In My Shoes

by Stephens, Adrian

  We arrived at my house, gathered our things and headed inside.

  We started studying almost right away. If we were going to go out tonight, we were going to need to hurry to get everything done. As we studied, we would share information we thought each other would need to know. The last thing either of us wanted was to switch back and not be able to pick up our own lives.

  After about three hours of studying, Nicole’s phone rang. It was Nicole’s mother.

  “Uh-oh,” I said.

  “What?”

  “It’s your mother.”

  “So answer it.”

  “I probably shouldn’t.”

  “Why? What did you do?”

  “I didn’t do anything. It sort of slipped my mind though that your mother and father told me last night that they would prefer if I spent less time over here and we spent more time at your house.”

  “What? Why would they say that?” she asked. She seemed a little irritated.

  “Your parents, mainly your father, seem concerned that ‘you’ are spending so much time with ‘me.’ They asked me some questions about ‘me’ and they didn’t like that my father left home when I was a little kid and that my mother works full-time during the week. They are afraid that ‘I’ might take advantage of ‘you’ or something like that. They were vague, but I could tell that was their concern. They said they weren’t telling me not to come over here…yet, but that they would like to have us over at your house more so they can get to know me.”

  Nicole just looked at me the whole time I was talking, and continued looking at me until she found her voice.

  “I am so sorry. That had to be very uncomfortable for you. I mean, they obviously don’t understand our situation, but it must have hurt having them say all of that about you…and your family.”

  “It did, but I know they are just trying to protect you.”

  “Yes, but they couldn’t be more off base. You really are a good guy. And I think your mom is great. If they knew her, I know they’d feel differently.”

  “I didn’t really know what to say to your father. I’m sure you could have handled the situation better. I was trying my best to bite my tongue and not say something to cause a problem. I wish you could have been there to speak to your father. That’s a case where it would have been helpful to know your father better to know what to say.”

  “Well, I wish I could have spoken to my father, too. This whole situation has been just awful at times.”

  At that moment, I saw my mother standing at the doorway to my room. She looked pale. I gave Nicole a look, because she had her back to the door. She turned around to see my mother give a half-hearted smile. I smiled and said hello.

  “Hi kids,” she said softly.

  “Oh, hi mom,” she said looking at her…well, my…watch. “You’re home early. Are you feeling okay?”

  “No, I’m feeling a little under the weather, so I asked to go home a little early. I had some personal time available, so they let me go. What are you two doing?” she said curiously.

  “We were studying, but we’re taking a break. We were just talking. Do you need me to get you something?”

  My mother’s smile became a little warmer. “No Hon, but thank you. I’m just going to go lie down for a while. Are you guys going to be here for dinner?”

  “Well, we were going to go to the mall with some friends, but I can stay home…”

  “Oh no. Thank you Jake, but I’ll be fine. You go out and have a good time. Just make sure you’re home by eleven, or call if there’s a problem.”

  “Are you sure, because I don’t mind staying?”

  “I’m sure. Have fun.”

  “I hope you feel better, Angela,” I said.

  “Thank you, Dear. Nice seeing you again.”

  I smiled, and she walked away.

  “She didn’t look so good. I hope she’s okay,” Nicole said.

  “I know. Hopefully she’ll feel better when she gets some rest. They work her hard at her office. She doesn’t take time to eat lunch half the time.”

  “That’s not good.”

  “I know. So, what were we talking about?”

  Nicole thought for a moment. “I…don’t remember.”

  “Oh well. It must not have been important. I’ve got about thirty minutes left of government, and then I’m done.”

  “I’m almost done, too. Should we go to my house...Oh,” she said after a pause, “that’s what we were talking about. My parents. And you never called my mom back. Do you want to call her back, see what she wanted and tell her we are coming over for dinner?”

  “Okay. What do I say if she asks me what I’ve been doing?”

  “Tell her you were studying. You said they told you that you could come over here still, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Then it shouldn’t be a big deal. If my mom starts to make an issue of it, just tell her that’s why we are coming over there for dinner.”

  I called Nicole’s mom back. She answered on the second ring. “Hello?”

  “Hi mom, sorry I missed your call. What’s going on?”

  “I just wanted to see if everything was okay. I found some of your clothes in the washer. It looked like the outfit you left school in today.”

  How did she remember that, and how did she notice with everything else mixed in there? I could barely remember what I wore this morning, much less what others were wearing. “Oh, yeah…they got…dirty. I had to come home and change.”

  “Oh…gotcha!” she said. “I moved them to the dryer. I’ll put them away for you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Sure. So, what are you up to?”

  “I’m studying right now. Jake and I were planning on coming over for dinner tonight, and then we’re going to go to the mall with Jessica, Caryn and Meredith.”

  “Oh, that sounds like a great idea! You haven’t gone out with the girls in a while. I’ll have dinner ready by six. Love you.”

  “Love you, too,” I said. She hung up, and I did the same. It’s weird telling Nicole’s mother I love her.

  “She was fine with us coming for dinner. I forgot about the clothes in the washer. She seemed to understand, you know…”

  “Yeah. Girls get that kind of stuff. At one time or another, I think it’s happened to all of us.”

