|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 10:07 pm
Devi had found herself in a nervous area of excitement she hadn't experienced before - only the day before, a boy had called her pretty for the first time, had kissed her for the first time since her Bat Mitzvah, and had asked her out on her very first date. She wasn't sure just what to do on this date.
The boy, Damian, had said he would play a song for her on his guitar during the date. She had made the request for him to play Your Body is A Wonderland, something she regretted once she returned home and listened to the lyrics again, realizing the song was much more suggestive than she meant to be. They were also going to see the film Kick a**, and have dinner. All three things in this date terrified poor Devorah Gellner.
What was she supposed to do? What expectations would Damian have of her? What was she supposed to wear? Devi was far from a fashionista - her wardrobe mainly consisted of wearing blue jeans, and a grey, black, or white T-shirt, often with a grey or black hoodie sweatshirt over it. Sometimes she got more adventurous with color - this one time, she wore a brown shirt. How bold, Devi. How bold.
So Devi turned to the one friend she felt she could trust, who in her mind was an expert on everything related to topic of dating or romance, her friend Genevieve Prideux. Devi tried doing research on her own, rewatching classic romance films like The Notebook and Gone With the Wind to get an idea of what romance should be like, but as Devi neither suffered from dementia nor was a southern belle during the Civil War, she found these screenings to be very unhelpful.
Devi approached Jenny at her locker, taking small steps while looking down at her feet. Talking about her personal life is not something Devi is accustomed to, even with her own friends, as she felt her thoughts and happenings were something that are made for her diary, and her diary alone.
"Jenny?" she greeted quietly, lacking confidence, as per usual. "You know a lot about dating, right?"
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 10:34 pm
Jenny's locker was a shrine to teenage romance, the inside door wallpapered from top to bottom with pictures of teen icons and paper hearts and a ridiculous amount of Lisa Frank memorabilia. There were Seventeen Magazine centerfolds of Zac Efron and yearbook photo cutouts of her high school crushes, glittery stickers and post-it note reminders to get her prom dressed hemmed so it didn't drag. There was a countdown calendar to prom and a rough outline of Mission: Delta Alpha Tango Echo and her prom-night deadline. Wedged between textbooks and loose papers were the paperback romance novels she'd picked from bargain bins and yard sales, some of the covers torn off so that she wouldn't be subject to humiliation should one of them slip from her grasp and land face-up on the hallway floor.
It was a lesson learned the hard way, through a great deal of personal experience.
Jenny was checking her reflection in the small mirror on the door, its edges covered by hearts and stars and rainbows of various colors. Cherry lip gloss was touched up with care, her lips pursed for a moment to even the thin coat. Jenny, finding the glittery, sticky make up to be nothing less than perfect, jammed the tube back into her purse and turned just in time to meet Devi face to face.
At the question she faked a look of shock, her lips forming a small 'o' of surprise and brows climbing halfway up her forehead. It was not a sustainable expression, as Jenny could not contain the girlish giggle and was practically bouncing with glee by the time she closed her locker door and took hold of Devi's arm.
“Oh, Deedee,” nobody who became friends with Jenny went without a nickname for long, “Of course. I only know everything about dating.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu May 06, 2010 10:47 pm
She should have been prepared for Jenny's enthusiasm, but as most expressions of excitement do, it instead caught her off guard. Most expressions of joy that go further than a fleeting slight smile tend to perplex Devi - it wasn't that she's never been happy, she just never felt the need to flaunt it.
"I...I think a boy asked me out," she said redundantly. The boy definitely asked her out. "We're going out this Friday and...you have to promise to never tell anyone this but...I've never been on a date before. Or kissed a boy before."
Her knees were wobbly just saying the words out loud, releasing these secrets made felt like she was confessing to murder. Of course, to anyone who knows Devi at all, none of what she had just revealed was a secret. Not talked about - but definitely not a secret.
"I thought maybe you could give me some dating advice?" she asked softly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 10:30 am
Jenny gushed happiness like a broken water pipe, and nowhere in sight was there a plumber capable of stopping her giggle leaks and bouncing steps.
“A boy!” she exclaimed, loudly enough for half the hall to turn and stare briefly. Jenny smiled, excused herself, and turned them down the hall towards the cafeteria, “A boy!” Her voice was reduce to a whisper, and Jenny leaned in to fill Devi's ears with her voice, “Is he handsome? I bet he's handsome. I bet he's just wonderful! Is he wonderful? Oh, of course he's wonderful or else you wouldn't be going out with him!”
Jenny skipped a step and bounced once on her toes. It was an odd sight for anyone, but somehow incredibly in place for overexcited Genevieve Prideux.
“Well, I'll need to know where you're going of course. Dates are like real estate, you know! Location, location, and making sure you keep all your doors locked up tight so burglars don't come in and steal the demo furniture!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri May 07, 2010 3:35 pm
Devi looked around as everyone began briefly stared at Jenny during her outburst. She hated being the center of attention - so many people undoubtedly passing judgement. A bit frustrated by the sudden attention, her insecurities taking a hold of her, she snapped. "Could you please keep it down?" she pleaded harshly, in a hushed tone. She didn't want to insult her friend, but she really didn't want any unwanted attention drawn to her either.
"We're going to see Kick a** and have dinner," she said without much certainty. She didn't really know what Damian was planning. "I think he said he'll play a song for me on his guitar, too. Is there anything I need to do on the dates? Or not do? I don't want to embarrass myself in front of him again, I'd rather blow my brains straight out of my skull than that."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:21 pm
Jenny wrinkled her nose when Devi named the movie, and immediately began furiously shaking her head. “No, no, that won't do,” she chided, “You don't see superhero movies on a date! You see something romantic and heartfelt, nothing depressing or violent! You know they say the first movie you see sets the mood for your entire relationship. You don't want your the next sixty years of your life to be modeled around Kick-a**, do you?” Jenny didn't wait for an answer before she was fishing a notebook out of her bag and scribbling something onto it. She wrote with the confidence and urgency of a doctor filling out a prescription. A doctor who dotted all of her I's with tiny hearts. Jenny ripped out the piece of paper and handed it over to Devi.
“Go see this one. It has Robert Pattinson in it. Boys love Robert Pattinson, you know. He's the actor of their generation.”
Sorry, Sam Worthington.
“Now,” Jenny pressed the tip of her pen to her paper, ready to take notes as she steered them towards the library, “What are you going to wear?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue May 18, 2010 12:55 am
"Isn't Robert Pattinson the gay vampire? Do boys like that?" Devi was surprised. Damian had offered to take her to see a romantic comedy, but she had chosen Kick a**. Was she messing up the date before it began? She had just figured he would rather see an action movie, and would she. Romcoms were just repetitive fodder for her: they hate, they love, they hate, they love and have a happy ending.
"Oh, what am I going to wear?" she repeated. Crap. "Well, I guess I have this one grey sweatshirt that's clean. Well, mostly clean. There's a big dirtmark from when I fell into a grave in the cemetery the other day but it doesn't smell too bad. I have a pair of jeans I just through into the hamper too. I only have one shirt left thats not in the hamper, but its mostly clean, except its the white shirt I had a nosebleed on so there's a pretty big bloodstain that kind of looks like a really cool decoration."
Devi let the thoughts of that Project Runway worthy outfit marinate for a bit.
There was one question Devi was most afraid to ask, but she needed to. It was a pressing question on her mind from the moment that Damian had asked her out. "Do I have to kiss him on the first date? Or...you know...do it?" Devi wasn't sure if Jenny understood the culturally accepted euphemism. "I mean have sex with him?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
