Poker Face Card #2: Second Person
Card: Second Person
You walk down the hall slowly amidst a stream of students all with somewhere to go. Some are eager to head home for the day, some are on their way to after school activities and maybe a few are stalling before going to detention.
You're feeling more than a little bit nervous because today is outside of your normal routine. You're meeting someone after school, someone who's virtually a stranger, but shouldn't be and hopefully won't be for long. Someone you've only met and spoken with briefly and are about to spend time with one on one for the first time. This may turn out to be one of the most significant afternoons of your life or maybe not. It might be a bust, a bad idea to begin with and this will be the end of it, but you won't know until you meet him.
You push open the heavy glass doors and step out into the warm afternoon air. When you step outside, he's already there, standing on the sidewalk below, waiting. When he sees you he smiles and offers a little wave. You bound down the steps, staring at your shoes as you go. Maybe you look down so you don't trip or maybe you're suddenly feeling too shy to maintain eye contact for any prolonged time period.
He speaks first. "Hi."
"Hi," you return the greeting, raising your eyes and managing a polite smile. You study his face for a moment, just as long as you dare to without seeming like you're staring, to see if there's anything about him that your recognize, anything about his face that has bee staring back at you from the mirror your whole life. Nothing distinctive jumps out at you so you casually avert your eyes.
"How was school?"
"Fine," you reply, searching for some way to elaborate, but you're not sure what about your school day would be of interest to him. You know so little about what he might find interesting at all. You turn the question back to him. "It was good. How was work?"
"Fine," he parrots back with a wry smile. "Are you ready to go? I thought maybe we could go for some ice cream or a soda. The corner diner has the best banana splits, especially if you ask for extra caramel and don't ask them to leave out the nuts."
"That sounds just how I like it," you reply with a smile.
"Then let's go."
You walk down the hall slowly amidst a stream of students all with somewhere to go. Some are eager to head home for the day, some are on their way to after school activities and maybe a few are stalling before going to detention.
You're feeling more than a little bit nervous because today is outside of your normal routine. You're meeting someone after school, someone who's virtually a stranger, but shouldn't be and hopefully won't be for long. Someone you've only met and spoken with briefly and are about to spend time with one on one for the first time. This may turn out to be one of the most significant afternoons of your life or maybe not. It might be a bust, a bad idea to begin with and this will be the end of it, but you won't know until you meet him.
You push open the heavy glass doors and step out into the warm afternoon air. When you step outside, he's already there, standing on the sidewalk below, waiting. When he sees you he smiles and offers a little wave. You bound down the steps, staring at your shoes as you go. Maybe you look down so you don't trip or maybe you're suddenly feeling too shy to maintain eye contact for any prolonged time period.
He speaks first. "Hi."
"Hi," you return the greeting, raising your eyes and managing a polite smile. You study his face for a moment, just as long as you dare to without seeming like you're staring, to see if there's anything about him that your recognize, anything about his face that has bee staring back at you from the mirror your whole life. Nothing distinctive jumps out at you so you casually avert your eyes.
"How was school?"
"Fine," you reply, searching for some way to elaborate, but you're not sure what about your school day would be of interest to him. You know so little about what he might find interesting at all. You turn the question back to him. "It was good. How was work?"
"Fine," he parrots back with a wry smile. "Are you ready to go? I thought maybe we could go for some ice cream or a soda. The corner diner has the best banana splits, especially if you ask for extra caramel and don't ask them to leave out the nuts."
"That sounds just how I like it," you reply with a smile.
"Then let's go."