Chapter 10

It was finally Friday. All week, Lindsay forced, really forced herself to concentrate on calculus. She wanted to fantasize about Barry and Nick and her upcoming dates all day, but if she failed this course she was taking because she was goofing off, she would be grounded long past the end of the summer. Not being able to go out when she wanted was miserable. Not to mention, she wanted to actually be able to enjoy her dates without the additional stress of her test (stressing out over getting caught sneaking out was bad enough). So she put her nose to the grindstone and had worked herself to a comfortable point with her class. A couple of hours of studying on Sunday, and she'd be ready for her exam.

She still worked a long shift on Friday, and with it being busy and Lindsay being on her feet, she was tired and keyed up at the same time. She got home from work around 8:30, showered, dried her hair, and sat in her room, under the guise of doing calculus problems. But really she was just waiting for her parents to retire to their bedroom so that she could get ready for her date with Barry.

Finally, around 10:15, her parents knocked on her door to wish her good night. As soon as she heard their bedroom door shut, Lindsay got up and started frantically rooting through her closet. She had no idea what to expect in terms of date itinerary and wasn't sure how to dress. She finally settled on a jean skirt, purple top, and her dressiest pair of sandals. Not too fancy, but nice, not quite as casual as what she normally wore. And she skipped the army jacket- it was a warm summer night. Lindsay brushed her hair and put on just a touch of makeup- a little concealer, a hint of purple eyeshadow, some shiny lip gloss. She was ready.

She was too wound up to nap so she just sat on her bed, pretending to read a book until she heard a light rapping at her window. Tonight, she had left the curtains slightly parted.

When she saw Barry, she gave him a friendly wave as she approached the window. She cracked it open, getting a closer look at him. He looked good. He was wearing khaki shorts and a blue-and-red striped rugby style shirt with flip-flops. His hair looked really nice and she caught a whiff of some kind of cologne. Barry immediately noticed the vase with her still-beautiful flowers sitting near the windowsill and broke out into a huge grin.

"Hi, Lindsay. Oh, you got them," he mentioned casually, motioning with his hand to where the flowers sat.

It was Lindsay's turn to grin. She had a feeling they might have been from Barry based on the card. "I'm so sorry I didn't call you right when I got them, I've been trying to catch up on schoolwork this week," Lindsay told him. She smiled, gesturing to the bouquet, "Yeah, they're beautiful, thank you."

"Not as beautiful as you are. Wow, you look great," he said, quickly glancing down before casting his eyes on her face again.

She blushed. "Thanks," she said softly. A little concerned, however, she added, "Am I dressed appropriately for whatever it is that we'll be doing?"

"I think you'll be fine. Unless you find that more comfortable clothes would be better suited for competition."

Lindsay arched an eyebrow. "What kind of competition?"

Barry gave her a sly look. "Mini-golf. Don't laugh, I take it pretty seriously," he said, though he looked anything but serious. Barry quickly checked his watch. "Technically they close at midnight, but as long as we get there and get started before then, this place is supposed to let you finish your round."

Lindsay smiled. "I don't think a wardrobe change is necessary," she said, sounding official, before adding more jokingly, "I think I can still whip your ass in a skirt." She winked at him.

It was Barry's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" He asked her teasingly. "Well, I guess we'll see, won't we?"

They arrived at the Sport-N-Fun putt-putt just after 11:30. The twenty-something woman working the counter (whose nametag read "Jessie") gave them a slightly annoyed look as they approached. Before she could say anything to them, though, Barry had handed her some cash to pay for their rounds and told her she could keep the change as a tip. With a newfound smile, Jessie handed them clubs and two golf balls- red for Barry and purple for Lindsay (she claimed they matched their shirts).

There were some groups a few holes ahead of them but no one was behind them, so they figured they could take their time, so long as none of the employees came to kick them out. Barry had a fun idea at the beginning of the game- for every hole they played, he suggested they each tell their side of a memory they had of each other growing up. Barry told Lindsay she was first and had to come up with stories for the odd-numbered holes; he would take the even-numbered ones.

Lindsay laughed as they approached the first hole. "Okay, you're probably not going to like this one, but my friend Kim remembers you from that crazy retainer you used to wear, so I'm going to go with the first time I saw you wearing it, at school in the hallway. I gotta admit it definitely threw me a little." She looked down, appearing to concentrate on her putt but really just embarrassed at what she was about to say next. "I thought you still looked cute in it, though." She said that part pretty softly as she swung her putter, almost afraid to be heard.

Barry chuckled. "You had to start with the retainer story," he said, shaking his head and blushing a little, "so that's how it's going to be, huh? Just remember, I've had indirect access to your brother for years through Neal, so just wait until the next hole," he said, teasing her. He continued. "That thing was so godawfully embarrassing. I don't think I kissed a girl the entire time I wore it."

Hearing the word kiss out of Barry's mouth made Lindsay's insides flutter. She already wondered how the date was going to end.

