Budding love, awkward moments

Sat beside him in the cinema feeling fidgety

And awkward, her skirt, perhaps a little too

Short for the nap of brushed velvet seating,

The hem riding up with every wiggle, every

Twist thus once again, for the umpteenth

Time in the past half hour, another hopefully

Unnoticed grip on a wayward hemline.

Wriggling beside him she felt sure he’d

Seen, sure he’d noticed. What must he

Think of her?

Dreams don’t come much better than this,

Sat beside the most beautiful girl in the

World, the girl he thought would never in a

Million years agree to go out with him, yet a

Dream had come true and now that dream

Was in imminent danger of collapse, the

Foundations crumbling by the minute as he

Sat there unable to do anything about it; the

Dream beside him, clearly uncomfortable and

Wanting nothing more than to be out of hs

Sight.

Fiddling with his dad’s tie and a shirt at least

An inch too short for the beltline of his pants,

He turned to the girl beside him who promptly

Looked away.

Silently she mused. ‘I love him but can’t touch

Him, it’s too early in the night, although I really

Wish he’d take a chance and slip his hand in

Mine.’

Without waiting for the film to end teenage

Empathy, or some other mysterious youthful

Agency saw boy and girl rise from their seats

Silently leaving the cinama with its traumas

And worries far behind. The air outside was

Cool on the skin, warm on the heart, carrying

With it the spirit of freedom, the right to be

Young and in love, his hand easily finding hers

And in a happier frame of mind they headed in

The direction of the park, the one they’d both

Played in as children.

First date, first time, not exactly perfect, but surely

Something to mark the occasion and what better

Than fish and chips from a brightly illuminated van

From where a mouth-watering aroma of fish, chips,

Pies, peas and steak puddings filled the night air.

Budding love, awkward moments, a first date ending

Not as it had begun but in a promising hug and a

Long lingering kiss suggesting the very likely possibility

Of another chance to see the film they’d both missed.

© Joseph G Dawson