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First Date—Part Two

Ballston Common Mall

Saturday, April 27, 2002

12:45 PM

“I can’t believe you’re actually going to buy that thing,” Lisa stared down at the CD that Christy held in her hands, a disgusted expression on her face.  “All the music in this store and that’s what you pick?”

“Oh please,” Christy retorted. “It’s not all that horrible. I liked the music and the movie was actually pretty good.” 

“Excuse me; did we see the same movie?” Lisa said. “Crossroads sucked. Majorly.”

“At least it was better than that Josie and the Pussycats movie you dragged me to see last year,” Christy replied.  “What do you think, Jenna?” 

Jenna’s head was down, looking through the CDs. Nothing new from the Barenaked Ladies, of course—not that she’d really expected anything, but it would’ve been nice anyway. “I didn’t see Josie and the Pussycats, remember?”  Actually she hadn’t seen a lot of anything last year—not with the hearings and then the trial—pop culture had just been one big blur.

Lisa sighed. “We know that.  But what did you think of Crossroads?” 

They were both looking at her expectantly now, waiting for her opinion. Jenna had a vague memory of the movie—three friends running away, a bunch of singing—it had dragged on—mostly she’d just looked at her watch and waited for it to be over. On the other hand Christy had loved the whole entire thing—she’d gushed about it endlessly as they’d left the theater.

“Jenna?” Christy said.

“Well I’m not a Britney fan, either,” Jenna said out loud.  “But I guess it’s Christy’s decision—she did like the movie.”

“So says Miss Diplomat,” Lisa joked. Jenna elbowed her sharply.

“Exactly—thank you, Jenna.”  Christy fished a twenty dollar bill out of her purse. “And my decision is that I’m going to get this CD, take it home and listen to it."

“As long as you don’t make me listen to it or anything,” Lisa replied with a grin. “I guess I’m good. You see anything you want, Jenna?”

Jenna shook her head. “Not yet.”

“Jenna always takes a million years before buying something, you know that,” Christy said as they went up to the front counter and stood in line. 

“I just want to make sure I buy the right thing, that’s all—something I really want.”  Looking out the window of the store Jenna saw Terri. The girl sat on the steps surrounding the mall fountain, talking to some boy.  Someone they knew? Jenna couldn’t quite tell; all she could see from this vantage point was the back of someone’s head.  Whoever it was, Terri definitely liked him—she talked animatedly, smiling brightly and tossing her long blond hair around the way she always did when she was flirting.

‘Bet she doesn’t have any trouble getting guys to ask her out.’ A nagging voice whispered. Jenna pushed those thoughts to the back of her head. 

“Speaking of things you really want, how are things on the C front?”

Lisa’s voice jerked Jenna from her reverie. She turned to stare at her friend. “The what?”

“You know what I mean,” Lisa said. “Chris. Has he asked you out yet?” 

“Not yet,” Jenna kept looking out the window, watching as Terri took the boy’s hand in hers. Did the girl have no shame at all?  “But he did call me yesterday. And he sent me a photo,” she fished her cell from her front pocket, flipping it open.  “See?” 

Christy whistled. “Wow—that is a nice photo.” 

“Photos are one thing,” Lisa said. “But the main thing we’ve gotta do is get him to ask her out. Now have you thought about the rules? There are tricks in there that you can use to make him want you.”

“How about taking charge and making the first move?”  Christy asked. “That’s what a woman of the nineties would do.” 

Lisa sighed. “Except this is the two-thousands.” 

“Same difference,” Christy said. “Have you thought about it?”

“Have you girls thought about paying for your merchandise?” asked the sales clerk, whose name was listed on his tag as ‘Chad’. “You can’t stand here forever, you know.”

“Oh yeah,” Lisa said.  “Christy’s the one buying something.” 

“That’s me,” Christy put the CD on the counter. “I just want to buy this.” 

“In that case,” Chad said. “Would you other two mind stepping to the side of the counter? The line is for customers. ”

“Sure—sorry.” Jenna said quickly. She and Lisa stepped to the side.

“So?”  Lisa leaned against the counter. “What are you going to do about Chris?” 

‘Be yourself—don’t let anyone rush you.’ Mom’s words sounded in her ears and Jenna knew that she was right. No matter what Lisa or Christy said, she had to make the best decision for herself.  Terri was still out there, tossing her head around. Maybe flirting was good for Terri, but it just wasn’t her—she simply wasn’t like that.

“I think he likes me,” she told Lisa.  “He wouldn’t keep calling me if he didn’t. And he wouldn’t send me pictures. ”

“And?”  Lisa raised her eyebrows.

“And I think he’ll ask me out when he’s ready,” Jenna said. “I don’t want to use tricks or push him into anything.”

