Synopsis:
Jamie meets Megan for lunch.

Chapter 10

I had a hard time sleeping Thursday night as I was so excited thinking about my meeting with Megan. I usually wake up on my own but my mother had to wake me on Friday morning.

"Come on sleepy head. Get ready or you'll make me late."

I was initially very foggy but then I remembered my approaching lunch date with Megan. Could I really call it a date? Did she think of it as a date? I was immediately awake.

"I picked out some clothes for you to wear so you'll look nice today," my mother said, pointing to some clothes at the foot of my bed.

The hose were the new coffee shade. The shorts were a pair from the mall shopping trip that I hadn't worn yet. They had pink flowers embroidered on the small back pockets so I had avoided wearing them. But what freaked me out the most was the shirt, a polo-top with aqua and cream colored horizontal stripes, a thin white collar, and very short sleeves.

"Mom, that's not my shirt."

"No, it's one of your sister's tops. I think it will fit. We should have bought you some casual tops at the mall but I didn't think about it."

"I can't wear that!"

"Why not? You certainly can't wear those grubby t-shirts you're always wearing."

"But that's a girl's shirt."

My mother smiled. I realized how silly that sounded as I was openly wearing pantyhose on a daily basis. "It will look good on you Jamie. Just trust me. Now hurry up and get ready."

My mother left the room to put on her makeup for work while I put on the clothes. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror on the bathroom door. The shirt felt very soft. The sleeves or lack of them looked a bit odd as they barely covered the top of my arms. Its length was a bit on the short side as well. The bottom hem only covered a couple inches of the top of my shorts. The pockets on my shorts were going to be visible at all times. My legs were a couple shades darker than a pair of beige hose would have made them. Not what I wanted for my first meeting with Megan but I figured the outfit was passable and probably wouldn't attract much attention.

I met my mother waiting at the front door.

"Well. You look very nice," she said. "I told you that top would work."

"Are you sure I can't wear one of my t-shirts? I have clean ones."

"Do you want to impress Megan?"

"But this is Julie's shirt Mom. It's a girl's shirt."

"Megan will be impressed that you're wearing something a step above average geek wear. How much effort do you think Megan will put into deciding what she should wear for meeting you. Shouldn't you repay the compliment by putting some effort into your wardrobe?"

"Well, okay. I guess it's not too girlish." I started to slip on my sandals but my mother stopped me.

"Wear your clogs today Jamie. They're a bit more dressy."

I took the clogs out of the closet. They had a wide heel at the back, about an inch. I had only worn them at home so far. My mother hates to be late for work so I knew better than to protest. I slipped my nylon-clad feet into the clogs and followed my mother out to the car. As I followed her, I noticed that we were wearing the same shade of hose. How many teenage boys can say "my mom and I were wearing matching pantyhose"?

A short time later I was sitting on my grandmother's couch watching my mother and grandmother talking outside.

"Well," my grandmother said when she came in, "it sounds like you have a full day before you."

I smiled.

"What's the girl's name again?"

"Megan. Megan Whitticker. She goes to our church."

"Oh, yes. My, my. She's very pretty. Your mother said we need to call her to let her know when to meet us. How's 11:30 sound to you?"

"Great."

"That's not too long to wait?"

"I think I can hold out."

My grandmother smiled. "Your mother said you missed your breakfast. How about some cinnamon rolls. I think I have a can of those instant ones."

"Sounds good to me. Especially if you have some hot chocolate."

"Let me put those in the oven and then you can have some breakfast."

My grandmother headed toward the kitchen. I removed my slippers and stretched out on the couch, placing my hose-clad feet on the arm of the couch. Who would have thought that wearing hose would lead to a date with Megan. I mused over what we might talk about. I didn't suppose she was into fantasy novels or RPGs. Maybe I could talk her into reading the same books as me. I realized that I didn't really know the first thing about her other than she was beautiful. I think she played basketball in junior high. I should have gone to the games.

I heard my grandmother on the phone which wasn't unusual. Then I heard her ask for Megan. I sat bolt upright.

"Hello Megan. This is Jamie's grandmother. Can we meet you at the foodcourt at 11:30? Okay, we'll see you then. Goodbye."

I entered the kitchen to find my grandmother putting the rolls into the oven. "Why did you call Megan? I wanted to call her."

