During his senior year of high school Jeremy Richards decided he was going to work on changing his life, he had always gotten good grades in school and was always considered to be well behaved. He never tried playing sports and he was always thirty pounds overweight so this year he decided he was going to play sports along with his academics.
In the fall he played soccer and he did make the team but sat the bench most of the year getting to play in the last game for a few minutes. It had some of its desired effect as he lost a few pounds and made friends with kids that played sports. He got invited on a few outings and to a few parties so this encouraged him to play basketball.
He tried out for the team and surprisingly improved over the season where he got to play in a few games that were blowouts. Jeremy scored twelve points by the end of the season and was awarded the most improved player award. He also managed to lose ten pounds then he tried out for baseball season, he managed to lose ten more pounds and his coach and gym teacher helped lose the rest before school let out and he turned eighteen the day it happened.
For his birthday his father bought him a home gym and a treadmill and at his mother's insistence got him a car as well. Now he was eighteen in the best shape of his life, had a lot of new friends, ready to start college in the fall. He finally had courage to ask a girl out on a date, he had chances with a few girls that were in some of his academic clubs but he wanted to venture out with more popular girls.
So he decided to use the phone in the kitchen, he could of took the cordless for more privacy but his mother would just sit and bug him for what happened. She was sitting in the kitchen with her best friend Donna having coffee while started calling for dates. He had three girls in mind that he would try to ask out, so he opened up his address book and called the first one.
Jeremy dialed the number of Rebecca Culver a cheerleader he got to know during basketball season, he waited until her father answered.
"Hello sir, my name is Jeremy Richards, is Rebecca there?" He asked.
"No young man, she is at cheer camp for the next three weeks, did you know they actually give scholarships for that. How about you are you going off anywhere for the summer or going to college in the fall?" He asked after explaining where she was.
"Yes sir, I plan going to MIT and sorry to bother you and congratulate Rebecca on the cheerleader scholarship." Jeremy said.
"Your welcome, I will let her know you called." He said hanging up.
"Well strike one." He said looking up another number.
"Hello is Jennifer there." He asked a woman who was probably her mother.
"Hold on a minute." She said.
"Hello." Jennifer said picking up the phone.
"Hey Jen, it's me Jeremy." He said.
"Hi Jeremy, how are you doing?" She asked.
"Good I was wondering if you would like to catch a movie and get a bite to eat sometime." He asked.
"Oh Jeremy that is sweet of you to ask but I started seeing Ray Jones a couple weeks ago, I'm sorry if I was not I surely would have." She explained.
"Okay, that is cool Ray is a really good guy." He said saying his good byes and hanging up. "Strike two."
"Hello Janet, this Jeremy Richards, I was wondering if you would be interested in catching a movie and getting some dinner with me?" He asked.
"Oh I'm sorry Jeremy, I'm leaving tonight to go on a vacation with my mother and aunt, won't be back for a couple weeks." She said.
"Oh I guess I should of called sooner, well have a good time." He said.
"Thank you, I'm sure we will." She said hanging up.
"I'll call that one a foul tip; I'm going to try Karen from my math club." He said dialing a new number into the phone. "Hello Karen."
"Oh Hi Jeremy, what's up?" She asked.
"I was wondering if you would be interested in seeing a movie, maybe getting some dinner sometime." He asked.
"I don't think so, you know the whole time we were high school, I dropped you several hints that I liked you and you always ignored them." She said.
"Well you know me, I'm book smart, but I don't know women." He laughed.
"I think I will have to think about it and let you know later on, I just took a job interning at my dad's law office and I want concentrate on that, maybe I'll go into the family business." She said. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay see yah." He replied. "Strike three."
He hung up the phone and looked really dejected, as he turned around to see his mother and her friend staring at him. He shrugged for a moment and then slumped his shoulders grabbing a diet coke out of the refrigerator and turning to leave.
"You okay honey." His mother asked.
"I guess, just kind of bummed out." He replied leaving the kitchen for his room.
"Poor kid, he worked so hard to get in shape and he has never had a date." His mother said. "He really hoped for one before college."
"He is such a handsome boy; you would think he would have an easy time getting a date." Donna said.
"I was hoping that with the losing weight and if he could get a date it would boost his confidence before he goes off to college." His mother replied.
"You know with Steve on the road for business all the time and I cooped up at home with three kids, I could use a break." Donna said.
"What are you getting at?" Jeremy's mother replied.