“But Jenna, if you don’t do something he might go find someone else. “ Lisa said. “Have you ever thought of that? Rules Girls don’t waste time.”

Rules Girls?  Jenna was about to ask what in the world that meant when Chad broke in.

“Actually,” Chad put Christy’s CD in the plastic bag. “If you want my opinion, your friend’s doing the right thing.”

“She is?”  Christy asked. 

“Sure,” Chad replied. “Take it from me, guys don’t like games—and they don’t like to be pushed.  If he wants to ask her, he will.” 

“Thanks,” Jenna said—she could feel her cheeks burning now.

“Don’t mention it.” Chad handed Christy the bag and her change. “Have a good day.” 

“Well, it looks like you’re on the right track.”  Christy said as they left the store. “So much for rules, huh?”

Lisa sighed. “Whatever.”

They were moving in Terri’s direction—Jenna prayed that the girl wouldn’t notice them—Terri had left her alone for most of this year—the last thing she wanted or needed was a confrontation. 

At that moment the boy facing Terri stood up and turned around—Jenna’s stomach did flip flops as a pair of familiar eyes met her own.

“Hey, Jenna,” Chris said.  “Nice to see you.” 

“It’s nice to see you too,” Jenna replied.  He smiled at her and she found herself smiling back. 

“So are these your friends?”  Chris asked.

“Yeah,” Jenna pointed. “This is Lisa and this is Christy.”

“And we’ll be waiting for you at the Food Court,” Christy said. “Come on, Lisa.”

“But we’re not supposed to separ—” Lisa started to say when Christy punched her in the arm. 

“Have a nice talk,” Lisa said.

“Thanks, guys.”  Jenna watched as her friends disappeared around the corner.

“Interesting friends,” Chris said.

“You could say that, yeah,” Jenna replied.

“I think I’ll go too,” Terri stood—blue eyes glaring daggers—in all the excitement Jenna had almost completely forgotten about her. “See you later—Chris.”  With that she flounced off.

“Don’t mind her,” Chris said.  “Her mom’s a friend of my mom—she keeps trying to fix us up together.”

“Oh.” Jenna didn’t know what else to say. She had seen them holding hands but she didn’t think she should bring that up—it wasn’t like she had an actual claim over him or anything. 

“What do you think about her?”  She asked finally.

Chris shrugged. “She’s pretty and all—I just don’t like her that way. “

“Oh.”  That was the second time she’d said that—how could she carry on a relationship if they couldn’t have a single conversation?  She’d been more talkative at the bowling alley but it had been easier then—not so much pressure.

‘Do you like me that way?’ Jenna wondered, looking at him.  She nearly asked him outright but decided against it. 

“Do you like movies?”  

The sudden change of subject took her by surprise. “Sure,” she said. “I like watching movies.” 

“Spiderman comes out next week,” Chris said. “It’s supposed to be really good.” 

“Yeah,” Jenna replied. “I’ve heard that too. I’d—um—I’d love to see it.” That last sentence had come out of nowhere.  Was it too pushy to say that?  She held her breath—

Chris smiled. “I want to see it too.”

‘Going to ask me—he’s going to ask me. Please let him ask me…’  Her heart hammered loudly in her ribcage—but not from fear this time.  As if in slow motion Chris’ mouth opened—

“Well okay,” he said, looking at his watch. “I’ve really got to go now—my mom’s picking me up in five minutes. See you later?” 

It had been too pushy—she’d totally blown it. Jenna wished a hole would open up in the mall floor and let her drop through. “Later,” she said bleakly.

“I’ll call you,” Chris said. Jenna just stood there as he left, vanishing into the distance.  She looked down at her own watch.  Dad would be picking them up in another hour and a half.

For Jenna that time couldn’t come soon enough. All she wanted was to be back home.

SMK SMK SMK SMK

3:00 PM

Something was wrong.

Lee had known it the second his daughter had climbed into the minivan.  He could see it in the tense set of her shoulders, the way she’d stared down at her lap, twining her fingers together—and every question he’d asked so far had been met with stream of monosyllabic responses.

What was going on?   He pulled the Taurus to a slow stop in front of Lisa’s house.

“Here we are.” Lee said. “Have a good night, Lisa. Tell your mom and dad I said hi.”

“I will. Thanks for the ride, Mr. Stetson,” Lisa replied. “Talk to you later, okay Jenna?” 

“Later,” Jenna repeated flatly. “Sure.”

“I’ll call you.”  Lisa patted Jenna’s shoulder as she climbed out. Lee made sure that Lisa made it safely inside before he pulled away. 

“She’s a good friend to you,” Lee said.

“Yeah,” Jenna replied. “She is.”

More silence—it almost felt physical—like an invisible wall in between them. There had to be some way around it. Lee racked his brains, trying to think of what else he could say to draw her out a little more.

