Suzy stood in the middle of her lawn. She looked out at the neighborhood around her and began pacing once again. She kicked her soccer ball lightly, wishing that she could be better at soccer than she was. She wished she was more like the other girls on her soccer team. More like, oh, say, David Beckham. Or better yet, more like… him.

His name was Mark. Not only was he probably the best soccer player in her entire town, but he was also the most gorgeous one too! He was tall, lean, and muscular in all the right places with that perfect euro-face that all the best soccer players had. Look at David Beckham, he’s British – Europe – and he’s not too shabby in the looks department.

Suzy had known Mark since the fourth grade. She’d had a major crush on him on-and-off for the past six years. She knew what sports he liked – soccer – and he hung out with a lot of the other soccer players at her school. She also knew, by being in multiple classes with him over the years, that he was über smart. However, there was a bit of a problem with Suzy and Mark. They’d never actually spoken to each other outside of school.

But Suzy had made the decision to end that. She was determined to finally ask him out. But, another problem arose. She was a bit of a chicken.

She’d been standing out in the middle of her lawn for the past three hours, pacing back and forth, wondering if she should call him or if she should just move on. I mean, if after six years nothing’s happened, she thought, maybe it’s time to just call it quits. Besides, there are other fish in the sea; I’ve just started liking him again after liking Alex for practically two years.

She’d gotten his number from the local phone book and had it dialed on her phone, ready to call the number. All she had to do was press the “TALK” button and then she would be on her way.

She looked out at the neighborhood around her once again and noticed that the sun was starting to set. “Just do it already!” she said to herself furiously. She needed to muster up the courage to call him before it was too late. Or worse: before somebody else called first. “That’s it, I’m just gonna do it,” she said to herself. She stared down at her phone, clicked the middle button to light up the screen once again, and pressed the small green “TALK” button.

A rush of panic seized her body. Her stomach did tiny little flips. Yes. Yes, she was finally going to do it! “Hello?” somebody said on the other line after a few rings.

“Hi, is Mark there?” she said, sounding completely calm, although her insides were going crazy with anticipation and nerves.

“Uh…yeah. May I ask who this is?” the boy said. She knew who he was: it was Mark’s brother Conner.

Oh crap! I can’t say it’s me, he’d probably be all weird on the phone if he knew who it was, Suzy thought. Uh…. “It’s a friend,” she said cryptically.

“Uh…okay. One moment please.”

“Thanks,” she said reflexively. She walked around in a small circle as she waited for Mark to take the phone from his brother.

“Hello?” Mark said cautiously.

“Hi Mark…it’s uh, Suzy.”

“Oh…hi.” There was no use in stalling, and mindless chitchat was sure to make her even more nervous. She knew what she was going to say so she just spat it out.

“Hi. So um, I was just wondering if you’d like to go to a movie sometime, maybe this weekend…?”

“Um…let me ask my parents what we’re doing and I’ll call you,” he said in a level voice. What the heck does that mean? She thought to herself.

“Okay.”

“Alright…bye.”

“Bye.”

She breathed out a huge sigh of relief once she saw that the call had ended on her phone. She did it. She did it! Knowing that there was no longer any reason to be outside, she walked back into her house, just in time for dinner.

The next day, at about nine in the morning she heard the phone in her kitchen ringing. She ran to the receiver before either of her parents could get it. She looked at the caller ID screen to see that it was Mark! Before the electronic voice could say “Call from blah blah blah” she had the phone in her hands and was answering it. “Hello?”

“Hey, Suzy?” Mark’s voice said.

“Mhmm,” she said calmly. Her eyes were practically bugging out of their sockets, her smile as big as can be, hoping that he’d say that he could and would love to go to a movie.

“Yeah um, I can’t hang out, some of my relatives are coming in to town and I need to be here.” Ouch.

“Oh, okay, that’s totally cool. No worries.”

“Sorry,” he said in that tone guys have where you can’t tell whether they’re sincere or not.

“It’s all good.”

“Well, I gotta go.”

“Oh, yeah, me too. ‘Kay, bye.” She clicked off the phone and put it back down on the dock. Her mother came next to her and asked who it was on the phone. She answered with a, “Nobody.” Her mother ignored her mysterious answer and left her.

Feeling the sting of rejection, she knew that she and Mark weren’t meant to be. He hadn’t suggested another night so he obviously didn’t like her. She decided to just forget that she’d ever liked him that way and to continue living life as she normally did. Mark was a thing of the past.

Now Mark’s brother on the other hand…..