Operation Beautiful

Chapter 37: valentine's day part three: what the hell am i doing?

Chapter 37: valentine's day part three: what the hell am i doing?

“Have you ever had sushi before?” Spike asks me as the large platter is placed in front of us. I shake my head.

“What?!” Trevor is incredulous. “It’s amazing! You’ll love it!”

“As someone who started eating sushi a few weeks ago,” says Matt, looking intently at the sushi rolls. “I would say that it’s an acquired taste.”

“But once it’s acquired...” says Spike, sidestepping the rolls for the nigiri. “Damn, it’s good.”

I reach tentatively for the nigiri: the view of raw fish sitting innocently on top of rice turning my stomach slightly. “Maybe I should start with a roll?”

“Try this one,” Matt says, pointing at one of the rolls. “It has this great sauce on it.”

“What are the little orange balls?” I ask.

“Salmon eggs,” Trevor says calmly.

“Oh.” I look at the roll and then at the guys around me.

“Just try it,” Spike says, patting me on the back. “You’ll like it, promise.”

The first piece is pretty good, but Matt is right: definitely an acquired taste. But as we get through the platter, I’m beginning to like it more and more.

“We should do this again,” I say, leaning back with a satisfied sigh.

“Indeed,” says Spike. He looks down at his cell-phone display and jumps a bit. “Hey, it’s like six now. We should probably get going.”

“Crap!” Trevor stands up suddenly. “Let’s hurry up with the bill, yeah? I have to...Haley...yeah. You get the idea.”

Matt and I end up at home with no clue as to where Emmaleigh and Jessica are. I mean, we tried calling but Haley picked up and said the girls were having some “girl time.” So now I’m sitting in my and Matt’s room, apprehensive about this whole thing. I feel really bad about Emmaleigh.

“They’re home,” Matt says, popping his head into the room. “I’m going to go watch TV. Wanna come?”

“Uh...yeah. I’ll be there in a minute.” He leaves and I sit there for a few minutes, trying to think of how to face Emmaleigh after this. Just as I get up to leave, the door opens and I very flustered Jessica comes in.

“Oh...uh, hi,” she says, more nervous than I’ve ever seen her before. She’s holding something behind her back. “I...uh, I need to tell you something.”

I shift uncomfortably on the bed. What could she be talking about? “Okay, um...”

She stands in front of me and shuts her eyes tightly for a second. “Just...listen, okay? And...don’t laugh.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

“Okay.” She pulls a heart-shaped box of chocolates out from behind her back. “Corey, I really like you. Would you be my Valentine?”

Oh. Oh, crap.

“Uh...Jessica...” I look up at her, but her eyes are on the floor, the box of chocolates still in her hand. Oh, God, why do I have to do this? I really don’t want her to get upset. “Jessica, I’m really sorry. But...I don’t really like you that way.”

She looks up at me. “Oh, uh--”

“I’m really sorry, Jessica it’s just--”

She cuts me off with a hand. “It’s okay,” she says with a shaky smile. “I kinda knew but I thought...I thought there wasn’t any harm in trying, right?”