With a worried mind I went back to the kitchen to grab a soda from the refrigerator.
It was another twenty minutes before the phone rang. My dad picked it up and yelled for me. I told him I'd take it in the den and locked myself in there.
"Hi Bill." Said Nina, her voice sounding much more normal now.
"Hi." I answered, "You're not mad at me, are you?"
"No." She said. "Why would you ask that?"
"You just sounded kind of funny on the phone."
"Oh." She said, and then, "Well, the fact of the matter is that it's probably not a good idea to call me here just now. I haven't told my parents that you and I are, uh, talking again."
"I don't understand." I told her. "Your parents liked me before. Just because we had a… well a fight and stopped seeing each other for a while, why shouldn't they like me? All teenagers do that from time to time."
"It's a little more complicated than that." She replied. "I don't really want to go into it right now. But please, don't call me at home just yet?"
"Okay." I answered, very troubled by this.
"So what did you want?" She asked brightly.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to think quickly. The don't-call-here speech had just taken the wind out of my sails, making asking her out seem a bad idea after all.
"Bill?" She asked. "Are you there?"
"Yes." I said, throwing caution to the wind. After all, I had to say SOMETHING. "I was wondering if maybe you'd, uh, well, like to go out to a movie with me tonight?"
"A movie?" She asked, her voice unreadable.
"Yes." I confirmed. "If you're not doing anything else, that is."
"Are you asking me out on a date?" She asked next, seemingly puzzled.
"Well, yes. I am."
She was silent as she digested my request. Finally she said, "It's a bad idea to do this so soon Bill."
I cringed, feeling stupid for asking, feeling ashamed of myself for pushing things. "Oh." I said. "Well maybe some…"
"But what the hell?" She interrupted cheerily. "I could stand to see a good movie tonight."
I was so overcome by the rejection that it took me a moment to process that I hadn't been rejected after all. "Really?" I finally said.
"Really." She told me and I could hear that she was smiling, I could see it.
"What did you want to see?"
"Anything you want Nina." I answered happily. "Anything at all."
"I'll borrow Mom's car and be over in a little bit." She said.
We hung up our phones and I sat there for a moment, basking in the glow of success. She was going to go out with me. On a date no less. Things really were looking up.
Finally I stood up and headed upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.
The movie we decided on was one that I really had no desire to see, Flashdance. But I didn't let this bother me. I would have gone to see a four-hour documentary on the history of the ice cube tray with her if that was what she'd wanted. We took my car, leaving her Mom's parked at the curb in front of my house.
We talked of inconsequential things on the way; the storm we'd experienced, our hopes for college scholarships, how our ROP jobs were going. It was the first time since we'd come back together that there was no strain in the conversation. Our words flowed easily out of our mouths, the friendship that we'd developed in the past finally manifesting itself once more. Nina giggled frequently as we chatted, even blushing a time or two at my remarks.
She seemed like she was regaining her old personality. It made me warm inside to look at her, to see her smile, to hear her laugh.
We took seats near the back of the nearly empty theater, setting down our popcorn and stowing our drinks. We reclined and munched and drank and waited for the movie to start. We talked of some of the things we'd done in the past. Going to the lake in the summer, studying during the school year, going skiing in the winter. The remember game. Just as the lights started to dim down in preparation for the ten minutes of previews that proceeded every movie, I turned to her.
"I'm glad you came tonight." I told her. "And I'm glad you gave me a second chance."
Her blue eyes stared at mine, her face forming a serious smile. "Me too." She told me.
About twenty minutes into the movie, while the dancers were dancing and the music was pounding from the Dolby system, I reached slowly out with my left hand, putting the palm over the back of Nina's hand. She looked at me for the briefest second, hesitation marring her face, and then she turned her hand over, grasping mine, hesitation turning to contentment. Her hand was soft and dainty, fragile in mine. After all I'd experienced since my return, after all the girls and women's bodies I'd enjoyed in every possible way, you wouldn't have thought I'd get excited over the simple holding of a hand in a movie theater. You wouldn't think so, but it was thrilling me to the core.
Later on she edged slightly closer to me, squeezing my hand a little. I was fumbling and unsure of myself, of how far to take this, but in the end I couldn't resist. I unclasped my hand from hers and put my arm around her shoulders. She stiffened momentarily, probably in nervousness as opposed to hostility, and then she relaxed, allowing me to pull her against me. She gazed up at me dreamily for a second.
"I really love being with you Nina." I whispered to her.
"Thank you." She whispered back, nestling up against me, resting her head on my shoulder, making me happier than I'd ever been with any other person.
When the movie was over we walked hand in hand out of the theater into the frigid night. The sky had cleared of clouds, allowing the stars to shine in all their glory. The half moon drifted directly above us. Our breath puffed out before us and our cheeks turned red on contact with the air.
"Do you want to take a walk before we go back?" I asked her.
"Bill," She giggled. "It's freezing out here."
"Yep." I agreed. "So what do you say?"
She nodded. "Okay."
The theater was located in the downtown mall, near the river. We strolled off the grounds and towards the scenic bridge and the levee. Soon we were staring down at the running water, watching the moonlight shimmer off of it.
"Did you like the movie?" She asked me, nestling against me as we stood there, allowing me to feel her weight pushing at me through her heavy down jacket. I put my arm around her once again, drawing her closer. She came willingly.
Though I'd promised myself that I would always be honest with Nina, there were times when that promise could be broken. This was one of those times. "Oh yes." I told her. "It was a very good movie. That was a good choice."
She looked up at me, staring in my eyes. "Really?"
"Really." I assured her.
"I thought it sucked rocks." She informed me huffily. "We should've gone with 'All the Right Stuff'."
My jaw dropped for a second as I heard this and then I burst out laughing.
"What?" Nina asked, looking at me with amusement.
"I thought it sucked too." I told her. "I was just being polite because you picked it."
"I didn't pick it!" She said, laughing with me. "You did!"
"Only because I thought that was what you wanted to see."
"Why would you think I wanted to see that crap?" She asked, shaking her head in exasperation.
"Because every woman wants to see that crap." I told her. "It's a movie made for women."
She turned towards me, not drawing her body away, but pushing it against mine. We were zipper to zipper with our down jackets, eye to eye. She let her hands slide down until they were nestled in the large pockets on my jacket. "I'm not most women Bill." She said softly, pulling me tighter. "You should know that by now."
"I guess I should." I answered, with a voice that was no longer steady.
Our eyes were only inches apart, our faces close enough so that I could feel her breath against me. The vapor from our exhalations combined, swirling together before drifting off into the night. I put my arms around her, feeling the curves of her body somewhere beneath all of the fabric and duck feathers she was adorned with. Our legs were pushing together. My body was tingling with anticipation and nervous desire. I was almost giddy with it.