The Art of Life (71 page)

               
A little while later, we pull
into the parking lot.
 
It’s actually
busy.
 
“It looks like everyone else is
here already,” Eric says.

               
“Who is all here?” I ask.

               
“Holly and her boyfriend Greg,
Ashley, Rose, Jeff, Walt and Jack,” Eric answers.
 
“You know everyone but Greg.”

               
Smiling, I exhale, “Good, I
would be nervous if it was a bunch of people I didn’t know.”

               
“Nope, just our little
group
, no one you need to be afraid of,” Eric reassures me.

               
We get out of the car, and it is
a little chilly.
 
I shiver.
 
Maybe next time I won’t listen to Cassandra
about what I am supposed to wear.
 
Cold!
 
I follow Eric to the
building.
 
It is kind of weird.
 
I just realized how much Jeremy and I touch
each other.
 
He holds my hand or puts his
hand on my back, when we walk somewhere.
 
I am not saying that Eric should do that, it just dawned on me that is
what Jeremy does.

               
It is nice and warm inside the
building, so I take my jacket off.
 
Eric
looks at me and smiles.
 
My cheeks
blush.
 
We find everyone sitting at a
large table.
 
“Hey guys,” Eric says
cheerfully.
 
“Everyone remembers
Isabelle?”

               
“Yeah, hey,” Holly chimes.
 
“I love your outfit, totally cute!”

               
“Thanks,” I whisper.

               
Jack sarcastically exclaims, “I
wasn’t allowed to come pick you up.”

               
“Yeah, I was told,” I
giggle.
 

               
“Well, you two need to get a
club and ball, so that we can start.
 
I
am ready to
woop
some butt,” Jack declares, rubbing
his hands together.

               
Eric nudges his head.
 
“Come on.”
 
We walk over to the gaming booth.
 
“Mini golf for two, please,” he tells the attendant.

               
“That’s twelve dollars,” she
replies.

               
He takes money out and hands it
to her.
 
“Thanks,” I say.
 
“I really appreciate it.”

               
“Not a problem,” Eric retorts.
 
The attendant hands us our stuff.
 

               
When we get back to the group,
Jack is quick up on his feet.
 
“Isabelle
is my partner.”

               
“Oh,” I start, looking at Eric.
 
“I think Eric was going to be my
partner.
 
So when we were both horrible,
at least we did it together.”

               
“Eric isn’t horrible at this,”
Jack says, obviously confused.

               
My eyes turn to Eric.
 
He groans.
 
“Okay, I was going to teach her how to do it, not make her feel
awkward.
 
Geez, Jack, do you not think?”

               
He grins.
 
“Nope, it’s Saturday.
 
Fine, be her partner.
 
I will just beat both of you.
 
You should have been my partner Izzy, you
could have actually won.”

               
That makes me laugh.
 
Eric rolls his eyes and we all walk over to
the course.
 
“Why doesn’t everyone else
go first,” Eric suggests.
 
“I will take
my time with Isabelle.”

               
“I am up for that!” Jack
exclaims.
 
He goes first and makes it in
two strokes.

               
I look at Eric and he
shrugs.
 
Everyone goes and I am happy
that not everyone is as good as Jack.
 
Finally, it’s my turn.
 
Eric shows
me how to stand.
 
“Now, tap it.”

               
Bringing my club back I hit the
ball.
 
It goes sailing, bouncing off of
one of the little buildings, and into the next course.
 
Jack is standing there and my ball rolls past
him and into the other’s courses cup.
 
He
throws his hands up in the air and yells, “SCORE!”

               
Everyone starts cheering.
 
I cover my face in mortification.
 
Eric doubles over laughing.
 
“That is awesome!”

               
“Shut up,” I mumble.

               
“Dude, that is like trick shot
points!” Jack yells.

               
Eric grabs my hand away from my
face.
 
“No need to be embarrassed.
 
That was the coolest thing I have seen in a
while.
 
I think we will count it as one
stroke for the first two courses.
 
I mean
,
way to just get it out of the way.”

               
“I am humiliated,” I groan.

               
“No, look everyone is cheering
because it was a good thing.
 
No one is
laughing at you Isabelle.
 
What would
Jeremy say to you right now to make you not embarrassed?”

               
My eyes nearly roll in the back
of my head.
 
“Are you kidding me?
 
He would give his best effort to embarrass me
even more.
 
It’s what he does, but it
helps me get over my shyness.”
      

               
“Well, I won’t do that, but I
will go, so we don’t fall too far behind.”
 
He sets his ball down.
 
“Now, I
will LIGHTLY tap it.”
 
He does and it
goes down the little ramp.

