Banana Split

As I sat across from Jill, she delicately caressed her banana split with a long plastic spoon. I thought about how stupid I had been in the weeks before. "Good, huh??" She chirped.

"Yeah, great!" I rang back. My spirit soared. Here I sat with her, the girl who haunted me so seductively, casually lapping up ice cream.

"What do you say, after we finish these bananas and ice cream, we go get more apples from the tree for my mom??" She had been thinking about asking for awhile, and so had I. I sucked in a quick breath. By now that tree must be bare...

Without a split second thought, I blurted out. "So how many boys have you had up your tree?"

She blinked with puzzlement. "How many boys...?? Up my what...???"

"Do you take other boys up to pick apples?" Were these words really spouting out of my mouth?? "How many others have seen your shoe box full of naughty pictures??" My audacity surprised me. My pulse quickened.

She sprang up, stabbed her banana split, wounding it with her spoon. My heart skipped a beat or two. She glared down at me. "I think I'll pick apples alone today." Without another word she whipped her head and skittered out of the cafe, leaving me with that nasty gut feeling again.

"Damn it Hayden! There goes your Jillian. You'll never see her apple tree again!" I couldn't move. I should have raced after her, apologizing frantically and groveling at her heels. I didn't want to lose her, and if I gave her time to brood she'd never talk to me again. I'd learned that much. I sat there stupidly, gazing into the soupy remains of a not so appetizing banana split.

There was only one thing to do. Follow her to the tree. I'd give her a head start, wait a minute or two, and give us each time to collect our scattered emotions. Then I'd go there. Back up to where it all began. 

Once I got there, she'd forgive me.