Guy Talk, Girl Talk

Chapter Forty-Five: Luke

Wednesday, Allen said that Russell had offered to take him trout fishing Saturday morning really early when the fish would be biting, and would I be interested in coming over to spend the night Friday to save time in the morning. I said "Gosh, yeah," Mom and Dad were going out of town Friday night to go pick up a car somewhere, so I knew they wouldn't have any problem with me being gone.

Allen and I haven't talked as much this year as we used to, he's been so busy studying and he hangs out with Paige most every weekend it seems. usually they just go to her house or his house and watch Netflix and eat pizza. That would be okay to do with a girl, but I can't imagine taking Mia to my house to hang out. Dad would be furious to see a Hispanic person in his house.

Before I walked over to Allen's, I ate dinner alone at my house...the last two deer burgers left from that doe I killed last fall. Mom and Dad weren't too keen on me going hunting last year, but they sure haven't had any problem eating that deer. I'm not even worried about them letting me hunt next year. I'm going to try to kill at least three deer next year with my crossbow.

It didn't take Allen and me long to plan what lures we were going to use on Saturday—Mepps Aglia spinners. Early season stocked rainbow trout will hit them in a heartbeat. We decided we would try to catch at least four or five to eat—they're really good sprinkled with lemon juice, you know. Allen and I never have done much talking about girls, but I had to ask him what was it like hanging out with Paige, and he said it was great. The only bad thing was that his dad (Allen's parents are divorced) or Paige's mom had to take them everywhere, and it was really embarrassing sitting in the backseat with her and making small talk until they got dropped off at the mall or somewhere. But that was better than not going anywhere at all with her, and after all, what choice did he have until he got his driver's permit.

I had to ask Allen what his favorite kind of date with Paige was, and he first said going to a movie, but then he said maybe going to a coffee house at the mall was pretty good, too...that they would get dropped off there and could talk and hang out and drink coffee for an hour or so, and then go walking around the mall and get some ice cream or something. One time Allen said they were at the mall, and on the spur of the moment, he decided to take Paige to a sweet shop and bought her some dark chocolate truffles, and she got really excited about that. I listened really carefully the whole time he was talking about those dates, because I was thinking I might be able to use some of that information next fall if Mia and I start going out.

Then Allen started teasing me about Mia and said he heard that she and I were "talking," and I said that we were just hanging out, and he said "Yeah, yeah, sure," that I was "sweet on her" and I know I must've got red in the face and finally I said that I liked her a lot, and wanted to go out with her next year because that's when her parents said she could date. Allen next said something like "Everybody knows you two are going to go out next year, it's no secret, it's so obvious that you're both stuck on each other." At first, I got a little mad when he said that, but then I began thinking that Mia must be getting teased too about me, and probably she had told her friends that she liked me. I still have trouble believing that any girl would like-like me, but I guess it's true...it is true, but it's still hard to believe.

Then I asked Allen if he thought maybe we could double date next year, did he think that his father or Russell would mind picking us up, and he said no problem, that double dating would be awesome. That really made me happy because I can't see Dad every driving me up to a Hispanic girl's house and being happy about it, and Mom might be different, but I don't think she'd be too happy about it either...besides they're gone most weekends anyway. So now, I've got two options for us going out next year, Mia and I riding our bikes somewhere to do something and Allen's father or Russell taking us on a double date. This dating thing might work out.

Then Allen and I channel surfed and watched bits and pieces of a couple of NBA games and went to bed. I didn't sleep much all night. I kept waking up thinking about Mia or trout and making just the right cast and then one time I remembered that I had forgotten to put fresh line on my spinning reel, but I figured that these were stocked trout, not river smallmouths, so my line wouldn't break if I got a nice one on...so finally I got some sleep.

The next morning after breakfast and after we got to the creek, Russell said he would fish downstream and let Allen and me fish upstream, which was really nice of him because it's always best to fish for trout by wading upstream and keeping a low profile so they won't spook. The creek was pretty big and wide, so Allen and I didn't have to take turns making casts. It didn't take us long to get into a competition to see who could catch the most trout and be the first to catch our limit of six. I ended up catching my sixth one right after he caught his fifth, so I had bragging rights for the day. But Allen caught his limit right after I did, so things worked out pretty well for us both. We filleted the trout right on the bank, and Allen texted his brother that we were ready to go home, so that the trout wouldn't spoil. I cooked up three of mine for lunch that day when I got home and ate the other three for lunch on Sunday. It was a really good weekend.