He laughed. 'The only football game I've been to since my sophomore year. We brought you luck, Dennis.'
'You just called her up and asked her to go?'
'I almost didn't. That was the first date I ever had.' He glanced over at me shyly. 'I don't think I slept more than two hours the night before. After I called her up and she said she'd go with me, I was scared to death I'd make an, asshole of myself, or that Buddy Repperton would show up and want to fight, or something else would happen.'
'You seemed to have everything under control.'
'Did I? 'He looked pleased. 'Well, that's good. But I was scared. She'd talk to me in the halls, you know - ask me about assignments and stuff like that. She joined the chess club even though she wasn't very good . . . but she's getting better. I'm teaching her.'
I'll bet you are, you dog, I thought, but didn't quite dare say it - I still remembered the way he had blown up at me that same day at Hidden Hills. Besides, I wanted to hear this. I was pretty curious; captivating a girl as stunning as Leigh Cabot had been a real coup.
'So after a while I started to think maybe she was interested in me,' Arnie went on. 'It probably took a lot longer for the penny to drop for me than it would for some other guys - guys like you, Dennis.'
'Sure, I'm a smoothie,' I said. 'What James Brown used to call "a sex machine."'
'No, you're no sex machine, but you know about girls,' he said seriously. 'You understand them. I was always just scared of them. Never knew what to say. Still don't, I guess. Leigh's different.
'I was afraid to ask her out.' He seemed to consider this. 'I mean, she's a beautiful girl, really beautiful. Don't you think so, Dennis?'
'Yes. As far as I can tell, she's the prettiest girl in school.'
He smiled, pleased. 'I think so, too . . . but I thought, maybe it's only because I love her that I think that way.'
I looked at my friend, hoping he wasn't going to get into more trouble than he could handle. At that point, of course, I had no idea what trouble meant.
'Anyway, I heard these two guys talking one day in chem lab - Lenny Barongg and Ned Stroughman - and Ned was telling Lenny that he'd asked her out and she'd said no, but in a nice way . . . like maybe if he asked her again she might try it out. And I had this picture of her going steady with Ned by spring, and I started to feel really jealous. It's ridiculous. I mean, she told him no and I'm feeling jealous, you dig what I'm saying?'
I smiled and nodded. Out on the field the cheerleaders were trying out some new routines. I didn't think they would help our team very much, but it was pleasant to watch them. Their shadows puddled at their heels on the green grass in the bright noontime.
'The other thing that got me was that Ned didn't sound pissed off or . . . or ashamed . . . or rejected, or anything like that. He tried for a date and got turned down, that was all. I decided I could do that, too. Still, when I called her up on the phone I was sweating all over. Man, that was bad. I kept imagining her laughing at me and saying something like, "Me go out with you, you little creep? You must be dreaming! I'm not that hard up yet!"'
'Yeah,' I said. 'I can't figure out why she didn't.'
He poked me in the stomach. 'Gut-noogies, Dennis! Make you puke!'
'Never mind,' I said. 'Tell me the rest.'
He shrugged. 'Not much else to tell. Her mother answered the phone when I called and said she'd get her. I heard the phone go clunking down on the table, and I almost hung up.' Arnie held up two fingers a quarter of an inch apart. 'I came this close to hanging up. No shit.'
'I know the feeling,' I said, and I did - you worry about the laughter, you imagine the contempt to some degree or other, no matter if you're a football player or some pimply little four-eyed runt - but I don't think I could understand the degree to which Arnie must have felt it. What