The Milkshake Project

Sincerely

Rider didn't come to school Tuesday either. I sat grumpily in front of my essay, tapping my pencil against the blank sheet. The pain was slowly becoming irritation as the days went by and the chair next to me remained empty. At that point, I was ready to end this and move on with my life. No matter how much either of us didn't want it, we were still partners and we still had a project to finish. It was bad enough as it was. Rider didn't need to dump the rest of the project on me.

It was when Thursday came that I started to worry a bit. Terrible what-if scenarios began to pop into my head, and I nervously fiddled with my eraser. I convinced myself that my concern was for the project's sake, but the rest of the period went by in a blur. When the bell rang, I decided to go to my locker and put away the project. I wasn't feeling up to writing any more for the day.

Suddenly, from around the locker door, a rose appeared with a hand clenched around its stem. My heart skipped a beat, and I backed up a bit. I was about to ask Rider what he thought he was doing when the locker door swung open wider and revealed Jack on the other side. He didn't say anything, just lent the flowers out to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Apologizing," Jack replied.

I sighed and shut my locker.

"Thanks, but I don't need any pity," I said, "I just made a mistake."

"Hey, who said anything about pity?" he asked as he followed me down the hall, "You just look like you could use some cheering up."

"Yeah? And what's got you into such a fine mood?"

"I know you didn't have a blast at the pool, and I'm sorry for that, but you don't deserve to get down because of that Greaser did. I thought you'd like to have a bit of fun. If you'd like, we can catch a bite somewhere or see a flick."

I stopped outside my next class.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I asked.

"No, no. Not a date," Jack said, "More like a- uh...get-together. Something to get your mind of things."

Jack smiled sincerely at me, holding out the rose again. What Jack had done to me was wrong, but what Rider did was far worse. The fact that Jack had come now when I needed comfort said a lot, and part of me wondered if I had cut Jack too soon. Now that I wasn't hanging out with Rider, it seemed that Jack was a lot kinder and gentler. It made me wonder how bad Rider had been for me all along.

"You know what? That sounds swell," I said, "I'm free tomorrow."

"Friday it is then," Jack said with a big smile, "Where would you like to go?"

"Is Freddie's good?"

"Uh, Freddie's? You sure?"

"Absolutely. Freddie's is just a diner. I don't have any reason to think otherwise."

"Okay, then. I'll pick you up at seven."

The bell rang, and the halls began to empty. I shuffled the notebooks in my arms and pulled out a piece of paper.

"I live at forty-nine Oaks Street," I said, writing it out on the paper and handing it to Jack.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

I waved, as he turned and walked down the hall. Watching him go, I bit at my lip as a chill went through me. I briskly shrugged it off, then turned and joined my third-period class.

~

At lunch, I sat down with Bonnie and told her the news.

"What? With Jack?" Bonnie asked, "You told me you weren't really in to him."