Chapter Forty-Two: Elly

Well, just like clockwork when my month of being grounded was almost over last Monday, Paul dropped by my lunch table at school where I was eating with Mia, Camila, and Hannah. Paul said he was going to get some ice cream, and he asked if I would like to come too. I took that as a hint that he wanted to talk to me in private; it was all so obvious, and the girls all gave me knowing looks when I got up to go with him.

Paul grinned at me (he's not a bad guy at all, he's just boring to be with) and said by his "calculations" that the end of my grounding would be Friday and was I available Saturday night to go out and do something. That Ian had been thinking about taking Mary bowling and out for pizza afterwards, and if I was interested, we could all double date and maybe meet at the mall and go from there, since I wasn't allowed to date yet.

But I said, and I must not have been thinking at all, that my parents had given me permission to date now, and there was no need for me to sneak around like last time. And he said awesome, that he would drive and after he picked up Ian and Mary, he would pick me up at my house around 6:00 and we'd go from there. Before I even had time to think about whether I actually wanted to go on a second date with him, he was gone, the date was already arranged. How can I be so stupid!

I wasn't sure whether or not I even wanted to go out with Paul a second time, and here everything was all arranged and I couldn't go after him, telling him, wait, there's been a misunderstanding. So I just decided to go bowling...maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

But then I got into a real tiz, what on earth was I going to wear. I mean, I was going to have my butt and backs of my legs visible to Paul and Ian most all of the night, and what were they going to be thinking when they saw all that...here comes Ms. Big Butt the whale up to roll another ball down the lane. How am I going to lose 20 pounds by Saturday at 6? So I immediately texted Mary about what was she going to wear. I had started to go find her, but, again I'm so stupid, she would be sitting with Ian and Paul and some of the other football players and obviously I couldn't go over there and start discussing my butt and leg problems.

Mary and I texted back and forth all during fourth period science, and finally we both decided that this was not a problem that could be solved through texts, especially when Mrs. Burkhead glared at me when she saw that I had been texting by holding my phone between my legs, instead of paying attention to her never ending boring lecture on the importance of flagellates in the ecosystem. I have an Λ in that class, but she's an awful teacher.

So Mary and I sat together on the bus, and we debated the pros and cons of what to wear Friday night. Mary decided that she was going to wear a skirt that came just two inches above her knees, so that when she dipped to throw the ball, Ian would see some more of her legs but not too much, and she suggested that I wear a skirt like that which was an absolute non-starter as far I was concerned. Mary said I had nice legs—bless her for saying that—but I know better and finally I decided on my usual option—loose fitting jeans with a long blouse...the safe choice.

When Saturday night came Daddy insisted that Paul had to come knock on the door to talk to him for a bit since it was my first date with Paul or any other boy, which sent me into another tiz because it was our second date and what if Paul let it slip that we had gone out before. Then I could be grounded again before I even left the house. But Daddy did almost all the talking while Paul was standing there next to me nodding his head and saying yes sir a lot, and we got out of there with no damage done.

The whole bowling thing was just a total disaster from the start. When we got there, all of those silly looking special bowling shoes were smelly and none of them fit, but I finally found a pair that I could put on. The first time I threw the ball, or is it rolled, who knows, it's a stupid sport...I threw the ball straight into the gutter. I thought I was done for that inning, no that's baseball, that round, right? But Paul said I got another chance, and he held my arm and had me practice the throwing motion and told me how to walk up to this line, but not cross it, and then "let her rip." I'm taking he meant the ball to rip, not my jeans...that would be so embarrassing if Ms. Big Butt exploded out of her jeans in front of everyone.

So I threw the ball again and this time, it went, like, 10 more feet down the aisle than last time before it fell into the gutter, I got that term right for sure...gutter ball, that's what Paul and Ian kept saying I was doing with the ball. And so it went for most of the time at the bowling place. I ended up scoring a 42 and Mary made a 53, which wasn't much better...what is a good score, a 100? Who cares. I don't remember what the guys scored, I really didn't care.

Afterwards, we went out for pizza, and they ordered three with all the toppings. Both of them ate a whole pizza each... they went on and on about "bulking up for next season," and I was so hungry that I ate over half the pizza that Mary and I both were supposed to split. When I was finishing off one of Mary's pieces, I started to worry that Paul would think I was making a pig of myself, but he and Ian weren't paying any attention to either of us; they were arguing over whether Golden State or San Antonio were going to win the basketball super bowl or something this year. It was so boring, fortunately they forgot to ask my opinion.

When we got back to my house, Paul walked me to the door, and I wasn't looking forward to that kiss I knew was coming. His face is rough. I can't decide whether he is trying to grow a beard or doesn't know how to shave right. The kiss was about the same as last time (not very good) except that it had the big time smell of pepperoni to it, and I mumbled something like "I had a really good time," and scooted inside the door. Daddy was waiting in his chair and looked at his watch and mumbled something. Mama had already gone to bed, which was a good thing because she can read me like a book and would've known that I had a bad time. I just wanted to go to bed and forget about the whole night.