Work Text:
Oh god oh god oh god. This was a disaster.
Jeremy stared at his closet in absolute panic, his eyes flickering from item to item. Frantically, he pulled out his phone and pressed his first speed dial.
Michael picked up after the second ring. "What's up my man?"
"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO WEAR."
"Jesus FUCK Jeremy, volume."
Jeremy took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm just kinda freaked. What am I supposed to wear?"
Michael paused. "Like... in general?"
"Wh- no, today, cause today's the... y'know. The thing."
"The thing?"
"Yeah, the thing."
"Jeremy."
"Yeah?"
"I'm kinda stoned and really need you to be more specific. Cause I'm stoned."
Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Do you remember why you're getting stoned alone when I'm usually getting high with you?"
There was a moment of deliberation before Michael exclaimed, "Oooooh, the thing."
"Yes, the thing, now tell me what I'm supposed to wear!"
Michael scoffed. "How should I know? I don't exactly have any dating experience."
Jeremy felt his face flush red. "I- wh- it's-it's not a date! I just need wardrobe advice, man!"
Jeremy heard Michael sigh on the other end of the line. "Look, Jeremy, if it's not a date then it's just two friends hanging out and what you're wearing doesn't matter. And if it is a date then this is literally your fantasy of about three years. Who cares what you're wearing when you're hanging out with Christiiine Canigulaaa?" he said her name in a sing-songy tune and chuckled.
"Not a date. And yeah, I just, I dunno, performance art isn't exactly normal and we're gonna have a lot of people staring and — I need to be wearing the right clothes."
"Why?"
"I— what do you mean why? Because the entire bowling alley is gonna be staring at us!"
"They'll be staring at you because you'll be doing performance art, not because of your outfit! No one is gonna pay attention to your clothes while you're doing that weird shit."
"Gee, thanks."
He could feel Michael shrugging over the phone. "Just don't freak out about what you're gonna be doing, what matters is who you're doing it with. Christiiine—"
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. Also, why do you keep saying her name like that?"
Michael snorted. "That's how you always say her name, dude."
"Wha- no I don't!"
"Yeah you do, and you need to get dressed for your not-date performance crap, so I'm hanging up on you. Have fun, buddy!"
Jeremy pocketed his phone and sighed, taking a moment to calm down. After the whole Squipcident, his dad had kept his promise of grounding Jeremy. Which was fair — he knew he had it coming and he appreciated his dad making an effort now — but it was also terrible timing. Christine had accepted his offer on doing her performance art piece, but they weren't able to go do it until he was un-grounded, which just so happened to be today. And sure, they saw each other at school all the time now and actually had regular conversations (they even texted quite often), but this was their first official hangout. And it was definitely not a date, despite his dad and Michael refusing to believe that. Either way, it was a big deal and a perfect opportunity to bond with Christine, which also meant it was incredibly likely he was gonna ruin it somehow. So if he could at least have a good outfit, maybe things won't be as terrible.
After a few moments of deliberation, he snatched his NASA shirt from its hanger and got dressed as quickly as he could.
Jeremy played with the hem of his jacket as he stood outside Pinhead, the local bowling alley. He didn't even know it existed before Christine mentioned it because he'd never been bowling before. Like, at all; that was one of the reasons he didn't really mind being banned from this place. The upcoming humiliation part he was still trying to come to terms with. But it'd be fine. I mean, what could go wrong in between his anxiety, lack of acting ability, and terrible appearance?
Maybe this was a bad idea.
"Yooo!"
Jeremy whipped his head towards the source of the greeting, his eyes meeting an enthusiastic Christine across the parking lot. She waved wildly and him and he awkwardly waved back as she skipped towards him.
Right, he couldn't back out because Christine was counting on him, even if he was inevitably gonna ruin this somehow. Just don't be weird.
"Yo?" he said, his voice squeaking as Christine stopped in front of him. Well, there goes that plan.
"Yeah! It's our official greeting now, as an homage to our first real conversation in play rehearsal," she explained, smiling up at Jeremy.
"Oh, right," he chuckled lightly, "I forgot that's how I—"
Christine gasped abruptly as she gestured to herself dramatically. "We're matching!"
Jeremy froze, horrified for a split second that he had somehow managed to wear a rainbow skirt like Christine without him realizing, before noticing her t-shirt had a little cartoon rocket on it. He glanced at his own retro NASA shirt and felt his lips twitch up into a smile.
