Romeo and Jennifer
If The P*lace could talk, it would surely have plenty to tell anyone listening about love; new love, lost love, unrequited love. Its tables have witnessed many couples break up and make up, giggling nervously over ice cream on a first date, or consoling themselves alone with a malted.
Most of the amorous adolescents using The P*lace as a backdrop usually belonged to Kids Incorporated. It was very convenient to invite someone to a show and then buy them ice cream afterward. Prestige and coolness factor helped as well. Of course, things didn't always go as smooth as the malts and shakes.
Charlie, for instance, had always had a Rocky Road relationship with his girlfriend Jennifer since they began going out. As evolved as he was, he still had a difficult time accepting that she had been the one to ask him. In fact, Jennifer was usually in the driver's seat for most of their activities. It bugged Charlie, but he did have to admit that she was very creative and fun. Most of the time, they ended up spending very little money or none at all on dates.
Mostly, Charlie enjoyed the level of respect he got from Jennifer. Part of the reason she didn't defer to him was because she treated him like an equal. While his friends would sometimes roll their eyes or laugh at his behavior, Jennifer would look deeper. She took him seriously, which is why he felt sure that if he just sat down with her and told her how he felt about her taking the lead, she would surely understand.
"Charlie!" Ana was yelling, trying to bring him back to rehearsal.
"Yeah, I'm here." said Charlie, shrugging off his anxiety.
"Where is your head lately, man?" asked Anthony.
"With Jennifer." Haylie smirked, and everyone began whistling and teasing Charlie.
"I like Jennifer." said Nicole. "She's a no-nonsense kind of gal - and she's got Charlie dressing better." Everyone chuckled.
What was wrong with my clothes before?" Charlie asked.
"Nothing," replied Haylie, "if you're color blind!"
At the moment, Charlie was beginning to see red. "At least I have a girlfriend...Anthony!" he said, swatting at Anthony. The boys began slapping each other playfully.
"I'm not worried!" scoffed Anthony. Preening himself, he declared, "I am too much man for one woman." This set off another round of teasing that lasted until Dena interrupted them.
"Is that your new song? 'Cause I gotta tell you, I don't think it'll appeal to anyone in the audience." she joked.
"All right, Dena," said Ana, "how's this instead?" The music started and Kids Inc began singing one of their favorite crowd-pleasers.
Charlie was in step until he noticed Jennifer walk into The P*lace.
"Ow! Charlie, what are you doing?" Haylie chastised him.
"Sorry" he mumbled.
The song ended, and Charlie bounded down the steps before anyone could say another word. "Hi, Jen." he said as he reached the table where Jennifer was sitting. "What'd you think of the song?"
Jennifer put down her soda before she began to speak. "Not bad, but I think your choreography needs some work." she replied.
"Um...yeah. Listen, can I talk to you?"
"Of course you can! Charlie, you know you can tell me anything."
"I know, and I really appreciate that. I do. That's why I have to tell you-"
"We'll have plenty of time to talk on the bus to the civic center." Jennifer finished.
We're...going to the civic center?" echoed Charlie.
"For the art fair, silly, remember? I know you enjoy making fun of those "independent" types. Their work is outstanding, though. They really inspire me."
"Well, yeah! I mean, you're a great artist! They should be displaying your work there."
"I knew you'd understand!" exclaimed Jennifer, jumping up and hugging him. "I can't tell you how much this means to me, Charlie. Other guys wouldn't be caught dead at an art fair with their girlfriend."
"Can't imagine why not." Charlie laughed nervously. Because they're not wimps, that's why not! he thought.
The rest of Kids Inc had just finished straightening up when they overheard Jennifer saying, "You'll like modern art, Charlie. You'll see. I'll explain everything to you on the way. Oh...but you had something you wanted to tell me?"
Charlie sighed. "It can wait."
"He doesn't sound too happy." Haylie observed.
"Sounds henpecked to me." said Anthony.
"Maybe you're just chicken!" Ana teased him.
"No, for real." Anthony continued. "We were gonna hang out and play some foosball last week. Jennifer decided she wanted to go to the beach and look for sea glass. Guess what Charlie did?"
