“He was the popular guy in school, and our relationship was doomed to fail from the start.”
“Did you ever consider it doomed?” Ruby asked.
“No, I don’t consider it a failure now. We’ve moved on. We have different ideas of what we want out of life.” Her mother kissed her head. “Stop being so negative before I’ve got to call your father and berate him for being an ass and rubbing off on you.”
Ruby chuckled.
“You want to finish helping me with these pies?”
“Love to.”
They got to work, and Ruby cut out each pie shape as her mother filled and shaped them.
“So, tell me, is this guy cute?”
She thought about Theo. “He’s … not the boy next door. His persona is very boy next door, but he has short black hair. Blue eyes. He works out a lot. He looks more like the teacher than the student.” She heard her mother chuckle. “What?”
“For a girl that’s not interested, you sure know how to describe him.”
“He’s not hot or anything. I don’t know. I’ve never really noticed him.”
“Wait a moment, Theo West?”
“Yes.”
“He’s got a Labrador that got into his stash of chocolate just last week. He came in so concerned. We had to help the dog bring the chocolate back up, and it still was in the wrappers. He seemed like a nice boy. Handsome too.”
“Mom?”
“What, I can’t be encouraging to my very negative daughter?”
“You should be advising me against doing anything. You do know guys in this generation demand sex, right?”
“Honey, guys in every single generation demand sex. They just hid it better in the past is all. Besides, you know your body, and your mind. Do you need me to repeat no means no, and to leave and to not be forced to do something?”
“No.”
“What about the safe sex?”
“No.”
“Good. I won’t push you into dating, but try not to be so cynical so young. It’ll give you wrinkles.”
Chapter Two
The following day, Theo wasn’t going to allow one failed attempt to woo this girl to put him off. If she was completely dead set against dating him, then he’d step back, but for now, he had a feeling she was … scared. He’d never had a chick turn him down before and he wasn’t looking forward to the experience again any time soon, but he liked Ruby.
She wasn’t like any of the other girls he’d ever met.
Running finger through his hair, he spotted her, and he saw when she did him. She walked up toward him, looking hesitant. The one plus for him, she didn’t turn on her heel and run in the opposite direction.
Squaring his shoulders, he waited.
“Hey, Theo,” she said, approaching her locker.
He noticed several guys and girls watching them. He wasn’t interested in any of them, just the girl in front of him now.
Today her long blonde hair had a slight curl to it as it fell down her back and over her chest. It always looked so silken even after gym. She wore no makeup. He’d never known her to wear any in all the years he’d been watching her.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I know you said no yesterday, but I want to take you on a date.”
She didn’t immediately shut him down. He considered that a plus.
“There’s a pizza place that just opened up.”
“It’s Fabio’s place. I’ve heard of it,” she said.
“Would you like to go out with me for pizza?” he asked.
His hands were shaking, so he shoved them into his back pocket. This wasn’t going how he hoped.
Girls usually screamed, or at least they did in the past.
“Can you answer me something first?”
“Sure.”
“Why?”
“I like pizza. I figured everyone liked pizza.”
She laughed. “It’s not about the pizza. I was wondering why you’re asking me? We don’t really talk and we’ve never hung out, and yet, you’re asking me for pizza. See the problem I’m having here?”
“True. It’s not a joke. I like you, and in all honesty, I’ve been wanting to ask you out for some time but never got around to it.”
“Never got around to it?”
“No. Between football, college, and stuff—”
“You’re going to college?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Cool. I didn’t know you were set on going to college.”
“I’ve got a few options open to me. I keep my head down, get decent grades, and I do try. I didn’t think I’d get too far without it. It’s a lot of hard work, which I’m always willing to do. I want to be more than a high school jock.”
He saw he’d surprised her, which he’d take. He’d take anything so long as it would get her on a date with him.
“Okay, we’ll go for pizza.”
“This Friday, after the game?”
“Yeah, this Friday.”
“Do you need me to talk to your mom or something?” His father had told him about Ruby’s parents breaking up so he didn’t have to worry about her dad anytime soon.