"Huh, yeah, I- I guess we're both uh, out of this world? Haha." He aimed finger guns at Christine, which he immediately regretted and tried to play off by playing with the hem of his jacket again.
She snorted. "Well clearly you have great taste, since you seem to be inspired by my fashionista style." She finished with a flourish and posed dramatically before taking his wrist in her hands as she bounced up and down. "C'mon, let's go in!"
As Christine dragged him inside and Jeremy pointedly ignored how Christine was touching his hand to prevent hyperventilating, he tried to make conversation. "So uh, did your parents drop you off here or...?"
"Oh I only live a few blocks from here so I chose to walk, figured it'd help to warm up a bit before our performance." She giggled in anticipation. "I can't wait! Did you drive here? I didn't see your car."
"My, uh, my dad d- dropped me off," he stuttered. "I can't drive."
She came to a stop at the counter and turned to look at him, puzzled. "But I've seen you drive your car to school? And to the party, too."
Jeremy stiffened, keenly aware that although he didn't want to bring it up at all, lying would probably be worse. "Oh, um. That was, uh. My. Y'know." He tapped his temple nervously
"Oh, right." She chuckled awkwardly, looking slightly uncomfortable, before picking up the reception bell and dinging it four times.
Jeremy prayed that the ground would swallow him whole, but his train of thought was interrupted by an employee who spoke in a complete monotone. "Hey, who you calling Pinhead? Hello, what can we do for you this smashing afternoon?"
"We wanna bowl!" Christine beamed up at the employee, called Naomi according to the name-tag.
"Sizes?"
After getting their shoes they headed over to their assigned area and looked at the blank electronic scoreboard.
"I'm gonna start choosing a bowling ball and you can put in our names, sound like a plan?" Christine asked.
Jeremy gave her a double-take, confused. "We're gonna actually play?"
Christine smirked. "Well yeah, we can hang here a bit, scope out our audience and stage. Plus, we should enjoy ourselves here and get the full experience before getting kicked out."
"Fair enough."
Jeremy turned back to the small screen and started clicking around, hoping to not fuck up anything, and managed to get to the settings. As he selected the two players option and saw the blank name slots, he smiled deviously and typed.
"All set!" he announced, gesturing to the screen. Christine set down the yellow bowling ball she had been examining and walked over, giggling when she saw the names.
"Blanche and Pacman? What a dynamic duo."
Jeremy laughed. "Yeah, me and Michael always try to come up with the most ridiculous names whenever a game makes the mistake of allowing player input."
She looked up at him, beaming. "It's nice."
He scratched his neck. "Well, the names we tend to use aren't so PG-13 but—"
"No, not that, your laugh! I think that's the first time since Halloween that I've heard you laugh without being nervous."
His face was definitely not red. "Oh, uh, haha, uh, not really? My laugh is like, the dorky kind."
"I know, that's what makes it great!"
The fact that she didn't try to deny the goofiness of his laugh made him actually believe her compliment, a little. Also, Christine Canigula just said he had a great laugh!!! What was his life?
"Alright, you wanna go first?" Christine asked.
He gulped. He very much did not want to do anything even remotely requiring exercise. "Um, sure, why not? I've uh, I've never done this before, though."
"Wait, really? No bowling birthday parties or anything?"
"Only Wii Sports."
She giggled and god, Jeremy would never get tired of that sound. "Well, I'll help you! C'mon, pick out a ball and I'll teach you."
She took his wrist again and led him to the selection of bowling balls, even though it was only a couple of feet away from where they had been standing. He looked at his options carefully and had a flashback to earlier today when he couldn't pick a shirt. He saw a medium-sized green one and pointed to it. Christine nodded in approval.
"Excellent choice, my good sir!" She picked it up and handed it to him, "Careful, it's heavy."
Jeremy proceeded to take it out of her hands and immediately lose balance as the bowling ball dropped to the floor with a clang.
There was a beat of silence as both of them stared at the ball, interrupted by Jeremy blurting out "Mood." in a moment of panic.
Wow. Smooth, Jeremy.
Christine smiled. "Big mood." He felt himself start to smile back.
"The biggest of moods."
"Dare I say, bmood."
"Or perhaps even, mig bood."
They both lost it and started wheezing in laughter, earning a few odd stares from people.
