You know the drill. Email me at [email protected] or post on the message board if you'd like. Happy reading! One additional note: Although I'm pretty sure that Sam Coulson didn't attend Northwestern in the movie, I'm assuming that he did, strictly for creative purposes.
* * *
That Friday, Josie went with Angela to see a special showing of the movie Ghost at the local theatre. Although it had initially been released in theatres months before and both girls had seen it then, the theatre was showing it for one night only due to its popularity. After that, the two of them went to a diner down the street for decaffeinated coffee and donuts. By the time Josie got home, it was eleven-thirty and her parents had already gone to bed. Rob was sprawled out on the couch with a blanket over him watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. "Have fun?" he asked groggily as Josie entered the living room and sat down in the recliner next to the couch.
Josie nodded, setting her purse beside her on the chair. "Yep. It was nice."
"Oh, before I forget�" Rob sat up. "Some guy called for you."
Josie's mouth dropped open for a moment. "Some guy?" she echoed. "What guy?"
"Um�Sam something-or-other, I think�And not just once either�Three times! He called right after you left, at around 7:00, then again at 8:30 and again at 10:00."
"He did?" Josie had to take a deep breath. "Well, what did he say?"
Rob shrugged. "Not much. The first two times he said he'd try back later because I told him that I had no idea when you'd be home, and then when he called at ten he said that if you get back before midnight to give him a call. Man, I don't know who this guy is, but he's sure eager to talk to you!"
Josie glanced at her watch, seeing that it was only 11:35 and not too late to call him back. "Thank you, Rob!" she exclaimed. She picked up her purse and bent down to kiss Rob on the cheek and called "Goodnight!" to him as she ran up the stairs to her bedroom. Once there, she hastily hung her purse in her closet and plopped down on her bed, reaching for Sam's phone number and her phone, which were both on the bedside table. She punched in the number and waited impatiently for someone to pick it up. After only two rings, a male voice said, "Hello?"
It didn't sound like Sam to her. She figured it was probably his dad, so she said. "Hi. Is Sam there?"
"Uh�Yep. Hold on just a second."
"Thank you," Josie murmured.
She heard his dad calling for him and thought she heard Sam say that he'd take it upstairs in his room. Moments later, she heard Sam say, rather breathlessly, she thought, "Hello?"
"Hi, Sam�It's Josie," she said shyly.
"Josie! Hi. Thanks for calling me back."
"No problem�It's�not too late, is it?" she asked hesitantly.
"No, no, it's fine."
"Good. I just got home, and my brother told me you had called, so�" She leaned against the pillows on her bed, desperately trying to relax.
"Oh�" He was quiet for a moment, then he asked, "Did you have a date?"
A date? Josie could hardly believe he had asked that. She'd never been on a date in her life! "No. I just went out with my friend Angela for a bit," she told him.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be nosey or anything."
"No, no, it's fine," Josie insisted. It was odd, but she had the feeling once again that he was every bit as nervous as she was, possibly more. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "So, what's up?"
Sam laughed. "Ah, not much. I was going to hang out with Cody and a couple other friends tonight, but the plans kind of fell through. Well, I probably could've gone, but they all had dates, you know, and I would've felt like the odd man out."
"Oh�Well, couldn't you have asked someone out?" There was a long moment of silence, and Josie thought at first that they'd lost the connection. "Sam, are you there?"
"Um�yeah�Sorry. What�what was that again?"
Josie got the distinct impression that he had heard the question but, for whatever reason, was nervous about answering it. "I asked if you could have asked someone out? You know, to go out with your friends?"
Sam cleared his throat, and by the way he was acting, Josie could tell she'd been right. He was nervous! "Well�yeah�I could have, but, you see�the only girl I wanted to ask�well, she wasn't home."
Perceptive as she usually was, Josie hadn't picked up on the fact that Sam had been talking about her, and she felt a twinge of disappointment. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's a shame you had to stay home all night because of that."
Sam realized that she had no idea he had been talking about her, so he cleared his throat again and said, "Oh, it wasn't so bad�At least I'm talking to her right now."
Josie felt as if she'd just been struck by lightning. She was the only girl he'd wanted to ask? She began to tremble, and she wasn't at all sure what to say to that. Finally, she settled on a simple, "Oh�"
"Is it�too late to be talking?" Sam asked, feeling insecure and wondering what she was thinking.
"No, it's fine," Josie insisted. Then she added with a laugh, "I'm the one that called you, remember?"
"Yeah, that's right�So�"
"So�" A giggle escaped her. She had no idea what to say!
"Um�" He cleared his throat again. "Are you�doing anything�tomorrow?"
Josie could hardly believe this. Was he asking her out? "No, I don't think so�" Then, realizing she sounded rather tentative, she said, "No�No, I'm free. Definitely free."
