I'm a Mermaid, Not a Merman

10

"The gummy bears were always my favorite."

Danny turned around to see a boy behind him, about his age, maybe older.

"Gummy bears are good," Danny said.

"Have you ever seen one of those giant gummy bears?" the boy asked. "I could eat one of those all by myself."

Danny laughed. "I could, but it would probably take a few years."

The boy laughed. "Same."

"Chocolate," Danny said, "plain and simple has always been my favorite. But candy in general is all good. Some people have a sweet tooth, but all of my teeth are sweet."

The boy laughed. "I personally need something like peanut butter with my chocolate."

"Yeah," Danny agreed, "anything Reeses is really good."

Danny stood idly, glancing around. Both of them were silent. Chatting with strangers was always so awkward. This part especially, where you weren't sure whether to continue the conversation or not... and it was even worse because they were still in the same place...

"So," the boy broke the silence, "you go to Aspenridge?"

"Uh, no. I go to South Bend."

"I'm... I'm Matt by the way."

Uh oh. Danny had to say his name. Did this guy think he was a girl? Had he been flirting with him?

"M... my name... my name is... Cindy."

He saw Sammy turn around out of the corner of his eye.

"Nice to meet you Cindy," the boy said. He seemed a bit uncomfortable. It seemed like he was just as socially awkward as Danny was.

"So what are you up to today?" Danny tried to help him out.

"I'm shopping with my Mom so that I can get some camping supplies," he smiled, looking a bit relieved. "We're going backpacking in a few weeks, and I need something better than the crappy one that I've used in the past."

"I've always wanted to go backpacking," Danny said. "It seems like a lot of fun."

"It is," Matt said. "You get off in the mountains away from everyone, and the stars are a lot clearer... I really love it. We do it every year."

"Cool," Danny said. "I've always liked hiking too. Mountain biking is also something I want to try."

"That's a lot of fun too," Matt said. He laughed. "Though, it really hurts my hands because I ride the brakes too much."

"That'd probably be me too," Danny laughed.

"Yeah," Matt said, "I wish I could mountain bike more often, but we borrow the bikes from some relatives, and it takes all the figuring out how to get them around, and all that."

"That's why I haven't done a lot of stuff like that," Danny said. "Outdoor sports like boating, or rafting... they all sound fun, but they take a lot of set up."

"Yeah," Matt said.

"As for me," Danny said, "I don't have much interesting stuff going on this Summer, other than going swimming on occasion."

Danny glanced behind him as he heard his Mom talking to the person at the register. Looking back, he saw a nervous expression on Matt's face.

"Well, uh... uh...," he stammered. "I guess... maybe if you wanted, we... we could get together and do something sometime?"

Danny's mind was wracked with sheer terror. The Jenga tower was dangerously unsteady, and the skyscraper tall tower of luck was not threatening to topple and crush several city blocks.

A boy is asking me out.

Danny had never been on a date. And... and now...

Matt suddenly looked dismayed, and then visibly hurt.

Then Danny felt really hurt inside. In that expression, Danny saw so many moments of his own just like it. Danny had been rejected by a bunch of people because of his breasts, and now this poor guy thought he was being told that something wasn't good enough about him.

Auggh.... what to do what to do???

"S-sorry," Danny said. "I... I'm just not used to being asked out."

Crap. He'd meant to say "asked out by a stranger" or something.

"Sorry," Matt grasped his arm bashfully. "I'll let you go."

"No," Danny said, a little frantic, "I... I... how about I give you my number?"

Matt's face lit up, and he pulled out his phone as his Mom went up to the register.

Danny could feel the stares of Mom and Sammy piercing his backside as he recited his phone number to Matt.

"You said 3201 at the end?" Matt asked.

"Y-yeah," Danny said. "We can... we can talk later."

"Bye Cindy," Matt said, "thanks for talking."

Danny waved bye to him as he walked away, a lead weight in his gut.

Once they were away from the store, Sammy grabbed him by the arm.

"What the heck did you just do??"