screamer into my mouth.

"I was kind of surprised when you asked me out," Minnie admitted. Hmm.

"Really? How come?" I asked. I hope I sounded like I was surprised. I didn't want her to think she was standoff-ish... even though she was a little bit.

"Well... I sort of had this feeling that you and Cora had something between you two," Minnie said. What?! Really??

"Really? What made you think that?" I asked curiously. What? She brought it up!

"Um... I'm not sure. You and her seem to have this connection," Minnie said, pondering her comment. She put some screamer in her mouth thoughtfully.

"Huh," I said, sucking up some slurpee through the stroon. I'd thought that my compatibility with Cora and our relationship/friendship had pretty much been all in my head. Minnie's observation was proving that it wasn't all in my head. That's... kind of really encouraging. Hmm. Something to definitely think about.

Minnie and I reached the car and I drove her back to her house, the heat blasting to keep us warm while we finished our screamers. I pulled into Minnie's driveway and put the car in park and went to undo my seat belt.

"Oh that's ok, Robin. You can stay in the warm car," Minnie said.

"No, no. I want to be a good date," I insisted and stubbornly walked her up to the front door. Oh. Once I got there I realized that this would be the part where the good date kisses the girl goodnight. Crap. Didn't really... think that one through.

Minnie turned to me and had to tilt her head up to look at my face. Since I'm, like, at least a foot taller than her.

"Can I be honest again Robin?" Minnie checked.

"Yeah sure," I nodded, still fretting over the goodnight kiss thing.

"I had a great time... but I'm not really feeling the relationship spark," She said honestly. "Are you?" She asked.

"Um... no," I answered gently. "But, like, I had a lot of fun hanging out with you anyway," I said.

"Me too," Minnie grinned. "So friends?" She said offering her hand formally. I smiled.

"Friends. Definitely," I said and shook her hand.

Then, abruptly, Minnie stood up on her tip toes and forcefully pressed her lips against mine. I blinked, stunned, and puckered my lips a little back.

Minnie drew away after a moment, ending the surprise kiss. I blinked at her and gave her a reflexive half smile. Whether you're attracted to them or not, a kiss from a girl is always nice.

"Sorry. I just... I felt I owed to both of us to be completely thorough," Minnie explained.

"It's... ok," I said, a nervous chuckle escaping me. "So... anything new?" I asked.

"Well... no," She said honestly. Hm, ow, that hurt my pride just a little. I nodded in reply.

"Oh, don't misunderstand, you're a very apt kisser," Minnie assured me. Apt?

"But, no spark. I understand," I finished for her.

"Mhm," Minnie smiled. "Well good night. Thank you for taking me out," She said.

"Oh, no problem," I replied, smiling. Minnie turned and opened her front door. Then she paused and looked back at me.

"You're actually a very nice kisser. Good work," Minnie praised me. That made me laugh and made my pride feel better. Minnie grinned and then went into her house.

I walked back down to Linda's car, scratching the back of my head and just kinda chuckling.