1000 Paper Cranes

Chapter 6 - 967

It was 6:00 and the house smelled of pizza. My parents provided pizza every week for study group.

They loved that I had friends over. They had feared that I was an outcast until junior high when Team Jojo became inseparable.

My friends and acquaintances didn't mind eating pizza every week, either; my parents had made it into a game. Each week, they bought something different. They ordered from different restaurants and invented new combinations of crusts, toppings, sauces. It was admittedly fun to see what crazy combination my parents would come up with each week.

I checked to make sure the house looked perfect for the hundredth time.

"You're anxious tonight, kiddo," my dad called from the kitchen. "Somebody special coming?" He was oddly perceptive that way.

"Yeah, actually," I shrugged, my face turning red.

"Hence the studly new haircut and ballin' new clothes?" He laughed.

"Ballin'?" I repeated. "You see, Dad, this is why I don't let you stay out here when my friends come over." I laughed, grateful for the brief distraction from my nerves.

An eternity, or possibly two eternities, passed before the doorbell rang. I shoved the small pile of origami birds I had made—five new wishes freshly penned onto them—into a drawer and went to open the door.

The first guests were Tiffany White, Amy Segers and Lauren Brashears—a cheerleader, a softball pitcher, and a Goth girl, respectively. Our school was full of uncanny cliques like theirs. Like mine.

"Hey, Jordan. Nice haircut. You look really cute." Lauren tousled my hair with a wink. I felt blush creep up my cheeks, yet again. It's a success, though, when a Goth girl calls you cute, I think.

They made their way into the living room to unpack their needlessly large textbooks and notebooks as I ushered in the next crowd of study group attendees. The jocks—they always traveled in a pack.

Jonathan led the group, a double cheeseburger in one hand and a textbook in the other.

Shane Summers, the baseball team's varsity catcher, and Martin Bosworth followed, also carrying half-eaten fast food in their hands.

"Burgers? You guys know we always have pizza here!" My dad laughed from the kitchen as he fixed himself a plate of pizza.

"You know we like to pre-game, Dr. Johnson." Jon laughed.

"Yeah, thank God, too," Tiffany laughed. "After the time you guys ate three entire pizzas before any of the rest of us got here." She giggled, wrinkling her nose at Jon. She always did that. I wondered if that was how she flirted.

After a few minutes of idle chatter--or idle listening on my part--I heard Joanna let herself in.

"Knock, knock!" She called in a sing-song voice. "I brought cookies! And Robin!"

I felt my heart skip a beat. Or two. Or three. Robin. I was going to ask her out.

I was going to pass out.

"Did you know that myotonic goats go rigid, faint, and fall over whenever they're startled?" I announced to the study group with an awkward smile.

"Um...okay?" Shane Summers looked at me as if waiting for more information. But, no. That was it.

Joanna and Robin came to join us in the living room and I immediately wished that I was a myotonic goat. Or invisible.

"Robin?" Dad raised his eyebrows at me.

He crossed the room to introduce himself to her. My dad was the perfect host that way. I had not inherited his social graces.

"Robin, it's nice to meet you. I'm Steve Johnson, Jordan's dad." He shook her hand. "Now's the point of the evening when Jordan banishes me to the study so I don't embarrass him."

He winked at me before addressing everybody else.

"If you guys need anything, you know where I'll be. Dr. Johnson is stuck at the hospital with one of her patients, so leave some pizza for her, if you can." He smiled and left as we dug in for food, laughing, and, eventually, calculus.

"Um, Robin?" Amy asked partway through the night. "what are you here for? You're, like, a math genius. You corrected Dr. Wilkes the other day."

Robin just blushed, casting a glance at me. I hoped she didn't expect me to answer, all I could think of that moment were how many dimples were on a regulation golf ball. Anywhere from 330 to 500, depending on the manufacturer.

"Maybe she just wanted to hang out and eat pizza and cookies," Joanna answered. "Jordan, can you go over number 16 in the homework? I'm really confused."

Thank God for Joanna. She always knew how to diffuse tension. I certainly didn't.

The rest of the night passed smoothly. It was actually kind of nice to have Robin there; she checked my work and assured the others that I was teaching them correctly.

As we neared the end of study group, Joanna answered her cell phone.

"Hello?" She paused a moment, then began gathering her books up. "Okay. I'll be right home. See you in a minute."

Robin started to pack her stuff, as well, and I felt panic rise in my throat. If Robin left, how would I ask her out? I already wasn't sure I'd have the courage to ask her out when she was there, but it would be impossible if she left.

"I'm sorry, I've got to go." Jo told Robin. "Jordan, do you mind taking Robin home?" And that was it. She chasséd out of the door with no further explanation.

"Um, I guess I'm taking you home." I smiled, goofily. "I mean to your home. Not mine. Because you're already here, I mean."

"Chill out, bro," Jon whispered into my ear. "She's a girl, not a dragon."

I smiled, and then blushed, realizing with Jon's existence that everybody was still there, too.

"Oh, uh, any more questions?" I asked the study group.

Remarkably, there were no more. As we began packing up, the jocks took all the leftover pizza, leaving two slices for my mom, then left.

The girl clique also left. As they went for the door, Lauren gave me a wink and a thumbs up. It's like everybody knew what was happening. Did everybody know? Did Robin?

I tried to fight the sick feeling in my stomach. Were these butterflies? Butterflies sucked.

The silence was deafening once everybody was gone. The room felt much too big like I'd fallen into Wonderland. Now, what to say? Joanna and I had not rehearsed this part.

"Did you know that humans are attracted to symmetry? It's an evolutionarily-sound trait, science suggests." Well, I could be pretty sure that that was not on the list of Joanna-approved conversation topics.

"Um, no. But that's interesting. And it makes sense." Robin giggled, looking as uncomfortable as I felt.

"So, you ready to go home? Or, uh, you can hang out here for a while if you want." I wasn't sure what to do with my hands, so I just shoved them in my pockets. I suddenly wished I'd watched more teen movies or chick flicks or something.

"I guess I could hang out here for a little bit longer." She smiled, putting her book bag back down.

So I decided to give her the Grand Tour of my family's house. Except for my room. I was sure that a curtain of paper cranes definitely wasn't going to help me get a girlfriend.