Mark's story
Oh my God, Jen had
accepted!
She was actually going to go out with me.
I stripped off and ran a hot bath: I wanted to be as clean as could be, and this student slums apartment doesn't have a shower, so it's baths for me. I shampooed and washed up, and then shaved. Time to pick out the right clothes.
Well, for me, that meant khakis. This was a few years before the preppy look was in, but I still had some khakis. We weren't allowed to wear jeans in high school, so I had several pairs of slacks, and the khakis looked better than any of the others. Trouble is, I didn't have the best shirts in the world. I wore t-shirts most of the time, but that wasn't good enough for a first date, even at a place as casual as Joe B's. Finally I found one to wear, and I got out the ironing board and pressed it, along with the khaki slacks. Clean socks, black, and my dressiest shoes - which weren't all that dressy, just penny loafers - and that was as good as I could do for this evening. I figured that I'd brush my teeth and use Listerine just before I left my apartment.
It was only a few blocks to Blazer Hall, the dorm where Jennifer lived. Down Stone Avenue, right on East Maxwell, then down whatever that street in front of Blazer Hall was called; it wouldn't take ten minutes to get there. I could get there in five, but I didn't want to rush and maybe break a sweat.
I was supposed to pick up Jen at 6:30, but I was about ten minutes early. Guys weren't allowed on the residence floors in the girls' dorms in 1972, but there was a receptionist desk in the entrance, and I could get the receptionist to call up to Jen's room. It sure seemed like there were a lot of girls in the lobby, looking at me, and I found out later that most of them were from Jen's floor; apparently the word had gotten out, and I was getting checked out. The receptionist called up, and a couple of minutes later, Jen came down, looking like I had never seen her before.
Oh, my God, she looked really good! I'd never seen her in anything but those too-long, too loose skirts that she wore, and knee socks and simple blouses. Today, she was wearing some new jeans that looked good and stylish on her, some half-fancy sandals, and a simple white shirt, but one that looked a lot more fashionable than I was used to seeing on her. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail, and it wasn't her normal, partly frizzy hair. I had thought that she was kind of cute before, even though she never did anything to make that obvious, but today she looked pretty. I had about four seconds to decide how to greet her, and I really wanted to give her a quick kiss, but was afraid that might be too much, too soon. I settled on a simple, "Hi," which she returned, looking a little nervous. I just hoped that I didn't look as nervous as I felt. When she smiled at me, the nerves went away. We got close together, and she was about to say something, when a flashbulb went off: one of the girls in the lobby actually took a couple of pictures! Jen turned about seventeen shades of crimson at that, and I was a bit embarrassed myself.
"You two have fun," one of them shouted, as the girls scurried upstairs.
"Your friends?" I asked as we were walking down the outside steps.
"Yeah, the girls from my floor. Somehow the word that I had a date spread like wildfire."
"Does that bother you? You're not upset that I asked you out, are you?" I probably shouldn't have added that last part.
"Well, it bothers me a little, but Monica and Rachel really wanted to help, and they pushed me a bit, but I could tell that they were happy for me."
"Are you happy for you?" Another question I regretted the second I asked it, but it worked out well.
"Yes, I am. This is nice." Then Jennifer did something that shocked me: she took my hand as we were walking, and I was on cloud nine.
It was only a couple of blocks over to Joe Bologna's, an Italian hole-in-the-wall restaurant that was really popular with students. Back in the seventies, it had a dark dining room, with booths on one side, against the outside wall, and a few small tables for two near the interior wall. Since it was Thursday, it wasn't quite as busy as it'd be on the weekend, and we got a small table near the side, several tables away from the door, but not up to the kitchen entrance. A hippie girl waitress came to our table, to get our drinks order, and asked if we were there just for bread sticks or the full dinner. I said we were there for dinner, and we both chose coffee to drink. The waitress lit the candle on table, and then went off for our drinks. The light wasn't great, but I wondered, had Jen actually put on make up for me? I wasn't sure, but I thought she might just be wearing a touch of mascara.
The coffee came quickly, as did the bread sticks and Joe B's antipasto salad. Jen ordered some sort of marinara dish, I can't remember which one, while I picked the eggplant parmesan, which is surprisingly good; I've had it at Joe B's before. We were filling the conversation with small talk about classes and majors, and pretty much avoiding the more romantic date talk; I guess that Jen was as nervous about that subject as I was. I was trying to figure out a way to introduce the subject, when Jen beat me to it. "I have to know: why did you ask me out?"
Well, that was a pretty blunt question, and it deserved a direct answer. "Because I like you, and I've always liked you. I mean, we've known each other forever, from school, and I guess I hadn't thought about your romantically then, but all of a sudden I started thinking of you that way, since I ran into you overburdened with your books the other day. It was pleasant walking with you and talking to you, and my perspective just changed. Is that OK with you?"
"Yeah, it's OK." Jennifer started a subtle smile, so subtle that I doubt she knew she was doing it. "I was kind of a mess when you asked, and I really didn't know what to say."
"Well, I'm glad that you said 'Yes!'"
"Me, too. Of course, Monica and Rachel made getting ready kind of a whirlwind, and I didn't have too much time to actually think about this, except while . . . ."
