Chapter 2: Preparation

No good. No good. Every shirt I threw out of my closet wasn’t good enough. I needed something perfect for her. Sunlight dimmed in my room. No time. I peeked my head out of my bedroom door.

“Johnny!”

Like lightning, Johnny appeared.

“It’s me, Johnny Boy!” He pointed his two thumbs at himself.

“Johnny Boy? What happened to The Johnny?”

“You’re living in the past. The future waits for no man.” He brushed my comment aside.

“Look, Johnny Boy, I’m trying to find the perfect shirt for my date.”

“Right.” He crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and nodded. “The date with Nina. Nina’s date. The date specifically for Nina.”

“Are you going to help me or what?”

“Hush.” He placed his finger against my lips. “Let the master work his magic. Johnny Boy magic!”

He strutted into my room. He mumbled as he picked up each shirt and examined them.

“Yes! It all makes sense!” he shouted, like he had solved a great mystery.

“What? What is it?” I asked.

Johnny Boy spun around and presented a pair of blue jeans and a white shirt. He smiled with pride.

“That? But that’s boring,” I said.

“Yes. That’s why it’s brilliant.” Johnny tapped his head with his finger. “Think about it. You are the stoic boyfriend. What better way to be the stoic boyfriend than to present as a stoic boyfriend?”

“I don’t know about all this stoic boyfriend stuff.”

In a flash, Johnny grabbed his chest. “You wound Johnny Boy.”

“It’s just that I don’t like the idea of—” I used finger quotes, “—‘controlling’ my girlfriend.”

Johnny took an exaggerated deep breath.

“I understand. You worry about her.” Johnny surrendered with his hands up. “Even Johnny Boy can concede my reasoning wasn’t the best.”

Huh. Even Johnny Boy can have humility. “However, being stoic is important.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing gets past Johnny Boy.” Johnny put his hands behind his back and circled me. “You care about her. I could tell on day one. You want to protect her, right?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“And what better way to protect her than being stoic?”

“How would being stoic help?”

“It’s elementary, Zack. When women are in danger, they need a man to protect them.”

“But in my favorite tabletop series, Death War 8000, there is a whole faction of badass women.”

“That’s fiction. Trust Johnny Boy.”

I mean, because of him, I am going to the movies with Nina. So, he can’t be all wrong, right?

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Ding-dong.

Emily was at my door. I opened it. She was carrying something that looked like a bag from the dry cleaners.

“Hey, bestie, what’s up?” Her hug was crushing, but in an affectionate way. She stepped into the house, and I closed the door.

“I’m sorry for asking you to come over on short notice.”

“I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”

“Thanks, but what’s in the bag?”

“It’s your outfit. You weren’t seriously going in that?” She pointed at my clothes. I was wearing my sky-blue shirt with a yellow duckie print on the front and my yellow pajama bottoms.

“Is it really that big of a deal? It’s the movies.”

“You can’t be serious. It’s not JUST a movie. It’s your first date!”

“Yeah, but these are comfortable.” I pulled at my pajama bottoms. She grabbed my hands and shoved the bag into them.

“Go. Put this on. We have much work to do.”

She pushed me into the half-bathroom and closed the door. I unzipped the bag. It was a black short-sleeved dress with a V-neck. It was too revealing for my taste. After I left the bathroom in the dress, the sunlight retreated from the house.

Great, even the sun doesn’t like me in this dress.

“Emily, I’m done.”

“Great!” She was sitting on a chair, scrolling through her phone. “Now, spin around. I want the full picture.”

“It feels like I’m shopping with Grandma,” I said, but I did spin around. The dress spun with me.

“Aww. You look so pretty.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like how revealing it is.” I covered my chest. “And why does it stop above my knees?” I tugged the skirt.

“But guys like seeing some cleavage.”

“Then get them to wear it!” I said. Emily giggled.

“Fair. How about you wear a white camisole under it? I really think it makes it pop.”

“I guess that’s fine,” I said. Emily stood up and strolled over to me.

“As for the question about length, it’s because you're short. You need to show off your legs.” She pointed at my legs. It’s the curse of Nina the Nobody!

“Enough talk.” Emily dug through her black pocketbook and pulled out makeup. “We’ve got to hurry for your big date!”

After what felt like forever, Emily was done. I looked in the mirror.

“You didn’t do anything?” I pouted. I guess I’m unfixable.

“I can’t fix perfection,” she laughed. “And even if I did apply bucketloads of makeup, you would be like, ‘Of course she would need makeup to cover up my ugliness,’” she teased.

“But it’s true!” I countered.

“Bestie, look what you just did,” she said. She rested her finger on her chin.

“I stated a fact?” I asked, confused.

“No! You see the world as half-empty. No matter if I applied makeup or didn’t apply makeup, you filtered everything through your negative mindset.” She tapped my forehead.

“And?”

“Remember when I said you should agree to whatever your boyfriend said?”

“Yeah…” I trailed off.

“In doing so, you got a date to the movies! Just saying, you should be more open,” she said. I opened my mouth to rebut, but I closed it. I couldn’t think of a response. Her logic was sound.

Buzz. Buzz. It was Emily’s phone. “Crap. You are late!” She tossed me a pair of black high heels. “Here. Just put them in the car!”

“High heels? Aww, but I like wearing shoes.”

“Stop arguing and go!” She forced me out the front door. A cool summer breeze swept by. The dress danced in the breeze. I inhaled and exhaled. You know, maybe Emily is right. Maybe I am negative too much. I’m certain this date will turn out amazing!