Making Up

While on the way to school, we got to talking about dates. We lived in a medium-sized town, it wasn't like we were out in the middle of nowhere. But it wasn't a big city by any means. So, there were things that couples could do.

I was shocked when I heard that Kate had never been bowling before and with that, an arcade. Of the things in this town, that was one of the main attractions for cheap entertainment.

"I am taking you to Jerry's." I said, Jerry's was the name of the arcade/bowling alley and yes, it was owned by a guy named Jerry.

"O-Okay." Kate didn't put up much of a fight, when I mentioned it, her eyes practically sparkled. "Can we go this weekend though, with the test coming up, I want to focus on that." she asked.

I nodded, "Of course, I was going to suggest that too." With the upcoming world history test on Friday, it was best if we locked in and tried our hardest then we could enjoy the weekend.

"Okay good." With the plan and scheduling out of the way, Kate visibly relaxed, she lowered her shoulders and let out a sigh.

We walked making idle chatter until I asked, "Do you want to come to my house to study for the test some night this week?" I asked, wondering if she would be okay being alone with me at my house.

Initially, she raised her shoulders slightly, showing hesitancy, but then opened up to the idea, "Sure, how about tomorrow?" Kate asked. To which, I simply nodded.

Once at school, Kate was her usual, quiet self. We made our way through the day and the next. On the night Kate was supposed to come over, I was laying in bed and received a text on my phone.

I am coming over now. It read, I jumped out of the bed and ran to the front door and stood on the porch as I watched Kate trot over. She wore pajamas and a long sleeve shirt with her backpack slung over her back.

Her long black hair flowed in the wind; she was so pretty…

"Hi…" I said, getting lost in her rarely seen casual clothes.

"Hey."

She talked with my family for a moment, after which we went to my room. I followed her down the hall, looking down at her backside in pajamas, I looked up and shook my head violently as she entered my room. I began closing the door behind me then realized that might make her uncomfortable.

"Do you want the door open or closed?" I said, leaving us in silence, interrupted by the clattering of dishes and the noise echoing from the TV in the other room.

"Closed so we can focus." She reasoned and so I listened and closed the door leaving us along in my room, like we always used to.

Right now, we both just stood awkwardly looking at each other, I cleared my throat and moved to the bed. "You can take the desk, I'll sit here." I motioned her to the chair as I sat on the bed, I already had my laptop set up and study guide out.

"Okay." Kate said as she pulled back the chair from my desk and set her stuff down. She withdrew her things, and we quickly got to work. We rarely chatted leaving the only sounds the creaking of the bed and the tapping of keys on the keyboard.

We both quickly filled out the study guide we received earlier that day. The test actually didn't seem that intensive, from what the study guide had, it only covered three chapters of the four we covered in class and so we finished rather quickly.

Kate and I were good in history, it mostly came down to memorization and the ability to form a timeline of events, which we were both capable of. Kate finished first and spun around in the chair to look at me with a smile.

"Doesn't seem to bad right?" She seemed to share my sentiment; I finished up the line I was on and answered her.

"No, not at all, I was expecting more on imperialism, but that will probably be on the next test." I reasoned, to which Kate agreed.

"So, now what do you want to do?" Kate asked, I assumed this study session would have run long, and she would just leave when we were done, but the sun was only starting to set, and she didn't need to be home for a while.

"Mmm…" I hummed to myself in thought for a moment. "Do you want to watch a show or movie together?" I asked, it was another simple activity we'd done many times before, but with the pretense of us dating it held so much more weight.

I left the room and entered the kitchen to heat up some popcorn, as I did so, I told my parents we finished studying and were going to watch a show. They told me to have fun, and I soon returned to the room with a buttery bowl of popcorn.

Kate was already under the covers, only her nose and above peaked out from under them, she was so cute!

"What do you want to watch?" I asked sitting down next to her as I set the bowl in my lap.

She mumbled as if to say, "I don't know" and shrugged. Even though we were sharing the same bed, she felt a little distant, kind of like she was hiding away.

"Alright, can you hold this?" I asked, handing her the bowl of popcorn which she held with her hands under the covers. I lay down next to her, the only sound was the rustling of the covers and soon I was shoulder to shoulder with Kate.

I turned and her side profile filled my vision, as my heart raced, she looked over in my direction. Her big green eyes stared back, I couldn't see her mouth, but how her eyes looked, she was smiling…

"What do you want to watch?" I asked again, anticipating a different answer than before.

She shrugged again and moved the covers over her mouth, "I don't know, can you pick something?" With that, I started scrolling through a few streaming services as we laid in awkward silence next to each other.