Christine wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh my god, mig bood. That's amazing."
Jeremy cracked a smile at her, his belly aching from laughing, as he bowed down slightly. "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all night." He finally bent down to pick up the ball that was still on the floor. "Still willing to teach me after that disaster?"
"You mean after that comedic masterpiece? Of course!"
They walked up to the alleyway, Jeremy clutching the ball with both hands.
"Okay so first, three middle fingers go in there," Christine pointed to the holes in the ball, "and you want your dominant hand to go under the ball, cause that's the one you're throwing with. Your other hand goes on top to balance the ball."
He followed her instructions, awkwardly positioning his hands as told. "Like this?"
"Uh, kinda. Try to relax your right hand a bit."
"I- uh, I don't wanna drop it again," he admitted.
"Don't worry, I got you this time!" She positioned herself behind Jeremy and cupped his right hand with hers. "Consider this the tutorial round!"
Holy shit holy shit holy shit. She is touching my hand.
"Uh, o- okay." His voice cracked halfway through the sentence and he hoped she didn't notice.
"Now, you're gonna swing back your right hand back to grab momentum, but don't let go of the ball. Then you throw it forward and BOOM perfect strike!" She jumped up slightly, still positioned right behind him, and Jeremy felt his brain go completely blank.
Don't get a boner don't get a boner don't—
"You okay?" Christine asked.
"I- wh- yeah! Yeah, I'm just uh, processing. The instructions, I mean." He was really glad she couldn't see how red his face was from this angle.
"Want me to run them by you again?"
"No, uh, I think I've got it. Just like in Wii, right?"
She chuckled. "Just like in Wii. Look at where you want the ball to go."
Jeremy took a shaky breath and swung back his arm before using all the strength he could muster to throw the ball.
It clattered a couple of times before rolling steadily, going straight into the gutter. He stiffened, embarrassed, before flinching at Christine's loud voice.
"STRIIIIIIKE!!! One to zero, Jeremiah Heere is crushing it here at Red Bank's Annual Bowling Olympics!" She held both arms over her head in victory, smiling widely.
"Christine, I didn't knock down a single pin."
"Yes, and."
He felt his eyebrows scrunch up slightly in confusion. "What?"
"When doing improv, whatever your partner says you have to roll with it, you can't deny or contradict it. 'Yes, and' is what we call it in the biz."
He vaguely remembered Mr. Reyes bringing it up in one of the rehearsals, and Jeremy froze. "Wait, are we doing it right now?" he whispered, feeling his stomach fill up with dread. He didn't think he was quite ready for their performance art piece yet.
"Nah, I'm just warming you up," she said with a grin, "You'll be able to tell when we start, I assure you."
He swallowed nervously. "Um, just make sure to give me a quick heads up before you do? So that I'm uh, psychologically prepared."
"Alright, no problem! Now it's my turn."
"Aren't I supposed to throw twice?"
She shrugged. "Yeah, but we're not gonna finish the whole game anyway, so we don't need to keep score."
He shrugged back. "That's fair."
Christine picked up an electric blue bowling ball she had been eyeing earlier and positioned her hands carefully. She turned to look at Jeremy, "Now watch how a pro does it." She took a couple of steps back and then ran up, swinging the ball forward as she yelled out "YEET!"
The ball went high up and then banged against the floor loudly, rolling a couple of feet before coming to a stop without even reaching the pins. She turned to face Jeremy with a smirk on her face. His eyes flickered from the bowling ball to Christine a couple of times before squinting.
"... You have no idea how to bowl, do you?"
She smiled and did a curtsy. "I acted very convincingly, didn't I? Thank you, thank you."
"You really had me thinking you were a bowling professional, how dare you?" Jeremy admonished, but his mouth was twitching into a smile against his will, "I trusted you."
"I'm so sorry, Jeremiah, I had no choice!" Christine held a hand up to her forehead dramatically before giggling. "No for real, I have bowled before, but I never get the execution right. And I don't understand the points system at all."
"I don't get the points system either, don't worry. But hey, you really had me convinced, especially with the whole hand-holding teaching moment," Jeremy said. She's really dedicated to acting out her roles, he thought.
Christine smiled awkwardly. "Haha, yeah, I just got really, uh, into the zone. And all. I hope I didn't weird you out."
"No! Not at all." He smiled at her, playing with the edge of his jacket.
