Operation: Stupid Cupid

“I’ve got a plan,” Kayla said to her best friend Nathaniel as they sat on the sofa of his living room, about to watch a buddy cop comedy on a Friday night. Nate’s dad was in the bathroom, performing some emergency business before they could start watching the movie.

“Oh, no,” Nate said with a sigh, running his hands over his face and through his hair. “Please don’t tell me this is another one of your harebrained schemes.”

“Oh, come on!” Kayla said. “Look me straight in the eye and tell me you didn’t see the sparks between my mom and your dad. Hmm?”

“That was probably just static electricity,” Nate said. “It’s getting more and more frequent these days due to the dry air and what have you.”

“Nate!” Kayla said, smacking Nate in the arm. “I’m serious!”

“Ow! What was that for?” Nate protested. “Sheesh! You didn’t have to smack me that hard, Kay.”

“Nate, my mom smiled for the first time tonight in years,” Kayla said. “Years, Nate! It’s been far too long since I’ve seen her do that. And your dad looked like a lovestruck teenager all over again. See? They’re still in love after all these years!”

“What? So now we’re playing Cupid?” Nate asked. “Unbelievable. Unfreakingbelievable.”

“That’s the whole idea,” Kayla said, grinning from ear to ear. “We act as their wingman and wing woman. Get them together, you know? We’ll play matchmaker.”

“What’s this about a matchmaker?” Mr. Hale said as he came up behind them.

“Mr. Hale!” Kayla squealed, turning a shade or two paler in her shock as though she’d seen a ghost. And then her face slowly turned red in embarrassment. It creeped and spread across her face like a drop of blood seeping into a bowl of pure white milk.

“Nothing!” Nate said, nearly jumping out of his seat and almost dropping the bowl of butter popcorn he held in his hands.

“We were just talking about school gossip, Mr. Hale,” Kayla lied. “You know, just the usual. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just your average, run of the mill high school gossip.”

“Yeah,” Nate concurred, trying his best to sell the lie. “Some kids at school were proposing starting a Matchmaking Club. Yeah, right! As if there wasn’t enough drama there already.”

“Matches? Matches?” Kayla said, doing her best impression of Blazing Saddles. “We don’t need no stinking matches!”

Nate laughed.

“I see,” Mr. Hale said, not suspecting a thing. “You know, if you want to watch a movie involving matchmakers, we could watch Fiddler On The Roof.”

“I mean, it is a Saturday tomorrow,” Nate said. “But maybe something shorter for the second movie, Dad. We’re pooped. Fiddler is three hours long.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna have to take a raincheck,” Kayla said. “Sorry, Mr. H.”

“That’s cool,” Mr. Hale assured Kayla.

“How about this?” Nate suggested. “Why don’t you go to the store and go on an ice cream run? Kay and I will discuss what second movie we want to watch for tonight. Sound good, Dad?”

“Sounds like a plan!” Mr. Hale agreed. “Any flavors you guys want?”

“Chocolate Malt Krunch!” Nate said.

“Strawberry Cheesecake!” Kayla said at the same time as Nate.

“Rock, Paper, Scissors?” Nate challenged.

“You’re so on,” Kayla said, balling her hand into a closed fist, ready to play.

At the count of three, Kayla and Nate both released and revealed their hands. Kayla had chosen paper while Nate had chosen scissors, which meant Nate won. It was Chocolate Malt Krunch indeed.

“Alright,” Mr. Hale said. “I’ll be right back with the ice cream.”

“Oh, and can you maybe pick up some chips while you’re at it?” Nate requested.

“You got it, Bud,” Mr. Hale said. “Don’t do anything idiotic while I’m gone, you hear?”

“We got this, Dad,” Nate said. “Go! Oh, and take your time. Don’t hurry.”

“We’ll hold down the fort, Mr. H,” Kayla said. “Don’t worry about us.”

“Alright,” Mr. Hale said. “I trust you two.”

And with that, Mr. Hale walked out the door to pick up some ice cream and chips. As soon as they’d made sure he was really gone, Kayla and Nate began planning.

“So?” Nate asked. “What’s this really great plan of yours? Spit it out. Before my dad comes back.”

“You know how Maysen invited us to the grand opening of his parents’ new restaurant?” Kayla said.

“And?” Nate asked, eyebrow raised.

“And we get them to go on a date, you idiot,” Kayla said. “Keep up, dude! Come on!”

“Uh-huh,” Nate said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And how do you propose we do that? Won’t they get suspicious when they each find out that the other is also eating at the restaurant? I know I would.”

“Let me handle that part,” Kayla said with a smile. “Just convince your dad to take you out Friday next week. I’ll convince my mom to take me out, tell her we’re overdue for some mother-daughter bonding.”

“You sure this is gonna work?” Nate asked, still skeptical.

“Oh, I know this is gonna work,” Kayla answered. “It has to. Didn’t you see how in love they were? For once, I’m actually glad I forgot my jacket at home. We have to make it work, Nate. For their sakes.”

“Alright,” Nate agreed with a nod. “Count me in.”

“Sweet,” Kayla said with a grin. “Operation: Stupid Cupid is a go.”

“Roger that,” Nate said.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Kayla said. “We can concentrate on watching the movie.”

“And enjoy that ice cream and popcorn,” Nate added.

“And chips,” Kayla reminded him. “Don’t forget the chips.”

“Right, the chips,” Nate said. “I hope Dad bought a good one and not some cheap thrift store knockoff.”

“God, I hope you’re not this annoying when we become stepsiblings,” Kayla said, facepalming herself with a groan that sounded like half disgust and half exasperation.

“Hey, hey, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Nate said, holding his hands up in alarm. “Hold your horses there, Watkins! Whoa now! Hold on a minute! Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here, shall we? First, we’ll see what happens next Friday, then we can talk about this stepsiblings thing.”

“Okay, okay, fine,” Kayla said with a sigh, raising her hands in surrender. “You win. Have it your way. No talk about being stepsiblings until after Friday. Got it.”

Fifteen more minutes later, Mr. Hale pulled up to the driveway and killed the engine. They heard the slamming of a car door and the beeping of car keys and the two friends pretended they had been talking about something else, with Mr. Hale none the wiser.

As the three of them sat on the couch and watched, laughed until they cried, and ate popcorn, chips, and ice cream, Kayla couldn’t help but smile to herself. Her dreams of having a perfect happy family were slowly becoming a reality. Maybe this is what Friday movie nights would be like. She could see Mr. Hale as her stepdad and Nate as her stepbrother. They were like siblings now, anyway. They were the best of friends and finished each other’s sentences. They also fought and annoyed each other like siblings would. But they also loved each other like siblings would at the end of the day. They may not have been siblings by blood, but they were indeed siblings by heart. She imagined her mom sitting beside Mr. Hale, her head on his right shoulder and her hand in his.

Next Friday can’t come soon enough, Kayla thought.