In The Spotlight

Firey- Gourmet Kitchenette

Everyone would probably expect that I say I made a huge mistake.

But, that would be lying, and if they've been listening, they probably know how I feel about that by now.

That wasn't the last time we kissed. It wasn't even the last time we kissed that night.

She complimented me on the quick thinking with the height thing, and she moved in for the second time.

It was heavenly.

What wasn't was our less-than-certain relationship status. I made the executive decision that today I would find out what we are.

Hey Lawyer Leafy, you wanna go for ice cream? This place has the best looking stuff ever. Plus, we could get a Sundae on Saturday.

Good enough. I sent it. I spun in my chair about 300,000 times until she replied. I almost didn't look. What was I, 14?

Sounds great. Ice cream rules.

I pumped my fist and did one more victory spin. She loved it! We made plans to meet up there at 2. The downside was that I was forced to figure out the subway. It actually wasn't that confusing, though.

I waited outside the door of the ice cream parlor. Leafy tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey! We should probably talk." She pursed her lips.

I scratched my neck. "Yeah. I hoped we could do that over ice cream?"

"Great."

We walked in together and picked our flavors. Hers was this vanilla-chocolate swirl in a cup, while I opted for a cone with cookie crumbs. We picked a little table for two and sat across from each other. Somebody walked inside and at the sound of the bell, Leafy pulled her hoodie further down her face. "What's with the hood?" I asked.

"Incognito! No one will recognize me." She shuffled things around in her bag, emerging with a case. "We're probably the same head size. Take these." She shoved it into my hand. Inside were a nice pair of aviator sunglasses. They did fit alright.

"These are nice, Lawyer Leafy." She tugged at her drawstrings and her eyes flitted away. "Do you not like that? I can stop saying it."

"No, it's fine. It's sweet actually. It's just... I'm not used to it. That's all." I gave her a thumbs up. "Anyway, depending on how this goes, you're going to need a disguise." That sounded very ominous and was making me worried about what she might be planning on saying.

"Yeah. How about you go first. With, you know talking." She nodded.

Whatever it was she intended to say didn't seem easy for her. She pulled at her flyaway hairs that had escaped the ponytail. She took a deep breath and grabbed my hand underneath the table. "I'm kind of out of practice with relationships, so I'm going to do this the only way I know how." She fiddled with her phone for a minute, then shoved it to my side of the table. She refocused her attention on her now half-melted ice cream.

On the screen was some drawing program. She had written a message on it.

I like you. Do you like me? Circle one. Yes, No

I smiled at it, selected one of the pencils on the side of the screen, and answered. I slid the phone back toward Leafy.

She giggled like a girl young enough to be in one of my classes and pumped her fist in the air. "Hell, yeah!" Her expression changed to one of mild confusion. "What do we do now?"

I shrugged. "Celebrate, I think." I licked my ice cream.

"Yes! I like that." She took a bite of mostly whipped cream. "The last time I was in a relationship with someone that I actually liked- you know, not just a fun distraction- was my Sophomore year of high school."