CHAPTER 14: The Weekend

Late Saturday morning, Kristy and I were sitting on the porch swing. I'd just kicked off my jelly shoes and laid my feet in Kristy's lap when Jason pulled up in his truck. When we'd first met him, he'd owned a motor scooter, which he told us he'd gotten for Christmas when he was thirteen, then his mom and Steve traded it in, and gotten him the truck last Christmas.

"Hi," Jason said as Kristy moved my feet off her lap. "Are you ready, Kristy?"

"Just a minute," she answered, then she went inside.

"Kristy and I are going out to lunch at the Rosebud Café," Jason told me as I examined the bottoms of my feet for blisters. I was a little surprised that there weren't any.

"Hey, that's great," I said. At the same time, I thought, Kristy and Jason are going out on a date! I knew it! Ever since the last day of the competition in Washington, I'd had the feeling that those two liked each other. To tell you the truth, it wouldn't surprise me if they decided to get married someday.

When Kristy came out of the house, she had her green fanny pack around her waist. After she climbed into the front seat of Jason's truck, and they pulled away from the curb, Jason honked and waved.

About two hours later, the phone rang. Since my voice was almost back to normal, I answered it. "Hello?"

"Hi, Karen, it's Mary Anne. Kristy told us you just had your tonsils out. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, much better. My voice is almost back to normal, as you can tell."

"That's good. Is Kristy home yet?"

Just then, I heard the front door open, and Kristy came in. "Just a sec," I said, waving Kristy over and handing her the phone. "It's Mary Anne, Kristy."

While Kristy and Mary Anne talked, I sat on the couch and picked up a nearby copy of Teen People. Even though the article I was reading—or pretending to—was very interesting, I was more interested in Kristy's phone conversation with Mary Anne.

When Kristy got off the phone, she sat next to me on the couch. "Mary Anne was wanting to know how my date with Jason went," she said. I figured that if anyone wanted to about that, Mary Anne would, since she's Kristy's best friend.

"You like him, don't you?" I asked.

Kristy sat back with a huge grin on her face. "Yup," she said. "I sure do."

"I thought you did. So, how'd it go?"

"It went pretty well," she answered. "In fact, Jason even offered to pick up the check."

"Wow! Did he?"

"He started to, but I'd already told him I'd chip in a few bucks. And no, I didn't threaten to make a scene if I didn't get to pay," she answered. "I guess he was trying to convince me that chivalry wasn't dead."

"Or maybe he was trying to be a gentleman?" I suggested.

"That's basically what chivalry means," Kristy explained. Then she got a serious look on her face, but not quite as serious as the one she'd gotten on the day I'd met Jason at the library, when she weas telling Hannie and me to basically leave him alone. "You know something, Karen? I think I'm beginning to understand why you like him so much."

I was glad to hear this. If anyone understood my feelings, I knew it would be Kristy.