Caroline & Michael & Scott

Chapter 8

After saying goodbye to Scott on their first date, an ambivalent Caroline entered the Duffy household, where she was greeted by her mother, Margaret.

"Hello, dear. How was your date?"

"Okay... Mom…? Were you waiting up for me?"

"Well, dear... you were so upset when you came home the last three weeks, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"Everything was fine, Mom."

"He didn't try to get fresh?"

"No... actually, no he didn't."

"Well, that's good. Your father said he seemed like a nice boy. Not much one for talking, though. I'm glad he wasn't like the last boy."

Caroline mumbled "Actually, I don't know if he was or not, I never gave him the chance."

"What was that dear?"

"I said, he asked me out again. I haven't decided if I'm gonna accept or not."

"Oh... Well, I'm glad your date turned out okay. I'm going to bed now. Good night dear."

"Good night, Mom."

******

The next day, Sally came over to visit Caroline.

"So, how'd the big date go, Caroline?"

"Okay... not exactly what I expected, though."

"Whatdya mean?"

"Well, Scott was nice... and actually, I was sorta mean to him. He never really tried anything, but I never really gave him a chance to. Then..."

"Yeah...?"

"He asked me out again, next week."

"Wow... maybe he really likes you."

"Maybe."

"Well, you gotta find out."

"Oh, Sally, I don't know if I wanna go out with him again."

"Why not?"

"I was actually pretty mean last night. I don't know if I can face him." Then Caroline described her date of the previous evening.

"Wow. He really must like you… Caroline, you've had your eye on this guy for seven months. You gotta go out with him at least one more time. And this time, instead of pushing him away, see what he tries, see what he's really like. You never know, he may be a keeper."

******

The next week, between classes, Caroline and Sally were cruising by room 203.

"There he is, Caroline. Go talk to him."

Embarrassed, Caroline replied "Oh Sally, I don't know..."

Sally gave her friend a push, then followed right behind her to make sure she approached him.

Caroline greeted him in a sweet voice "Hi, Scott."

Scott turned. "Caroline!" He smiled at her.

"I've been thinking about it... If you still would like to take me out again, I'd like to go."

"Great!" Scott was grinning from ear to ear.

"And it doesn't have to be a fancy place this time."

"Even better...! Six o'clock okay again?"

"Sure."

Caroline turned and walked briskly away with Sally. But as she left, she did notice some guys nodding knowingly, punching Scott on the arm, and saying "Way to go!"

******

After dinner (this time at a burger joint) on their next date, Scott asked Caroline "It's nice out tonight. The cold weather's finally breaking. Caroline, do you mind, instead of seeing a movie tonight, if we go to this nice out of the way spot that I know of?"

"Uh-oh! Here we go... And I thought Scott might be different than all the rest. Well, the purpose of this date is to find out what Scott is really like, so I might as well go" thought Caroline. "Okay."

******

After parking the car off the road, Scott said "C'mon, I know this place by the river."

Caroline was skeptical, but took his hand when he offered it.

"Careful. Some of the places on the path can get slippery. And you can't see all the rocks and little ruts, even though the moon is out."

They reached a beautiful secluded spot by the river. Scott pointed to a place. "Why don't we sit on those rocks, over there." After they sat, Scott offered "It's a little chilly. Would you like to wear my jacket?" Caroline nodded and Scott took off his letterman's jacket and wrapped it around her.

For a few minutes, they both just sat and looked around. Finally, Scott said "Isn't this spot beautiful?"

"Yes it is" Caroline answered. "Too bad you're about to ruin it for me."

"Caroline, can I ask you something?"

"Okay." Caroline thought "Here it comes!"

"Can we talk?"

"Talk?!" answered a surprise Caroline.

"Yeah. You may have noticed, I'm sorta shy, not much of a talker. But I'm relaxed here, this is one of my favorite spots. I like to fish here."

"Uh... sure, we can talk... What would you like to talk about?"

"Uh... I dunno."

"The reason I went on this date was to find out if Scott was only interested in me because of my rep, so I might as well find out" thought Caroline. "Why don't you tell me why you asked me out?"

"Well... you're pretty... and you're graceful... and you're athletic. Where I came from, I didn't know many girls and none of them are like you. They're all dainty and leave all the sweaty stuff to guys."

"What are you talking about?"

"I saw you dancing."

"You saw me dancing ballet…? When?"

"The end of last school year. All of Miss Morgan's student's danced."

Caroline was incredulous. "That was almost a year ago! I wasn't even the prima ballerina. You noticed me and remembered?"

"I sure did. The moment I saw you dancing, I thought "That's the girl for me!""

"That was so long ago! Why didn't you ever ask me out?"

"Well... you may have noticed, I'm sorta shy... And you always seemed to already have a boyfriend..."

"So what changed? Why'd you ask me out?" Caroline wanted to see if Scott would tell the truth, about hearing about her rep.

"Well... I saw you watching me sometimes while I practiced, so I thought I had a chance, that you might be interested too. And when I heard you broke up with Michael, I started thinking about it again."

Angrily, Caroline blurted out "And what made you decide to do it? Did you hear I was an easy mark?"

Calmly, Scott replied "Sure, I heard that. But I didn't believe those guys, any of them."

"Any of them?"

"Yeah. Every guy that's gone out with you the past month said they scored."

"Oh my god!"

"But I didn't believe any of them... If I did, I wouldn't have asked you out."

"What...? Why…? I don't understand."

"Some guys are looking for a quick score... I'm looking for a girlfriend."

"So... you don't wanna...?"

"Oh... Don't get me wrong, if we both thought it was right, I would love to... But I think it takes awhile before we both know each other well enough to even think about it."

Caroline smiled at him coyly. "So... You're lookin' for a girlfriend... And you think I'm girlfriend material?"

"Oh, yeah..." he answered emphatically. "I've had my eye on you a long time. In fact, I haven't gone out with anyone else since I came to Peshtigo."

"Really?"

"Yeah... That's why I want a girlfriend. I'm so shy, it's really hard for me to ask a girl out. Even thinkin' about it, my palms get all sweaty. When I first asked you out and you told me to go away, it was like my worst nightmare come true."

"Oh Scott, I'm sorry. It was just bad timing. I was mad at somebody else and took it out on you."

"That's okay. I mean, now that everything is sorta working out. I just thought, if I had a girl that I feel comfortable with, I wouldn't have to go through that all the time. I'm glad I finally asked you out."

"So, Scott... If it wasn't my rep, what finally pushed you into asking me out?"

"My daddy."

"Your dad?"

"Yeah... I told my daddy that the girl I had my eye on was finally free, but I wasn't sure if I could ask her out. He told me "Son, if you're too shy to ask any girl out, the only girls you're ever gonna meet are the ones that are forward enough to ask you out." And he's right. There's nothing wrong with a girl asking a guy out, but I prefer a girl that's less forward. So, I made myself do it."

"That's so sweet" thought Caroline. "And he waited ten months for me... Yep, this one is definitely a keeper!"