I Go On A Valentine’s Date

February 14, 2020.

I started in four games over the next two weeks. We won the first against Lakewood, lost the second and third against Crestwood Prep and Fort Myers, and won the fourth against Westminister Academy. It wasn't exactly the glorious comeback we'd hoped for, but it kept us in there. The starting team in all four of the games had been Jackson, me, Wesley, Cam, and Xavier. And not to brag or anything, but we did pretty well together. Jackson and I played even better together now that we truly understood each other. I was never on the floor with Chance, so that wasn't a problem and Cam had stopped actively trying to sabotage me during games, which also helped matters a little. Cam, Nathan, and Max had come up to me several times since the truth came out, but they never ended up saying anything. I knew they were trying to apologize for thinking I was selfish and stuff, but they just didn't know how. And I didn't either. I had originally thought that it was just a small fight, but it had put a block in our friendship that neither of us knew how to remove. I realized that it would be more painful to yank it out than to just leave it in there.

My fifth game back as starter would be later tonight, and so I spent the majority of my health class mentally preparing and memorizing plays. It was against Mater Academy Charter, who were above us in the league so it was going to be a tough game. It was also a pep rally, which meant that more people were going to be there watching than usual. Since health was a pretty lax first period class, it was the perfect opportunity for me to prepare.

"Psst!" Aubrey nudged me with her foot, but I decided to ignore her. She had been bothering me the whole class about new celebrity feuds or school drama or something. I wasn't too sure what, but whatever it was, it was nothing I needed right now. "Blake!" she persisted. "Oh, come on Blake. I know you can hear me. Stop ignoring me!"

"Look, I'm sorry but I'm just trying to focus on getting the plays straight in my head for tonight. Okay?"

"All I was going to say is that I hope you do well tonight."

"Oh, well thanks," I was surprised that she wasn't trying to gossip for once.

"Of course, and I was also wondering if you had something you'd like to ask me?"

I thought about it and then just shook my head. "Not that I can think of, why?"

"Nothing about a certain day?"

I squinted my eyebrows and then thought of something. "Yeah, actually. Did you and Harper ever get past whatever happened a few weeks ago?"

This time it was Aubrey's turn to be confused. "What? Something happened between us? I mean, she's not sitting with me and the girls anymore, but I'm not exactly sure why not."

"Yeah, Harper said that you and she... you know what, never mind. Bell's about to ring."

"Wait, no I was going to—"

But I had already gotten up to throw some scratch paper away. Harper hadn't been sitting with Aubrey because she'd been sitting with me, Austin, and Wesley. But if she never got into an argument with Aubrey, then why'd she want to sit with us in the first place? I decided to put the matter aside and worry about the upcoming game.

The game didn't go as well as I'd hoped. I ended up scoring 8 points, which was pretty good, but we ultimately lost the game. Despite the loss, I actually felt like it was one of the best games our team had played. We all seemed to be on the same page, which was a first considering the pretty terrible team chemistry we had. We all played our hearts out, they just played better.

"We'll get them next time," the coach told our whole team after the game. "It was a good game, though, and I'm proud of all of you. I got to coach the varsity game next, so you all find your families and stay and watch if you feel like it. We'll talk more in practice on Monday. If I don't see you, enjoy your weekends."

I watched as my teammates found their parents and I did a quick head scan for my dad, but I knew he wasn't there. Maybe it was for the better, too. He didn't approve of my playing basketball anyway.

"That was a tough one," Austin said as he walked up to me on the court. "You did good, though."

"Thanks," I replied.

"Well I've got a test tomorrow, so I'm going to get out of here and study for it."

I grinned. "Alright man, good luck. Have fun studying."

"Oh I will," Austin said. "It's one of my favorite things to do."

As Austin made for the gym exit, I saw Maia walking over to the sidelines where I was leaning against the gym wall.

"You did great, Blake," she said. "8 points, 4 assists, a rebound, and 0 turnovers."

"Thanks for the stats," I laughed. "Oh hey," I said as Harper walked over to stand with us.

