In the Orchard

I sit nervously in the passenger seat, shuffling my feet and twiddling my thumbs. I’m trying to think of something interesting to say, but every thought just sounds lame and boring.

       “So what’s your favorite movie?” Penny Lakes asks after a few moments of silence.

       I explain to her that my favorite movie is a drama about Italian-American gangsters and the family dynamic of their empire. Hers is a comedy about a sixteen-year-old boy in Whales who is trying to lose his virginity and save his parents’ marriage. Why did I have to pick such a dumb movie? Why couldn’t I have just lied and told her some Wes Anderson flick or something? I feel like such a moron.

       It’s bad enough that she’s driving us on our first date, now I’m some pretentious ass that likes odd movies and can’t talk. I should have just stayed home and gone bowling with my buddy, Danny Marten.

       I look over at Penny and feel a rush of emotion. Embarrassment, regret, sorrow for putting this poor girl through a date with me. I am a seventeen-year-old named Corey Daniels, who doesn’t have a car, has never been on a date, and stresses every bit about himself.

       Penny is rich and easy-going. She carries herself with ease like there’s nothing that could ever hold her back. Penny has long auburn hair and big brown eyes behind thick-rimmed glasses. She has pink lips that are full and beautiful and she’s wearing a dress that shows off a perfect figure. I look away before she notices me watching her, gazing out the window at the farms with red, orange, and yellow trees in the distance. I then catch my reflection in the mirror out the window and I feel even worse.

       I have greasy brown hair that’s slicked back with cheap pomade, a few zits on my cheeks, and dull blue eyes with permanent bags under them. People always think I’m stoned or don’t sleep because of how awful my eyes are. Whereas Penny has smooth legs and slender features, I have a body that no one casts a second glance at. Also my voice. My horrible monotone voice that further adds to the perception of being high. God, I hate myself.

       Penny slows her eight-year-old sedan down as we reach the destination of our first date together. I try to think about how I even ended up on this date.

       A group of mutual friends approached me in a full car as I was walking home. They told me that Penny had a crush on me and asked if they wanted to give her my number. Penny and I had a drawing and English class together. We had worked in several groups over the last few years of high school, but I never would have thought that (in my opinion) the cutest girl in school would like me. I figured that it was a prank but allowed them to give her my contact information on the small chance it was real. Now, as the two of us exited the car and approached the entrance to Sunny Hills Orchard, I partially wished it had been a dream. Different voices sounded in my head.

       “Ah, finally getting some action,” my dad’s voice spoke in a sly manner that made me blush just remembering.

       “Oh, Penny is such a wonderful girl!” mom’s voice said in shrill excitement.

       “Dude, you’re gonna make the girl drive you to your date?” Danny asked in amusement.

       Finally, my fourteen-year-old sister screaming, “She’s too good for you!” Damn if the little brat wasn’t right. Penny was lightyears too good for me.

       “Ten bucks per basket,” the bored middle-aged woman told us as we approached the entrance tent, “Another five for the maze.”

       With shaking hands, I pulled my beat-up wallet out and handed the desk worker a crumbled twenty. Enough for a basket and two tickets to the corn maze. The woman handed me two strips of paper that read nothing other than, “Admit One” and a plain wicker basket to hold our apples in.

       “What do you wanna do first?” I asked. Geez, my voice is terrible, I should just not talk the rest of the day.

       “Umm,” Penny said thinking. Her voice was like music. “Let’s do the maze first.”

       “Alright then,” I replied, hoping to sound more confident. I handed the old man in overalls the two tickets who waved a hand at us to proceed into the maze without a word. Overhead, the sun shone brightly on us, allowing the mid-October day to be warm enough to not wear a jacket, but a pleasant breeze blew to keep the temperature from getting too hot.

       The rows of corn stood far enough above our hears so that we wouldn’t be able to see over the stalks, but they weren’t so high that it felt like sinister walls closing in on us.

       “Don’t you just love this time of year?” Penny asked, turning around to walk backwards so that she could face me.

       I shifted the basket awkwardly in my hands and realized that cuffed jeans and a band t-shirt were a stupid idea to wear for Penny in her red and pink dress. I finally remembered that I was supposed to answer her question, “Yeah. Yeah. Fall is my favorite time of year.”

       “I thought maybe you were giving me the silent treatment,” Penny said jokingly and giggled. My face reddened, “What’s your favorite part about October?”

       “Uhhh,” I replied dumbly, “Probably late-night horror movies on weekends and the cool weather.” Horror movies? Well, I was pretty sure Penny had lost any attraction she had had for me in the car, so I may as well have just been honest at this point.

       Penny jumped up in excitement, making the polaroid camera around her neck sway and crash into her chest- she didn’t seem to notice, “I love horror movies! Eighties slashers and classic ghost stories are the best.”

       “Yeah, slashers are my favorite too, I have a pretty big collection of blu-rays and DVDs of old horror movies. A big collection of books too,” Shit! I didn’t mean to tell her that I liked reading. Or that I still collected tangible cinema media.

       “Ooh. You like to read?” Penny asked. She had stopped walking now. I had just put the last nail in the coffin I was sure.

       “Yeah, I try to read pretty often,” I said a bit embarrassed. I felt the heat under my eyes develop.

       “Who’s your favorites?”

       “Umm,” I thought of who I was reading a lot of over the last year, “Well, I’m a big Stephen King fan, Poe is pretty good. Salinger and Fitzgerald have special places in my heart for several reasons. And… basically anything horror- if it’s well done- and classic sci-fi.”

       Penny smiled, some of our favorites matched up, “Maybe next time we can get a coffee then go to a bookstore,” she said.