"Oh, I'm sorry Jamie. I was waiting for the oven to heat up and well, it was something on my todo list. She sounded pleased to be seeing us today."

"Uhm. Are you going to have lunch with Julie?"

"You don't want your grandmother hanging around?"

"Well, I ... I think Megan just wanted to eat with me."

"Yes, I'm going to have lunch with Julie but I'll still be able to keep an eye on you." My grandmother smiled.

I felt awkward and frazzled. What was Megan going to think of me? My grandmother was treating this like some sort of playdate with little kids. The kettle whistled, providing a mechanism to change the conversation.

"There's the water for your hot chocolate," my grandmother said.

I got a mug and a packet of cocoa. The rolls were soon ready as well and we ate them together at the kitchen table.

"You look very presentable today," she said.

"Thanks," I said. "Mom picked out my clothes this morning."

"Megan will think you look very smart."

After breakfast I tried to read a book but was too excited to concentrate. I read paragraphs over and over again as my mind kept wandering. I gave up eventually, deciding to make a mental checklist of topics to talk to Megan about. By 11 I was a total basketcase. I had visited the bathroom numerous times. I felt simultaneously cold and sweaty. Earlier I was daydreaming about impressing Megan, now I praying I wouldn't throw up or lose my ability to talk.

"Okay, Jamie. Let's go."

I followed my grandmother out to her car. My hands were visibly shaking on the ride over. I no longer cared what I was wearing and there was a part of me that wanted to simply call the whole thing off. The mall was sparsely populated, mostly mothers with young children and old people walking for exercise. My clogs made a clacking sound as we walked. How did girls keep these things from sliding off?

"Emma?" said an older woman approaching us. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"Lucy," said my grandmother, "how have you been?"

"Well my doctor says I have to shed a few pounds so I'm exercising."

"Oh I should be exercising too but I don't think my legs could stand it."

"So who's this with you?"

"This is my grandson Jamie," she told Lucy. "This is Lucy, an old friend of mine," she said to me. "I'm sure your mother will remember her."

"Your grandson," said Lucy, smiling as she looked me over from head to toe.

I could tell she wanted to ask a hundred questions but politeness stopped her. They chatted for a few minutes about people they knew before my grandmother told her we had to be going. "Jamie is meeting a friend for lunch," my grandmother explained.

"Oh," said Lucy, raising her eyebrows as she surveyed me. "Another boy?"

"Oh no, his friend is a girl."

"Really. Well I guess.... You two have a good afternoon. I've got to keep burning those calories."

I wondered what Lucy had planned to say. I knew what she was thinking.

"Sorry, Jamie," my grandmother said. "I see that Lucy is as competitive as ever. Don't let her bother you. Okay sweetie?"

"Sure thing grandma."

We navigated the mall to the food court. It wasn't very crowded that day and I quickly spotted Megan sitting alone at a small table. "There's Megan," I told my grandmother. "I'll come look for you and Julie when I'm done." I had taken a few steps in Megan's direction when my grandmother stopped me.

"Hold on Jamie. I want to meet your friend." My heart sank. I wanted to appear a bit more independent to Megan. It was bad enough that my grandmother had made the call to arrange the time.

As we approached Megan's table, I felt my stomach doing flip-flops. She was studying the theater listings so she wasn't aware of our approach or my ardent admiration of her profile. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a pony tail exposing her small, gold-hoop earrings. She was wearing a pink polo top in a similar style to mine along with a short jean skirt and open-backed sandals with a small heel. Her legs were crossed and one of her sandals was dangling from her toes. She appeared to be wearing suntan hose.

"Hi Megan." My voice cracked a bit on the last syllable but at least I managed to speak before my grandmother said anything.

Megan turned and smiled warmly as she stood up. "Hi Jamie. Hello Mrs. Clark."

"Nice to meet you Megan. I'm going to find Jamie's sister and have lunch with her. You two have fun."

"Okay," said Megan, taking charge. "We'll look for you when we're done."

My grandmother moved slowly through the food court toward the shops.

I turned back to Megan and smiled. Megan looked me up and down. "Nice clogs. Where did you get them?"

"It was one of the shoe stores in the mall. Julie would probably remember which one."

"We'll have to see if they have any in my size. So, what do you want to eat?"

"I usually get a sandwich at the SubShop."

