irst Date--Part Six

Regal Ballston Common

Saturday, May 4, 2002

2:30 PM

The theater was a lot less crowded than Jenna had thought it would be. She walked down the semi-darkened aisle, sweet tarts in one hand and soda in the other. Maybe because this was a matinee or everyone hadn’t gotten here yet.  Still she glanced around her apprehensively, feeling a surge of relief as she realized that Terri’s bleached blond hair was nowhere to be seen. 

Of course it wasn’t, she told herself firmly. That had only been a dream—nothing more. Though she’d still worn a pad just as a precaution.

“So where would you like to sit?”  Chris’s voice sounded close to her ear, startling her out of her reverie.  “Near the front or the back?”

Front or the back—already a decision to make. “Um—I usually sit in the fourth row,” she said.

“That’s a coincidence,” Chris said. “That’s usually where I sit too.”  They made their way to the fourth row, taking two seats near the middle.  Jenna put her soda in the holder.  The previews were just starting. 

“The previews always take forever,” Chris said, as the first one—listed as ‘Now Showing’ flashed on the screen.  “I don’t know why they just don’t show the movie already.”

“I know what you mean,” Jenna said. The movie being previewed, though—‘About a Boy’—it did look kind of cool to her, though she didn’t know if Chris would like it or not. Stick to his interests—that’s what Lisa had reminded her. The stupid rules again.  She decided to try a little test.  “What do you think of that movie though?”  She asked him, pointing. “Would you like to see that?”

“Maybe,” Chris’s tone was dismissive.  “Looks kinda like a girl movie though.”

Strike one for that—maybe Lisa had been right after all. Though personally Jenna didn’t see how a movie starring two guys could be a ‘girl movie’.

“But you know if you really wanted to see it maybe we could,” Chris told her.

So, maybe Lisa hadn’t been right.  “No, that’s okay,” she said quickly. “Thanks for asking though.” 

“You’re welcome.” They sat in companionable silence as a preview for ‘Hey Arnold! The Movie’ flashed on the screen.

Nearby a soft moan sounded.  The noise came from the older couple who sat on the far end. Even in the dark Jenna could tell that they were practically superglued together—the guy’s tongue jammed down the girl’s throat, as Lisa would say—while the girl’s hands roamed over the guy’s rear—oh my gosh!  Jenna’s cheeks burned furiously as she forced herself to look away.   Could Chris see them? She wondered.  And if he could, was he thinking anything?  She certainly hoped not. Jenna picked up her soda—noting that her hands were shaking.

‘Breathe,’ she thought.

“Want some popcorn?”  Chris asked suddenly.

“Um— yeah sure.”

Chris thrust the popcorn in her direction—the bucket tipped slightly, spilling kernels on her skirt.

“Oh no, Jenna I’m sorry,” Chris said. “Really I didn’t mean to do that.”

“Chris, it’s okay.”  Jenna picked the pieces off her skirt.  “Seriously. I’m just glad it only had salt and not butter.” 

“I’m such a klutz, though,” Chris admitted. “Guess I’m a little nervous too.”

Jenna stared at him. “You are?”

“Well, yeah.”  Chris said. “This is the first time I’ve gone to the movies with a girl—unless you count my little sister or my mom.”

First time—it felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The fact that he was nervous too made her feel less so.

“Me too,” Jenna replied. “I mean, the first time I’ve gone to the movies with a guy—not with a—well, you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I know.”  Chris said. “Hey look at that—now that would be a cool movie. Bourne Identity?”

It looked like an action movie, Jenna, thought—fighting, cars, people shooting— “What’s it about?”  She asked.

“My dad said it has to do with spies and this guy who has amnesia,” Chris told her. “It’s rated PG-13, anyway—we should see it.” 

Spies—Jenna watched as the guy scaled a wall—kind of like Spiderman could probably do. Could Dad do something like that?  Or Mom?  She’d seen them do some stuff, sure—but nothing like that.  But from what Dad and everyone else had said she gathered that the spy movies probably weren’t extremely realistic. 

“Sure, I’d like to see that,” she said.

“Awesome.” 

He wanted to see her again. Jenna’s spirits rose. Their first date, she’d just been herself—not glamorous or mysterious and he still wanted a second date.

‘Take that, rules.’ The feature presentation was finally starting. 

“Hey Jenna?” Chris asked.

“Yeah?” 

“Can I maybe put my arm around you?”

Jenna smiled. “Sure.”

His arm went around her—it felt weird at first but then Jenna let herself relax, her head leaning against Chris’ shoulder as together they watched the movie.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

4247 Maplewood Dr.

5:35 PM

Not home yet.