"I'm guessing it involved swim trunks?" asked Nicole. Anthony gestured his approval.
"So he wants to spend time with his girlfriend." said Ana. "I'm sure he'll make it up to you."
Anthony shook his head. "That's not the point!" he said. "Why don't they ever do anything Charlie wants to do?"
"Who says they don't?" said Haylie. "Come on. You don't go on their dates with them."
"I doubt I'd be allowed."
"Hey, that's a good idea, though." Ana said suddenly. "Why don't you go on a double date with Charlie and Jennifer?"
"Yeah, that sounds like fun." Anthony rolled his eyes.
"Well, it's the only way you're gonna find out that you're making a big deal out of nothing."
"If you think it's nothing, then why don't you go?"
"Me?"
"Do you have to ask Rob for his permission?" sneered Anthony.
"No!" Ana snapped. Suddenly, the shoe was on the other foot. "But I can't make the decision for both of us. I'll talk to him and see what he thinks." She smirked as Anthony became quiet.
At least one KI band member's relationship was on track. Rob agreed to play control group in Ana and Anthony's experiment. What Ana conveniently left out was that Rob was also under the impression that Charlie was being railroaded, although he wasn't as vocal about it.
Charlie had found it really odd that Ana would just suddenly ask him to double date after everyone had been teasing him. She managed to convince him that she and Rob had friends going to the movies with them who suddenly dropped out, and they didn't want to lose their money. Thankfully, Charlie didn't get to take a good look at the tickets, or he would have seen that they'd been bought just the day before - for a movie that Jennifer would actually want to watch.
That was the part that worried Ana. Suspecting that Anthony had been right, and Charlie was unable to ask Jennifer about the date, she went to Jennifer herself, to "confirm". Sadly, Jennifer hadn't heard, and she was surprised that Charlie would be planning something without asking her. She did agree, though, and the stage was set for an interesting evening.
The foursome went on their date that Friday, and the following Saturday, Kids Inc. gathered at The P*lace to hear how everything went.
Ana arrived first. "Well," she said, "there is definitely a problem."
"I told you!" said Anthony.
"Charlie just doesn't express himself enough."
"What happened?" asked Nicole.
"Rob and I thought we should meet in the schoolyard since we already had the tickets, and Charlie said that was okay. We waited for at least an hour. Finally, we just had to head to the theater or we'd miss the movie. We get there and Jennifer's already there! She said she told Charlie it would be a better idea to meet at the theater so we could get good seats."
"She 'told' him." Anthony repeated.
"Well, he didn't tell us!" said Ana. "So we're finally in the theater and it's starting to fill up, so we decide to grab seats while we could. We sent the guys for popcorn and sodas while Jennifer and I saved them a place."
"Whose idea was that?" asked Anthony.
"C'mon," Haylie said to him, "everybody does that."
Ana continued. "Buy the time they got back, the trailers were already playing. Now Jennifer's looking for nachos, because she always gets nachos at the movies, but it turns out Charlie didn't have enough money on him for everything." She shook her head as she added, "They spent the entire movie with their backs to one another."
"Did she ask for nachos?" said Anthony.
"She said she'd always gotten them." Ana replied.
"So? She didn't ask that time!"
"Charlie could have asked her what she wanted." said Nicole.
"Or he could have borrowed the money." said Haylie.
"That's what I thought." said Ana. "I asked Rob, and he said he offered to pay for the nachos, but Charlie said no. He'd rather look thoughtless in front of his date."
"Why couldn't she pay for her own stupid nachos?" griped Anthony. "This is the 90's. Guys don't have to pay for everything."
Dena had been listening to the arguing getting louder and louder. "Why are you guys getting so involved in someone else's relationship?" she asked.
"It's not just somebody, it's Charlie." Haylie insisted.
"Well, Charlie's about to come in, so you might want to zip it."
Sure enough, Charlie entered The P*lace completely unaware that he was the subject of intense conversation.
"Hi, Charlie." said Nicole. "Um, Ana was just telling us about your date."
Charlie groaned. "I am never doing that again!" he declared. "Jennifer's still P.O'd about those nachos. I swear I wouldn't have forgotten them if you guys hadn't been there."
