I smiled widely at Mandy (or was her name Sandy?) and patted the soft hand that gripped my forearm. Not to sound like a jerk, but we only met a few minutes ago, it wasn’t surprising that I didn’t get a chance to catch her name. The coffee shop we met at was not much emptier then the train station outside, which was saying a lot as it was almost five and people were pouring out of the trains like ants on a rainy day.
It also wasn’t surprising that she agreed to take a walk with me along the shoreline despite the fact that we just met. It’s always been this way. I’ve always been able to strike up conversations with random girls within a blink of an eye. Mom said I had been born with “a double dose of charm”. Dad said I was “just lucky to inherit his good looks”. And my little sister Amy claims it’s because “females at the adolescent age are very impressionable with appearances as they haven’t had a chance to experience life and are unable to distinguish genuine charm with perverted interest and raging hormones”.
She’s only 8.
I told Mom she shouldn’t have listened to classical music when she was carrying Amy. What does studies know anyway?
Whatever it is, I am grateful for it as I am a regular teenage guy and who wouldn’t love to be able to influence those around them? Sure it’s a little weird at how easily they listen to my every word but hey, I’m not going to try to figure out why.
Like they say, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Turning back at Mandy/Sandy as we walked, I was about to ask her about her family (and hopefully get another hint of her name) when I heard two voices nearby. Never only to leave things alone, I couldn’t help peering around the tree to see who it was.