Chapter 2:
It felt good to hear her laughter again, Jimmy thought.
"And remember when we both tried to run for President, Bolbi won and we had to do that slap-dance every week in fifth grade?" Cindy asked, bursting into a fit of giggles. "Yeah, and what happened to him?" She asked after she calmed down.
"I don't know, last I heard, he was a cultural dance intructor," Jimmy answered, and they again laughed.
"Dance instructor!" Cindy repeated, out of breath.
"Oh, and Carl is going on month-long trip to South America to study llamas next year," Jimmy informed her.
Cindy raised an eyebrow. "That's great," She said.
They polished off their dinner and after Jimmy paid the check, they hurried out of the ridiculously too-fancy restaurant.
"So, where do you want to go now?" Jimmy asked.
"I want to walk in the park," She answered.
Cindy was surprised when they got there. A lot had changed. There were fountains with Greek mythological creatures sputing water out of their mouths, and stone benches instead of plain wooden ones. There were beautiful pathways and more grass.
They strolled for a while in silence. Finally, Cindy sat down on a bench. "So much has changed, and it's beautiful," she sighed.
Jimmy sat next to her. "Yeah, you are," He said with a hint of dazedness.
Cindy rolled her eyes. "Neutron, I've heard that line so many times in my life already," Then she added, "But I'm glad you stick to the classics. It's really sweet."
Jimmy smiled. "You can't beat the classics!"
Then they burst out laughing. Finally breathless, Jimmy leaned in, and Cindy, leaned in too.
But then a frown formed on her face. "I can't do this," She cried.
"Why?" Jimmy asked. "Don't you remember all those times we tried to, but couldn't. This time we could do it without being interrupted.
"I can't do this, Jimmy," She whispered.
"Why not?" Jimmy was starting to worry.
"I can't. Jimmy, oh, Jimmy..." She was close to crying.
"Why not?" he implored.
"Jimmy-oh, no," She didn't know what to do.
"What?"
"Jimmy-I'm engaged."