I pulled up to an apartment building, the entrance propped open with a brick. I shook my head as I opened the door, making sure I didn't kick away the brick. I checked my phone again for the apartment number and made my way up the stairs.
I walked up to the apartment, muffled sounds from a movie coming through the door. I knocked, waiting for an answer. After a moment, the muffled sounds stopped and there was some clattering as someone came up to the door.
"Oh, hey" Troy smiled as he opened the door, "Come in! I need to finish getting my shoes and stuff."
I followed him inside and tried to take in my surroundings. It was definitely a charming place. Not small, but not big. Troy had me sit with Abed in their small living room area. Abed didn't pay much attention to me being there, he was too focused on whatever show he was watching.
"Have you seen this before?" he asked, not turning away from the screen.
"No, what is it?" I asked, looking over at him.
"Inspector Spacetime. It's our favorite show," he explained.
"What's it about?" I asked, trying to make sense of it.
"I'll just tell her later. You ready to head out?" Troy asked, offering his hand out for me to take. I gladly accepted, silently thanking him from having to hear his friend explain the show.
"Yeah! Enjoy Space Inspector," I said, smiling at Abed.
"It's Inspector Spacetime. Have fun," Abed mumbled, waving at us before we walked out.
Troy and I left the apartment, rushing down to my car. We both got in and I pulled out of the parking lot, the two of us sitting in awkward silence. The sound of the radio was the only thing in my car, and I had no idea what to say.
"So, uh, what all are we doing at the trampoline park?" I asked, clearing my throat.
"Oh, I figured we could join one of the dodgeball games they have going. They're doing a tournament today," Troy suggested.
"Yeah, sounds fun! What are the rules for trampoline dodgeball?" I asked.
"Same as normal dodgeball. There's just a trampoline involved," he shrugged.
"Gotcha," I nodded. Silence fell over the car again. I looked over at Troy and he was blankly staring out of the window. "Is this awkward? This feels awkward," I laughed.
"Yeah, it's a little bit awkward. It'll get better when we're there," Troy reassured me.
"Okay, cool. Is now also a good time to mention that I'm terrified of trampolines?" I tried to laugh but ended up just coughing awkwardly.
"I mean when we were planning the date probably would've been better. But it's okay, I'll be there with you. I'll make sure the big bad trampoline doesn't get you," he teased.
"Gee, thanks!" I said, smiling as he pushed me slightly. We laughed for the rest of the drive, even when I struggled to park.
We showed up at the trampoline park and got checked in. We had to wear grippy socks and put our shoes away in a locker. It was hectic inside and full of kids, teenagers, and only a few adults. Troy got us signed up for a dodgeball team and we went and found our teammates.
We were part of the Terrifying Turtles and were two of four adults on that team. Don't get me wrong, we were way better off than the Scary Squirrels who were made up of little kids and a few teenagers. This just wasn't what I pictured for my first date with Troy.
"Okay, when the game starts, you stay back and I'll run up to grab dodgeballs," Troy stated, holding his arm out in front of me.
"Absolutely," I laughed, throwing my hands up in surrender.
A disgruntled employee bounced into the middle of our closed off trampoline before stating, "As soon as I blow this whistle, the game starts. The dodgeballs are velcroed to the line here in the middle, so trying to bounce them away from people won't work. Don't get mean and don't cheat." He bounced back to the entrance and after a moment of waiting, he blew the whistle.
Pure chaos ensued, everyone trying to run to the center of the trampoline. Children were falling, teens were tripping, and adults were holding on for dear life. Troy ran back to me, handing me a dodgeball. I tried to stand up straight, but every time someone jumped or took a step I wobbled around.
Troy was light on his feet, seemingly unaffected by the physics at play as he mercilessly chucked the dodgeballs at the other team.
"How do you do that?" I yelled, trying to keep up with him.
"Do what?" he threw another ball, hitting one of the teenagers in the arm. They groaned, stumbling to the sidelines as the game went on.
"Stay upright," I laughed, tripping over a fallen kid. Troy quickly reached out to catch me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me close to him.
"Just jump. Don't walk. Use the bounce to your advantage," he shrugged, letting go of me to go back to the game.
I tried to just jump and after a few minutes, I finally got the hang of it. I started pelting dodgeballs at the other team when I could find one. I had yet to get anyone out, but I was just glad to be on my feet.
I reached down to pick up a dodgeball that had rolled next to me and barely missed getting hit by another. My gaze shot up, looking to find who almost hit me. My eyes landed on a younger kid, probably no older than eight. He had a smirk plastered on his face as he picked up another ball and pointed at me before dragging his finger across his throat.
"Not today," I thought to myself, taking aim. I waited a moment until he threw his ball at me, jumping to the side to miss it. I used the bounce to my advantage, just as Troy said to, and threw the ball at the kid. I saw the fear growing in his eyes as the ball came closer, eventually hitting him hard enough to knock him backward. He landed on his back, sitting up to reveal a red mark as bright as the dodgeball I hit him with, in a perfect circle on his face.
"Oh my God," I gasped, covering my mouth. I heard a cackle come from beside me. I looked over to see Troy clutching his stomach as he fell to the ground laughing.
"What the hell! He's just a kid," someone yelled, rushing into the match to make sure the kid was okay. I presumed it was a parent, as they pulled him onto their lap.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to throw it that hard," I said, trying to hide a laugh.
The parent glared at me, pushing the kid off of their lap as they grabbed a ball. They stood up, looking at the ball in their hand and then back to me. A split second later, the ball was hurled at my face. It hit me right on the forehead, causing me to stumble a bit.
Troy stopped laughing as he saw me get hit. He began throwing dodgeballs at the parent, hitting them almost every time. After about eight hits, the worker from earlier blew the whistle, making us all freeze.
"Alright, you two," he pointed at me and Troy, "you're disqualified." The parent from before laughed in victory, the worker cutting them off as he said, "And you are too. You can't barge into a match if you're unregistered."
The parent tried to argue but ended up getting the kid disqualified too. Troy and I rushed out to our lockers to get our shoes. We made it out just before the parent and their kid could see us, safely locking ourselves in my car.
"You pelted that kid," Troy laughed, looking at me in surprise.
"I didn't mean to! I didn't think I threw it that hard," I groaned, laughing as I laid my head on the steering wheel.
"Well, you did. Maybe you should be on the football team," he teased, punching my arm slightly.
"Oh, absolutely not. I'm not athletic. At all," I shook my head as I turned the car on, ready to get us out of the parking lot.
"You could've fooled me," he shrugged as he put his seatbelt on, "So since you got us kicked out of our date, where to next?"
"You wanna go get some food?" I asked.
"Yeah! That sounds like a plan to me," he smiled. I pulled out of the parking lot, and we drove to a nearby pizza place.
"What happened to you being scared of trampolines, by the way?" he asked as he shoved a piece of pizza in his mouth.
"I was still scared, but it was comforting to know you would catch me. And you did catch me that one time," I shrugged.
"Well, I said I would protect you. Gotta have more faith in me, Maisy," he smiled, reaching over and taking a piece of pepperoni off my slice of pizza. "Pepperoni tax, obviously. For catching you."