"Hey Blake," Harper said as she stood on my other side and starting staring at Maia.

I looked between them. "Oh, Harper this is Maia and Maia—"

"We know," both girls said at once.

"Oh, okay then," I said as I tried to figure out why they were just staring at each other.

Maia broke the stare and looked at me. "Well I've got to go prepare for the next game, so I'll see you."

Maia took off toward her manager table and I glanced to Harper and then back at Maia. "What was that all about?"

Harper just shrugged and smiled. "Dunno. Anyway, good game. You should have won."

"Yeah well, they outplayed us."

I watched as Harper slung her backpack off her back and onto the floor. She rummaged through it and came out with a small box of chocolates. She zipped up her backpack and then held the chocolates out to me.

"Oh wow," I said. With the game and all, I had completely forgotten that it was Valentine's Day. "You're giving out Valentines to people? That's really nice of you."

"Oh, no!" Harper said quickly. "Not to everyone. Just to one person."

I looked down at the chocolates and then back at her questionably.

Harper frowned and then groaned. "Please don't make me say it! It's so... cliché."

"Um, say what?"

Harper took a deep breath. "Will you be my Valentine?"

"Oh, I—" I looked between Harper and the chocolates again as my face started to turn the color of her hair.

"Look, I know it's forward and everything," Harper started to explain. "I wanted to talk to you personally over lunch and stuff, but I couldn't really because of your friends and—"

"Wait, that's why you wanted to sit with me for lunch?"

"Yeah..." Harper admitted. "I didn't actually get into an argument with Aubrey or anything. Look, I don't want to pressure you into anything and if you don't want to, you know, date then that's fine. I just kinda like you and everything and I'm not the most romantic person but I figured that if I didn't tell you on Valentine's Day, then I never would. But like I said, if you don't—"

I put my hand on her shoulder to get her to stop rambling.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you have any dinner plans?"

"Oh, well..." Harper stopped as if just realizing what I had asked. "Wait, what?"

"Do you want to go with me to Sweet Shack and get dinner?" I said it plainly, as if not to make a big deal out of it.

"Yes!" Harper's shoulders released their tension and a smile broke across her face. "Sure, yes. Of course. So it's like a date?"

I shrugged. "I guess we'll figure that out."

"Okay, when are we going?"

"Now, if you want to. Just let me change back in some normal clothes" I replied.

"But how are we going to get there?"

"We can walk it," I told her. "I know the way by heart."

So after I changed we walked from the gym toward the location of the Sweet Shack. It sort of reminded me of the walk we had taken from the school to my house after the mix up with Chance. Only now we were going on a date. Weird. Things like that happen very suddenly. Several minutes ago, my plans were to go home and retire for the weekend. Now I was on my first date. And by the looks of it, it was Harper's first date too. She was bouncing around like crazy.

"Hey, I didn't think you ever got nervous," I teased as we walked. "I thought you were impenetrable."

"I wasn't nervous," she rebutted. "I'm not now, either. Just a little cold."

"Man, I wished someone had filmed that conversation," I said, earning an unexpectedly hard punch from Harper. "Oh, and I'd offer you my sweatshirt but that would be cliché too, don't you think?"

"I think I have a coat in my bag, actually."

She did have a coat in her bag, but it didn't help her bouncing much. We made it to the Sweet Shack and I greeted the manager when I saw him.

"Hey Fred," I waved to him as he walked over to us.

The old man's face immediately broke into a smile. "Is that a girl I see with you?" he chuckled. "You're growing up to fast, Blake, I keep telling you. Pretty soon you'll be driving a car and going to college. Oh, and you'll be working. We're going to have a problem if this isn't the first place you apply to. I want to be the first name on your resume when you're older."

"As soon as I'm 16," I promised him.

"Alrighty then. I have a table back here that'll suit you two."

Fred led us to our tables and I thanked him again before we sat down.

"You're real friendly with him," Harper noticed as we got settled.

"Yeah, he's the manager here. I've come here all the time ever since I moved her, and Fred's been like a father to me. I can always trust him with whatever on my mind."

