Chapter 6
Dave treaded down the street alongside Becca. "Anywhere in particular you want to go?" Becca glanced over at Dave, squinting in the sunlight. "It's Saturday, so I have the afternoon off, but you know that already. Why don't we go somewhere where we can get out of the sun?"
"Good idea. The only place I know of that's still outside is the park. That okay?"
"Sure, why not." Becca answered falteringly. A week ago, even two days ago, she would not have felt nervous about going to the park with David. Now, it was different. Central Park was one of the most popular romantic places in the city. Before, Becca would not have given it a second thought, she and David were just friends, after all. But now…were they just friends, or were they more? Becca wanted only to know how Davey felt. Unable to bear it any longer, she stopped him. "David, wait."
Davey halted abruptly. They were right outside of the park. He was hot, and wanted to sit in the shade, but the urgency in Becca's voice startled him. He turned with worried eyes to his best friend. "What is it, are you okay?" Becca looked at him with fright.
"Why are we going here?" For a second time that day, Dave was confounded.
"I thought you said you wanted to go somewhere out of the sun. There's a slight breeze and the outside will be cooler than the inside. The park has trees, and therefore shade. I thought…" then it dawned on him. "Oh, no, I didn't mean…if you don't want to go here we don't have to, I just thought it would be the coolest place with the breeze and shade. Do you want to go somewhere else?" Becca's relief poured out of every inch of her body.
"No, that's okay, it is a good idea. I just needed to know if…" she trailed off, still not comfortable with mentioning anything even remotely related to the night before.
"I understand," Dave replied. They continued to stroll along the path until they found a nice shady spot underneath a splattering of trees. By this time, the both of them knew that they should discuss last night, but they were too ashamed, scared, nervous, confused, or all of the above to do so. All of a sudden, they both spun towards each other.
"So Dave--"
"Becca, I--" they both blushed and looked down at their feet when their voices clashed. After a few minutes of scuffing her foot in the dirt, Becca grumbled in agitation.
"Argh, I can't stand this anymore! We're supposed to be able to talk to each other."
"I know!" Dave exclaimed. He sighed, and ran his hand through his curls. "There's just one thing I need to know first. Are you angry, at all?"
"No, I'm not. 'Least not any more mad than you are that because of what happened, you and I can hardly communicate."
"Yeah, why is that?" Becca shrugged.
"Got me. You're supposed to be the smart one."
"Oh, but you are smart, you're one of the most intelligent people I've ever met." Dave stepped closer to Becca, a gentle tone in his voice. Becca swallowed down a grin and replied.
"Thanks," but her amusement came through in her voice. It hit Davey that Becca had been joking about the smart thing, and he reddened.
"Oh. Well, not when it comes to stuff like this."
'Then we're both in the same boat. So I guess we should just start doing what they kicked us out of Tibby's to do: discuss it. And I think I know how. So, about last night, um…why?" Dave sighed heavily.
"I don't know. Logically, I think I may have an idea, but since when did logic ever apply to this sort of topic. But…"
"Dave, what is it?" Becca had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she knew Dave could tell. David looked straight at Becca, eyes oozing with guilt into eyes with mounting fear.
"I have to--confess something." Dave finally managed to stammer.
"What?" whispered Becca.
To be continued…