And so it went. The date was exponentially better than Lindsay expected, and she had high expectations. Each hole was a different memory, a different story, and it only opened the door to even more animated conversation. And all the while they tried to putt their colored golf balls through a windmill or between two rocks or over a trickling stream of water. They laughed and talked and had fun just like they had been already doing on the phone, but this was so much better- being able to look at Barry's face and see his expressions as he spoke was awesome, and she knew that he felt the same way. Barry wasn't presumptuous about contact, but there were a couple of times that they accidentally-on-purpose brushed past each other to take a shot- and when it happened Lindsay felt like there were electric currents pulsing through her body. Lindsay realized over halfway through that she was so engrossed in their conversation and few touches that she had completely forgotten to keep score, so she had lost her bragging rights. She didn't even care.

In what felt like no time at all but had to be a little while later (they basically closed the place down, the other groups having long since left), they approached number 18, the last hole one where instead of being able to retrieve the golf ball from the cup at the top of a steep ramp, it would somehow be delivered back to the check-in/concession stand (and at this point "Jessie" was now openly glaring at them). They pretended not to notice.

"So, the last memory," he said, as Lindsay geared up to take her final shot. She swung and the ball sailed up the ramp, but missed the small cup at the top and instead rolled down the chute which collected all the wayward attempts. "I saved it for last because I was hoping I could work up to it," he smiled. "Basically- it was the first time I saw you, the first time that Sam hung out at our house and you were with your parents when they picked him up. I think you were in the third grade, and you had pigtails and a purple dress, sort of the color of your shirt right now. I thought you were so pretty- and have ever since." He coughed. "I've sort of had a crush on you for a while."

Lindsay could only gasp as Barry connected his putter to the red ball one final time, sending it up the ramp and into the final cup for the difficult hole-in-one. The siren at the top of the hole flashed and wailed indicating that Barry had won something. The sound pulled Lindsay from Barry's confession before she had a chance to reply.

Instead, she and Barry approached the counter to turn in their clubs and collect Barry's prize. Despite Jessie's expression, Barry was cordial and briefly smiled at her as he and Lindsay stepped up to the counter.

"Hi, so, what do I win?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, you either win two free games- which you can redeem on your next visit," she said pointedly, "or you get $10 towards food and drink purchases. But our kitchen is closed. It's after one-thirty in the morning, and my coworker and I have been waiting to go home for over an hour." She tried to sound professional but was failing miserably as despite her tip bitterness crept into her voice.

"I'm so sorry. We're leaving now. Real quick, before we go, do you happen to have any ice cream?" Barry asked.

"Jessie" sighed after a moment. "Well, I'm not going to scoop you any, since all the utensils have been washed. But hold on." She walked to the freezers and after a moment came back with a couple of ice-cream sandwiches. "Here," she said. "Do you mind eating the food in your vehicle so that we can go home now?"

Barry nodded. "Sure. Thanks so much for staying open to let us have our first date," he said, and for the first time tonight, he put his arm around Lindsay and beamed at her. He turned back to "Jessie", who had appeared to soften. "And this is all that we want. If you can cash in the rest of the prize for yourself, please do," Barry said as he took the wrapped ice cream novelties from the counter. Arm still around her, he and Lindsay headed towards the parking lot.

A few minutes later, Barry and Lindsay were sitting in his car, mouths full of the last of their ice cream sandwiches.

"Sorry," he mumbled immediately after swallowing, "I was hoping that we could get cones, but I guess we can't be picky this late," he gestured to the clock on his dash, which now read 1:49.

Lindsay smiled a second before worrying that she had chocolate cake in her teeth, so she quickly shut her mouth again. "It's okay. That sandwich was actually really good. I hadn't had one in a while." She had some cake remnants stuck to her fingers, too, and quickly sucked on her fingertips to remove them.

She glanced over at Barry to find him looking at her. There was no light in the car but plenty in the parking lot, so she could see the expression in his dark eyes, which had suddenly turned really smoldering. Her breath hitched.

"You, um, still have a piece on your mouth," he murmured. Mouth turned up into an amused half-smile, ever-so-gently he reached out his hand and began touching her lip. Their eyes met again and they exchanged this crazy intense look. Her eyes must have communicated to Barry everything he needed to know in that moment because right after it happened he leaned in eagerly to kiss her.

Lindsay closed her eyes and opened her mouth as she let Barry take control of the kiss. His lips felt so soft and his tongue traced along the edges of her mouth, pausing at a part of her upper lip where, presumably, the piece of ice-cream sandwich was. His tongue was cold from the ice cream and hot at the same time and it felt wild. She moaned softly into his mouth and Barry responded fervently, putting his hands on her face. Moving his fingers to run them through her hair, scratching her scalp lightly, he gently pulled her even closer and intermingled his tongue with hers.

This kiss, more intense than the one at the Schweiber party, was doing strange things to Lindsay's insides. But as much as her body was pleading with her to keep going, her mind was what won out. She gently pulled away.

"Um, Barry?" she asked, mind racing quickly but not efficiently, tripping and bumbling as it moved from thought to thought. I should tell him about Nick. I should ask him what his intentions are. How am I going to bring this up?

