Picking Up Amy

For someone as shy as me, picking up a girl like Amy isn't easy. She's the black haired beauty that sits behind me in Algebra class. Every day when we come in, she brushes past me and mumbles something like, "Watch it!" But I don't let that get me down. In addition to her beauty, it's her sick and twisted humor that gets me. Or maybe it's because she doesn't care about what anybody else thinks. You can almost hear The Clash in the background when she enters a room.
This morning, I woke up with a mission in mind. See, for the past few months I've had a crush on this very cool girl. Every night, I pour out my heart to my best friend, Eva. Last night, she had a lot on her mind, but I kept bugging her and bugging her about Amy. So finally, Eva told me that I'd never be able to live with myself until I asked her out. I knew she was right. So, thanks to Eva, I've made up my mind to ask Amy out. I don't have a plan yet, but inspiration will come. You see, I really, really want this date.
So today in Algebra class, things went as normal. I got in Amy's way again, and she told me to watch it as usual, but today, I noticed a slight smile as she said it. Really! So my courage was snowballing. I could hear Eva's voice in my head: Whatever is meant to happen, will happen. How can you know if you don't even try? The thing you need most is always right there in front of your nose. Well, she was right. I was determined, and I was going to do it. The opportunity came when the teacher had us pass our papers to the person in front of us to be graded. I whipped out my red pen, and right beside where I put 'graded by' I wrote 'the person who would love to take you out on Friday night.' Yes, this was very, very slick. Of course, I was a little nervous about what she'd think and say. But when I turned around after handing it to her, she nodded. And on my paper, '7 o'clock, meet me at the coffee shop on main.' She wasn't looking at me, much less smiling, as I pictured in the best-case scenario, but I'd take a yes!
All day I was walking on air. I couldn't wait to talk to Eva. When I did, she congratulated me and promised to come to my house to help me get ready. Lord knows I'd need all the help I could get so that I could please this sarcastic beauty.
So, the rest of the week went as normal, 'Watch it's and all. But I like to think there was a little more eye contact when I passed her paper back. No talking, but that's okay. I had her time Friday, and we'd talk then. The doorbell brought me suddenly out of my thoughts. Eva! Sure enough, there she was, standing in my doorway with a gift of aromatherapy (even though I'm not exactly sure what that is) just for me. She informed me that it'd keep me confident and energetic. For a small moment, I saw her as I'd never seen her before, there in my door. Her long red hair glistened a little bit, and her face that I had before disregarded as just a plain face seemed almost.beautiful there in the moonlight. But then I remembered to let her inside. Soon she was going through me closet, throwing out things and making comments such as "Oh, Elvis called. He wants his pants back." And she had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt. But she finally found me something acceptable. She even did my hair for me! She then looked me up and down and said, "Yes, you're ready. Go get 'em!"
"You're the greatest," I said. Then I looked into her eyes and this time my voice was just above a whisper, "I mean that. Thank you so much." I looked as her eyes got watery, and without a word, she pulled me in for a hug. Sniffling, she once again told me to 'go get 'em' and left.
Unfortunately, I bear bad news. The date with Amy went much less than perfect. At the coffee shop, I spilled her iced mocha all over her! And myself. At least it wasn't hot. Then she drug me to a party I really didn't want to be at. I mean, I didn't know any of the people there, and the music was like fingernails on a chalkboard to my ears. So when I actually did get to talk to her, here was what we said and what I was thinking:

Me: "So.what.did you do today?" Geez, why is she looking at everyone but me? Does she not want anyone to see that she's here with me? Amy: "Well, I went to work, then came home, then went to the coffee shop." Uh huh. Wake me up when you're finished talking. Me: "So.you like this music?" I don't see how. They sound like they're being tortured by rabid cats. Amy: "Ya, but blah blah blah blah." Oh my God. I'm not even listening to her. What am I thinking.oh lord. I'm thinking about Eva! Oh well, it's better than thinking about this horrible night I'm having.

So, that's pretty much how things went. So, after the torturous party, she offered me a ride home, but I said no thanks, I'll walk. I wasn't going to go to my house anyway. As I walked the three blocks to my final destination, all I could think about was how all these years, Eva had been there for me, given me her complete attention, and never gotten anything back. Well, seeing as at the end of my thoughts, I was at her front door, I made up my mind that now she was going to get something back. I rang her doorbell, and there she was, perfect in every way. From her messed up hair to her Winnie the Pooh pajamas to her orange slippers. "Hi," I managed. She smiled, yawned, and waved. Suddenly, without thinking about it, I rushed in and kissed her. I could tell that she understood everything. There was no need to explain. No need to wonder whether she was listening to me or not, no need to worry about spilling coffee or going to parties with bad music and boring people. The only thing I need to worry about now, at this moment, is why I never saw it before.