“So, did you buy anything?”

“No,” her voice was small.  A brief glance at him before her gaze returned to her lap. “I didn’t see anything I liked.”

The most words he’d gotten out of her so far—progress was progress. 

“Thought you wanted to get a CD or DVD or something.” 

“Well I changed my mind, all right?”  Her voice rose slightly. “I already said I didn’t see anything I wanted.” 

“I heard you.” Lee said. 

“Good,” Jenna said.  “You know, just because I go to the mall doesn’t mean I have to buy something. It’s not like I’m a shopaholic.” 

This wasn’t about shopping; it had nothing at all to do with it. “I know that, munchkin,” he told her. Calm, reasonable—getting excited wasn’t going to get him anywhere with her. “You don’t have to buy anything if you don’t want to.”

“Well, okay then.”

“Maybe you can save up your allowance and get something really nice the next time you go.”

An annoyed sigh.  “Maybe.” 

This wasn’t like her, Lee thought. It wasn’t like her at all—and frankly it was starting to worry him. What if something was really wrong? 

“You’ve been needing a new pair of jeans for a while,” he said. “You could even get that designer pair you wanted,” What were those jeans called again—he couldn’t remember. “Guest jeans, isn’t it?”

“Guess Jeans,” Jenna snapped. “Not Guest. Can we just drop this now?”

Stopping at the stop sign, Lee turned on his signal and made a left onto Maplewood. Almost home and still nothing—subtle was clearly not working.  He decided that it was time for the direct approach.

“Mind telling me what’s bothering you?” 

“Dad, nothing is bothering me,” Jenna replied. “Seriously.”

“Jenna, that has got to be the least convincing response I’ve ever heard,” Lee said. “It’s more than obvious that something is bugging you. Can’t you at least tell me what it is?”  

“Please—just drop this.” 

“No,” he shook his head.  “I care about you, and if something’s wrong I want to help.” More silence.  “You know you promised me you wouldn’t shut me out—remember that?” 

“That’s not what I’m doing.” 

“Isn’t it?”  Lee said.  “Look, I can keep going around this block as many times as I need to. We’re not going home until you tell me exactly what’s going on.” 

“There’s nothing to tell.”

“Did something happen to you at the mall?” he asked. “Something that frightened you—or maybe—”

“Nothing happened!” Jenna looked at him, dark eyes filling with tears.  “Okay?  Nothing’s ever going to happen because I blew it, that’s why—totally messed it up—”

Now he was really confused.  “Messed what up?”  He asked, but Jenna just continued with her tirade, oblivious.

“And boys act like they really like you and then they just blow you off,” Jenna said. “All I said was I wanted to see to see the movie too. Is that so wrong to say?” 

“No, that doesn’t sound wrong to me, munch—”

“It must have been wrong because he didn’t ask me—he just walked away—why are you all so weird?” 

“Didn’t ask you what? Who are we talking about?” 

Jenna’s voice quavered—she wiped at her eyes.  “Men—boys—you all say you like someone and then you stick gum in their hair—or you throw spitballs at them—if this is the way guys are maybe those rules aren’t such a bad idea after all. ”

Spitballs—gum—rules—Lee began to feel like his head was spinning. What on earth was Jenna saying? This was getting to the point where it didn’t even make sense.  “Munchkin,” he began. “I don’t—”

“And I’m not a baby anymore, dad—I’m not a little girl and I’m not a munchkin.”

It felt like she’d hit him the stomach. Lee tried to think of something else he could say, but the words just wouldn’t come.

“Can we just go home right now?” Jenna said. “I just want to go home—please.”

SMK SMK SMK SMK 

4247 Maplewood Dr.

3:15 PM

“Hello, sweetheart,” Amanda met them at the door. “Did you have a good time at the—” Her voice faded away as Jenna pushed past her and dashed up the stairs—the slam of her bedroom door caused the entire house to shake.  Amanda looked towards her husband.

“Not good?” She asked.

“How should I know?” Lee replied. “I’m only her father, after all—or at least I think I used to be.” 

“Lee come on.” Amanda said.  “It’s not that bad.”

“Oh, isn’t it?”  Lee said.  “You weren’t there, Amanda—she just lashed out at me for no reason.” He sat down on the sofa, his head in his hands. “I’ve never seen her like that.”

Amanda took a seat beside him.  “There must have been some reason.”

Lee let out his breath in a whoosh, raking his hands back through his hair. “Damned if I know. She seemed upset when I picked her up—and after I dropped her friends off I tried to get her to open up a little.”

“Is that when she got so upset? When you tried to get her to open up?”

“That’s when,” Lee admitted. “I just don’t get it, Amanda. I was being very calm, reasonable—it wasn’t like I was pushing her or anything—and out of the blue she just blows up at me.”

