On Friday the twenty-fourth, Tai asked me to go see a movie with him. I said, “Sure. Why not.” I don’t remember what movie we saw, but I do remember that I had a great time.

First we went to McDonalds. (I had fries and a Dr. Pepper.) We hardly talked at all. Anyone watching us could have sworn it was our first date. Which it was, I guess, unless you count that thing in October.

After that, we drove to the theater. About halfway through the movie, Tai put his arm around me. He seemed surprised that I didn’t pull away. Maybe I haven’t been obvious, I thought. We stayed that way til the film was over.

“Man, you know what I’ve wanted to do for a long time? Taiwan started as we left the theater and headed for the car.

“What’s that?” I responded.

“I’d like to know what it would be like to get a quadruple-decker-scoop ice cream cone with sprinkles and chocolate sauce, and not get yelled at for making a mess.”

I laughed. “Sounds like fun.”

“You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“No. I mean it. It really sounds fun. Let’s do it!” Actually, yeah, I do think you’re crazy. But so am I, so it’s not a problem.

“Seriously?” He sounded stunned.

“Seriously. Where’s the ice cream shop?”

“Two blocks down and around the corner. You really wanna go?”

I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “I’ll race ya.” I felt like I was at third grade recess as I ran down the sidewalk.

We were right; it was fun. Taiwan got five scoops instead of four, and I decided to get just one. There was so much chocolate sauce on his that it was dripping all over his face. I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose, just to see my reaction. I laughed hysterically when he went to take a bite out of his ice cream and three scoops slid off onto the sidewalk. And I laughed even harder when he acted like he was gonna lick it up. That’s something you just don’t do in L.A. People pee in the streets in this kind of place.

All in all it was a good night, all the way up to that awkward moment when you have to either kiss or shake hands. After we had been standing on my front porch in complete silence for a few minutes, Tai leaned forward and kissed me. It wasn’t a long, sensual kiss, but it ws definitely not a big brother kiss either. It was somewhere in between, at that perfect point on the scale. I wonder if there is a scale for kissing.

Wednesday, January twenty-ninth, another gym day. A lot of people were out on a field trip, so they merged the boys’ and girls’ phys. ed. classes together. We voted on what to play, and floor hockey won. Taiwan and I were on opposite teams.

My team had me on defense until our most popular player got tired. I got back at them for their political attitudes by putting no effort into the game whatsoever. Then they put me on offense. He traded with someone at the same time, so he could play against me.

We had a pretty fair game going until Tai noticed that my team was one point ahead. On the next “kick-off” he said, “Howzabout us gettin taguther this Sutterday?” In a terrible Texan accent.

I lost it – my train of thought, the puck – I just totally lost it. I couldn’t stop laughing. He made the shot, and then they had to stop the game and wait for me to cool down. I don’t know why I thought it was so funny.

The next time he said, “I’ll pick ya up it seven,“ in the same goofy accent.

“Not gonna work. This is my game, Montgomery.” I had a hard time keeping a straight face when I said it, but I made a goal. It was great!

I miss those times.

Continue to Part 4