441-2169
"If I say okay are you going to hang up again?" Tara asked in a playfully stern tone.
"No." Ron answered quickly, adding. "Well… maybe… unless you answer."
She smiled. "I'll give you my cell number. I'm the only one that answers it."
"Cool." Ron said.
"It's four- four- one- two- one- sixty nine." Tara rattled it off rather quickly.
"Four-four- what?" Ron asked, he had a hard enough time remembering his own number most days.
"Let me write it down for you." Tara pulled a pen and slip of paper out of her handbag and started to write it out. She stopped, asking mischievously. "You won't lose it between here and your house will you?"
"No."
"I have an idea…" Tara grabbed his left hand, pulling it toward her, held it palm up, and wrote her number on it. "There, now you can't lose it."
Ron drew his hand back and looked at the neatly written number; she had even included her name above it. So he wouldn't forget whose it was. He blushed, barely, and gave her a slight smile. "I'll call you when I get back from KP's… Probably around 8:30. Ok?"
"Ok." She answered quietly. "Bye."
"Bye." Ron said as he stepped from the car, running quickly for the shelter of the front steps.
Tara gave a little wave as she backed out of his driveway. Ron reciprocated her wave with one of his own, careful not to use his left hand. He stood watching her drive away for a few seconds before he opened the door and stepped into his house.
Early
It was 7:07 and the Possible family had just finished eating their dinner. Jim and Tim were clearing the table and Kim was in the kitchen doing dishes. Under duress.
"Here's some-" Jim began.
"-more dishes." Tim finished, dropping the stack of plates into the sink, splashing Kim's bare midriff with the hot-soapy water.
"You did that on purpose." Kim accused, threateningly pointing a scrubber-brush at her younger brothers.
"No-" Tim said.
"-it was-" Jim said.
"-an accident." They finished in sarcastic harmony.
Kim seethed, her rage boiling to the surface. "Tweebs! Out! Now!" Her normally dulcet voice replaced by a guttural growl.
"Gotta go." Quickly spoken as the twin boys scurried to the relative safety of the living room.
Kim was grumbling under her breath, wishes of being an only child and such, when she heard the doorbell chime. Not thinking anything of it, she continued fiercely scrubbing away.
"Do you do windows too?" A familiar voice teasingly asked. "Because mine could really use it."
"Ron." She greeted him sweetly, her dour mood quickly lightening. "How'd you get past my dad?"
"Trade secret KP." He joshed, before confessing. "He's watching The Weather Channel… I don't think he knows I'm here. Your mom let me in." He held out a Club Banana bag.
"You got it." She smiled, reaching for the bag and its valuable contents.
"Of course I did. But…" He cut himself off, pulling the bag away from Kim.
"But what?" Kim asked as she took a step, reaching for the bag
"Nothing." He yelped as she snatched it from him.
"Ron?" She raised an eyebrow and leaned into him slightly. "But what?" She pulled the bottle and receipt out of the bag, not that she didn't trust Ron to get the right product but… "Woodsfield Mall?" She questioned, reading over the receipt.
T-time
Andy had just brought the last of the dishes in from the dining room, setting them on the counter next to the sink for Tara to wash. "These are the last of the dishes, sis."
She picked up about half the stack and set them in the sink to soak. "Thanks."
"So how was your date with Ron today?" He asked, with an ever so slight smirk.
"It wasn't a date." She explained, a slight note of annoyance in her usually sweet voice. "We were just hanging out."
"Yeah." Andy chuckled. "Ok, how was your hanging out then?"
"It was wonderful." She beamed.
"Are you two going to Hang-Out again?" He asked, making little quote things with his fingers on 'Hang-out.'
"I hope so… He's supposed to call later."
Andy raised a finger, "well you know..."
"He's calling my cell." She cut him off. "So I don't have to worry about you scaring him off."
"Oh right..." Andy chuckled as he waggled his fingers in Tara's face. "I'm a scary man. Ooh-o-ooh."
"Cut it out Andy." She giggled, playfully splashing him with some dishwater.
He collapsed to the floor, writhing in mock agony. "I'm melting, melting… argh."
Tara ignored him, rolling her eyes before continuing to wash the dishes.
Mall Rules
"You went to Woodsfield Mall?" Kim asked, pointing out. "That's all the way in Upperton."
"It was Tara's idea." Ron said quickly, shifting the blame. "I didn't think it would've been such a big deal."
