Tales of Aradia The Last Witch Volume by L.A. Jones Page B

or tails?”
    “Dax!” Aradia chided, no longer finding their
competition amusing. “I expected more from you.”
    “You’re right,” he replied. “Roy, I’m sorry. That was
immature and juvenile. May the best man win.”
    Roy glanced at Dax’s outstretched hand, then at
Aradia, then back at the hand.
    “It’s okay,” Aradia sighed. “You two are both kind of
sexist. It’s obnoxious. Just shake his hand and call the coin.”
    They shook. It looked to Aradia that both might be
squeezing a little harder than necessary, though she wasn’t
positive.
    When the coin was at its zenith, Roy called, “Tails!”
All three backed away and let the coin drop to the ground. It
flipped, rolled, and finally fell, showing face up: tails.
    “Yes!” Roy celebrated.
    He grinned smugly at Dax, but Dax just shrugged
nonchalantly, turned to Aradia, and said, "Until our next
date."
    He winked at her then left as smoothly and stealthily
as he’d arrived.
    Roy, after choking back an urge to throttle Dax,
suggested, “I know exactly what we should do for the date! My
family is having a cookout this Saturday. You should spend the
afternoon with us.”
    “That sounds great,” Aradia replied, though
internally she was a bit nervous. She’d been expecting something
easier, like going to a movie or putt-putt.
    “Good,” Roy said happily.
    “So…” Aradia said after a pause, “what time should I
come by?”
    “Oh!” Roy realized. “No, I’ll pick you up. If that
sounds good? At, um, two.”
    “Two it is,” Aradia replied, smiling. “I’ll be
ready.”
     
    It took Aradia approximately two days to assemble the
perfect outfit. To be more accurate, it took Rhonda and Liza two
days to assemble the perfect outfit; Aradia probably would have had
it done in fifteen minutes.
    “Oooh, this is perfect!” Rhonda said, pulling out a
pair of sparkling jean shorts from the depths of Aradia’s
closet.
    “I honestly don’t know why I even have those,” Aradia
replied. “In fact, I think they’re yours. Why can’t I just wear a
t-shirt and jeans? I’ll wear my t-shirt with music notes on it. Roy
will love it. It’s just meeting Roy's family, we’re not going to a
club.”
    Around that time was when Rhonda enlisted Aradia's
mother to help. “Oh, my Rai Red Rose,” Liza said, “you should dress
up a little. Wouldn’t you want Roy to take it seriously if
he were meeting your family?”
    “He’s met you,” Aradia quipped, “and didn’t dress up
for it.”
    Liza bonked Aradia, lightly, on the nose with the
slipper she happened to be holding.
    At first Rhonda was pleased, feeling as if she’d won,
but when Liza immediately vetoed anything even slightly
provocative, Rhonda gave up and sulked in the corner. Aradia added
a bit of make-up (less than her friend wanted, more than her mom
did), and when she felt she was ready, she plopped down in the den
to wait for Roy.
    Around two thirty, Roy showed up.
    After calling, "Later, love you," to her folks,
Aradia took off with him.
    The first thing Aradia noticed was that his red F150
had been recently washed. Very recently. It was still wet under the
wiper blades and door handles.
    "You have an amazing truck, Roy! I can’t believe I
haven’t seen it yet."
    Roy grinned. "Thanks, I earned this! It’s not second
hand, either. It's brand new. Well, almost new. It was new when I
bought it a year ago."
    "You have your license already?" Aradia asked.
    Roy looked at her skeptically. "If I didn't, I
wouldn’t be driving you to my house."
    Aradia blushed and said, "Sorry."
    "Nah, don’t be,” Roy replied. “I’m a little older
than you. You’ll have your license in no time.”
    “I hadn’t even thought about it,” Aradia
admitted.
    “It’s all I thought about, practically, while I had
my permit. I worked my butt off at the diner to earn the money to
pay for half of it, and I had to get all A minuses or better for my
Dad to put up the other half," Roy grinned relishing the memory