Lee strode back and forth across the length of the family room—he looked at his watch.  The movie had ended at 4:41 PM –a runtime of approximately two hours and one minute. He’d even called the theater to check.  Amanda should’ve already picked them up –she would’ve had plenty of time to drop Chris off on her way home.  By his estimate, they should’ve gotten home at least ten minutes ago.

Unless something had happened?

That was it, he thought. It had to be. Chris had admitted to having a couple of girlfriends in the past, hadn’t he?  Meaning that even though they were the same age, this kid had much more experience. Maybe he had tried to do something that Jenna hadn’t been quite ready for and it had upset her—or even worse, it had frightened her. A kiss, maybe? Or something more than a kiss?  And Jenna was still pretty naïve—she wouldn’t know how to deal with those kind of advances. Lee’s fists clenched, picturing his daughter’s tearstained face—her dark eyes filled with fear. If that creep had hurt her at all, in any way—

The phone rang. It was them, it had to be—his heart pounding, Lee picked up the receiver. 

“Amanda?” he said. “What’s going on?”

No reply. Someone was there, though—Lee could hear them breathing? 

“Hello?”  His eyes fell on the caller ID. Unavailable—it was that damn telemarketer again. Letting out his breath in an audible sigh of frustration he pushed the button, disconnecting the call and slamming the phone back into its charger.

The telephone—that was it—he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it earlier. Taking his own cell out of his pocket and flipping it open, Lee dialed Jenna’s number.

“This is Jenna,” his daughter’s voice said.  “Please leave me a message and I swear I’ll get right back to you—”

Of course—she’d probably turned it off for the movie and forgotten to turn it back on.

But Amanda—quickly he dialed his wife’s new cell phone number. One ring—two rings. And it was funny, but as the phone rang he could hear a little tune in the background—growing steadily louder by the minute. A familiar song, he thought. Catchy too, except that he couldn’t quite place—

“Secret Agent Man?” 

Dotty’s voice.  Lee turned to see his mother-in-law holding Amanda’s cell phone.

“I swear I’m going to have to glue that thing to her,” Lee said, flipping his phone closed. “That has to be the fifth time she’s forgotten it—she can’t keep doing that.”

“Well you know how it is,” Dotty said. “When you get something new it’s always hard to adjust at first.” 

“Yeah, I guess that’s it.” He glanced down at his watch.  Forty minutes past five—just where the hell were they?  He ran both hands back through his hair.

Maybe something else had happened. The movie theater wasn’t exactly a high-crime area but it wasn’t out of the question either.  A drive-by shooting—a mugging, carjacking even?  Hell, with his wife’s luck she probably had uncovered another terrorist cell working the ticket counter or something and Jenna and Chris were caught in the middle— he pictured himself trying to explain that to Chris’ real estate agent mom.

“You know, I can remember when Amanda first started dating,” Dotty told him, her voice intruding on his worries. “Carl would pace back and forth in the living room like a caged bear, checking his watch every two minutes—looking out the window—he couldn’t even go to bed until he was sure she was home safe.”

“I know how Carl felt,” Lee muttered.

“Of course, Amanda was quite a bit older than Jenna,” Dotty continued. “She was dating boys who had their own cars. There was this one boy, Tony Ballantyne, I think his name was—he actually had a van that he had borrowed from his brother with a mattress in the back and when Carl found out he went absolutely ballistic—but you probably don’t want to hear about that right now.” 

“Not right now,” Lee replied—though he made a mental note to ask Amanda about Tony Ballantyne later on.

 Boys with their own cars—Lee recalled the car that he’d had at that age—a ’67 Mustang with genuine leather seats. The things he’d done in that car—

‘No,’ he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.  Jenna was still only thirteen, thank God—he didn’t have to worry about that now.

It would be soon, though—sooner than he thought.  Like Jenna had said, she kept growing. It wasn’t as though she was going to get any younger.

‘Best not to think about that,’ he told himself, though the ever-present knot in his gut tightened.

“Lee relax, will you?” Dotty said. “Knowing my daughter, they probably stopped to talk to Chris’ parents. I’m sure they’re just fine.”

“I hope so.”  Again Lee checked his watch.  Another five minutes had passed—any more of this and he—he let out his breath in relief as the Taurus pulled into the driveway.  Amanda and Jenna both got out—talking to each other as they came up the front walk.  She didn’t look upset, Lee thought as he watched his daughter—though from this distance it was kind of hard to tell.

If that boy had done anything at all—

“I’ll just go and see to the dinner,” Dotty patted his shoulder.  “That’ll give you all a chance to talk.” 

SMK SMK SMK SMK

“Lee, I’m sorry if we’re a little late,” Amanda said as she came in through the door. “But when we dropped Chris off I got to talking to his parents and Jenna and Chris still wanted to talk to each other—well you understand.”

