On the way to the mall

“Mall sounds good, Lauren,” Mike said with a smile. “Though I kinda spent all the money I had on washing my car.”

“That’s alright… My parents are in AC for the weekend. My dad left me a special prepaid credit card. Thousand dollars on it! Plus three in cash for the weekend.”

“Thirteen-hundred dollars? Why did he give you that much?”, Mike asked, shocked.

“Well, he asked me what I was doing for this weekend…and I told him I’d be spending it with you,” Lauren said.

"Huh?”, Mike asks; He couldn’t have just heard that.

“Well, we got into the same college. I know, cuz your mom and I talked a couple days ago... Ran into her at the mall. And well, I feel a little guilty for treating you like crap for the past... Well... Most of the past decade. I mean, you were my first friend when we moved here, ya know? So I figured... Same college... Well, we can sorta reconnect. I won't let you be the outcast in college. You're just too sweet a guy. I mean, look at today. I treated you shabbily in front of my friends, and I've basically been a royal bitch. You could've told me I was on my own... But you didn’t… and You spent all your money to make your car nice… Uh… Well, nicer.” Lauren flashed her megawatt smile at Mike.

They drove in silence for a bit. Then, Lauren turned to Mike. “Uhm… Could you pull over for a minute?”, she asked. Her voice was serious.

“Yeah, yeah, sure... No problem. What’s wrong?”, Mike asked, pulling over to a convenient driveway.

“Well it’s about me and Jerry.” Jerry was the linebacker on the football team. “We got into a fight three weeks ago, and he… He almost…”

Mike turned, his eyes searching her face, looking to see if there was a bruise or something. “What’d he do?”, he asked, the words coming out angrily.

A shaky smile crosses her face, as she tells him, “Corey stopped him before he actually did anything… But the look in his eyes…” Lauren reached across, grabbing Mike‘s hand, and giving it a squeeze. “I was really scared. I’ve never been so scared. Tony saw how scared I was… He actually punched Jerry. He told Jerry if he ever went near me again, he‘d end his Ohio State career before it began.” Tony was the team's center, and one of the few... Hell, the only one... On the team that Mike got along with. Like Lauren, he'd grown up on the same street, just one avenue down. Lauren didn’t know, but Tony had promised Mike he’d protect Lauren from the usual Cheerleader Squad-Football team antics. Tony even protected Mike. Unlike the other outcasts in the school, Mike had gotten clear of the majority of High school hazing. The only things done to him were things Tony let happen, and they were minor things... Maybe a "Kick me" sign, and stuff like that. Hell, Tony himself planted a "Kick me" sign on Mike… Then apologized for it during the weekend. Tony practically dragged him to a party that night as well, Mike’s only High school house party, and he had to crash it.

“Good thing Tony was there. Huh?”, Mike asked, coming out of his train of thought.

Lauren nodded, and said, “I… I talked with Tony afterward. He drove me home. You know what he said?”

“What?”, Mike asked.

“He... He told me he was protecting me… For you. That you'd asked him to look after me.” Her face was lighted by a grateful smile.

Mike’s face went red, and he stared at Lauren, wondering what she was thinking. “Well… I asked him to look after you. I… I didn’t want you corrupted by some of the stuff I’d heard about; You’re too sweet. You said before that you treated me like I was nothing. I never saw it that way, Lauren.”

Her head tilted to the side. “How could you not have?”, her voice soft and curious.

“You always winked. You’d tell me to go away… and then a slight wink. I knew you were pretending... Playing a part. I knew… Know… That the only people that really know you are... Well... Me and Tony.”

She looked away, looking as though reviewing the past couple years. “Huh. I did?," she said. "Maybe subconsciously apologizing. Well, I still feel guilty... and I’m gonna repay you. So we’re going to the mall. I have a grand. I’m going to buy myself something for you.”

“How could you…?”, Mike asked, confused.

“Oh, YOUR gift is something even-more special... Something nobody's ever had… Something only you've ever seen…Outside of my parents, of course.”

A flash of lightning strikes behind Mike’s eyes, his brain falters, and his mouth dries. “You… Don’t…,” Mike starts, before taking a breath, trying to get moisture back into his mouth. “You don’t have to do that," he finishes. "Wait… Did I just say that?", Mike thought.

“I know that, ya goofball. I know that,” she told him.

“What?”

“Well, like I said, we’ve known each other for a long time, so we mostly have no secrets. I treated you like shit… But you felt I was pretending, and… You were right. I want my first time to be with someone like that... Someone like you. I know, from the bottom of my heart, this is what I want. This is my gift to you.”