I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

“So are you going out?” he asked, and with a blush I nodded.

“All right honey – see you later. Don’t be out too late,” he said, and I rolled my eyes as I went upstairs. I changed into a pair of jeans and a nicer T-shirt, before deciding to put a little bit of makeup on. Just some mascara and a tiny bit of eyeliner, nothing much, and soon heard a knock at the door.

I rushed down the stairs, still being too late to avoid Jared meeting my dad. Jared stood there awkwardly, his 6-foot-4 frame towering over my dad, who stood at 5-foot-11.

“Hi Mr. Falls, I’m Jared,” I just heard him introduce himself as I hopped the last few stairs.

“Nice to meet you Jared, Kass should be down in just a minute,” he answered, moving aside to let Jared into the hall. I slowed down, not wanting to make a fool of myself or look too eager or anything and gave Jared a small wave when he saw me. He smiled then, and dad just gave me a knowing grin, which intrigued me.

“Hi Jared,”

“Hi Kass, ready to go?” he asked, and once I’d slipped my shoes on we left. Jared opened the car door for me, which caught me off guard, and closed it as well once I was in before getting in. He noticed the look I gave him, and gave me a slightly embarrassed shrug.

“Mom and dad always taught us to do that,” was his explanation, and I nodded as he backed out of my driveway and headed back toward his place. The drive was quiet and slightly awkward, and it only got worse as we went inside and found Marcus and some blonde girl in the living room.

“Hey Marcus… you’re back,” Jared said as means of a hello as Marcus gave us a disapproving look.
“Yeah, I do live here. I thought your family was down?”

“They are – Eric and Tanya took them out for the afternoon,” he answered, going to the kitchen and grabbing something.

“Well, we’re heading out – just needed my wallet,” Jared said, all but pushing me out the door. I’d stood there quietly, not sure of what to say or what Jared’s plans were.

“You two on a date or what?” Marcus asked, and both of us froze in place.

“Uh, well, we’re just, uh…” Jared stuttered, and I had no words for his friend either. I had no clue what today was – if we were just friends hanging out or if he meant it as something more, and I wasn’t about to open my mouth and make a fool of myself or offend him either way.

“Really Jared? You turned down Jenny for her?” the girl sneered, and immediately my face turned red and I stared at my feet, hoping that my eyes wouldn’t start to tear up.

“Excuse me? That was beyond rude, and so you know we’re just hanging out – we’re friends. But for the record I’d pick Kass over her any day,” Jared replied, his tone curt before he all but pulled me out the door after him.

“Sorry – Marcus has a knack for picking really bitchy girls,” he apologized, but I shook my head. I knew who she was, and I knew who her friend was. Jenny Sinclair was one of the prettiest girls in our grade, and why Jared would turn her down I had no idea.

“N-no, it’s okay,” I whispered.

“No, it’s not. She was really rude to you,” he insisted, but I just shrugged. He was my friend, he was supposed to defend me I guess.

“Kass, seriously, don’t let her bother you – she’s being mean for the sake of being mean,” he pushed, and I just shrugged.

“It’s okay Jared, don’t worry about it,”

“But you’re my friend, of course I’m going to worry about it,” he told me, his voice soft as he pulled away from his house. Little did he know that he was making butterflies erupt in my stomach.

“Thanks, but you don’t have to do that,” I whispered, and we were quiet until he stopped in front of a park.

“Want to go for a walk?” he asked, and I nodded. We walked quietly through the park, and then continued down the street, and my face turned bright red when Jared casually reached for my hand and held it. I snuck a glance at him, and saw that his cheeks nearly matched his hair. We must have looked like quite the pair – both of us blushing like mad and holding hands walking down the street.

“Ice cream?” he asked quietly, and I nodded, following him into the small shop. We ordered, and I realized I hadn’t brought my wallet. I went to tell Jared this and instead saw him holding the cone out to me, having already paid for both cones.

“I didn’t bring my wallet… I’ll pay you back at school,” I mumbled, but Jared chuckled.
“No, it’s all right – don’t worry about it,” he insisted, and I mumbled another thanks as I took the cone from him. We sat inside, where it was warm, and ate our ice cream cones. We started talking, and soon our conversation took off, and we were talking and laughing as we always did.

“This is cool,” he said, his cheeks a pink color. I nodded, and managed a small smile.
“Yeah, it is,” I agreed, and after an awkward moment we both burst into laughter.

“Oh my God, it’s already four,” I gasped when I caught a glimpse of the clock. Jared’s eyes widened, and then he shrugged.

“Do you need to be home?” he asked, and I shrugged, feeling silly.

“N-no, it’s just, is your family back at your place? I don’t want to take away from your time with them,” I told him, and then he groaned.

“Oh man, I forgot about that,” he admitted, and I giggled a little. What was wrong with me? Giggling, really?

“Well, do you, um, want to come hang out at my house? If you don’t I understand, uh, if it’s weird hanging out with my, uh, family and everything, or um…”

“It’s okay,” I nodded, and he gave me an easy smile.

“Cool,” we stood up and pulled our coats back on, and as we headed out Jared held the door open for me, and held my hand as we walked through the park back to the car. Again he opened the car door for me, making me blush like crazy as I sat there and he drove back to his house.