Eric looked adorably nervous on Saturday evening as he sat in the living room arm chair in the parsonage, trying to make continued conversation with Tami's mother. Tami's father wasn't saying much.

Tami had put on a knee-length skirt (anything shorter might have raised her mother's eyebrows, and, besides, it was winter) and a pink blouse that accentuated her chest without being low-cut enough to offend her mother. The cowgirl boots Eric had given her stretched almost to her knees, so only a flash of skin was showing. Eric had on his usual khakis and a button down-shirt and a pair of loafers. He looked nice, she thought, but he always looked nice.

"And what do you plan to major in?" Mrs. Hayes asked.

"Physical education, ma'am, with a concentration in youth and high school coaching. And I'll double major in education, so I can be certified to teach, too."

"Teach what?"

"Whatever, ma'am. Whatever they need me for. But coaches don't make much money until you get up to a head coaching position of a major high school. Even then, I'll need to supplement my coaching income."

"You don't have to major in the subject you'll be teaching?" Mrs. Hayes asked.

"Uh…no, ma'am. Not necessarily."

"Well no wonder our education system is so pitiful."

Eric clearly didn't know what to say to that, so Tami said, "Eric is going to TMU on a full football scholarship."

"Yes, Janet told me," Mrs. Hayes said. "That's very nice, that your parents don't have to pay anything at all. We're going to help Tami with about half her tuition, wherever she ends up getting in, as long as it's a state school, of course, but she'll have to make up the rest with work or loans."

"Well, but, she's also applying to TMU," Eric said.

"Yes, I saw that," Mrs. Hayes said, "but that private school tuition is going to be beyond her reach, unless they give her a scholarship."

Eric glanced at Tami. Tami thought it was a moot point, anyway. TMU was her long shot.

"Janet said your father wants you to go to A&M," Mrs. Hayes continued, "but I can't for the life of me imagine why you'd go someplace you had to pay for when you have a full scholarship to a school that's just as good!"

Eric looked back at Tami's mother. "Well, but, my father doesn't think it's just as good."

"Your mother said it has an outstanding academic reputation."

"Uh, yeah, but its football team is only Division II."

"What does that mean?" Mrs. Hayes asked.

Eric looked puzzle that any Texans could not know such a simple football-related detail.

"It means Eric will get plenty of play time," the Reverend said, "and improve his knowledge of the game, and probably even be given an opportunity to shadow the coaches at times. It means the school will be a good match for him." Tami's father glanced at his watch. "Well, I guess you two should be going."

[*]

Eric wiped his hands with the paper towels that were on the picnic-bench-style seat. "Maybe barbecue wasn't the best idea for a first date," he said.

"They have wet wipes," Tami told him, and pointed to a small, silver bucket full.

He grabbed one from the bucket and ripped it open. The little packet made Tami think of a condom packet, which made her wonder if Eric carried condoms in his wallet, which made her wonder if he hoped to get laid sometime early in this relationship, as Kimberley had implied he might.

Tami felt suddenly awkward. "I uh...really like barbecue," she said.

"Me too." He pushed his empty plate aside. "Listen, I'm real sorry about the fight, but if I had walked away from that –"

"- It's okay," she interrupted him. "It's over. I just don't like you two fighting over me like I was your prize Guernsey."

"You don't win a Guernsey as a prize. The Guernsey wins a prize. For being so wonderful a Guernsey."

"And are you my prize?" Tami asked.

He smiled. "I'd look good in a display case."

She laughed. "I'd rather keep you on my arm, like an accessory."

"I can manage that." He turned his wrist to read his watch. "We better get going or we'll miss the movie."

[*]

They got in line for popcorn, even though they'd just eaten. "I'm not even hungry," Tami confessed, "but I feel like it's not a proper movie without popcorn."

"I feel the same way!" Eric said those words with such excitement that Tami laughed.

"Well I hope we find we have more in common than that."

He smiled. "Well, how do you feel about Sno-Caps?"

"I love Sno-Caps!"

They both laughed.

The popcorn ended up resting on the floor when it was only half empty, though the candy was successfully demolished. Once the popcorn was out of his lap, Eric held her hand. Eventually, however, he put his arm around her.

The movie was funny, but there was an awkward moment when there was a sexually suggestive scene with a lot of talk of the gatekeeper and the keymaster. Tami and Eric both stared straight ahead at the screen the entire time, and Tami wondered what he was thinking, if he was thinking about having sex with her. When that uncomfortable moment was over, and the movie wound its way to its final scene, he turned and kissed her.

Tami had no idea what happened in the last five minutes of Ghostbusters.

They were still making out in the dark when the credits rolled. His tongue tasted salty and sweet, from the popcorn and Sno-Caps they'd shared. He stroked her hair, caressed her arms, roamed her back with his hands, nibbled her neck, and eventually cupped and squeezed a breast through her shirt. She covered his hand with hers and lowered it from her breast to her hip.

He kept kissing her, but he also kept his hand where she'd put it. They broke apart when the lights went on and the brooms came out.