“I do understand,” Lee replied.  Dotty had been right after all—all that time and he’d been worrying about absolutely nothing. He looked down at his daughter.  “So, did you have a good time?” 

Jenna nodded. “I had a great time, Dad.”

“And the movie was good?”

“It was fantastic—so exciting and it was really romantic too.”

Romantic—it still felt so strange to hear that word coming out of his daughter’s mouth—something he would have to get used to, though. “Romantic Spiderman, huh? You weren’t nervous then?”

 “Well—” Jenna began. “I guess I was a little nervous at first. But then when he spilled popcorn on my lap I—”

“Wait a minute,” Lee held up his hand. “You’re telling me that he spilled popcorn on your lap?” 

“Dad, it was an accident,” Jenna told him.

‘Yeah, I bet,’ Lee thought to himself drily. ‘Accidents’ like that were some of the oldest tricks in the book.  If that kid had tried anything—

“It wasn’t like it had butter on it or anything so I just brushed it off my lap.” Jenna explained. “Seriously, it was fine.”

“You brushed it off yourself?” He asked.

“Sure,” Jenna stared at him, obviously confused. “Who else would?” 

Who else, indeed? Lee felt his heart gradually settle back into its natural rhythm as relief washed over him.  Amanda’s hand captured his and she squeezed gently—she knew what he’d been thinking.

“But the point is,” Jenna said. “That after Chris did that he apologized and said he was nervous just like me. That made me feel better—after that I could relax and be myself. Isn’t that great?”

“Yes, that definitely is.” Lee replied.  “It’s great.”

“I thought so too,” Jenna said “And you know what else? He actually asked before he put his arm around me. I thought that was so nice.”

“That is very nice that he did that,” Lee agreed. He had to agree, he thought. Though a part of him still wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about a boy putting an arm around his daughter in the first place, but if that was the worst thing that had happened then maybe it wasn’t too bad. “Chris sounds like a nice guy.”

“He really is—I had the best time.”

She meant it. The smile on her face was more than a smile. Jenna positively glowed. With or without the makeup, it was as if she’d been lit up from the inside. 

“I’m glad you had a good time, munchkin.”  He told her

“Thanks Dad—love you.” For the second time that day she threw her arms around him, and then around Amanda.  “Love you too, Mom.”

“We love you too, sweetheart.” Amanda kissed Jenna’s forehead. “I’m glad you had fun.”

“Can I go upstairs now?” Jenna asked. “It’s just that I promised Lisa and Christy that I’d phone the second I came home.” 

“That’s fine,” Lee said. “Just remember that dinner’s going to be ready soon, okay?”

“I will.”  He watched as she ran up the stairs.

“She gave me the whole story on the way home,” Amanda said. “I’m betting that it’ll probably be all she talks about for the next few days.”

“Probably,” Lee said. He sank down onto the sofa—Amanda sat beside him, her hand wrapping back around his.

“How are you feeling?” 

“Honestly?”  Lee said. “I know I wasn’t crazy about the idea at first, but now—”

“But now what?” She prompted gently.

“Well—” Lee struggled to put his thoughts into words. “This Chris—he seems to be a nice boy and now that the whole thing is over I really think I might be okay with it.”

“It’s not completely over,” Amanda said. “He’s probably going to want to ask her out again—you do know that.”

“Somehow I guessed that—the ‘it’s over’ was just wishful thinking.” Lee ran his thumb gently back and forth over the top of Amanda’s hand.  “These changes—they’re just going to keep happening, aren’t they?”

“Pretty much,” Amanda said. “It’s part of growing up—I went through it with Phillip and Jamie. It’s different with girls, of course, but pretty much the same process.” 

The same process, Lee thought. Meaning more dates with Chris—or even with another boy if Chris didn’t last.  And in just a year or so she’d be in high school, learning how to drive, dating boys who had cars of their own—then there would be graduation, college—what came after that?  Marriage, maybe?  Or a career with the Agency?  No, scratch that—Lee stopped himself there—not wanting to think that far ahead.

“Just as long as these changes don’t happen too quickly,” he told Amanda. “I guess I can deal with them.”

“No, Stetson.” Amanda reminded him. “We’ll deal with them. Together, right?”

“Together,” Lee agreed, pulling his wife into his arms, her head resting against his chest. Together they sat there, listening to the gentle tick-tock of the clock and reveling in the closeness of each other.  From upstairs came the faint sound of music—more of Jenna’s noise.

His little girl. He knew she was a teenager now, but however much she grew she’d still be his child.

‘Please,’ Lee pleaded silently to whoever might be listening. ‘These changes—please don’t let them happen too fast.’

TBC