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again,
thinking about me and my guitar on the stage.
    “I’m happy for you,” she said. “Will you do me a
favor?” she asked as we got close to our bleachers.
    “Sure,” Anything….
    “Will you tell Megan I’m going to take off now? I’m
just too cold to enjoy this.”
    “Okay…didn’t you ride with them though?”
    “Yeah, it’s not that far though, just a few blocks. I
can walk.”
    “Or I can give you a ride?” I said.
    “On your Harley? Um…thank you but I don’t think so.”
    “Have you ever been on one?” I asked her. I would love
to feel her sitting behind me on Suzie.
    “No, I’ve never been on any motorcycle, actually. A
scooter…or Vespa, I guess it was called, once.”
    “You don’t know what you’re missing,” I told her honestly.
    “Maybe another time, when it’s not so cold and dark?”
    “It’s a date,” I told her, excited just at the sound
of it. “I’ll walk you home tonight.”
    “But…um, that’s really not necessary,” she said.
    “I’m sure it’s not,” I told her. “But I’d like to…if
you don’t mind.”
    “Okay,” she said, resigned. I went and told Jake and
Megan. Megan pointed her finger at me and said, “Be good.” Jake then pointed
his at me and said, “Be great,” with a lecherous grin that earned him Megan’s
elbow in his gut.
    Molly was waiting for me at the top of the stairs. As
we passed Suzie on the way out, she asked me.
    “Will it be okay here?”
    I glanced at Suzie. She looked so sexy with the
moonlight bouncing off her wheels. But she would be okay, and I told Molly so.
    “She?” she said with a grin.
    “Yes, her name is Suzie,” I told her. I knew girls
didn’t get it. They didn’t name their vehicles, but my dad and I had named
every one we had ever had.
    Molly leaned close then, and I almost couldn’t catch
my breath. Her hair smelled like some kind of flower, and her breath smelled
like chocolate as she said, “You don’t think she’ll get jealous and run me
over, do you?”
    I walked her back to her dorm, thinking that I couldn’t
believe that anyone, cute girl or otherwise could have talked me into leaving
Suzie at the football game and walking. We walked fast because it was so cold.
I wanted to grab her hand, but I just wasn’t getting the vibe from her that it
would be okay…yet.
    “What are you doing tomorrow?” I asked her when we
were about halfway back.
    “I have to work,” she said.
    “Cool. Where do you work?”
    “At the campus coffee shop,” she said, “I’m studying
to become head barista.”
    “I hear that’s a tough title to snag,” I said, hoping
it sounded less dorky to her than it did to my own ears.
    She smiled. I guess it didn’t sound too bad. “You have
to see me operate the machine,” she said. “Then you’ll know I have it in the
bag.”
    “What time to you get off?” I asked her.
    “I work ten to six tomorrow.”
    “So what are you doing after work?” I asked. Just ask her out all ready. Jeez, you act
like it’s your first time. You’ve asked out like a thousand girls. Why is this
one so different?
    “I-Um, I don’t know,” she said. Okay now, don’t ask another stupid question…just ask her if she wants
to go out with you.
    “I was wondering if you wanted to maybe have dinner or
something.”
    She stopped walking and looked at me. That’s a bad
sign, right? She can say yes while she’s walking, but for a no, a person really
needs to stop. Damn, it’s cold out here. My nose is frozen, and parts way south
aren’t doing much better. Come on, Molly.
Say yes, that’ll warm me up.
    “I really don’t think it’s a good idea Brock, but
thank you,” she said. So…is she thinking
dinner is not a good idea or a movie, or going out with me? Should I ask her,
or will that just make me look desperate and stupid?
    “Oh, okay,” was what I said. Profound, huh? I tried to
keep a neutral facial expression too. I really didn’t want her to think I was
desperate.