“You have to be kidding me, really?” My friend, Steve looked at me as if I were nuts. “You really think that she’s hot?”
I looked back at him, and shrugged, Steve’s brown hair was hidden underneath his cap. “Yeah I really like her.”
Lashaun smith? Steve spoke the name as if he were trying not to pass out from shock. Lashaun happened to be one of Macakenville high’s best cheerleaders; she also had the reputation of being a snob.
When she wasn’t practicing cheers, she would instantly disappear into the crowd of people around the school. She had given the cold shoulder to everyone she’d met, including me. It was from this that she’d earned her well deserved, if not slightly askew reputation.
I, on the other hand, didn’t believe all the stuff about her. I thought that she looked beautiful… Thanks in most part to her cheerleading prowess; Lashaun had the body of a Goddess, tightly honed and chiseled from all of the practice. Muscles blossomed from her calves to her shoulders. She looked as though she belonged on the field playing than on the sidelines, cheering.
I had spent most of my senior year yearning her and admiring her from afar. It was only now that I’d managed to work up the confidence to actually talk to her. It was around Noon, one afternoon, and I had noticed that Lashaun was alone in the lunchroom, as per usual.
I picked up my lunch tray, and walked over next to her. “May I sit here?” I asked.
She shrugged, gesturing to the book that she was reading, “it’s a free world. Go ahead.”
I took that cue, and sat down directly in front of her. Unsure of what to say, I stared at my feet for a moment. “Um, do you eat?” I blurted out.
She looked at me as if my mind was oozing out of my ears.
I smiled sheepishly and started again. “What I meant to say was; would you like to get something to eat, sometime?”
She stared some more.
“Would you like to go out to eat, manja, have num-nums?”
For the first time since I’d known her she broke out into a laugh. Her white teeth a stark contrast to her ebony skin; I put a hand put for her to shake, if she wanted and she took it. The instant that our skin made contact, it felt as if we’d known each other our entire lives.
“My name is Mike Calhoun.”
“I know, I’ve seen you around.”
“So” I broached the subject, “where would you like to go?”
“I don’t much know, no ones ever asked me out on a date before.”
I reached around in my back pocket for a second, grabbing the ever present notebook and pen. Taking out a blank page, I scribbled my name, phone number, and address. “Please call me if you want to. If no one is home, the machine will pick up.”
Lashaun smiled at me. “I’ll call, sometime, sure.”
“Whenever.” I grinned broadly. “There’s no pressure.”
We broke away, and I thought that would be the end of it. “No matter” I thought to myself, “at least I tried.”
I spent the next few days with classes and practice with really no free time. So I was surprised one Friday night when the phone rang. “Hello?”
“Mike?”
“Yeah, whose this”
“Its me, Lashaun.”
I have to say that when I heard her say her name I broke out into a huge smile. “Hey Lashaun, how’s it going?”
“Good, how’s it going with you?”
“Not much, what’s up?”
“I saw that new flick, ‘Special Agent Cody Banks’ was playing. You want to catch it?”
I paused for a moment, what to do, what to do… “I’m not a huge fan of kid flicks. What about that new Robin Williams one, “One Hour Photo?”
“I’m not sure.” Lashaun seemed hesitant. “What if you just come over to my place and we can check and see what’s on pay per view.”
I nodded my head, but then realized she couldn’t see my head over the phone. “Sounds great.”
She gave me her address over the phone, and I quickly located a scrap piece of paper. “146 Tracton got it.”
“When should I expect to see you?”
“How about 6:30 tomorrow night?” I could almost hear the excitement in her voice.
“Sounds perfect.”
“I’ll bring the popcorn and sodas.”
“Lovely.”
We hung up, and I went shopping.
