Chapter 9
Students were filling in the halls after the last bell rang. They were either rushing out of the school so they could get home or standing around in the halls talking about their plans for the weekend. In my case, I was at my locker getting all of my stuff together before heading off to swim practice. Since my grade in physics was a C thanks to the last physics test, I was able to be apart of the swim team, much to Indigo Zap’s excitement. Just as I was about to close my locker, I suddenly felt a pair of arms wrap around me.
I smiled before turning my head and saying, “Hey Sour Sweet, how was your day?”
“It was fine.” She said as she let me go and looked up at me with a smile. “How was your day?”
“Pretty good. School’s as boring as always, but at least there’s swim practice to look forward to.” I replied as I closed my locker.
“That’s good.” She simply replied. Then she suddenly asked. “So, are you looking forward to tomorrow?”
My eyes widened in fear when she asked that bombshell of a question. Of course she’d ask something about our date tomorrow, since I was the one planning the date. The problem with that was that I still haven’t finished planning it yet. I had some ideas for the date, but the problem I was running into was that I didn’t know what Sour Sweet would like to do. Right now, I was leaning more towards going to this one steak house that was in town. I figured that Sour would appreciate the gesture, but the prices stopped me from making that decision final. After a few seconds of silence, I snakingly replied, “Uh…yeah, I am.”
“Good, me too.” Sour Sweet replied. “So, what do you have planned?”
“Oh, well…um…it’s a surprise.” I hesitantly answered with a nervous smile.
Sour Sweet raised an eyebrow at me and, for a moment, looked like she was about to retort in her “sour” tone. Then she just shrugged her shoulders and said, “Alright, if you say so.” She then looked down at her phone. “Hey, I have to get going. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay.” She said as she pulled me in for a hug.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.” I said as I returned the hug. She then pulled away from me and proceeded to walk to the exit as I watched her leave.
“You don’t have anything planned, do you?” I suddenly heard a monotone voice said behind me.
I jumped and turned around to see Sugarcoat standing right behind me. “Sugarcoat, don’t sneak up on me like that!”
“I didn’t sneak up on you. I was standing here the entire time.” Sugarcoat simply responded.
“Oh…so you saw all that?” She nodded her head. “And you figured out that I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow yet?”
“It wasn’t hard to figure out. Most people don’t stutter that much when their telling someone they have a date planned unless they’re trying to make stuff up to save face.” She explained matter-of-factly.
“…Does anything get past you?” I asked after staring at her for a few moments.
“Not really.” She simply replied.
“Figures.” I muttered. “So, do you think that Sour Sweet knows that I don’t have anything planned?”
“Of course she does. She’s just waiting until tomorrow to chastise you for it.”
“Great, what am I supposed to do then?” I groaned as I leaned back against the lockers.
“Have you even thought about what you’re going to do tomorrow?” Sugarcoat asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Of course I have.” I answered. “I’ve been primarily thinking of that steak house that’s on Mistmane Avenue and-”
“No.” Sugarcoat suddenly interrupted.
I flinched back and starred at her with confusion. “Um…why not?”
“First off, do you really want to spend that much money on dinner?”
“I mean…not really.” I admitted. “But I was going to ask my parents for money.”
“Okay, but even your parents did help you afford going there, it would still be a bad idea since Sour Sweet hates the food there.” Sugarcoat immediately responded.
“What?!” I exclaimed. “Why?”
“Because the chief there is thoroughly convinced that everything needs to be cooked with a large amount of black pepper, and Sour Sweet hates that. If that wasn’t bad enough, she thinks the salads are bland, the deserts are too milky, and all of their fish dishes are terrible.” She explained.
“…Welp, there goes that idea.” I frustratingly exclaimed as I tilted my head back.
“Do you want my advice?” Sugarcoat suddenly asked.
“Yes please!” I immediately replied, almost pleading.
“Do something simple like going to watch a movie or going to the mall.”
“…Really?” I asked in disbelief. There’s no way that taking a girl out would be that simple.
“The whole point of the first few dates are to get to know each other better and to see if the two of you can like each other romantically. You can do that doing something simple. You don’t need to go all out on something when you’re not sure if Sour Sweet will like it or not.”
“…Huh, it makes sense when you put it like that.” I said as I got off the locker. “Thanks Sugarcoat. I think I’ve got a good idea on what to do.”
“You’re welcome.” She replied. “Although, you do know that you could have avoided this you had just talked to Sour Sweet about the date?”
I gave her a deadpanned look before asking, “Has anybody ever told you that you’re too honest sometimes?”
“Yes.” She simply answered.
“Do you really care?”
“No.”
The next morning, I had woken up and got ready for the date. Once I had gotten myself dressed in a pair of pants and polo shirt, I looked down at my phone to look over the text messages I had with Sour Sweet last night.
Hey Sour, what do you think about going to the mall tomorrow?
