The Tragedy of Loving Jamie Clarke by Rebecca R. Cohen Page B

clenching, stomach churning, I’m-going-to-faint feeling you get right before you go down the first drop on a rollercoaster? Well, picture that and multiply it by ten and that is what I am feeling as I peel open the note.
    April,
    Beware the prying eyes of Mrs. Honor. She’ll rip your head off. So, what I wanted to say before the teacher so rudely interrupted us was that I’m really into you. Cheesy metaphor warning: You’re like my favorite song playing on repeat and even if I hear it a hundred times I will never grow tired of it. With that having been said (well written) I wanted to ask you a question and it might be a little too forward but unfortunately that’s how I roll. Any chance you’d be interested in going on another date with me or be interested in being my girlfriend? You’ll see I have reverted back to Kindergarten and provided three answers below, which represent your options. Please initial the one you feel best fits what you’re thinking.
    1)                       Yes
    2)                       No
    3)                       Are you out of your mind?
    As much as I hope you don’t pick option two or three, if you do please know there won’t be any hard feelings. I know it’s really sudden. By the way you look beautiful today.
    Yours truly,
    Jamie
    Oh. My. God. I can’t believe Jamie Clarke just asked me to be his girlfriend. Damn! Why isn’t Amber in this class right now? I think it’s time to freak out now.

 
     
     
    -8-
     
    This is what I hoped for when I walked into class and now that it’s here I have no idea what to do! It’s too soon right?  No, this is high school. So what if Jamie and I only had one date? Most of the relationships at Perkins High start long before the first date and besides, my date with Jamie couldn’t have been better. We talked the entire time and never had any of those awkward silences where you’re both staring at the other desperately trying to come up with something to say.
    After his great speech, I took Jamie to Lobsterfest, which on the outside looks like a hole in the wall, mostly because the exterior is broken pieces of lobster traps, but it is the best place to get a lobster roll. Even though I was dying to have one, I ordered a shrimp salad instead. The last time I had a lobster roll I ended up wearing most of it. We talked about everything and he even told me about the time he was arrested when his friends decided it would be a good idea to toilet paper the Chief of Police’s house. “I wasn’t even at the scene of the crime but I was arrested anyway when the police chief came to my friend’s house later that evening.” he laughed. It was weird hearing him talk about getting fingerprinted and being locked in a holding cell.  “It sounds like an episode of Law & Order” I say. My stories could never compare to his but I told him a few cute anecdotes about myself, nothing too crazy. I surely didn’t share my, I’m-crazy-obsessed-with-the-Backstreet-Boys story that I had decided to hold off for date number 10 or later.
    After dinner we walked around The Cove and made our way to the beach. It was so romantic walking along the beach with the sand squishing between our toes and the waves crashing along the shore. If you’ve seen any romance movies then you saw a good portion of our date. We did the whole cheesy splashing one another with water thing. Jamie even picked me up and ran us through the waves, carefully of course because I can’t get the brace too wet. I’m sure if I was an outsider looking in, or if I were Amber, I would have been rolling my eyes at the two of us for acting like we were in The Notebook, you know minus the whole Alzheimer’s-thing. I’m totally into him and kissing him was all I could think about as he walked me to my door. As I fidgeted with my keys he, leaned in and kissed me on the edge of my mouth, where my lips meet my cheek, and said, “Goodnight