"That's really great," said Harper. "It's good to have someone like that."

We ordered our food and Harper asked me some more questions about Sweet Shack. She had never been here before, apparently, which I found surprising.

"You'll love their food," I promised her. "Oh, and the best shakes in town, too."

But Harper wasn't looking at me anymore. She was looking above my head. I turned to see Nathan standing there.

"Hey, Blake..." he said, looking awkward as he leaned against the booth. "Can we talk with you for a second."

By "we" I instantly knew that Cam and Max were there too. I don't know why I didn't expect them to be. I glanced back at Harper, who shrugged and then nodded. I stood up and followed Nathan back to our old usually spot at the bar table that didn't serve drinks. Cam and Max greeted me just as awkwardly.

"Okay look," Nathan started, taking a deep breath. "I heard a few weeks ago that you convinced the coach to keep me and Jackson on the team. I just wanted to thank you for that, but I also wanted to ask why. I mean, you could have had your starting point guard position, and after what we did to you, why didn't you let him take us off the team?"

"Because if I did, then where would it end?" I asked Nathan, while looking between the three of my old friends. "Then you'd all be out for revenge against me, once again. Besides, I don't want to gain anything if it means that other people have to lose something."

"Well in that case, we all owe you an apology," Max said.

"Yeah man, I shouldn't have been making it hard for you to play on the court with me," Cam said. "That was the wrong way to handle it. We do owe you a major apology."

"Especially me," Nathan said. "I started this whole thing because I thought you were trying to kick me off the team while making a place for yourself. I thought you were being selfish, when really I was the selfish one."

"We all were," said Max.

"Hey, it's cool," I said. "I'm just glad you guys don't hate me anymore."

"So..." Cam said. "Where does that leave us as friends."

"I'm going to tell you what I told Jackson," I said. "Let's just forget about everything in the past and try to start over. I don't want to rush back into our old friendship, because it's honestly not there anymore. But I hope we can make a new one."

Cam, Nathan, and Max all nodded in agreement to this.

"Anyway, I've got to get back to—"

"Your date!" Cam interrupted, grinning. "When you came in with that hottie from Biology class, I almost fell off my stool."

I grinned while Cam, Nathan, and Max laughed and it felt like the four of us were back to being friends again.

"Well, I'll see you guys around," I said, and I returned to my seat. Our food had been brought out by then, so I grabbed a fry and gave Harper an apologetic glance. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's fine," Harper replied as she ate. "What was that about anyway?"

"Just some clearing the air I guess," I told her.

"Ah," she replied, though I could tell she didn't understand.

And from that point forward, we had a good dinner. We didn't talk about anything too deep, which kept the conversation fun and carefree. We got to know each other a little better, which was good too. I realized that Harper was a girl that had a pretty tough exterior despite being a really nice person. I decided that I liked her, though I still wasn't sure if I really wanted to date anyone. Dating was high maintenance, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for a commitment like that. But at the end of the day, I'd just follow my heart. I wouldn't make it more than what it was, and I wouldn't make it less either. I was in high school, which was the perfect time to figure things out, or so people say.

"Thanks for walking me home," Harper said as she turned into a driveway. I had decided to walk with her when we had left the restaurant to discover a dark night. "I know that it's a lot further than your home."

"Not a problem," I replied honestly.

"Well, thanks for tonight. I had fun."

"Yeah, I did too," I said, and she pulled me into an embrace before pulling back and heading toward her front door.

"I'll talk to you Monday," I called from the driveway.

She looked back and smiled. "Oh, I'll be texting you long before Monday."

And with that she disappeared into her house. As I turned back to walk toward mine, my thoughts drifted to what my dad would think if I walked home late. But I realized that I didn't really care anymore. I'd either make up something, or just tell him that I had a date. If he still thought I wasn't on the basketball team then it didn't matter too much. I shook my head and smiled as I jogged home. I hadn't wanted to date anyone because relationships were some of the most confusing things there were. But I had figured out that they were also some of the simplest too. Relationships were nothing more than what you made them. So all I had to figure out is what I wanted to make this one.