  “I didn’t know what to say. Do girls normally talk about that stuff?”

  “Girls talk about everything with each other. At least, that’s my experience. How else are we supposed to figure out everything that’s going on in us?”

  “I don’t know…Google?”

  “So, guys don’t talk about things?”

  “We talk about some things, but I don’t usually talk about really personal stuff. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

  “That kind of goes back to what we were talking about before,” she said. “If it happens to you, it likely happens to everyone. Talking about things like that help you understand more.”

  “I guess that makes sense. I just don’t see myself talking about personal things with Mike. You saw how he handled today.”

  “Yes, well Mike is a bad example for this conversation.”

  We finished up our studying and gathered our things together. We looked for my mother, but she appeared to be in her room, so we just left.

  We arrived at Nicole’s house and found her mother in the kitchen.

  “Hi guys.”

  We both said hello.

  “How was your day?” she asked.

  “It was fine. I missed physics and some of calculus so I could come home and change, but I got the stuff that I missed and we’re both done with our homework.”

  “How about you, Jake? How was your day?”

  “My day was fine, thanks.”

  “Good. Dinner will be ready in about fifteen minutes. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

  We walked up the stairs to Nicole’s room. She spent the little bit of time we had giving me some wardrobe tip
s. I hope I switch back to being a guy before I learn all there is to know about girl’s clothes. There is so much to learn.

  I had just learned the difference between flats, pumps and heels when Nicole’s mother called us down to dinner. We both washed up and headed downstairs.

  Nicole’s father was sitting at the dining room table, and her mother was bringing in the food.

  “Can I help you with anything, Sara?” Nicole asked.

  “I’m fine, but thank you, Jake. I appreciate the offer. You two can have a seat, and I’ll be right there.”

  We took our seats, Sara brought in the final dishes and she sat down for dinner. Nicole’s father said grace and we started eating.

  “Thank you for having me for dinner,” Nicole said. “Everything looks great!”

  “Anytime, Jake,” Nicole’s mother offered. “Any friend of Nicole’s is welcome here.”

  “So, Jake,” her father started, “tell me about yourself.”

  “What would you like to know, Keith?” she asked.

  “What classes are you taking in school?”

  “I actually have very similar classes to Nicole. We share English and physics classes. We both have calculus, Spanish II and government, but at different times.”

  “So, how are your grades?”

  “I think you said you had five A’s and a B, right Jake?” I said, offering her the same help she gave me with my mother.

  “Yes, that’s correct,” she said, smiling my way.

  “Impressive,” her father replied. “Do you have plans for college?”

  We hadn’t talked about this much. We talked just a little about it yesterday. Why didn’t we realize that this was going to be an inquisition? I’m not sure how much I should cut in. I hope she can wing it.

  “Yes, I do. Although, I haven’t decided on a college yet. Right now, I’m just starting to look at my options and getting ready to apply to universities.”

  “Do you have money set aside for college? With your grades, you ought to be able to get some scholarships, but you should always be prepared.”

  I think Nicole’s father was being genuine with his questions, but they were starting to feel uncomfortable. Nicole gave me a look that told me she could use a little help, but I didn’t really know how Nicole would respond in a situation like this, so I didn’t say anything. Talk about being in a weird place.

  “Well, actually I’m really going to be counting on scholarships to get into college.”

  “What are you planning to do for your career?”

  “I don’t really know.”

  “What do you enjoy doing?”

  Again, Nicole looked at me for help. “Jake is really good at physics. He’d probably make a good engineer,” I offered.

  “Engineering is a great field. There are so many options with mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. There are lots of related fields out there, too. Is that something that interests you, Jake?”

  “It does. It’s something I have thought about, but I want to make sure I get lots of information before I make a choice. I don’t want to get ten years into a career, and find it’s not something I really love.”

  “Very sensible,” her father said. He started to open his mouth to ask another question, but Nicole’s mother stepped in.

  “Dear, do you think you might want to let Jake eat his food before it gets cold?” she said, giving him a telling look.

  “I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away with the questions. I’m just trying to get to know the boy who has been spending so much time my daughter.”

  “Well, we don’t have to do it all in one night. Hopefully we won’t have scared him away, and he’ll want to come back again sometime.”

  “Oh, it takes more than that to scare me away,” Nicole said smiling.

  We all made idle conversation the rest of the time while we ate our dinner. Before long, we were saying goodbye and heading to Jessica’s house.

  “Wow, my dad was out of line there. If I were me, I would have said something.”

  “I didn’t know what you would say, so I thought it better to keep my mouth shut.”

  “Well, he was asking very personal questions. That’s a bit heavy for your first dinner at our house.”

  “He’s just protecting his girl,” I offered.

  “Yeah, maybe. That doesn’t make it okay.” No argument here.

  I called Jessica a few minutes before we arrived at her house. She was waiting for us when we pulled into her driveway.

  “Hi guys!” she said, getting in the car.

  We both said hi as I backed out and headed toward the mall.

  “I’m so glad you were able to come, Jake! Do you go to the mall very often?”

  “I…,” she said, trying to get a read from me. I subtly shook my head no. “No, not really.”