There was another long pause and then Sam said, "Good. I was thinking�maybe�do you want to�go to the mini golf course near the bakery on Main Street?" He felt like kicking himself, realizing that mini golf was probably about the lamest idea he could have possibly come up with! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He thought to himself.
"That sounds like fun!" Josie exclaimed, much to his surprise. "Um�what time?"
"Um�How about if I pick you up at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. Is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine," she told him.
"Okay, good. What's your address?" She gave it to him and he said, "Okay. I know where that is, I think. So�I'll see you tomorrow then?"
"Yep. See you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Josie."
"Night, Sam." Josie set the phone on the receiver, hanging it up. She fell back on her bed, dreamily closing her eyes for a moment. She and Sam Coulson had a date tomorrow!
* * *
Josie spent an hour the next day just trying to figure out what to wear. She finally settled on a short, slightly off-the-shoulder light blue t-shirt and plain blue jeans. She took extra care with her makeup, but decided to leave her hair down since it seemed to look the best that way. She had just picked up her purse and was about to go downstairs to wait for Sam when she heard someone knock on her door. "Come in!" she called.
Her mother stepped into the room, smiling at her. "Sam is here to pick you up," she told her. "He's waiting down in the living room for you."
"Thanks, mom. Do I look okay?"
Her mother put her arm around her shoulders and gently squeezed them. "You look beautiful, pussy cat," she insisted.
Josie went downstairs with her mother right behind her. She found Sam standing in the living room waiting for her and smiled at him. "Hi, Sam."
"Hey, Josie. Ready to go?"
"Yep." She turned around to look at her mother. "Bye, mom."
"Bye. You kids have fun now."
"Oh, we will," Sam assured her. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Geller."
"You too, Sam."
Sam's car was parked in front of the Gellers' house, and he and Josie got into it, heading for the mini golf course. "You look really nice today, Josie," Sam told her shyly after they had been riding for a moment in silence. Then he added. "Not that you don't always, but�Well, you know what I mean�"
Josie blushed. "Yes, I know what you mean. Thank you, Sam. That's very sweet of you."
Neither of them said anything the rest of the way there. They sat listening to the radio, and Josie fidgeted with her hands, glancing over at Sam every once in awhile. Of course, he wasn't already looking at her, since he had to concentrate on driving.
When at last they reached the golf course, they entered a small log building next to the parking lot. This was where you paid for your game and selected your balls. There was also a small ice cream parlor in there too. Josie had brought money to help Sam pay, but he insisted on paying for it all on his own. He took a scorecard from the man in charge and each of them selected a club and a ball. Sam's was orange and Josie's was pink.
Josie had never been good at golf, miniature or otherwise. "I just can't ever seem to get it lined up right!" she complained at the eighth hole, embarrassed by how poorly she'd been doing up to that point. Sam probably thought she was the most uncoordinated person in the world! He had already gotten five hole-in-ones and made completing the task look incredibly easy.
Sam recognized Josie's distress and wanted to do anything he could to help her. "Do you want me to help you?" he asked. Josie nodded eagerly.
Clearing his throat, Sam came up behind her. "Okay, first, hold the club like this," he said, his head over her shoulder as he moved her hands to the correct position. He kept his own hands over hers, feeling how warm they were.
Josie couldn't seem to stop shaking. Being this close to Sam made her feel lightheaded and for a moment she had to remind herself to breathe. "Okay, now what?" she whispered.
"Now try to line the ball up with the hole," he whispered. She stared at the hole and moved the club. "Good, good," he said. "Now, hit the ball, but not too hard, okay?"
"Okay." Reluctantly, Sam backed away to give her room to swing the club. She gave the ball just the right size push, and it sailed all the way to the hole and landed right in it. "I did it!" she exclaimed. Excitedly, she threw her club on the ground and turned around to look at Sam. Before she knew what she was doing, she threw her arms around his neck, jumping up and down and giving him an enormous hug.
Josie's hug completely took the wind out of Sam, and he whispered, "See, I knew you could." At his words, Josie immediately broke away from him, blushing.
"Thank you," she said, just barely above a whisper and looking up at him shyly.
"I didn't do much, really," he insisted. "I just showed you what to do."
When Sam and Josie finished their game, Sam had won, although not by that much. He bought ice cream for the two of them, and they sat outside at a picnic table across from each other eating it. They'd both gotten waffle cones, but Sam's ice cream was mint chocolate chip and Josie's was cookie dough.
"That was fun," Josie said. "Thank you for asking me, Sam."
"No problem. I'm having a good time too. Actually, I haven't been mini golfing in years."
"Me neither," Josie admitted, laughing. "My parents used to bring Rob and I here all the time."
"I have a brother too," Sam told her, "but he's in fourth grade. His name is Matt."
"Oh, I didn't know that," Josie said, interested. "I'll bet you make a great older brother."
