Next Door Lovers

Act 5

Once I was at tennis practice, I had to change into my tennis uniform. Then I went out to the courts, only to find Joe waiting for me.

I jumped. "Oh, hey."

"Hey, Linc. How-how are you?" he stuttered.

"Fine, what about you?"

"I'm fine."   
    "How's Amanda?"

"That bitch decided that she was finally done with me and broke up."

"Just now?"

"No, in eighth period."

"Aw, are you okay?" I almost wanted to pat him in the back but resisted.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"So I guess this means you won't have a date to prom."

"Yeah. I'm thinking of just staying at home. What about you? Are you going with Micah and Oliver?"

"Yep. As friends, of course."

"Of course."

That is when I had a brilliant idea.

"You know, instead of just moping around at home, why don't you come with us?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah! It'll be a lot of fun!"

"Oh, ok! I'll be there!"
    "Great! See you then!"

"See ya!" He walked to one of the other courts.
Wow, I basically asked him to prom!

I was ecstatic. Finally, I could have Joe all to myself. One step closer to you know what!

With this in mind, I powered through most of my practice games and won most of them. Then when we were told it was time to go I raced to the locker room to get changed and go home.

Since we lived so close to each other, our parents just decided for us to carpool together to save gas. So it was no surprise to see Joe's dad's car parked in the front with no sign of my parents anywhere.

"Hey kids!" his dad yelled.

"Hi, Mr. Rutherford. How are you?" I asked.

"Fine, thanks."

"Hey, dad," Joe muttered.

"So, you ready to go home?"

"Yes," we said simultaneously.

We got into the car (it was a 2001 corvette, I believe) and immediately Joe started to look out the window. I just sat in silence as Joe's dad cracked a few jokes. I laughed at some of them, but Joe just kept on looking out the window. I wondered what was up with him, but then I remembered Amanda.

Oh, right.

After a few minutes, we were home. Well, he was home. I still had to walk across the lawn to get to my house. I waved goodbye as I approached the front door.

I rang the doorbell.

*ding dong*

My mom opened the door.

"Hi sweetie, how was your day?" she asked.

"Hey, mom! It was good!"

"Do you have any homework?"

"No, I finished it."

"That's good."

I went upstairs to my room, and immediately I got a text from Micah.

"have you asked joe yet"

"yeah i told him we were all going"

"nice. is he coming with amanda"
    "no she broke up with him over some weird thing. he didnt say what"

"oh ok. did you say anything else"

"well i told him we were all going as friends so he doesnt freak out"

    "gotcha. well see ya then."

    "wait, what should i wear"

    "talk about it in the group chat, so oliver can have a say"

    "alright texting the group chat"

    "not now maybe right before you go"

"ok see ya then"

"bye"

    After a very fun time with Yandere Story, it was already time for dinner. I rushed downstairs to see what my mom had cooked up. She made us t-bone steaks.

    "Wow mom, you usually don't cook this. You must be really happy today."

    "Well, your dad got a promotion, so I wanted to celebrate!"

    "Dad, that's awesome!"

    We started eating. The steak was so good. It was really juicy and seared to perfection.

    "It's really good, mom."

    "Oh, thank you!"

    "How did you cook it?"

    "Do you really want to know? I don't want to bore you."

    "No, no, it's fine. I'm all ears."

    "Well, okay then. I used a bit of liquid smoke to cook it. It's my first ever time using it, so I'm glad you like it."

    "Huh, liquid smoke? I'll have to search that up later."

    I thought about Joe when she said that, because he was smoking hot (hehe get it?). I giggled, and then I remembered prom.

    "Oh, by the way, am I able to go to prom with some of my friends and Joe?"

    "Do you have a date?"

    "Not really, but neither does any of them."

    "Oh? I thought Joe was going with, what's her name?"

    "Amanda," my dad said.

    "Right, right. I thought he was going with her."

    "Well, apparently they broke up."

    "Oh, that's sad. Well, at least you're doing something nice for him by letting him come with you guys."

    "Yeah. I need to figure out what I'm going to wear."

    "Well, don't ask us. I don't think we can help you out on that one."

    "No need. Micah and Oliver are going to help me."

    "Ah, good."

    "So am I able to go?"

    "I don't see why not. Just don't do anything unsmart."

    "I won't. Thanks, mom and dad." I kissed them both on the cheek. We had already finished up and were cleaning up the dishes. I wanted some ice cream, so I got my favorite, cookies and cream, out of the fridge. It was delicious.

    Once it was time to go sleep, I headed upstairs to brush my teeth and sleep. Tomorrow would be prom, so I had to get a good night's sleep.

"Light's out!" I said enthusiastically as I turned off my lamp. With the quiet chirping of night and the mild snoring of my dad, I drifted off into slumber.