"Yeah? Um, Wow," he replied, slowly opening his eyes to look at her. His eyes were clouded over, hazy. He still had a slight smile on his lips.

His look was enough for her to realize that she wasn't quite ready to discuss everything just yet. I can tell him about Nick later, right? She thought. I'm not obligated to tell him everything after the first date, am I? But she knew that there was something that she had to ask him tonight.

"So, um, what do you want to happen in five weeks?" she inquired, eyes darting between him and the floor.

"Five weeks?" He looked at her as though she had just asked him what the capital of Albania was. "What's in five weeks?"

"Well, it's about when you'll be leaving to go back to school, right? And it'll be right about the time I'm 'ungrounded'," she said.

After a moment, Barry just laughed and shook his head. "Remember when I told you that you think too much?"

Lindsay remembered. It was the night of the Schweiber party. "Yeah," she replied shyly. "Am I doing it now?"

"More than me, anyway. I don't know, Lindsay. I'm a guy. We don't usually look that far ahead. All I know is that I loved spending time with you this evening, and I loved kissing you just now. I know that I want to talk to you as much as I can, see you as soon as I can, spend as much time with you this summer as possible. And after that-" he shrugged his shoulders, "we can see how it goes, right? I mean, it's all moot if in a few weeks you decide that I'm a loser or something."

It was kind of a novel idea for her. See how it goes. She was usually so used to planning ahead. But then again, that had changed when at the last-minute she had decided to follow the Dead- she could do the same thing again, couldn't she? Lindsay nodded. "Okay. Sounds good."

"Good," Barry said, sighing a little in relief. "It's getting pretty late, I suppose. I should probably get you home." He sounded like he didn't want to at all but he reluctantly started the engine anyway.

They drove back to Lindsay's house, and Barry parked a couple of blocks away and turned the engine off, not far from where Nick was when he took her home after Ken's party. They made no move whatsoever to get out Barry's car. Neither of them wanting the date to end, they just started making small talk. The small talk turned into talk about anything- just like when they were on the phone- until Lindsay took a second to look down at her watch.

"It's almost 4 a.m.!" she shrieked. Time seemed to just melt away when they were together. "Barry, I'm sorry, but I have to get inside. I have a long day at work tomorrow." And another date tomorrow night, Lindsay thought.

Barry walked Lindsay to her window (knowing she was going to be very late tonight, she just decided to leave her window and screen unlocked so that she could get in without having to open her front door). This time, he leaned in to give her a sweet kiss, a brief touch of his now very warm lips to hers.

"I had such a great time," he said, gently brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "When can I see you again?"

"Um, I don't know," she replied. "I have a calculus exam on Monday. How 'bout I call you sometime after that? We can figure something out."

"Okay," he replied. "Can't wait. Give me a call." With one last short but searing kiss, Barry turned back towards his car.

Lindsay waved her goodbye and sneaked into her bedroom window. She immediately changed into her pajamas and laid down to rest, but thoughts of the evening (and the kiss) swirled through her head long before she was able to sleep.

Lindsay went into work the next day practically a zombie. She hadn't gone to sleep until well after five, and it was a killer day, with once again Saturday being A1's busiest day of the week. Twice, Lindsay had to go into the back and wash her face with cold water just to try to wake up. She also used her late afternoon break to run to the coffee shop down the street for a much-needed caffeine jolt.

It didn't seem to matter. By dinnertime, Lindsay was exhausted, and she couldn't wait to get out of the store. She completed her closing jobs as quickly as possible with the hope that her dad would let her go early. It worked- she finished everything shortly after 7, and there was still another closer at the store, so she and her dad could leave. I have time to relax, Lindsay thought excitedly as they finally reached home. She quickly showered and changed into pajamas, and figured she could probably veg out for a couple of hours before she'd need to finish getting ready. She lay down on her bed, all stretched out, relishing the thought of being off of her feet.

When she woke up, Lindsay was completely disoriented- she hadn't intended to nod off. She'd had a deep sleep full of disturbing dreams but was wide awake now. It took her a few seconds to realize it- but when she did, dread filled the pit of her stomach. I am supposed to go out with Nick tonight at 11, I fell asleep when I sprawled out on the bed, and now I have no idea what time it is. But deep down, she knew. It was pitch-black, and she felt entirely too rested. She glanced at her clock. 3:30 a.m.

Three-thirty! What was she going to do? She debated calling the Andopolis's house so that she could apologize to Nick- to hell with waking Colonel Andopolis up, she needed to talk to Nick now. The horrible dread transformed into horrible guilt as she realized what she must have put Nick through. God knows how long he must have stood at her window before giving up.

But wait a minute, she thought. Her curtains were still ajar. Surely Nick would have seen her sleeping and realized that she wasn't intentionally standing him up. Maybe he wasn't even mad, and left a note or something. Lindsay leapt out of bed and bounded towards her window, hoping to find evidence of Nick not being horrifically angry at her.

When she opened the window and looked down, she found all the evidence she needed. Nick was lying there, taking a nap on the ground outside of her window, the hood of a sweatshirt pulled up over his head as he sprawled out on the grass. Across his chest lay a single red rose.