I Have Something To Ask You

Taking deep breaths in and out, I walk up the three small steps toward the front door of her house. The brown wood door gleams in the sunlight that shines directly on it, and my heart skips a beat when I lay my eyes on the black handle of the door and the white doorbell to the left of it. What do I say? Should I have planned this better? How do I approach this? Does my hair look okay, or should I have listened to my mom and just let her comb it to make it look better? Seemingly millions of questions race through my mind in a matter of seconds, and even though I search for the answers, I can’t find a single one.

Okay, come on. You told her you were gonna come to her house this morning. It’s not like you’re showing up unexpectedly or anything. She knows you’re coming. She doesn’t know when, but she knows you’re coming, and she may even be excited about it. You never know what she thinks unless you go out there and ask her.

My hand hesitates as it reaches for the bell. Am I really ready? I plan something quickly in my head, hoping I won’t forget it as soon as she opens the door with my breath taken away by her hair, her eyes, her smile. I breathe in and out again, adding one more to the already hundreds of deep breaths it feels like I’ve taken, and ring the doorbell. The ringing resonates in my head as I pull my hand away and wait for her to answer. About twenty seconds later, I hear a click on the other side. The door flies open, and there she is.

Hey! I was wondering when you’d show up!” she says rather excitedly. What does her excitement mean? Does she hope I’m going to ask her out, or is she just happy to see me? I can’t tell.

“Hey,” I say. On the inside, I’m shaking like a leaf, but on the outside, that “Hey” came out rather cool and confident. Maybe I have a chance at not botching this.

“Please, come on in,” she says, and ushers me inside with her right arm, her left hand still holding the door. I step inside, my brown shoes walking on the white tile floor, and hang my coat up on a coat hanger to my right. I take off my shoes and follow her upstairs and into her living room. She sits down on a greenish-blue sofa in the middle of the room, patting her hand on the cushion next to her. I take her cue and sit down next to her. My heart is really racing now.

“How’ve you been?” she asks. “How’s your weekend been?

“It’s been alright,” I respond. “I, uh, I can’t complain about too much.”

“Have you made any progress on that history assignment?”

“No, I keep putting it off. I can’t get myself to start it.” I laugh.

“Same! I mean, it feels like we don’t even have the right material to fill out the guide. I mean, what am I supposed to do, read the teacher’s mind?”

“I know, it’s ridiculous.” I feel more comfortable now. She seems to be enjoying my company, and I’m obviously enjoying hers. I decide to jump straight in.

“So… I wanted to come over so that I could… ask you something.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “Okay. Go ahead. What have you got?”

“Well…” I hesitate just a little bit longer. Does she see me in that way, or am I reading all the wrong signals? I decide I’ll never know unless I ask, so I might as well go for it.

“...I kind of wish I could have made this a bit more grandiose, but… I was wondering if you wanted to go to the… to the school dance with me next weekend.” A slight pause before I try to backtrack a bit. “I mean, if you’re too busy or if you don’t want to, I understand, I just wanted to--”

“Oh, no, no, no!” She cuts me off, her voice reassuring me I’ve done nothing wrong. Well, that’s a start. Now, what’s her answer? “Are you kidding me? I would love to go to the dance with you.”

“Really?” I ask. My insides are shaking with nervousness. Is this really happening?

“Yeah!” she says. “I didn’t think you would actually ask me.”

“Well, here I am,” I say. I did it, I think to myself. I asked her. And she said yes!

“Um, do you wanna meet up at, like, 6:00, get some dinner before the dance or something?” I ask.

“Sure!”

“Alright, sweet!”

We chuckle, avert our eyes, and smile. I can tell I’m blushing, I can feel the heat in my cheeks. I have no idea what else to say or do. “Well… do you have a bit of extra time to spare?” Let’s see how this goes, I think to myself.

“Heck, yeah, I do!” she says. We end up talking and laughing together for another three hours before I grab my things and head home. She hugs me as I leave. I reciprocate.

“I’ll see you at school on Monday!” she says.

“Yeah, see you then! I’ll look forward to it!” I shout as I walk off. I walk home, the sun shining in my face, feeling happier than I’ve ever been. I’m going to the dance with her. It’s actually happening. Now I just gotta get her some flowers.