"Okay." Megan slung a small pink clutch purse with a thin strap over her shoulder and we headed for the sandwich counter. "So," she said, after glancing down at my legs again, "are you wearing a darker shade of hose today?"

"Uh, yeah. My mom bought some darker ones the other day."

"They're more noticeable but your legs look really good."

"Not as great as yours."

"Thank you. That's sweet. Are those girl's shorts?"

"Yeah. My mom bought them for me."

"They're cute."

Megan ordered first, a small veggie sub. I usually get a large meatball sandwich but I decided that would make me look like a pig and they tended to me messy so I went with a small turkey sub. Megan led the way back to our table. I had trouble keeping my eyes off her gorgeous legs.

Megan again crossed her legs and let one of her shoes dangle from her toes. She was sitting more next to our small round table than under it so her legs were on full display to me. I kept glancing at them as I unwrapped my sandwich.

"You really like my legs, don't you?"

"I'm sorry. I, I didn't mean to stare."

"It's okay. It's flattering. But, do you like my pantyhose or the legs inside them?" Megan looked at me intently with a devilish grin.

Was she playing with my mind? "Uh, I, I like both. I mean your legs. I don't know." I felt my cheeks warm.

"Jamie, I do believe you're blushing." Megan giggled. She seemed to be enjoying the affect she was having on me. "It's okay. I'm just teasing you. My legs look a lot better in hose." She leaned toward me and whispered. "I also like how they feel. But don't tell anyone."

"Okay."

Megan took a couple bites from her sandwich so I did the same. "So why did you call me?"

"Samantha said that you asked about me. She and my sister encouraged me to call."

"Did you want to call me?"

"Yes," I said emphatically then realized how stupid that sounded.

Megan giggled. "You've never talked to me much before. I figured you didn't like me or even worse you were just indifferent to me."

If she only knew how much I thought about her. "I've always liked you. I guess you've noticed I'm kind of shy."

"Really?" Megan laughed. "That's a shocker."

"I didn't think you would want to talk to me."

"Sorry if I gave you that impression. A lot of guys hit on me so I act kind of standoffish as a defense mechanism."

We ate some more of our sandwiches. I was starting to calm down. Megan seemed to legitimately want to talk to me and the bland food was helping to calm my stomach. Megan asked me a few questions about school and we were soon talking with ease like old friends. Megan has the gift of small talk and kept the conversation rolling. I even managed to say a few things that were witty. She laughed, so I guess they were witty. I told her all about RPGs and the fantasy novel series I was reading. She listened attentively.

As my monologue on dwarfs and orcs trailed off, Megan sent the discussion in a whole new direction. "So, are you going to keep wearing pantyhose when school starts in the fall?"

"I don't know. My mom said it was just for the summer."

"That must have been really embarrassing when she caught you."

"Yeah. It was but she was cool about it." I looked down at my empty sandwich wrapper. Megan seemed to be interrogating me.

"Do you want to see a movie sometime? There's a couple here I would like to see."

"You mean today?"

"I would but I have to meet my mom soon."

"Sure. I'll have to ask my mom but yeah, I would love to."

Megan looked at her watch then looked across the food court. I followed her gaze to the table at which Julie and my grandmother were sitting. I hadn't even noticed them before now. I never took my eyes off Megan while we were talking. Megan waved. Julie waved back. At least they had sat far from us.

Megan crumpled up her wrapper. "Shall we go? I really do have to meet my mom."

"Okay." We dropped our trash in the garbage and I followed Megan's lead as we moved toward Julie and my grandmother. "Thanks for having lunch with me Megan. I had a lot of fun."

Megan smiled at me. "So did I. You'll call me later, right?"

"Sure."

"Hi Megan," said Julie as we reached their table. "Looks like you two found a lot to talk about."

"We did. Jamie said that you knew where he bought his clogs."

"Oh yeah, what's its name. It's that one next to Pennys on the first level."

"Okay, I know the one."

"Isn't that MY top?" cried Julie.

How I hated Julie at that moment. "Mom wouldn't let me wear my t-shirts. She said they were too grubby." I glared at Julie.

Megan seemed to ignore the whole thing. "Well, I have to be going. I have to meet my mom. It was nice to meet you Mrs. Clark. Don't forget to call Jamie. Bye." She fluttered her fingers at me and walked away.

to be continued