Sam shrugged. "I try. Matt's a great kid. Really smart, you know? I guess he kind of reminds me of myself at that age�Not that I was 'really smart' or anything, although I guess I did okay�But he's pretty shy, you know? Well�I guess I still am pretty shy�"
Josie felt like Sam was revealing himself to her, and it made her feel special. She could tell that he really liked her a lot. "You're one of the nicest guys I've met," she told him.
"Really?" For one reason or another, he sounded surprised. "Thanks�So what do you want to do, you know, when you get out of high school?"
"Well�I've always wanted to go to Northwestern. I'm going to apply in the fall, when I'm a senior. I don't know beyond that, but I do know that I want to be a writer."
"What a coincidence!" he exclaimed. "I just got accepted to Northwestern, so that's where I'm headed this fall. What I really want to do is teach�Teach English, probably, to high school kids. I want to get them excited about Shakespeare and poetry, you know, because I know a lot of kids our age aren't."
"That's true," Josie agreed. "I think you'll make a great teacher, Sam."
"Thanks." He looked down for a minute and then said, "Hey, Josie, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
Sam hesitated for a moment and then began, "Well, see, ever since I met you, I've been wondering about this�The first time I saw you, you looked a lot different than you do now�You know what I mean?" Josie nodded, feeling her throat tighten. "Well, what happened?"
Josie stood up suddenly, feeling dizzy. She only had a little bit of her waffle cone left, and she went to throw it in the trash. She stood there with her back to him for a moment and then turned around, pressing her lips tightly together. "Yes, I know what you mean," she said quietly, folding her arms across her chest. "I was ugly then and now I'm not anymore. Well, what happened was this." She held a strand of her hair between her fingers. "Dyed and permed," she explained. Then, pointing to her face, she said, "Makeup." Finally, she tugged at her t-shirt. "New clothes�That's what happened."
Josie didn't move from where she stood, but looked down at her feet now. Sam rose to throw the remainder of his ice cream away, startled to see that a tear had fallen from her eye and landed on her shoe. He put his thumb under her chin, softly pushing it up to make her look at him. Water ran in little black streams down her face and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a Kleenex, which he used to softly wipe the tears away. "Josie, please don't cry," he whispered. "That's not what I meant at all. I never said you were ugly before, and I certainly never thought it. Actually, after that first day I saw you, all I could think about was how pretty your eyes were and I wondered if I'd see you at the auditions. And then I did, and I couldn't believe how much more beautiful you looked to me�But it wasn't even really that. Well, I wanted to get to know you because of it, yes, but once I did, you just kept getting more and more beautiful to me. You're not like any other girl I've known. You're sweet and smart and not too pushy, and you love Shakespeare every bit as much as I do. I�I like the way I feel when I'm with you. You make me�really, really happy."
Josie stood there listening to him with her mouth hanging open, unable to believe what he was saying. She looked down at her feet and then back up at him again, the smile returning to her face at last. "I'm sorry I blew up at you like that," Josie whispered. "On Monday when I came to school looking like this, suddenly all these guys were looking at me, but not at me, really. Bruce, the quarterback of the football team, who always used to treat me like dirt, didn't even know who I was. He tried to hit on me and he kept looking down my shirt. It made me really uncomfortable�and angry too. I never thought you were like that, but when you asked me what happened, it occurred to me that maybe you only liked me for the same reasons Bruce suddenly did."
"I'm so sorry, Josie," he whispered. "I would never do anything to hurt you. Bruce is a jerk anyway. I'm�glad you didn't go out with him or anything."
Sam was suddenly sounding shy again, which made Josie feel the same way. She looked at her watch, seeing that it was only 3:30. "Well�what now?" she asked.
"What time is it?"
"3:30."
Sam sighed. "Josie, I hate to do this, but I should probably be getting you home. Matt is in little league, and he's got a game tonight at five. I promised him I'd be there."
"That's okay," she insisted.
They rode back to Josie's house in Sam's car in silence and then, when they finally got there, Sam walked her to the front door. "I had a really nice time, Josie," he whispered.
"So did I," she replied.
"I'm so sorry about before�It was stupid�"
"No, it's okay," she insisted. "I'm sorry. I jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"Well�I guess�I'll see you Monday at practice?" Josie nodded. "I don't think we have any scenes together though," he said, a little sadly.
"No, I don't think so either. Thanks again for today, Sam."
"Don't mention it." He stared at her for a few moments, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Josie wondered if he was going to kiss her, but instead, he abruptly turned away and went down the steps back to his car. He waved to her just before he got inside and drove away.
Josie stood on the porch for a few minutes alone after Sam had gone. He wasn't like the other guys. She'd known that all along, but what had happened today had proven that once and for all. She knew that he really cared about her a lot, but was it in the same way that she cared for him? Josie made a face, annoyed with herself for being so insecure. Although he hadn't kissed her or anything yet, she knew he felt the same way about her that she did about him. He was just as shy as she was