"So! Changing topics!" She walked up to him. "Are you ready to do this?"
Jeremy blinked, his mind drawing a blank before he realized what she meant. "Oh! I mean, uh, right now?"
She shrugged, buzzing with excitement as she picked up another bowling ball from the rack. "I mean, yeah! There's nothing left to do. We've bowled to our heart's content, now it's time for the show."
Jeremy felt a bead of sweat crawling down his neck and he gulped. "Oh well, right, yeah, but uh... but, there's barely any people, right? We- we're not gonna have a proper crowd for our, uh, our masterpiece to be appreciated."
Right as he finished his sentence a group of ten or so rowdy children came into the building, one of them wearing a bright red party hat, accompanied by four really tired adults.
Christine gasped, "Wow, it's almost as if you summoned them, Jeremy!"
He imagined that if this was one of the days his Squip was acting up, it'd laugh maniacally at his luck. "Haha, yeah. Almost."
"Okay, so you know the drill, right? Remember improvising is totally encouraged!"
"Christine, I—"
"OH my dearest, I'm so happy to be here with you, celebrating our anniversary at the bowling alley where we met!" she exclaimed loudly, leaning into him.
Whatever worries and doubts he had about this simultaneously disappeared and multiplied triple-fold. On the one hand, Christine was going with the "Let's pretend we're a couple" route, which was a lot to process and, well, nice. But also, Jeremy was now stuck in the middle of doing something that would involve a lot of people staring at him and judging him and oh god why did he ever agree to this.
"We have such a perfectly ordinary life, don't we sweetums?" she continued, queuing him in.
"Uh- Uh huh." He managed to choke out. His mind was whirling as he saw out of the corner of his eye that a couple of people were already staring at them. He swore he could hear them whispering to each other as Jeremy stood there, paralyzed.
Everything about you sucks, everything about you SUCKS—
"WOOOAAAH!!!" Christine belted out, snapping Jeremy out of his downward spiral for a moment. He realized that he must've missed some key scenes while he freaked out because already Christine was holding a bowling ball underneath her shirt, staring at him with wide eyes.
"Wh- what?" he stammered out, completely lost. He didn't remember what his lines were — hell, he didn't even remember what the plot was supposed to be.
"I don't know!" Christine exclaimed, acting as freaked out as Jeremy felt, "I have no idea how I'm suddenly pregnant! And— OW! Oh god, I think my water just broke!"
Jeremy would appreciate her acting skills a lot more if he wasn't on the verge of passing out.
"What do we do?!" she clamored, putting a hand on Jeremy's shoulder. He took a quick glance around him; there were a lot of people staring now, including the group of kids from earlier, watching with gaping mouths. They all think you're such a fucking weirdo, why the fuck did you agree to do this? Just because you think acting seemed fun doesn't mean you should've done it, it's such a stupid idea, you're so fucking stupid—
"I– I can't..." Jeremy breathed out, his heart beating out of his chest. He locked eyes with Christine, who had broken out of character as she looked at him with worry. She moved her hand from his shoulder to his hand and squeezed it in reassurance. She smiled at him softly and whispered, "It's okay Jeremy, we can go home if you don't wanna do this."
Did he want to do this? He did. he really did, but he was scared shitless, and so out of his comfort zone. It wasn't a matter of him wanting or not wanting to, he just couldn't. He's never been able to do stuff like this before, no matter how much he might've wanted to.
He looked at Christine, who was still looking up at him, holding his hand. Jeremy took a deep breath. He was scared... but he wasn't alone. If he wanted to do weird performance art, then damn it all he was gonna do it.
"I can't... I can't be a father, Julia!" he yelled out, ignoring that he was talking way too loud and that everyone's eyes were still on him. "I'm too young! I'm too beautiful!"
Christine beamed up at him before shifting to an angry expression. "Well this baby is coming whether you like it or not, Donny! AAAAAGH." She writhed in pain as if she was hit with a contraction.
"W- well don't worry my dear, it's uh, it's a good thing that I'm a... a doctor!" He cringed at his stuttering but kept going. Jeremy took off his jacket and gulped, pointedly not thinking about how he was currently kneeling on the floor of a dingy bowling alley while his hands hovered between Christine Canigula's legs. How did this happen?
"I'm so glad you chose to go to med school while also being a part-time ballet dancer!" Christine said.
"What?" he whispered, breaking character for a second.
