- drooling over her. Why would she be kissing Jason, a lowly 6th grader?
Obviously, Jason didn’t need (or probably even want, the rat fink!) Katie’s help or apology. She spun on her heels and headed toward home.
Present Day
She had never returned Jason’s shirt. In fact, most nights she still slept in it.
One time, during their junior year, Nick had been hanging out while she was doing laundry. He had spied the shirt while she was folding her clothes and wrinkled his forehead in puzzlement. He asked why she had a guy’s Def Leppard shirt, and she had lied and said that it was an old shirt of her dad’s that she kept because she didn’t have that many memories of him.
He looked at her strangely but didn't pursue it. She didn't care, though, because she knew for a fact that Nick would have never seen Jason in the shirt. Nick had moved to Harper's Crossing just before their 7th grade year began, and the shirt had been in her possession since the middle of 6th grade.
Now, sitting in Jason’s truck parked outside of CVS, Katie realized that she had never thanked Jason for his jungle-tacular heroics that day.
She turned to him and slowly pulled her hands down from where they were providing protective cover for her red face. She said “Oh my gosh, Jas. ..I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there and noticed my situation! Actually...now that I think of it...how did you see the problem? I was already sitting down when you came over to the table.”
“I noticed when you put one leg over the bench to sit down. I could tell by the way you were talking and laughing that you had no idea, so I stayed at my table till I came up with a plan,” Jason said in a matter-of-fact tone, and then shrugged modestly, adding, “and then I walked over to save you.”
“You already knew what you were going to do before came over to my table? Your Tarzan plan was premeditated?” Katie asked in disbelief, her jaw dropping slightly.
“Premeditated!” he chuckled, “Wow! Now, listen counselor. I knew that you would be too busy freaking out to figure out what to do about the ‘situation’ once it was brought to your attention, so I figured that I had to be the one to think rationally and devise a plan.
“I would think that instead of picking apart my M.O. you would have been kissing my feet for saving you an entire childhood of humiliation. You know, come to think of it...I never even got a thank you for being your knight in shining armor.”
Jason said this in a lightly teasing tone, but when Katie looked at him, she definitely saw a challenge in his eyes.
Ugh!
Katie had always hated it when he gave her that look. It was a look that said...checkmate, your move. It was like he already knew he had won.
Well, not this time buddy!
She took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, and began her rebuttal.
“I wasn’t saying that ‘premeditated’ was a bad thing. In fact, I am even more impressed that, ONE, you weren’t too embarrassed to do anything, and that, TWO, you even noticed in the first place.
“THREE, you did not decide to use the information to humiliate me, as you easily could have done. And, honestly - I really do want you to know how incredibly grateful for that I am,” Katie finished sincerely.
Then she continued on with her speech, moving into the part where she was gonna play a little hardball.
“So, I went to your house to tell you all of that on the day that it happened, after school. Seth said that you had gotten detention and that your dad was not too happy about it. Feeling bad about my role in your detention, I went down to the school to try and get you an early parole hearing by explaining how you had been my ‘knight in shining armor’ so to speak,” a small smile tugged at her lips, “My Tarzan in shining armor, if you will.
“Well, by the time I got there, your dad was already in the office with Principal Jenson and they were laughing so hard Principal Jenson could
Obviously, Jason didn’t need (or probably even want, the rat fink!) Katie’s help or apology. She spun on her heels and headed toward home.
Present Day
She had never returned Jason’s shirt. In fact, most nights she still slept in it.
One time, during their junior year, Nick had been hanging out while she was doing laundry. He had spied the shirt while she was folding her clothes and wrinkled his forehead in puzzlement. He asked why she had a guy’s Def Leppard shirt, and she had lied and said that it was an old shirt of her dad’s that she kept because she didn’t have that many memories of him.
He looked at her strangely but didn't pursue it. She didn't care, though, because she knew for a fact that Nick would have never seen Jason in the shirt. Nick had moved to Harper's Crossing just before their 7th grade year began, and the shirt had been in her possession since the middle of 6th grade.
Now, sitting in Jason’s truck parked outside of CVS, Katie realized that she had never thanked Jason for his jungle-tacular heroics that day.
She turned to him and slowly pulled her hands down from where they were providing protective cover for her red face. She said “Oh my gosh, Jas. ..I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been there and noticed my situation! Actually...now that I think of it...how did you see the problem? I was already sitting down when you came over to the table.”
“I noticed when you put one leg over the bench to sit down. I could tell by the way you were talking and laughing that you had no idea, so I stayed at my table till I came up with a plan,” Jason said in a matter-of-fact tone, and then shrugged modestly, adding, “and then I walked over to save you.”
“You already knew what you were going to do before came over to my table? Your Tarzan plan was premeditated?” Katie asked in disbelief, her jaw dropping slightly.
“Premeditated!” he chuckled, “Wow! Now, listen counselor. I knew that you would be too busy freaking out to figure out what to do about the ‘situation’ once it was brought to your attention, so I figured that I had to be the one to think rationally and devise a plan.
“I would think that instead of picking apart my M.O. you would have been kissing my feet for saving you an entire childhood of humiliation. You know, come to think of it...I never even got a thank you for being your knight in shining armor.”
Jason said this in a lightly teasing tone, but when Katie looked at him, she definitely saw a challenge in his eyes.
Ugh!
Katie had always hated it when he gave her that look. It was a look that said...checkmate, your move. It was like he already knew he had won.
Well, not this time buddy!
She took a deep breath, narrowed her eyes, and began her rebuttal.
“I wasn’t saying that ‘premeditated’ was a bad thing. In fact, I am even more impressed that, ONE, you weren’t too embarrassed to do anything, and that, TWO, you even noticed in the first place.
“THREE, you did not decide to use the information to humiliate me, as you easily could have done. And, honestly - I really do want you to know how incredibly grateful for that I am,” Katie finished sincerely.
Then she continued on with her speech, moving into the part where she was gonna play a little hardball.
“So, I went to your house to tell you all of that on the day that it happened, after school. Seth said that you had gotten detention and that your dad was not too happy about it. Feeling bad about my role in your detention, I went down to the school to try and get you an early parole hearing by explaining how you had been my ‘knight in shining armor’ so to speak,” a small smile tugged at her lips, “My Tarzan in shining armor, if you will.
“Well, by the time I got there, your dad was already in the office with Principal Jenson and they were laughing so hard Principal Jenson could
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