Matt and his mom were just sitting down to Sunday dinner of baked ham, roast potatoes and corn on the cob when the phone rang. “Let the machine get it,” Mom said. Too late, Matt had already picked up.
“Mattster.” The bubbly voice was unmistakably Jake. “What’s up?”
Matt explained that he was just about to eat dinner. “I’ll call you back, okay?” he said. He returned to the table a little happier than when he had picked up the phone. Since that weird night at Long Lake, he hadn’t felt quite as close to Jake. It was good to hear from him, whatever he wanted to talk about.
“It was just Jake,” Matt said. “I’ll call him back.”
It was just the two of them for dinner tonight. Mark had visited the previous weekend and he was coming home only once a month or so now. But that was all right with Matt. He enjoyed the occasional quiet dinner with his mom. The weeks were so hectic with school, sports and Mom’s job as a real estate agent that it was nice to be able to catch up.
Unlike some kids, Matt kind of enjoyed spending time with his mother. Sure, she could be pretty hokey at times, but they had plenty of laughs together and he always knew she wanted what was best for him. That never failed to come across, no matter how mad she got at him for not cleaning up his room, doing the dishes or for stalling on his homework.
“I see from your school newsletter that you have a dance coming up,” she said. “Are you planning to go?”
“I don’t know. I guess. But I can’t figure out if we’re supposed to take someone. You know, like a date?” Just the word “date” seemed forced and a bit silly to Matt.
“I don’t think you have to, Matt,” Mom said, her lips slipping into a half grin. “Is there somebody you were thinking of taking?”
“Naw, not really,” Matt said before quickly changing the subject. “We’ve got a game tomorrow. Are you coming?”
“I’ll try to make it but I’ve got a house to show in the afternoon. What time does it start?”
“Right at 4:30,” he said. “We’re playing Manning. I don’t think they’re very good.”
Matt went on to offer his analysis of the entire South Side baseball team to his mother, player by player. She listened intently. Matt knew it wasn’t because she was a huge baseball fan—in fact, she barely knew the rules— but she was interested in whatever he was doing.
They were just finishing dessert, an apple pie that Mom had baked the previous fall and frozen, when the phone rang again. Matt jumped up to grab it. It was practically a reflex action.
“Sorry, man.” It was Jake again. “Can you talk?”
Matt took the portable phone upstairs to his room. He closed his door, stretched out on his bed and looked out the window as dusk was settling in on Anderson Crescent. “What’s up, Jake?”
“I’ve got an idea,” Jake said hesitantly. “It’s about the dance.”
Matt waited for Jake to continue.
“I kind of want to ask Marcia,” he said.
“You mean Marcia Evans? You want to take her to the dance?”
“I don’t know about taking her,” Jake said. “Maybe just meeting her there and hanging out. You know, more casual. Not like it’s an official date or anything.”
Matt chuckled to himself. Not like a date? This was exactly like a date. Jake just didn’t want to use the word. But Matt couldn’t really blame him. This was brand-new territory for both of them.
“So, I was wondering,” Jake continued. “Marcia is like best friends with Andrea, you know. And you and Andrea get along pretty good…”
Matt could tell where Jake was going with this one. “Why do you say that?” he asked defensively.
“It’s pretty obvious, dude. I mean, I heard she asked you to watch the softball game the other day.”
Matt blushed. He was glad nobody could see him.
“She’s all right,” Matt said. “I mean, she’s pretty cool. We could hang out. If she wants to, that is.”
“Awesome,” Jake said. “Let me talk to Marcia and I’ll set it up. Okay?”
“All right,” Matt replied. “Later.”
As Matt hung up, he felt a strange mix of nerves and excitement.
The next morning, only Phil was waiting under the oak tree on Anderson Crescent. He and Matt hung around for a couple of minutes to see if Jake would show up. He didn’t. “We’d better go or we’ll be late,” Phil said, eyeing his watch.
They walked the rest of the way to school together. By the time they arrived at South Side, the bell was about to ring. Matt strolled down the hallway to his locker, which was just outside Room 107, where they took morning advisory.
He was pulling out his books for the first few classes of the day when he heard a voice behind him. “Hi, Matt.” He turned around to see Andrea standing there. She smiled.
“Jake said you guys are going to the dance on Friday,” Andrea said matter-of-factly. “So, are we all going to hang out there?”
“I guess so,” Matt stammered, feeling his throat tighten and his voice rise slightly. “I mean, yeah, if that’s good with you.”
“Okay,” Andrea replied. She turned around and headed into class without another word. That was weird, Matt thought.
As he entered class, he noticed Andrea talking to two or three other girls, including Marcia Evans. They were smiling and whispering. They all looked at him while he hurriedly found his desk.
The second bell rang and Miss Dawson began her advisory session. Every morning she would use the twenty-minute period to answer questions students had about middle school. But she always began the session with a two- or three-minute talk that carried a theme. Today’s theme was “Making Responsible Choices.” Matt barely heard a word she said. All he kept thinking was that he had just agreed to a date. He was going to his first school dance and he was taking a girl. Well, maybe not taking her, but meeting her there and hanging out together. What would Phil and Amar say? What about the guys on the team? What would he wear? It might have been the first time in his life that he had thought much at all about what he was going to wear.