"Yes, and," she whispered back, before groaning dramatically.
Jeremy choked back a laugh. "You know I couldn't give up my passion for dance for anything Chr- Julia. Now, push!"
Christine crouched slightly as she groaned again, even louder than before, and pulled out the bowling ball from beneath her shirt. She held the ball above her head victoriously, grinning maniacally and sweating, her hair slightly disheveled.
God, Jeremy was so into her.
He handed her his jacket and Christine used it to cradle the bowling ball. Still on a high from the performance, Jeremy gasped dramatically. "It's a... an alien!?"
Christine gave him a look. "What?"
"Yes, and," he whispered before looking astonished again. "You cheated on me with the alien race L.I.A.? That explains the sudden pregnancy! Oh Julia, how could you do this to me?! On our ANNIVERSARY?!"
There was a beat of silence where Jeremy realized with growing dread that he had taken the whole thing a bit too far. Fuck, Christine was gonna think he was so weird. Aliens, Jeremy? Really? That was so cringey, what was he thinking—?
"I'm sorry Donny, except that I'm not!"
Wait, what?
"Huh?" he voiced his confusion out loud, still kneeling as he looked up at Christine.
"You're never home, always chasing your dream of ballet, but what about me? What about my dream to open an all-inclusive school for both aliens and humans?" She scoffed, turning away from Jeremy as she stroked the bowling ball gently. He swore he saw her wiping away a tear. "Sonny actually cares about my dream, and he loves me!"
He was surprised she was able to keep going after he fucked up their whole performance, and pretty impressed too before he suddenly realized he had to think of something to reply with quickly. "But- but I love you!" Jeremy said, before he realized what he just said, and hoped he could play off his face being red as him just being a really good actor.
As he stood up, his knees slightly sore from kneeling on the floor for so long, Christine turned to look back at him, eyes defiant. "It's too late, Donny! I want a divorce!"
Jeremy did the most dramatic gasp he could muster. "On our ANNIVERSARY?!"
"Get. Out. Now."
They both turned to look at the manager of the bowling alley that was glaring down at them. "And return the shoes."
Christine saluted and grinned. "Aye aye, Cap'n!" She then turned to look at the rest of the people that had gathered around them, "Thank you for watching our performance! Please consider supporting Middleborough High's drama club!" Jeremy felt his hand being taken as Christine bowed and he quickly followed suit, earning scattered applause from some and excited cheering from the birthday party kids. They both scurried out of the bowling alley, giggling.
"I can't believe that just happened," Jeremy breathed out, grinning widely.
"I know, it was AWESOME! I loved your emotion, very convincing and dramatic."
"Me? Your delivery was incredible! Uh, pun not intended."
Christine laughed, loud and clear, and Jeremy felt his heart flutter, "Oh man, and your alien twist! It was super original."
He felt his gut twist slightly. "Yeah uh, original doesn't always mean good. Sorry about that, I don't know what—"
"Woah woah, Jeremy, what are you talking about? It was so cool! I never would've been able to come up with that, you're really creative."
He felt his face flush. "Wh- but– me? Creative? Nah, you-you've got the wrong guy."
She raised an eyebrow. "Come on, Jeremy! Not creative people can't improvise and do performance art."
He was starting to figure out that Christine didn't really appreciate his self-deprecating humor, so he stopped trying to deny her compliments for now. "W-well, I was only a-able to do that cause I- cause we-we did it together."
"Uh, but you've already done performance art. Your piece at the mall?" She chuckled. "That's how I ended up mentioning my bowling alley idea, remember?"
His heart dropped. Oh, right.
"Yeah, uh... about that..." he mumbled, pursing his lips.
She gave him a look he couldn't read. "Squip?"
He nodded, feeling shame crawling up his back. "That was the day I got it. And when it activated, it uh. It gave me some 'mild discomfort' I guess."
Christine frowned slightly. "That was supposed to be mild?"
"Yeah, that's what I said."
They were still standing outside the bowling alley, so Christine walked up to a bench and sat down, "But it only hurt a little when mine activated. The painful part was when it turned off."
Jeremy sat down on the opposite end of the bench, not wanting to get in her personal space. "They were, um, different models or something, I think? I'm-I'm not really sure, honestly. There's a lot I don't know." He scratched his neck awkwardly.
She shivered slightly, and scooted a bit closer to him. "Jeremy, can I ask you something?"