Sure, sounds like fun. How long did it take you to come up with that? And before you ask, yes I knew that you didn’t have a plan when I asked you about it yesterday.
Not long…once somebody talked me to the right direction?
Sugarcoat?
Sugarcoat.
Of course. So, what time do you want me to pick you up?
How does 10 sound?
Sure, see you tomorrow! ♥
I smirked a little at the last message she sent. I then glanced up on the top of my phone’s screen to see what time it was. 9:55. She should be here soon. I thought as I waited patiently in the living room.
“You know son,” my dad suddenly said as he worked on his laptop. “Most guys are the ones who pick up their dates.”
I knew he was just teasing, but I couldn’t help but retort, “Yeah, but most guys usually have a car to drive?”
“You could have asked us to borrow one of the cars.”
“You mean the car mom’s using to run errands. Unless you’re saying that you’ll let me drive the Firebird.” I sarcastically replied.
“Not on your life.” He immediately answered. It was at that moment that the door bell suddenly rang, catching both his and my attention. “That must be for you. Have fun and go get her, son.” My dad said as he turned his attention back to his laptop.
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his last comment. “Alright, thanks dad. I’ll see you later.” I said as I got up and adjusted the collar of my polo shirt before walking towards the door and opening it.
Sour Sweet was standing on the other side with her usual makeup applied and her hair done in her usual ponytail. She was wearing a black blouse along with a pair of blue jeans. She also had a pair of black slip on shoes on as well. “Hey, White Foam. Are you ready to go?” She greeted.
“Yep.” I replied as I walked out of my house and closed the door behind me.
As we walked to Sour Sweet’s car, she suddenly asked, “So, did you have a plan before Sugarcoat suggested taking me to the mall?”
“I did but Sugarcoat was fast to tell me that it was a bad idea.” I replied as we reached the car.
“Oh really, what was it then?”
“The steak house on Mistmane Avenue.”
“Ugh, I hate that place!” Sour exclaimed as she got into the car.
“That’s pretty much what Sugarcoat said.” I replied as I got in as well.
“Well, then it’s a good thing she ran into to you yesterday and got you to take me to the mall.”
“You’re telling me.” I jokingly replied. “Although she did also suggest going to the movies, but-“
“There wasn’t anything currently showing that you wanted to go see.” Sour chimed in.
“Pretty much.” I admitted.
“That’s fine. I feel the same way.” She said as she started the car.
“Yeah, but it still would have been better than bringing you to that restaurant, right?”
“Fair enough.” She said as she started to drive. “Although, I’ll probably have to make you a list of places never to take me.”
“Why, what’ll happen if I do?”
“I’ll break up with you on the spot.” She replied with a smirk on her face.
“Well, in that case, please give me that list as soon as you can.” I sheepishly said, making her giggle.
About five to ten minutes later, we made it to the mall. Once we got out of the car, Sour Sweet immediately ran over to my side and took a hold of my handg. “Looks like somebody’s excited.” I jokingly stated.
“Oh, shut up.” She jovially replied as she bumped me with her hip.
I laughed before asking, “So, where are we going to first?”
“Well,” She dragged out, “there is a clothing store or two that I’d like to go to. If you don’t mind of course?”
Of course, I should have seen this coming. I thought before replying, “Sure, I guess we can go to some clothing stores if that’s what you want to do.”
Fifteen clothing stores. For the past two hours, we went into fifteen clothing stores. Two hours of Sour Sweet looking through clothes, trying them on, and asking me what I thought about them. I mostly just stood nearby and told her that whatever she was wearing looked great on her, although some of the clothing she tried on that looked absolutely stunning on her. In the end, I’m just glad that she decided not to buy anything, otherwise she’d make me carry her stuff like a pack mule.
Next, we moved on to the food where we ordered some burgers and fries to eat for lunch. I was about halfway done with my burger when I asked her, “So, what is it that you do during your free time?”
She just shrugged her before replying, “Mostly just shopping, reading, and browsing through the internet. Although, I do occasionally go to the archery range after school.”
“Huh… really?” I asked with a raised eyebrow even though that’s a something that Principal Cinch makes as a standard requirement for students. Which was something that I still didn’t understand.
“Hey, just because it’s something the principal forces us to do doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy it.” Sour Sweet replied in between bites. “Besides, it allows me to relieve some stress and clear my head.”
“Hmm, good point. Mind if I join you from time to time?” I asked.
“Of course! So long as you don’t skip swim practice to do it.”
“Hey, Indigo said that swim season’s almost over. We just have two more meets before districts. After that, then we really won’t have a need to go to afternoon practice other that to keep ourselves in shape.”
“Good to know.” She said before taking one final sip of her soda. She then stood up and said, “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure.” I said after eating my last fry. Once our trash was thrown away, we continued to walk through the mall. “So, are there any other stores you want to go to?” I asked.
“How about we go to one you want to go to? I’m pretty much done looking at clothes anyway.” She replied with a sweet smile.
