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“You know,” Isaiah said slowly, “when I was your age, I was afraid to talk to a girl I liked.”
Cory glanced at Isaiah out of the corner of his eye. “Really?”
Isaiah nodded and felt a little flattered by the disbelief in the boy’s tone. He guessed he really didn’t resemble the awkward kid he used to be, even if he still felt that way at times. “Yes.”
“When did it get easier for you to talk to girls?”
“Who said it got easier?” Isaiah said. “I just had to learn that nine times out of ten, if I was respectful and just approached her with no hidden agenda, she would at least listen to what I had to say.”
“You mean she didn’t laugh at you? Because, girls will laugh at you now if they think you’re being corny. Things are different from the way they were back in your day.”
Isaiah winced and put a hand over his chest as if wounded. “My day wasn’t that long ago.” Cory rolled his eyes, a gesture Isaiah decided to ignore. Everyone over twenty seemed old when you were thirteen. “All I’m saying is, if you like a girl, just talk to her. You don’t have ask her to be your girlfriend or anything like that. If she likes basketball…talk to her about that.”
Cory sat up straighter and watched Denise and Kirk. Denise had just turned her back to the other boy, which meant Cory probably didn’t have to worry about him as a potential rival. “What should I say about basketball?”
“Start with ‘hey,’ then ask her who her favorite ballplayer is.”
Cory looked at Isaiah. “Why would I ask a girl that?”
“Because you like Denise and if she’s in a basketball camp, then she probably has a favorite basketball player. Don’t worry. She sneaks looks at you, too.”
Cory’s face brightened up. “She does?” His deepening voice momentarily returned to the squeak of childhood.
Isaiah fought back a smile. He didn’t want Cory to think he was teasing him. “She does. Just walk over and say ‘hey.’”
“Even with Kirk and her friends over there?”
“Especially with Kirk over there. Don’t show her you’re intimidated by another man. Girls don’t like that.”
Cory nodded and watched Denise and Kirk. “Don’t be intimidated.” He took a deep breath and stood. He shook out his hands and shoulders, then jumped down the bleachers. He looked back at Isaiah over his shoulders. “Oh, and Mr. Isaiah?”
“Yeah.”
“Auntie looks at you, too. So, you know, if you like her, you can just talk to her.” Cory smiled, then strode across the room with a show of confidence that impressed Isaiah.
Isaiah leaned back on the bleachers. So Auntie Angel looks at me. A smile broke across his face. He shouldn’t care. Bridget was coming. That’s who should be on his mind, but that wasn’t what kept his mood up for the rest of the day.
CHAPTER 6
Angela arrived at the center well before five thirty. Everything had worked out for her at the end of the day. No issues with volunteers, but her boss had called a meeting to talk about possible late hours due to a group coming in to cross-train from another state. The idea of another change to her already packed schedule made her cringe, but until the change actually happened, she wouldn’t worry.
Angela entered the center and found Keri at the front desk. “Hey, what are you doing up here?” Keri was usually running around handling more important things while the teenage workers and volunteers handled signing the kids in and out for the day.
“Just covering for one of my guys while he cleans up something in one of the classrooms.” Keri said with a smile.
Angela was happy to see her wary expression from earlier today, when she’d interrupted Angela’s conversation with Isaiah, was gone. She didn’t want Keri to have a reason to question Cory’s participation in the camp.
“How did Cory do today?” Angela asked as she signed her name and the pickup time beside Cory’s name in the notebook. “He was in kind of a mood this morning.”
Keri shook her head. “No problems at all. All of the players think he’s doing a really great job.”