He nodded.
"Did you... was I the only reason you signed up for the play?"
"Oh." He blinked; he didn't think that's what she was gonna ask him.
"It's just— I know Jake did, and I thought maybe you... well, I'm not sure how many things were you and how many were the Squip, so— ugh, I'm not making any sense."
"No no, it's fine, I know what you meant, I was just surprised," he assured her.
She nodded, clutching her jean jacket. "So...?"
Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows slightly, thinking about how to word his answer. "I was— I mean, I thought about signing up for the play. Got excited when I saw the signup sheet and stuff! I always thought it'd be fun to do theatre, maybe, but I just figured I wouldn't be good at it. Besides, I didn't wanna give people more of a reason to tease me." He shrugged, fiddling with the jacket on his lap. "I was... scared, even though I wanted to do it. But then when you signed up, I kinda had a brief realization that people were gonna make fun of me no matter what I did or didn't do. So why not do something I really want?" He gave her a shy smile, shrugging. "I mean, that burst of confidence died when Rich called me gay and everyone laughed at me but. It was nice, for a while. And when we talked at play rehearsal, it was really nice. And I didn't regret signing up at all."
Christine nodded, giving him a small smile, "I'm glad you signed up too; I really liked talking to you that day."
"At play rehearsal?"
"Yeah! I know it was only because you were really nervous, but you're the first person that let me talk without interrupting me or trying to change the topic."
Jeremy frowned slightly. "Do people do that to you?"
She shrugged. "Well, sometimes. They get bored when I ramble about the stuff I like for too long. I mean, I don't really blame them—"
"That's bullshit."
She blinked in surprise at his small outburst. She shrugged again, staring at her hands. "Yeah, well. I guess I'm used to it."
Jeremy felt his frown deepen. "It's still bullshit."
"Still, what I'm trying to say is... Thanks. For listening to me."
They looked at each other for a moment before Jeremy blushed profusely and threw his jacket at Christine. She yelped in surprise and haphazardly caught it.
"You, uh. Were shivering. So. You can uh. Yeah." He gulped and played with the hem of his shirt, face still red.
"Aren't you gonna be cold?" she asked, standing up from the bench as she held the jacket in her hands.
Jeremy shook his head. "Nah, I rarely get cold. It's fine."
She put her hands on her hips, "Then why do you always wear a jacket?"
"I just like the texture of them. It feels like wearing a blanket but it's socially acceptable. And I can like, uh, de-stress with it better?" He shook out his hands briefly as an example.
Suddenly Christine beamed and put on the jacket in a hurry, turning to look at Jeremy with a grin. She started to move her arms wildly, the too-large jacket sleeves flapping back and forth. "Like this?"
Jeremy smiled tentatively, "I try to uh, be more discreet, but yeah. It's fun, right?"
"Yeah, duh, I do it all the time, but usually without the sleeves." She stopped moving and gave him a curious look. "What time is it?"
Jeremy pulled out his phone from his back pocket to check. "6:47, why?"
Christine slapped her forehead. "Shit! I have to get home, my dad needs me to help him with dinner today." She started to take off Jeremy's jacket. "Sorry to leave in such a rush."
"Oh, uh, don't worry about it," he stuttered. Suddenly, he had an idea. "Wait, why don't I walk you home?"
Christine looked down at him, "Oh, you don't have to do that—"
"No, really, it's no problem. My dad can head over here once I call him, and while he arrives I can take you home and come back. I mean, you said you don't live far, right? But I-I mean, if you don't— if you don't want to then that's fine, d-don't worry about it."
She nodded tentatively, smiling shyly at him. "I mean, if you're sure then... yeah, I'd like that."
Jeremy smiled, feeling a bit relieved. "Then, uh, great! Lead the way. And you can keep the jacket until we get to your house."
They made conversation as they walked, laughing with ease while they spoke.
"... since my cousin knows bass I always considered trying to learn an instrument, but I dunno. Just haven't gotten around to it."
"You totally should! Who knows, maybe you could join his band."
He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure Nato and his friends wouldn't take on a ukulele considering it's a rock band."
Christine giggled. "Then that's their loss."
They finally arrived at the front of her house, slowing to a stop at the driveway.
"So..." she said.
"So," he repeated, putting his hands into his pockets.
"Today was fun. Thanks for doing the piece with me, now I can cross it off my bucket list!"