“I’m not a baby anymore, dad—I’m not a little girl and I’m not a munchkin.” The words, those angry words kept repeating themselves in his mind. His eyes fell on the Halloween photo—Jenna dressed up as the Scarecrow and Lee as the Cowardly Lion.

‘What happened?’ he wondered to himself. ‘I used to be such a good dad.’

Amanda took his hands in hers.

“I know that you might not have felt that you were pushing her, sweetheart,” she began. “But you need to understand that Jenna might have felt differently.” 

“No,” Lee shook his head firmly. “It’s not like I’m a stranger to questioning people—I know how far I need to go.”

“And exactly how many thirteen year olds have you questioned?”  Amanda asked. Lee fell silent.  “Teenage girls are different—and right now Jenna is very sensitive about a lot of things.”

“That’s the problem,” Lee said. “I don’t even understand what was bothering her. She kept talking about how she messed something up by saying she wanted to see a movie, she asked me why boys were so weird—and then she just stopped making sense.”

“How did she stop making sense?”

“She started talking about boys and spitballs, about sticking gum in people’s hair—you make sense out of that, because I certainly can’t.” 

“I think I can,” Amanda said. “Jenna and I were talking last week about boys and the ways that boys show that they like you. Spitballs and gum happened to be part of the conversation.”

“Spitballs and gum—are you telling me that all of this is about that boy?”

“His name is Chris.”

“Fine. Chris,” Lee said. “This is all about him?”

“That would be my guess,” Amanda replied.  “Maybe she saw him at the mall and he said something or something happened.”

That did make sense, now that he thought about it. “Still, she could’ve at mentioned it instead of lashing out at me like that.”  Lee said. “I’m not to blame for every boy just because I’m a male.”

“Lee—”

“We used to be so close, you know?” Lee said. “Now it seems like everything thing I say is wrong—she even snapped at me for calling her munchkin. I’ve always called her munchkin. I just don’t understand.” 

Amanda squeezed his hands.  “I still remember when you gave her that nickname in the hospital.” 

“Yeah—it was the second day—they didn’t have any pink caps so they put a bright blue one on her. After that, the name kind of stuck.”  Lee recalled holding Jenna, a tiny little bundle in his hands—her dark eyes looking up at him, tiny hand encircling his finger, holding tight—his sweet little girl. Where had she gone?

“You can’t take this personally, you know,” Amanda told him. “Even though it might feel very personal—trust me, it’s not you.” 

“Then what is it?” 

“She’s a teenage girl,” Amanda tried to explain. “Her body is changing—everything’s changing so fast. Hormones are involved—trust me, all teenagers get moody. It’s just part of growing up.”

Part of growing up. Lee tried to think back to himself at Jenna’s age—thirteen years old. The arguments he’d had with the Colonel had been—

Then again that wasn’t exactly the same, was it? He’d always had those kinds of arguments with the Colonel—even when he had been much younger. That hadn’t changed as he’d reached adolescence, not really.  But on the other hand his childhood hadn’t exactly been what you’d call normal. 

“So this is what I have to look forward to?” he asked his wife. “Mood swings and outbursts?”

“Carl, she’s becoming a teenage girl—a strange and wonderful being—from another planet.” Amanda could remember overhearing her mother say that to her own father. “It’s part of growing up,” she said. “Part of puberty.”

“Puberty?”  Lee repeated.  “I know she’s a teenager, but isn’t it a little early to be mentioning that—that word?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Amanda said.  “She’s growing taller—she’s even starting to fill out a little more, though I don’t think she realizes that yet.”

Growing up and filling out. The still-present knot in Lee’s stomach contracted even further. “Has she—” he didn’t quite know how to ask this. “She hasn’t started her, you know, her periods yet—has she?”

“Not yet,” Amanda said. “But I’m betting it’s not so far away now. And I’ve bought her the things in case she needs them. “

Great, just great. Again Lee ran his hand back through his hair. If he thought she was moody now, wait until that hit.

“It’s not all bad. You know that, right?” Amanda told him. “I know it’s not easy, but growing up is what’s supposed to happen. And Jenna will grow up to be a beautiful woman one day.”

Lee ran his thumbs over the top of Amanda’s hands. “If she’s anything like her mother, she’ll be spectacular.” 

Amanda smiled and leaned towards him, their lips meeting in a brief but passionate kiss.

But Jenna becoming a woman was in the future— and right now it was a far cry from the angry and sullen girl who now sat upstairs in her bedroom. How to get from here to there? He just didn’t know.

“Maybe I should go up and talk to her,” Lee suggested. “Try and smooth things over.”

Amanda hesitated.  “Right now I think she might want her space,” she said. “Give her time and she’ll come to us—I guarantee it.” 

TBC

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