The Good Samaritan

4

By the time school had let out for summer, I had all but forgotten about my "date" with Jodi. It wasn't until after I got out of school that I finally remembered. Of course, it did help that she was already waiting for me with Jasmine.

"It took you long enough to get here," Jasmine said. "I was starting to think that you were ditching us."

"He wouldn't do that, Jasmine. He's a sweetheart, isn't he?"

I reached for my hoodie strings, ready to hide from them.

"Can we just go?"

"Eager to take her out, aren't you, Kayden?"

I made a mental note to myself. I would be sure to get her back for this.

"Well, don't let me get in your way. I'll let you two have fun."

With that, she drove away, probably to get ready for her date, and left me to deal with this awkward situation.

We started wandering around the neighborhood. We made small talk, but I could tell that that was as far as it would go. I knew why I was so tense but not why she was. As much as I wanted a reason to leave, I couldn't bring myself to ruin her day on purpose. I would just make today fun and then tell her that I just wanted to be friends.

I looked around the area and noticed an ice cream shop. It may have been the start of something good.

"Hey, how about we go in there? Ice cream is a great way to start off summer, isn't it?"

She hesitated for a moment. "I don't know. I left my money at home and-"

"Then I'll pay for it."

Before she had a chance to protest further, I was already leading her inside. We made a compromise before ordering that we would just order one thing and share it since she didn't want to make my wallet cry.

We sat down at one of the tables with a sundae in hand. Although I was still somewhat hesitant, Jodi was at least coming out of her shell.

"Kayden, can I ask you something?"

I nodded, as I took another spoonful.

"Why did you want to do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's not like we've hung out together like this before. Why now?"

I stared at the slowly dripping chocolate syrup through the glass cup. How was I supposed to explain to her that I was forced into it? That I didn't actually think of her like that. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but I couldn't lie to her.

"Should I not have done this?"

"No no, it's not that. We've just never been around each other outside of school."

"Oh. Well, don't you think that should change?"

"I guess so."

She didn't press on the matter, which I hoped meant that she was content with my answer. However, she didn't really talk much at all after that. We spent a few minutes eating in silence. I looked around desperately for something to talk about. My eyes dropped down to my wrist and I noticed that I still had on Jodi's bracelet.

"Hey, you never told me what the words in this bracelet meant."

"You still have that thing? I thought you would've lost it by now."

"You gave it to me. It wouldn't feel right if I lost something from you."

She smiled and looked down at the table. "That's really sweet of you to say."