He smiled. "I, uh, I had fun too. And I'm–I'm glad I could help."
They stood there for a moment in silence while Jeremy was screaming internally. He had no idea what he was doing.
"So I guess I'll see you around, maybe?" she asked, looking up at him.
"Oh, y-yeah, totally!" he squeaked, "Uh there's–there's this cool uh, sort of arcade we could go to? They— well there's a lot of fun retro games there, even though a lot of them have busted buttons, and also I should warn you that the carpet has a mysterious stain next to the Street Fighter machine so we should steer clear from that. Michael and I have an ongoing bet on its origin and–and I don't know why I'm still talking. But yeah."
She grinned, her face flushed from the cold weather. "That sounds great!"
They stood there another quiet moment before Christine shivered and started heading towards her door, "Anyway, we can text later to set a day. I'll see you around, Jeremy! Send me a message when you get home so I don't worry, okay? Oh, and don't forget we have physics homework!"
Stunned from all the rapid-fire statements he was getting, he only replied with an "Okay!"
She went inside, giving him a little wave before closing the door behind her.
"So, how'd your date go?"
"It wasn't a date, dad," Jeremy said, buckling his seat-belt.
His dad chuckled, starting the drive back home. "Ah well, one can hope, right? But really, how was it?"
Jeremy's face flushed slightly red and he smiled. "It was fun. We're kinda banned from the bowling alley now, though."
His dad waved his hand dismissively. "Eh, we never bowl anyway. But try to stay out of trouble soldier, you don't wanna get grounded again so soon."
"Ten, hut," Jeremy replied, rolling his eyes.
When they came to a slow at a red light, Mr. Heere turned to look at him and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, where's your jacket?"
Jeremy widened his eyes in realization. "Oh, um, Christine was cold so I uh. Lent her my jacket. We kinda forgot about it, though."
"You gave her your jacket but it's not a date?"
"No!"
"Alright, alright, I give up. But make sure to send her a message about it, use it as a reason to meet up again, ey?"
Jeremy blushed and looked out the window to avoid looking at his dad. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."
jheere_P2: hey um, you still have my jacket right?
jheere_P2: im just checking
jheere_P2: oh and im home btw
thespiangal: OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY AAAAH
thespiangal: i didn't even notice until now!!
jheere_P2: no its ok dont worry!
thespiangal: i'll give it back to u asap!!
jheere_P2: we see each other monday so u can give it to me then
thespiangal: alrighty, sounds good! sorry again D:
thespiangal: it was rlly comfy and i left u jacketless
jheere_P2: i have other jackets its ok!
jheere_P2: and my cardigans
jheere_P2: also a couple of sweaters
thespiangal: :O oooo nice nice
jheere_P2: and im glad u found the jacket comfy
thespiangal: it really is soft™
thespiangal: and i know i already said it but i really enjoyed myself today, it was super fun!!
jheere_P2: yeah, i had fun too! thanks for hanging out with me
thespiangal: you don't need to thank me, i just like spending time with you!
jheere_P2: oh, same
jheere_P2: wait that sounded sarcastic or something no
jheere_P2: i just like spending time with you too
jheere_P2: not that that's the only thing i like i mean i do other stuff too yknow!
jheere_P2: im gonna throw my phone out the window now
thespiangal: no!!!!
thespiangal: fhdhfhGDHFH but i guess you could say it's a,,,, mig bood
jheere_P2: im dhshfjsjfjjd
thespiangal: also!! does wednesday sound like a good day for the arcade thing?
jheere_P2: yeah that works! my dad can drive us there. should we go after school?
thespiangal: yup! it's a date :D
thespiangal: hold on my mom wants to talk to me, brb!
Jeremy stared at his phone intently before pulling up his speed dial.
"Hey man, how'd your 'thing' go—?"
"I THINK I HAVE A DATE—"
"— FUCK, MY EARS—"
"— ON WEDNESDAY BUT I'M NOT SURE? HELP? ME?"
"You are gonna leave me deaf one day," Michael stated matter-of-factly.
Jeremy scoffed. "Well maybe you shouldn't answer all your calls wearing headphones that are at max volume!"
"Let me live, dude— wait, wait wait wait, rewind: you said you have a date? Congrats!"
"I? Don't know? If it's a date?"
Michael took a deep breath on the other side of the line. "Alright, back up, tell me everything."