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It wasn’t that Jimmy Jr. went looking for abandoned trampolines, but he sure had a talent for finding them.
The Frock’s were moving out of town, and the sidewalk outside their house was littered with boxes and bubble-wrapped furniture.
Resting against the front steps was the trampoline - it looked like it had seen better days, and a piece of notebook paper was taped to the underside.
FREE TRAMPOLINE - YOU HAUL AWAY
Score.
He was immediately reminded of the last time he’d found a trampoline, all the way back in eighth grade.
It had been Valentine’s Day, and he’d asked Tina to meet him in the gymnasium for a sky kiss.
He remembered the excitement on her face, and how cool it had been when she’d come to do the sky kiss on stilts.
That part of the memory made him frown - while it had still been awesome, the sky kiss hadn’t gone entirely to plan.
He’d wanted them to both be jumping.
That would’ve been even cooler.
…I wonder if…?
Lost in thought, he hadn’t heard the front door to the Frock’s house open - a blonde woman with thick glasses and a bad perm stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips as she assessed him.
“You gonna take it, or just stare at it all day?” She asked, startling Jimmy Jr. out of his reverie.
“Uh, sorry.” He started, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he studied the mess of springs and netting in front of him.
He wasn’t sure how Tina would feel about him dragging a trampoline home, but he couldn’t help but imagine a do-over of their kiss, one where they were both jumping…
Hopefully, she’d think he was being romantic.
“Um…yeah. I’ll take it.”
“You sure T-Bird’s gonna be cool with this?” Zeke grunted, using his shoulders to push the trampoline to the center of the living room.
The apartment that Jimmy Jr. shared with Tina was small, and they’d had to move most of the furniture into the bedroom to make space.
All of the heavy-lifting had left them both flushed and sweaty, but it had been worth it.
…Probably.
“Totally. She’ll love it.” Jimmy Jr. panted, wiping the sweat off his brow with the bottom of his t-shirt.
Zeke mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “It’s your funeral.” , and Jimmy Jr. rolled his eyes.
Once the trampoline was fully assembled, Zeke took his cue to leave, saying that he “Didn’t wanna hang around to watch them make-out on a trampoline, thank you very much.”
While Jimmy Jr. did think that the sky kiss would be better with an audience, he let his best friend go, promising to update him on Tina’s reaction afterwards.
All that was left to do was a few test jumps, to make sure that the trampoline worked properly.
Cracking his knuckles, Jimmy Jr. kicked off his shoes and climbed up, bending his knees for maximum liftoff…
And then, he jumped.
“Hello? Jimmy Jr.?” Tina called out, shouldering the front door to their apartment open.
Her arms were full of grocery bags, and she moved to set her keys down on the entry table, only to find the table missing. Her keys fell to the carpet below, clattering against each other on the way down.
… Huh?...
“Jimmy Jr.? Where’s the-...”
It was then that she turned to face the rest of the apartment, and saw the lack of furniture in it.
Where the couch and coffee table had once been now stood a massive trampoline, and on it, the crumpled form of her boyfriend.
“Jimmy Jr.?!” She gasped, rushing towards him, the grocery bags falling from her hands as she went. “Are you okay?”
Jimmy Jr. groaned, rolling over to face her. He looked fine, at least on the outside, and Tina sighed in relief.
“What did you do ?” She demanded, climbing onto the trampoline as quickly as she could. “Where did this trampoline come from?”
Her boyfriend sighed, opening his arms to her in invitation.
Tina crawled closer, using her fingers to probe the top of his head for any bumps and bruises.
He winced as she brushed the crown of his head, and started batting her hands away.
“Ouch. Sore."
Tina tsked, but didn’t find any other injuries. Leaning back to look at his face, she tried to remember what the symptoms of a concussion were.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” She asked, gesturing to their nearly empty living room, and to the trampoline beneath them.
Jimmy Jr. closed his eyes, his cheeks flushing red as he reached for her hand.
“Found trampoline. Wanted to recreate sky kiss. Doesn’t work here. Ceilings too low.”
He pointed up to the ceiling with his free hand, and Tina spotted the little dent in the plaster where he’d clearly bounced too high and hit his head.
“You…wanted to recreate the sky kiss? From when we were in middle school?” She asked, and he nodded, eyes peeking open to see her reaction.
Warmth flooded through her, and she couldn’t believe that he’d wanted to relive that moment again, wanted to recreate it so badly that he’d dragged a trampoline into their living room.
Possible concussion all but forgotten, she laid down next to him on the trampoline’s rough surface, hitching a leg over his waist and drawing him nearer.
“Well…I don’t think that you should jump …but… if you want to…I’m good to recreate it, ya know, down here.”
And then she kissed him, letting herself get lost in the familiar sensation of his lips.
It was just as euphoric as it had been almost a decade prior, kissing Jimmy Jr. in the gymnasium, surrounded by their classmates.
She never wanted the feeling to end, but all too soon he pulled away, pressing a gentle kiss to the tip of her nose as he did.
“Uh…Tina? Not to ruin the moment, but I think I should go to the emergency room.”