Page 142 of Pride High 2: Orange
She told the man working there, whose apathetic expression never changed. Even when he put two pairs of shoes on the counter that appeared to have gone through a trash compactor.
“Great,” Mindy said with flaring nostrils as she picked up her pair.
“You can’t do better than that?” Troy demanded.
The man behind the counter stared at him with dead eyes.
“Thanks for trying,” Mindy said as they walked away. “These will be fine. Don’t worry.”
At least her leggings would prevent direct contact with her bare skin. Once they had switched shoes, they went to choose their bowling balls. She was happy to find a pink one that wasn’t too heavy. Although green would have matched her outfit. And maybe have been luckier too, because as they began the first round, her lack of skill became painfully obvious. Every ball she threw went into the gutter long before reaching any pins. Troy wasn’t as good as Mindy’s father, but hewassteadily racking up points.
“This is humiliating,” Mindy murmured when returning from another failure. “How do you do it?”
“Want me to teach you?” Troy offered.
“Please!”
He hopped up from his seat. “Come with me.”
They went to the start of the lane. He showed her how to hold the ball, where to place her feet, and what to aim for before letting go. He made it look easy as he racked up another spare, but on her turn, Mindy got two more gutter balls. He attempted to coach her again without much success. The ball made it farther down the lane before tipping into the gutter.
“This is hopeless!” she complained.
“I blame the teacher,” Troy said. “Let’s try something different. Forget everything I told you. Your only goal is to roll the ball down the middle of the lane. How do you want to do that?”
“Honestly?” Mindy picked up her ball with both hands, ignoring the finger holes. Her arms were slack as she shuffled toward the lane. Then she began to swing it back and forth like a pendulum, her lips pressing together as she glared at the pins. With one final swing, she let the ball go. It hit the lane with a loud thud but kept moving, listing to the right before the ball seemed to change its mind and moved toward the center again. She missed the first pin. The ball careened into the rest, knocking them over. That was already exciting, but when one of the pins spun and clipped the only one left standing, the force was enough to make it fall.
“Oh my god!” she said, leaping around in her excitement. “I did it! I got a strike!”
“That was amazing!” Troy said as he joined her. “You’re a pro!”
“I’m a holy roller!” she cried, not caring if it made sense to anyone.
“You’re something special,” he replied, grabbing on to her hands, not that it stopped her from jumping a few more times.
Then she noticed his gray-blue eyes, and how they remained locked on hers as they shone with admiration. She felt him tug, as if wanting her to come closer, so she allowed herself to be pulled into his arms. He was still smiling as his head tilted. Mindy realized that he wanted to kiss, some distant part of her questioning if she wanted such a momentous occasion to happen at a bowling alley of all places. But he was handsome and kind, and she liked so much about him already, such as how his laugh was more of a guffaw, and oh my god, those lips of his had puckered and were coming closer!
Mindy closed her eyes and prayed that all the times she’d kissed the back of her own hand had prepared her enough to do this right. Troy’s lips touched hers. They were kind of smooshy and more than a little wet. Of course they were! That’s what lips were all about. She had hoped it would feel more magical, like a tingle that spread throughout her entire body. Although she wasn’t disappointed when he pulled back and she saw his shy smile.
“That was nice,” Troy said.
“Yes,” she replied, feeling just as bashful. “It was.”
He glanced around, as if remembering that they weren’t alone. “I uh… Guess we should keep playing. Unless you want to get out of here.”
“And go where?” she asked, slapping his arm playfully. “It’s your turn.”
“Right!” He sauntered over to get his ball, but kept shooting backward glances at her, along with more shy smiles.
Mindy felt a thrill as it sunk in that she’d finally kissed a boy. What an achievement!
They continued bowling, even though their attention stayed on each other more than the game. She managed to knock over more pins with her silly technique, although never with as much success. Troy still won, of course.
“Let’s get something to eat,” he said at the end of the round.
They went to the dining area and ordered from a different counter than they got their shoes from, thank goodness. Mindy opted for nachos. Troy ordered a burger, and after asking what her favorite flavor was, requested a strawberry milkshake with two straws.
“I didn’t realize people still did that,” Mindy said as he carried it all to their table.
