This story was inspired by a real experience provided by an anonymous reader. I hope this brief story measures up in some way.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Tim had been wanting to ask Kimmie Owen out for quite some time. Actually, quite a long time. She was such a pretty girl. Anybody could see that. She was terribly cute. She had sweet blue eyes that just sparkled through her large round spectacles, rosy dimpled cheeks, the perkiest little nose, and very alluring wavy black hair, which she often wore in pig tails. Adorable; she was just simply adorable. Tim would get hard just thinking about her, but then would feel terribly guilty that he was thinking about her in that way. Tim just couldn't think about something without also worrying about it, particularly when it came to girls.
Frankly, he couldn't understand why she wasn't dating someone already. At least, he didn't think she was dating anyone. His heart would sink at the thought that somebody might take her away, not that he actually ever had her. He knew that he would have to, at least some time, buck up enough courage to ask her out. What would be the harm? The worse thing that could happen would be that she would say no. And, if she did, then he could at least stop worrying about asking her out. He could move on to someone who might say yes.
But, if she did say no he knew his heart would be crushed, and his hopes for the future with her would be dashed, ruined. At least by not asking her out he could pretend that someday they might be boyfriend, girlfriend. As long as his hopes were not dashed he could still have some hope.
But, if he waited too long he would someday see her with someone else, holding another guy's hand rather than his own. He couldn't stand the thought of that. He couldn't imagine someone else kissing her, touching her.
It wasn't like he hadn't tried. He had approached her a number of times. He had even come real close more than once. Last month he had talked to her about some of the new movies that had just been released. It was a good, perhaps even an obvious, segue to asking her out to see one of them together. But, every time there was the appropriate moment it was only filled with an awkward silence. Tim would think about asking her, and then his heart would just start pounding, his palms would become wet, his face would turn red, his mouth would go dry. He would just freeze, and the silence would be deadly. A distraction would occur and the subject would change and he could feel himself instantly begin to relax. Their conversation would turn to something more neutral, less threatening, and he could then just enjoy the presence of her company, until he again started to think about asking her out.
The closest to a date they had come so far were their study sessions. They would meet at the Student Center to study. Tim liked to think of these sessions as actually dating. After all, it was just the two of them, in the evening, by themselves. Well, they really weren't by themselves. There was always lots of other people around and they would often get interrupted. But, still, it was a scheduled activity for which they were the only two people invited to attend. The same thing could happen at a movie or a dinner. That was also a scheduled activity for which they were the only two people invited, yet they could also run into somebody else at the theater or at dinner that might also join them. So, studying together could count as a date.
But, he knew he was kidding himself.
What Tim did not know was that Kimmie was probably about as interested in being asked, as he was in asking, and was perhaps just as terrified. She thought Tim was so awfully endearing. He wasn't the usual hunk of a guy. He could never be an athlete or a model, but he had a strong masculine quality, at least to her. Perhaps to others he seemed a little boyish, perhaps even nerdy, but to Kimmie his boyishness was his charm. And, no matter what anyone said, he was good looking. He had such nice wavy dark hair, a terribly sweet smile, and deep, dark, brown eyes.
Kimmie was trying to give Tim cues that she was interested. Whenever he approached her she would stop whatever she was doing and give him all of her undivided attention. She would give him her most biggest of smiles. She even gave him a nickname that she would use when she was trying to flirt with him. She liked to call him 'Puffin,' the same pet name Holly gave Hefner on Girls Next Door. He seemed to like it, being equated with Hugh Hefner in the eyes of Kimmie. He had said that he liked the show very much (perhaps for obvious reasons) and so Kimmie began to call him Puffin, at first just as a playful tease. Initially it made him blush, but she could see that he really did enjoy it. Still, it didn't seem to help. A couple of times she also put her hand on his shoulder and let it stay there, at least for a bit. She liked doing that cause it gave her a chance to feel his muscles. Puffin seemed like such a strong guy.
But, he just wouldn't ask her out. She began to wonder if he was even interested in her. She must assume that most any other guy would have gotten the message and, if he had in fact gotten the message, then the answer must be 'no.' But, why would he keep coming up to her at the Student Center? She wondered if she should just give up and look for someone else. But, Timmy just seemed like such a good match for her. He was so bright, and they shared so many similar interests, which was really becoming so evident now over the course of so many, perhaps too many, conversations. Maybe she should just ask him out. No, that would be too terribly forward. And, even more terribly embarrassing if he said no.
But, fortunately, Kimmie's mother stepped in to help. Kimmie's parents had to attend a parent-teacher's conference for her little sister, Susie, and they would need Kimmie to babysit for them. Kimmie normally would not object but this was on the same evening on a scheduled study "date" with Tim.
"But mummy, please, no, I'm suppose to study with Tim tonight." It would just be awfully terrible if she had to cancel. He might think that she really didn't want to study with him, and what if he found somebody else to study with! This was really terribly awful. "Oh, mummy, please, I just have to study with Timmy, please, I just must! Can't you just hire somebody?"
"No, honey, it's too late now. Well, we tried, but our usual girls are just too busy. Now come on, dear, you've baby sat for me many times before."
Kimmie still lived with her parents, as did many of the students of Templeton College. She had wanted to go to Abberville College, where she would be able to move out and live in a dorm. That would make it a lot easier to meet guys. What guy wanted to go out with a girl who still lived at home? Although, if she had gone to Abberville she would never have met Tim. But, still, her mother still treated her like a kid, requiring her to babysit, clean the house, help with the laundry. She felt so often like she was still in high school, when she was in fact a grown woman attending college. She had to put her foot down and let her mother know that she was 18 now and could make her own decisions. "I know mother, I know, but not tonight."
Mrs. Owen could see that Kimmie was overreacting, to say the least. One missed evening with Tim would not ruin their relationship. But, as her mother, she could also see how much it meant to her.
Kimmie had never been particularly good with guys. She was a terribly shy daughter, and Mrs. Owen blamed herself for that. It was odd though. Her older sister had dated quite a few guys, had even gone steady at least twice, as far as she knew only twice, but Kimmie had dated only a few and certainly had never had a steady boyfriend.
And, she also knew how much Tim meant to her. Goodness, Kimmie was always talking about him, and what she was always saying was that she was hoping that Tim would ask her out. Mrs. Owen had even suggested inviting Tim over for dinner, but Kimmie felt that would just be too much for a first date. Goodness, it would make her so terribly nervous to be on their first date with her parents there the whole time.
Mrs. Owen had a brainstorm. "Well, Kimmie, why don't you call Tim up and ask him to come over and baby sit with you?"
"Oh no! Are you crazy!? I can't do that. Tim doesn't want to baby sit my little sister! I can't ask him to do that."
Why do daughters always reject your suggestions out of hand? It was in fact a very good idea. "Honey, she won't be up late and then you two can have some time together, maybe watch a movie or something, have some popcorn or make some s'mores."
Kimmie knew that the s'mores was a terrible idea, but it did hit her that maybe the babysitting wasn't so bad. Once Susie went to bed they would have the house to themselves. It would be real close to a first date, and one in which nobody would interrupt them, and it wouldn't be like she was actually asking him to come over for a date cause it was in fact an emergency. She had to stay home. She had no choice. And, she didn't want to cancel on Tim so, well, she just figured they could study at her house just as well as anywhere else. The fact that her sister would be there for awhile wouldn't be so bad.
