Shell Of A Man

6 - First Date

"Honestly, I can't remember the last time I laughed, so it's not your fault. And, thank you," said Jason.

After that, there was awkward silence again. Jason wanted to say something, but nothing came to his mind. He cursed himself for not having more experience. Thankfully, Ray came to the rescue.

"So, to break the ice, let's start by exchanging basic information," said Ray, and Jason agreed. "So, how old are you?"

"26. You?"

"21," said Ray. "When's your birthday?"

"17th July."

"3rd June."

"Where are you from?" Jason asked.

"Murfreesboro, Tennessee," said Ray.

"Montgomery, Alabama. How tall are you?"

"Six. You?"

"Five-ten," said Jason.

Ray had a lot of experience when it came to keeping a conversation alive. So, when he sensed that another awkward silence was coming, he quickly brought something up.

"So, my middle name is Caleb, and I like to dance. I would have become a dancer if I didn't love law so darn much," said Ray.

"I am gonna ignore the fact that those two things were completely unrelated. Anyways, my middle name is Arthur, and the only thing that I am good at besides academics is kickboxing."

"So, that's the secret behind these muscles. Thank you, kickboxing." Ray's words made both of them chuckle.

Jason thought for a second, and finally, something came to his mind. "What's your favorite TV show?" he asked.

"I know that ideally we are supposed to say 'Friends,' but between the two of us, it's 'Will & Grace.'"

"Oh my God, I love that show too! And, think about it, you do remind me a lot of Jack McFarland," said Jason.

"Yeah, I have been told that a lot."

"You know, I used to record that show and watch it secretly so that no one would find out," said Jason. "Did you notice that even though the show was gay-themed, there was a lot more straight PDA than gay?"

"Oh, yes. I hated that. Ugh!"

Soon after that, their conversation shifted to more general topics. For a while, they talked about their friends. Ray told Jason a lot about other members of the group. Then they laughed for a bit on Emma's crush on Jason and how embarrassed she was when she found out that she had no chance.

From friends, the conversation moved on to their other classmates and professors. From professors, it moved to subjects. While discussing subjects, they eventually started talking about starting their own study group.

By the time they were finished talking about a study group, it had been more than an hour of them walking around the park.

"So, what do you wanna do now?" Jason asked.

"All this walking around has made me hungry. Maybe we can do the dinner part of the dinner date I asked you on?"

"Sure. There's a great diner nearby. It's quite affordable, and the food's great."

"Cool. Lead the way," said Ray.

Jason's words – quite affordable – triggered a chain of thought in Ray's head. He had noticed how Jason repeated a very small set of clothes again and again, and how he declined the invitations to the movies or pubs, and how he walked to and from the school every day. It finally clicked to Ray that Jason wasn't financially sound. He was ashamed of the fact that he didn't realize it sooner.