Double Nickels on Your Dime

Ben woke up at nearly noon. He checked his phone and saw Heather had texted him. He called her.

“Hey! About time you answered me!”

“I just woke up, I’m sorry.” Ben rubbed his eyes and stretched.

“No, no, it’s fine! Do you want to hang out?”

“Yeah, of course! Just give me half an hour to get ready and I’ll come over.”

“Okay! We should go for ice cream or something!”

“Alright, see you in a little.”

“Bye Ben.”

He pressed end and rolled out of bed. He’d expected his legs to cooperate and to be standing, but he ended up on the floor with a thump. After cursing creatively, he gathered himself and took a shower. He dressed quickly in loose jeans and a black v-neck, slipped in some vans and was out the door. Heather lived inside the country club community across town. Her family was well off, but not filthy rich. She normally drove a white Nissan Xterra that she helped to buy. He pulled into her driveway and she skipped out the door with her purse slung over her shoulder.

After settling into the passenger seat, she leaned over and pecked the corner of his mouth.

“Good morning sleepyhead!”

He grinned a lopsided smile.

“Oh give me a full smile! You can’t still be tired can you?” He flashed his teeth at her and backed out of the driveway.

“So, which ice cream place tickles your fancy, my dear?”

Heather giggled and said, “Hmmm…I think, I feel like Cold stone today!”

“Cold stone it is!”

Heather got cotton candy flavor, while Ben got moosetracks, both in cups. They carried their purchases into the small gated playground next to the ice cream shop and sat on the tiny swings. They ate their frosty goodness in a contented silence. Heather licked her spoon and asked where had he been yesterday.

“I helped Nick and Jane move some furniture. Then I played Halo and watched a movie with them.”

“They seem really nice. Jane is so pretty.”

Ben shrugged knowing what she was getting at, “She’s not really my type I don’t think.”

“What do you mean? She’s a lot like me it seems like.”

He laughed. “She is, but she isn’t.” Heather raised an eyebrow. “What I mean is, you are both cheerleaders and pretty, but I don’t really like the way she comes off…I don’t really know how to explain it, but she’s definitely not you.”

Heather smiled and turned her swing towards him. She kissed him softly on the mouth. Somehow they ended up making out completely while still on their little swings. Her lips tasted sweet like cotton candy. He wasn’t sure how long they were there until a kid ran past them and they jumped apart. Heather giggled.

“The rest of my ice cream pretty much melted…”

He frowned. “Do you want me to get you more?”

“No, thanks though, let’s go somewhere indoors…” She glanced up at the gray sky.

Ben stood and held out a hand. She took it and they tossed their cups out and went back to his car.

“Where to?”

“No one will be at my house, we can go there if you want?”

They were in Heather’s back yard laying in her hammock.

“So much for indoors." She laughed but stopped quickly. "So you leave tomorrow? When are you getting back?” She had his left hand in both of hers and was turning it over examining it. She put her palm to his, but her fingertips hardly reached the middle joint of his fingers.

“Ill be back Sunday morning.”

“The day before school starts?”

“Yeah, I’m going to be so tired on Monday.”

She was quiet and continued to play with his hand. “Have you decided where you want to look into after high school?” She nearly whispered this.

He rolled onto his right shoulder so he wouldn’t take his left hand away from her. “Heather. Don’t start worrying about that. Whether we are at the same college of not, we can make it work. You are my best friend. I’m not going to let you go that easy. Besides we have a year left here. Let’s graduate first.”

She looped her fingers through his and pecked his lips. “You’re right. I’m sorry…” She twisted his watch towards her. “Do you want to stay for dinner? My mom should be home soon. I think my dad is picking up Chinese tonight?”

He smiled at her. “ Thanks, but my mom wants us to have a last family dinner before school and seeing as I’m leaving, she chose tonight. Should I move my car for your mom?”

“Yeah, probably.” They sat up carefully trying to not tip the hammock. Heather walked out to his car and hugged him. “I guess I’ll see you Monday, maybe Sunday?”

“Sunday, definitely.”

He turned the corner just as Heather’s mom did and she waved at him.
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Family dinner was the same as usual. Leese picked at her food, while mom and dad tried to make small talk about our days. Then dad said something that offended Leese but everyone else thought it was funny and she just took it too seriously. She stormed off.

Ben finished up his dinner and took his dished to the dishwasher. Then he went upstairs and packed for soccer camp.