       Next time? Penny was already thinking about hanging out again?

       We continued traversing the maze until coming to the exit. The maze was fun enough, but it was definitely geared more toward younger kids. I was hoping for something a little more challenging. Penny seemed to like it, though.

       “That was so fun, maybe could have been a little longer and more confusing, but I loved that,” Penny said. She turned her polaroid on and took the strap from around her neck, “We have to get a picture to celebrate our bravery of conquering the maze.” Penny stepped close to me as we put our faces together (I was praying that she wouldn’t feel the acne or that my face wasn’t too greasy) and smiled. The camera clicked with a bright flash as Penny pressed the button. A slip of film rolled out of the top. “I have to keep the picture in my pocket until it develops, let’s start picking apples.”

       I followed her to the rows of trees. Red and green apples dotted the leaves indicating whether they were ripe or not. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and checked it quickly, hoping Penny wouldn’t notice me being rude. It was a message from my mom asking how the date was going so far, “Pretty good,” I rattled off quickly and shoved the device back into my pocket. The phone vibrated quickly again, I checked it and it was just a reply saying, “Good!”

       “Ooh! That looks like a good one!” Penny exclaimed, finding a plump, red apple that deemed good enough for her choosing. “Okay, I’m sorry, but we have to get another photo for the first apple of the day.” I did not mind at all, Penny snapped another image of the two of us. This one showed the two of us smiling while she proudly displayed the apple.

       “I bet the first picture is developed now,” Penny reached into the pocket of her skirt and held the image up for both of us to examine, “Hey, this turned out nicely.” Penny genuinely seemed to be happy with the photo, but all I could see was how dumb I looked next to someone as stunning as her. We continued picking apples. I felt my heart doing cartwheels inside my chest as I watched Penny roll through the rows of apple trees with arms extended, making her skirt twirl with her.

       By the time the basket was full, Penny looked at me with concern, “Corey, are you alright?” she asked timidly, “You seem quiet, do you not like me or enjoy doing this?”

       “No,” I blurted a bit too harshly, “I mean, I’m having a blast, I really am, this has been a lot of fun.” The sun was just beginning to depart behind the hills in the distance, giving the world an orange glow that made Penny look even more adorable.

       “it’s just, you seem like something is wrong,” she said. My heart wanted to tumble at the thought of upsetting her. I decided on the truth, I had nothing to lose but my dignity.

       “I just… I uh. I’m nervous I guess,” I stuttered.

       “Why?” Penny asked.

       “It’s like… Like, you’re pretty, like the type of pretty that bands write songs about,” I regretted saying what I said even as it was coming out, “And I’m just- you know- my family isn’t as rich as yours and I don’t have a car and everything,” I cast my eyes down, I couldn’t look at her right now. Inside, I was tearing myself apart both verbally and physically. My stomach gave a sharp pain.

       “Corey, I don’t care what your family’s wealth is,” Penny said, “And who cares if you don’t have a car? I don’t mind driving.”

       “Yeah, but like, I’m the guy and-“ she cut me off.

       “I like you for you,” Penny said strongly, “You’re nice and genuine. You’re smart and have creative ideas. You could be a writer, I’m nervous too. I’m not as smart as you and you seem so cool, collecting horror movies and reading actual books- not a lot of people do that and I like how passionate you are about what you like,” Penny was nervous too? She actually liked me? “Don’t listen to what other people say, if we do this, it’s us. No one else, and I really like you.”

       I felt crushed. A tiny man of only two inches tall, what a major ass I had just been, “I’m sorry, Penny, this is the first time I’ve ever been on a date and I guess I just don’t know how this stuff works.”

       Without a word, Penny stepped up to me and wrapped her soft arms around my torso, laying her head on my chest. I was sure my heart was pounding hard enough to give her a headache, “Just be yourself and don’t overthink things, first dates are always a little awkward, but I mean it when I say that I really like you.”

       “I like you a lot, Penny, too,” I told her, “I have since freshman year when we had Mr. Glouster in history together.”

       Penny giggled, “What a goofy man, but a really interesting man,” she said through laughter. I agreed and we went back and forth doing our best impressions of the kind, but weird old man. When the laughter died, Penny lifted her head and gazed at my eyes with her own. They were like a doe’s expressive eyes. She picked herself up on the tips of her toes as and pressed her lips to mine.

       Fireworks went off inside my body. My mind drifted to old love songs and space. I didn’t care if the old couples and little kids around the orchard saw us. At that moment, it was only the two of us in the world. We wrapped our arms tighter around each other, a few apples rolled out of the basket and onto the dirt, but we didn’t care. After a while, we pulled away and smiled.

       “You’re a good kisser,” she said happily, but with a hint of something else, “You kiss with real emotion and feeling.”

       “That was actually my first time,” I admitted.

       “Well, I am glad to be the first one to experience what you have been hiding for all these years,” I blushed as Penny took her camera up and snapped a picture, this one showing the two of us with arms around each other’s waists as I held up the apples and smiled. Penny was kissing me on the cheek.

       We got back to her car as the sky turned darker to a gentle purple. I placed the basket of apples in the backseat before Penny beckoned me to where she stood next to the trunk. He hugged tightly again and kissed for a while longer before a strong hug, her head on my chest again and my face resting in her auburn hair. It smelled like cinnamon and a touch of sweat, but the aroma was so sweet and lovely.

       Eventually, we separated again and I climbed into the passenger seat as Penny started the car to drive me home. She dropped me off as we said we would text and call and see each other at school on Monday. The next weekend, we baked apple pie from the first date’s haul before getting coffee and shopping at the bookstore.