After You

By the next week, school had really gotten into the swing of things and I couldn't stop thinking about Stephanie. I'm surprised that she was so willing to make out with me. I didn't know all you had to do was ask a chick. It didn't seem like the thing any self respecting person would do. I thought about her so much, that it was hard to concentrate on my schoolwork. When we sat next to each other in the math lab, I couldn't help but stare at her, instead of paying attention to the workbook page I should have been doing. In our independent study time, while she was typing away on her laptop I stared at her. Sometimes she would catch me and there would be awkward moments. Usually it was silent unless I asked her what she got for an answer.
The only time I could actually focus was when I went to the elementary school to tutor Jonny, Sally, and Isaac. By the end of September, Sally had stopped sucking her thumb and didn't mumble for her mother anymore. Isaac and Jonny stopped drawing on the desks and actually listened to me for the time we had together. On the last Monday in September, I looked over the instruction sheet I was given and read the lesson on the way to the elementary school:
Lesson Plan for Week Four of September:
Ask the children about changes in their lives. Go around the table and talk about it for a little while. The subject may bring up tears, but that's okay. The changes can be as simple as leaves falling off the trees or as upsetting to little kids as a loved one dying or leaving them. After changes have been discussed, ask them to write a story about the hardest change they have ever had to deal with. Ask them to add a picture too. If they don't finish before the end of the hour, ask them to take it home and bring it back the next week. The subject may be hard to talk to them about, but they will eventually tell you with a small push from yourself.

I found it hard to believe that they were asking such deep things of first graders. Changes didn't really start occurring to me until I started to hit puberty. Kids can get really emotional about that sort of change, but I would have to brave the day and start the lesson with them.
When I entered the classroom, there was a box of tissues on each table. I figured the teacher left them there in case any tears started over this lesson.
"Daniel!" my table screamed as I walked through the room.
"Hey guys!" I answered. "Are you ready to start today's lesson?"
"Sure but why did the teacher put tissues on the desk? Is the story going to make us cry?" Sally asked.
"I looked and there's no story today, but some of this stuff we're going to talk about might be sad for you." I looked at them and they were very confused. I took a deep breath and explained the topic. I gave them a little while to think about some changes before we started discussing. Sally started.
"I remember when my imaginary friend and I had a fight," she started innocently. "Tessie and I were about to have a big sleepover before I went off to kindergarten the next day. Tessie was mad at me for going to big girl school and leaving her behind. She wasn't having any fun at the sleepover and I didn't know what to do. She yelled at me and took her sleeping bag and left. I haven't seen her since." Sally sniffled. She missed her friend. I handed her a tissue and asked Isaac about a change in his life.
"When my dog Sniffles died, I was so sad. He was my best friend and I really missed him," Isaac said. He didn't want to talk about it.
"What about you, Jonny?" I asked him.
"My life changed when Gwen almost killed her boyfriend. It's one of the worst memories ever. I was only three, but it was one of the first things I remember. Right before Gwen went off to the performing arts school, she and her boyfriend had a bad fight. She had a knife and she hurt him real bad. He had to go to the hospital. Then she went to HATT instead of the performing arts school. Then Stephanie started this year and I know when I turn fourteen I have to start and I don't want to go to that place. I'm not a bad kid. I only have to go because Gwen had a knife." Jonny started sobbing and the teacher told him to go to the bathroom to wipe his face and have some quiet time.
When I got back to school, I couldn't focus on the rest of the day. Seeing Jonny really haunted me. I just wished there was something I could have done to help him get through that lesson better than what I did. Some things just make me feel terrible and this was one of those things.
My mood didn't change until lunch when the headmaster entered the dining hall with some exciting news.
"Every fourth Saturday of the month is when you are allowed to leave the school and roam around town until six. Unless you have been given community service on Saturday, you are free to visit the town outside of HATT."
I was so excited I could finally get out of the campus gates and go sightseeing. I had only seen the town passing by on the bus to get here. After the headmaster left the room, the dining hall went into a frenzy of people running around the room and chatting about what they were going to do on Saturday.
"Dude, you should ask Stephanie out," Adam said, his mouth full of salad.
"I don't know Adam. I really like Stephanie but I've never asked anyone out before."
"Well Saturday is the perfect day to do it. Have lunch. Take her to a movie. It would be great." Adam went back to his lunch. I went back to my thoughts. Asking Stephanie out would be great. She told me she liked me and I liked her back. I just didn't know how to put it to words.
After lunch was my independent study hour with Stephanie. I decided to make my move then. We were sitting at our usual table in the library, taking out our laptops to work on our history paper. After a few minutes of silence, I made my move.
"So, do you have any plans for Saturday?" I asked her.
"Nope. I was just going to do some window shopping," she replied.
"Why not window shop with somebody else?" I regretted saying that because it sounded lame.
"Are you trying to ask me out?" she asked.
"Yes. We could have lunch and go see a movie. I hear the new Steve Carell movie is coming out on Friday so we can go see that."
"Cool. That sounds like fun."
"I'll meet you at the school gates around eleven thirty then?" I asked hopefully.
"Sure." Stephanie went back to her history paper. I silently thanked God for helping me not look too foolish.
At the end of our independent study hour, my paper was mostly finished. Stephanie said bye to me and kissed me on the cheek. I felt good knowing that one girl actually liked me enough to kiss me on the cheek. I walked around the rest of the day feeling confident and new inside.