  “I didn’t think so. I mean, I’ve never seen you there before, and well, not that I would necessarily have seen you if you were at the mall. I mean, not that I wouldn’t have noticed you, it’s just that, well, the mall is a big place, so if you were there, I might have seen you there, or I might not have seen you there. But I didn’t, so…”

  What a train wreck. I was feeling bad for Jessica. She was obviously nervous and trying to impress…well, me. She was really struggling, though. I didn’t really know how to help, but I thought I would try.

  “So, Jess, where are we meeting Caryn and Meredith at?”

  “We’re meeting them at the food court. They were going to eat there and wait for us to show.”

  “So,” Nicole added, “are there any stores in particular we are going to tonight?”

  “Well, normally we just walk around until a store catches our eye. It’s mostly girl stores, but since we have mixed company, I thought we could try and go to more neutral stores. Maybe some girl stores and some guy stores. Are there any places you want to go?”

  “Maybe we could go to the music store,” Nicole said.

  “Oh, that’s a good idea. What kind of music do you like?” she asked.

  To think this morning I was feeling like we were starting to get comfortable in each others’ shoes. She has no idea what kind of music I like.

  “Oh, he likes pop and rock mainly, right Jake? We were listening to the stereo on the way to your house.”

  “Yeah, pop, rock. Those are my favorites.”

  “Me too! Who’s your favorite band?”

  “Well, I like Daughtry a lot right now.”

  “Aren’t they great? Nikki and I love Daughtry, huh Nikki?”

  “Oh, yeah. Daughtry is great!”

  “Yeah, I really like their music,” Nicole said. “They’ve got lots of great songs. It seems like everything they put out is a hit.”

  “I know. Same with Taylor Swift. I love her music!”

  Nicole looked at me out of the corner of her eye, trying to read whether or not I liked Taylor Swift. Her music is alright. I like her sound, but the lyrics are very teen girlie, so I don’t really relate. I still like to hear the music, though. Not to mention she’s hot. Unfortunately, my only options to let Nicole know whether I like her music or not is to nod ‘yes,’ shake my head ‘no’ or shrug. Shrugging seemed the best choice.

  “Uhh…I like Taylor okay. I like some of her songs, anyway.”

  “Oh, I think she’s great!” Jessica confirmed.

  “Nikki loves Taylor, don’t you Nikki?”

  I’m guessing she knows better than I do. “Yeah, I love her music.”

  “Nikki is always singing her songs. She loves to sing ‘The Way I Loved You.’ She’s got a great voice. Have you heard her sing?”

  “No, I haven’t,” she said, looking at me nervously. Great, why do I have a feeling I know what’s coming next?

  “Why don’t you sing for him, Nikki? You have her CD in here, right?”

  Yeah, I had a feeling that was coming. “No, I think it’s in my room.”

  “That’s too bad,” Jessica said. “Maybe another ti
me. How about you, Jake? Do you like to sing?”

  Okay, I’m starting to regret this trip. We haven’t even gotten to the mall, and Nicole is getting question after question she can’t answer. I looked out the driver’s side window, and then looked back at…well…me, hoping to subtly let Nicole know that I can’t sing.

  “No, I don’t really sing,” she said.

  “Hmmm…me neither. I mean, I wish I could, but I don’t have the best voice.”

  We pulled into the mall parking lot not a moment too soon. Hopefully, we could skip the questions for just a bit.

  We found Caryn and Meredith sitting in the food court. They were deep in their own conversation when we walked up.

  “Hey, girls,” Jessica said cheerily.

  “Oh, hey,” Caryn said, as Meredith smiled. “We were just finishing up. Where did you guys want to start?”

  “Why don’t we let Jake choose since this is his first time out with us,” Jessica offered.

  “Oh, I don’t care where we go,” Nicole said dismissively. “Why don’t you guys go where you normally go. If there’s somewhere I want to check out, I’ll let you know.”

  We spent the next hour walking around the mall. I felt…icky, but I tried to keep a smile on my face. Nicole did her best to fit in. In retrospect, this wasn’t the best idea. Not because three girls can’t hang out with one guy, but because one guy hanging out with three girls who are shopping for mostly clothes and accessories is awkward.

  Of course, I was the one who felt awkward. Just because I look the part, doesn’t mean I am comfortable talking about girls’ clothes. What’s cute. What’s not. Which skirt would go with that top. I even had to try on a few bras at Jessica’s urging. I don’t know what makes a bra good. I ended up buying three bras that I had no idea whether they were any good or not. I hoped that was an acceptable use of Nicole’s credit card. She didn’t say anything, so I was guessing it was okay.

  Jessica failed miserably at trying to discreetly be next to who she thought was me all night. Anytime she did anything, Jessica would ask Nicole what she thought about the subject. Nicole did her best, and Jessica liked her answers, but that was because they were Nicole’s answers. I would have answered some of the questions differently. Like when Jessica asked Nicole what she thought of the shirt she had been holding, Nicole told her that it would go better with jeans than the skirt Jessica was thinking of buying. I would have said something like ‘that’s nice.’ What do I know about girl fashion?