“Alright.” I replied as I tried to think of where I wanted to go. I really didn’t know what this mall had to offer, other than the usual stores you would expect to see, and I wanted to avoid some places that would have been obvious, just to make things more interesting for her. Eventually, I gave up on the latter and asked Sour, “Are there any movie stores here?”
“Why am I not surprised.” She muttered as she began to lead me through the mall again.
It took us about a minute to reach the store she was leading me to. It was a relatively small store that had music on one side of the store and movies on the other side. The two of us decided to browse through the movie section. I was picking up various movies and reading the back cover of them while Sour Sweet was just mostly glancing at the titles. “Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for?” She asked.
“Not really,” I answered back. “I’m mostly just looking around to see if there’s anything of interest.”
“So, what’re you’re saying is that you’ll buy a movie you’ve never seen before?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Maybe. Maybe not. It all depends on what I find. It’s not like I can go to a movie rental place anymore.”
“…Can’t you just stream stuff online or something?”
“It’s just not the same.” I replied. “Although, if it makes you feel any better, the really bad movies tend to also be really cheap.” After browsing around for a while, I finally found something that caught my eye. “Hey, Sour. I found something.” I said as I pulled the DVD off the shelf.
She came over and looked over the title of the movie I was holding. “Kelly’s Heroes?” She asked.
“Yep. I saw this movie on T.V. awhile back and absolutely loved it.”
“What’s it about?”
“This soldier named Kelly finds out that there’s a stash of millions of dollars’ worth of gold behind enemy lines. So, he, the rest of his squad, a quartermaster, and a tank unit decide to go AWOL in order to get the gold for themselves. Basically, it’s a bank heist film that’s set in the middle of a war.”
“Sounds interesting.” Sour simply said.
“Yeah it is, and it’s pretty funny too.” I replied. After a small pause, I asked, “Should I buy it?”
“Why are you asking me?! Who do you think I am, your mother?!” She jovially berated.
“Fair enough” I said as I walked to the cashier. After making my purchase, we continued to walk around the mall for a while. We went into a couple of stores here and there, but, just like with most shopping malls, there really wasn’t much that I was interested in. By the time it turned three o’clock, the both of us decided that we were done at the mall. As we walked back to the car, I asked Sour, “So, anything else you want to do?”
She was silent for a moment, probably thinking on what to do next, until her eyes landed on the bag I was carrying. She then shrugged her shoulders and asked, “Movie at your place?”
“Do you know how much gold is in that bank? The oddball tank commander named…well…Oddball asked the enemy tank commander. When he was met with a curious stare, Oddball says. “Sixteen million dollars.” The other tank commanders widened in surprise and realization.
“So,” Kelly began, “Why don’t you turn the turret of that tank around and blow the doors of that bank down for us?”
The scene then cuts to the front doors of the bank in question, only for them to suddenly be blown to pieces as the tank shoots them.
Sour Sweet and I burst out laughing as we watched the scene play out. We were both laying on my bed as we watched the film. I had my arm around her as she was snuggled up beside me and rested her head on my shoulder. We made a snide comment occasionally, but we mostly stayed silent as we enjoyed the movie and each other’s company. Once she calmed down, Sour said, “You know that this probably wouldn’t happen.”
“There’s a good number of things that happen in this movie that probably wouldn’t happen.” I replied. “But that’s why I like it so much.”
“Hmm…true.” Sour agreed as she returned her attention to the film just in time to see the soldiers celebrate as they open one of the many crates that held the gold that they were looking for.
As the credits rolled, I stretched out a bit and asked, “So, is there anything else you want to do, or do you need to get going?”
She looked over to the clock and said, “I think I probably should get going. Although, there is one thing I want to do before I go.”
“And what would that be?” I asked only to suddenly get that answer as Sour Sweet’s lips smashed into mine. My eyes shot open at first, but as the kiss continued my eyes gradually closed and I begun to kiss back. We stayed like that for what felt like hours. Just the two of us enjoying the moment with a simple kiss.
But, as soon as she initiated it, she ended the kiss by leaning back and staring at me with half lidded eyes. I stared back at her while rubbing her shoulder with my thumb. “I really should get going.” Sour said with a hint of disappointment as she started to get up.
“I know.” I said as I got up along with her. The walk to the front door was silent, neither of us really knowing what to say to each other at the moment. When, we did reach the door, I awkwardly said to her, “So, I’ll see you on Monday then?”
“Of course. We have classes together, remember?” I replied.
“I-I know, I just-” I tried to stammer out before she stopped me by giving me a small peck on the lips.
“I’m just messing with you.” She jovially said. “I’ll see you at school.”
“Yeah…see ya then.” I replied. She then gives me one more peck on the lips before opening the front door and walking out. As I watched her walk back to her car, I couldn’t help but think to myself. It feels like yesterday that I would have welcomed the thought of not talking to Sour Sweet for the rest of the day. Now, I there’s nothing I want more than having her around.