Friendly Dating 2 - Ethan

Chapter 13 - Reaching a Compromise

"We care about what people think now?" she frowns, pushing out her lips in that extremely kissable pout of hers again and with a shrug, I hastily redirect my attention back to the safety of my toes. Seriously, did that question just come from the girl who earlier today didn't want to be seen with me in public because she was overly worried about what people might think?

I can already feel the rice paper tearing. Kira does not like too much attention. I don't either, really, but I don't care one way or another. The fact that I'm usually in the middle of a social hurricane could be a deal breaker. I don't want anything breaking this deal. Maybe I should give up on the idea of her coming to the rugby; I could just date her quietly. At school, we could hang out in a shrub or something and sneak around in the shadows like monkeys planning to steal food from campers. You don't know they're there until they're on top of you, running away with the loaf of bread they stole off the table. Yeah, we could steal other students' lunches and eat them while sitting in a tree and...

"You're right," Kira says, and for a second, I think she means she's on board with the whole monkey idea... no such luck, though.  "A good girlfriend would support her boyfriend in things that are important to him and vice versa. So, I'll go watch you play rugby tomorrow, and then you can go with me to the mudflats on Sunday to take pictures."

The word mud confirms the monkey plan for exactly two seconds, and then I register the word flats and the word pictures and the monkeys just fizzle out and evaporate, and so do the stolen lunches and all my other plans.

"You want to take pictures of... mud?" I ask, waiting for more info because there's really nothing going on at the mudflats except for mud and lots of it... as far as I know. The guys and I sometimes go there to have... well... mud fights or go skimboarding. I like the words take pictures, but... mud?

"Yes, it makes really cool patterns, and sometimes I get to photograph some interesting crabs and insects," she explains, and things are becoming a bit clearer now, and I do see quite a few pictures of mud and nests and insects mounted on her wall. She took most of them herself. "If we're really lucky, we might even finally get to see a great, blue-spotted mudskipper."

Now, she's just messing with me...

"Really?" I am unable to pump even an ounce of enthusiasm into my voice because... what the hell is a blue-spotted mudskipper?!

"Probably not," she shrugs.

I am just staring at her now, completely lost somewhere between blue-spotted and skipping mud and frowning at me, Kira pats her moon, and its light turns white. I can see her slightly better now, and I probably shouldn't stare at her because looking at her is not all that healthy for the whole rice paper situation.

I run my eyes over the photographs above her bed instead, and I think I know what she was trying to go for, but all her pictures are taken from conventional safe angles. I could probably help her with that. Yeah! My woman likes her mud, and good pictures of that mud are what she'll have!

"Deal," I say. "Okay, I'll meet you downstairs in the morning around 6:30."

"Six in the morning?!" she sounds like she swallowed her tonsils and got them stuck in her gullet and can now only speak in a shrill little voice. I nod my head, wincing at the horrified look on her face. Kira loves her Saturday morning lie-ins... often lasting the whole day. "It's Saturday! Do you hate me?"

If only, Kicks, if only...

"I have to be at school at 6:45 for warm-up. The match starts at eight."

"And girlfriends need to warm up too?"

She has a point. "Only if they're cold," I laugh, feeling sheepish and push a hand through my messy hair. "You're right; you can come with Deli."