Gone "Jane!" Mick shouted at me. "What?" I asked. He had been bugging me all day. "Did I already tell you that a bunch of friends and I are going to the house beyond the river and we're gonna stay there for three days--" "Yeah, you told me." I brushed my bangs out of my face, annoyed. The third time today that he has asked me, and you think he'd give up. "You wanna take a guess on what my answer is?" I asked. He sighed. "...no?" "Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Give the boy a prize!!" I yelled sarcastically to the rest of the ice cream shop. People stared and shook their heads at us loud, young people. "How do you manage to bump into me everywhere? Are you following me?" I asked, taking a bite of my maple walnut ice cream in irritation. "I think you're afraid!" he said triumphantly, taking my spoon and bowl and taking a bite. "Why don't you like cones? What's ice cream without a cone?" he muttered, somewhat to himself. "Of what?" I asked him, trying to crush his triumphant-ness, and ignoring his other question, that I assumed was rhetorical. "Oh, don't play dumb, Jane. You're afraid of the house because it's--" he hushed his voice to a whisper, "--haunted!!" he laughed. "Ha, ha, ha!! You are so funny I forgot to laugh!" I commented sarcastically. "Well--um, that joke's as old as the crust in my underwear!" he yelled. I rolled my eyes. "You're attempt at a joke--or was that a comeback?--makes me want to cry." I said, still sarcastic. "You don't look very teary-eyed." he said, and followed me when I went to put my trash into the can all the way across the parlor. "So...are you afraid? I mean, there has been ghost sightings and stuff like that... Is that why you're not going?" he asked gently. "Yeah, I'm not going because I'm terrified of something that doesn't exist!" I shoved my napkin and cup into the garbage angrily. Why wouldn't he leave me alone already? I told him that I'm not going and that's that. "C'mon, enough with the sarcasm please? I'm tryin' to have a serious conversation with you and you're just steppin' all over me." he said. "Don't try to sound like you're cool. Please. It freaks me out, because you're my nerd boy-friend-guy." I flashed a smile in his direction when we sat back down at the table. "Ooh, did you just call me your boyfriend?" he asked cheekily. "Uh--w-what? No!" I stuttered, turning red, realizing my blunder. "Haha, yes you did!" he said, standing up. "HEY, EVERYONE! I'M JANE'S BOYFRIEND, MICK! WE LOVE EACH OTHER VERY MUCH!" he shouted. Surprisingly, the other people in the parlor offered a few claps in return from Mick's outburst. He sat back down after bowing dramatically. "Speaking of boyfriends, where's Josh or whatever? Yeah, what're you doing eating ice cream all alone? Isn't that, um," he hushed his voice, "too nerdy for you?" he gasped. "Hey, I was stuck in my house all day. And I broke up with John last week. He has this awful sarcastic attitude--" "Oh, who does that sound like? Now you know what it's like to be ME, who is constantly bullied by you!" he said with a smug face. "He was the nasty kind of sarcastic, he was also really gross and he made dirty jokes all the time. Do I do that? NO! So shut you're pie hole before I sew it shut." I snapped. "Whoa, whoa, no need to get feisty." he put his hands up in surrender. "Plus, you can't sew a pie." he said. "It's not sewing a pie, idiot. It's sewing shut the hole that you can fit a pie in." I said, and got up and walked to my car. "Hey, can I get a ride?" he asked, catching up to me. "Yeah. And you know what? I've been pretty bored lately. I think I just might go to that haunted place with you guys." I said, hopping in the driver's seat. "Now that I'm you're boyfriend?" he asked, laughing. "Well, I don't think we should be sleeping with each other yet--especially since we've only gone on half of a date!" I laughed. "But seriously, I think it would be really fun to see who gets terrified first!" he said. "I'm thinking about doing some organized pranks and stuff." he said. "I don't think pranking is a good idea." I said, getting a bad feeling. Maybe I shouldn't go. "Why not?" he asked. "People are gonna be scared already. You don't want anybody getting hurt. Just don't do it, ok?" I asked him. "Okay, fine. No pranking." he agreed--he never agrees with me. What was his deal today? Okay, we had a joke about being boyfriend and girlfriend, yeah, does he think it's true? Does he like me? How long has he liked me? "Jane! Are you even listening to me?" he asked. "What? Sorry." I responded. "You know where my house is, right?" he asked. "Of course I do." I scoffed. "We've been biking with each other ever since the third grade. Of course I know where you're house is." I drove through his neighborhood. "So how're your parents?" I asked. "And your sister? How's she?" I asked again. "They're all fine. Nothing special. We're all well." he said, not keeping eye contact with me. He was lying. I went along with it, not wanting to pry. "All right. That's good to hear." I said as we pulled near his house. I rolled down his window and he got out. "Hey, if you really are interested in the haunted house, come by tonight at eleven thirty, kay?" he asked, hopeful. He cheered up a bit, and closed the door. "Yeah. I'll be there." I said with a smile. "You sure?" he asked. "Positive!" I shouted. "All right. Thanks for the ride. Don't forget to bring your sleeping bag! We're there for three nights! Don't forget!" he told me. "I won't! Bye, Mick!" I shouted to him as he approached his door. "Love you, Jane!"