               
The rest of the mini golf
courses go without any more trick shots.
 
I am actually not too bad at it.
 
We laugh and have a really, really good time.
 
It is different than being with Jeremy.
 
I just can’t put my finger on it.
 
I am still super bashful around Eric, but
that isn’t a surprise.

               
When we all sit down for pizza,
Eric takes the seat next to me.
 
I
nervously fidget with my fingers.
 
“Who
wants what?” Jack asks.
 
“I will eat
anything.”

               
“We know that,” Holly
retorts.
 
“I have seen some of the stuff
you eat at lunch time.”

               
“Whatever,” Jack groans
sarcastically.

               
Eric looks at me.
 
“What do you like on your pizza?”

               
“Anything really,” I reply.

               
“Then we should get one supreme,
one pepperoni and one sausage,” Ashley says decisively.
 

               
I nod.
 
“Sounds good.”

               
Everyone talks a mile a
minute.
 
I am kind of reserved and
quiet.
 
It’s different with these
guys.
 
I am reverting back to being super
shy.
 
I don’t understand why.
 
Eric finally looks at me and
whispers,
“Are you having fun.”

               
“Yeah,” I answer.
 
“I just like listening to everyone else.”

               
“They will talk your head off if
you let them,” he states.
 
“Jack is the
worst.”

               
That makes me giggle.
 
“Everyone is great.”

               
“What do you do with Jeremy?”
Eric asks.

               
Shrugging, I reply, “We go out
to eat, watch movies, spar….”

               
“Spar?”
Eric inquires with a slightly confused expression.

               
“Umm, they are teaching me some
martial art moves to better protect myself.”

               
“Really?”
Eric says, looking surprised.
 
“That is
awesome.”

               
Jack interrupts, “What’s awesome?”

               
“Jeremy is teaching Isabelle
martial arts,” Eric replies.

               
“Oh!
 
Not Jeremy, Kent, our friend Kent.
 
I mean, Jeremy knows a lot, but Kent is like
a millionth degree black belt.
 
He is
teaching me.
 
Jeremy just spars with
me.
 
Really, it usually ends up with
Jeremy pinning me on the ground, tickling me until I scream,” I sigh.

               
Ashley looks at me
wistfully.
 
“He could pin me down anytime
he wants.”
 
I laugh and shake my
head.
 
“What?
 
He is gorgeous.”

               
“He is ridiculously good
looking,” Rose quips.

               
Snorting, I say, “He knows it,
too.
 
No, really, the girls he dates are
really pretty, beautiful even.”

               
“So, you and he
aren’t
an item?” Ashley asks.
 
“Like you don’t go on dates or anything?”

               
“Well, we’ve gone on dates.
 
He took me to this fantastic dinner at this
expensive steak house.
 
It was nice.
 
We dressed up.
 
The waiter was in a tux.
 
There was actual dancing there.
 
The whole thing was great.”

               
Everyone at the table kind of
sits there and stares at me.
 
Finally,
Eric says, “Wow, I guess that puts this to shame.”

               
“What?” I gasp.
 
“No, this is awesome.
 
Please, no, I didn’t mean for you to think
that.”

               
“They do have excellent pizza
here,” Jack says, taking another bite.

               
“Enough about Jeremy,” I
state.
 
“Let’s talk about something
else.”
 
So, we do.
 
It is a great evening and I have a lot of
fun.

               
On the ride home, I am a little
nervous again.
 
I had a great time with
Eric, and now it’s coming to an end.
 
Interacting with Jeremy is a lot different than interacting with other
boys.
  
I am not sure what to do.
 
We pull up to the house and Eric parks the
car.
 
He turns to me, “So, did you have a
good time?”

               
“Yeah, it was so much fun.
 
Thank you so much for inviting me and taking
me and, well, paying for me.
 
That was
really nice of you.
 
Maybe next time I
will treat,” I say.
 
“I mean, if you want
to hang out again.
 
You don’t have
to.
 
I was presuming that you would.”
 
My face is on fire, I am blushing so hard.

               
He just laughs and shakes his
head.
 
“You are so cute.
 
We had a lot of fun with you.
 
I think we will definitely get together
again.”

               
“That sounds nice,” I shyly
whisper and look away.

               
There is silence and then I
hear, “Is that Jeremy?”

               
I look up to see someone jogging
up the block.
 
My eyes roll and then
close.
 
“Yup,” is all that I can say.
 
When I look back out the window, Jeremy stops
next to the car.
 
I am going to kill
him.
 
He looks at me and tilts his head.
 
I just glare and mouth, go away.
 
With a devilish smirk, he saunters over to
the car and opens the door.