Ana frowned. "Rob was going to pay for them." she said.
"She thinks Rob doesn't like her."
"Rob likes everybody!"
"He didn't want to meet up at the movie theater where Jennifer was, and she's taking it personally."
"Charlie, you never told us Jennifer would be at the theater!" Ana said angrily. She shook her head. "I think all of your problems are of your own making."
"What problems?"
Anthony cleared his throat. "Jennifer pushes you around." he said. "You drop everything to go and be with her."
"Anthony, she's my girlfriend." Charlie protested.
"Then why are you so afraid to talk to her?" asked Ana.
He was afraid - afraid to ruin a good thing. Every time he thought about approaching the subject with Jennifer, he worried that she would think he was breaking up with her. "Because she thinks everything's fine!" he confessed at last.
Nicole asked, "Do you think everything's fine?"
"Sort of." shrugged Charlie. "Jennifer's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful. Most guys would kill to have a girlfriend like that. So maybe she's a little controlling. It's just her personality."
Before any of the Kids could react, Dena stepped in. "You sound exactly like one of my friends from college." she said. "She couldn't get away from her boyfriend, no matter how much we tried to tell her he was trying to run her life."
"I don't want to be like one of those guys, Dena." said Charlie.
"I don't think you have to worry about that." Haylie quipped.
"Charlie," said Dena, "there's a difference between being aggressive and being assertive. You can tell Jennifer what you want and what you don't want and she can do the same."
Charlie sighed. "I hope so." he said.
As awkward as it was, a part of Charlie felt grateful his friends had intervened. It let him know that it wasn't all in his head. The problem was, they were gunning for a big confrontation between him and Jennifer, and he just didn't think that was a good idea.
As he waited for Jennifer outside of school the next day, he thought about what Dena had been saying about assertiveness versus aggressiveness. He'd seen too many of his friends get demanding with their girlfriends, and it always turned out badly. But it was the opinions of his friends that nearly blew his relationship with Jennifer in the first place, and he couldn't forget that.
Jennifer had come out while he was thinking. "You look as bad as I feel." she said. She had a bag full of books and several in her hand, but she didn't ask for any help with them.
Is she waiting for me to ask? Charlie wondered. I don't want her to think I think she's weak or anything. Suddenly he stopped. He realized he'd created a whole scenario out of nothing. If one of his friends was about to drop their books, he would help without it looking like a put down!
Jennifer started to fumble through her bag, so Charlie wordlessly put out a hand to assist. "Thanks." she said gratefully.
"Jennifer, can we talk?" Charlie managed to ask.
"I'm really busy today, Charlie. I want to get started on my Science project and I'm volunteering at the Art department for some extra credit-"
"It's kind of important." insisted Charlie. He led her to a nearby bench. "I know you're still upset about the other night."
"No, I'm sorry, Charlie." Jennifer interrupted him. "It wasn't your fault."
"Really?"
"I think we both know what's going on here, and it's high time we addressed it."
"You're right. I'm sorry I let it go on for so long, but..."
"Your friends push you around." finished Jennifer. Charlie was so bewildered that he just sat there with his mouth hanging open.
"You didn't want to go to the movies with Ana and her boyfriend, did you?" said Jennifer. "I know you wouldn't have left me stranded at the movie theater by myself."
"I...kinda didn't tell them you were there." Charlie managed to say.
If Jennifer heard, she didn't show it. "Your friends seem a bit too interested in our relationship." she said instead. "In fact, if it had been up to them, we probably wouldn't even have one."
"Jennifer, they're my friends!" Didn't I have this conversation before?
"I'm sure they want what's best for you, but they don't let you make your own decisions..."
As Jennifer continued to lecture him using more or less the same words his friends had, Charlie began to get tired of listening to everyone's opinion. He started hearing another voice, one more familiar to him, that he hadn't heard in a while. He liked what that voice was saying.
"Charlie, are you listening to me?" said Jennifer. He didn't answer. Instead, he got up and walked off. "Charlie? Where are you going? Charlie!"
The P*lace was due to open any minute, and Dena, Anthony, and the girls were scrambling around cleaning. Charlie hadn't showed up, so the band was taking out their frustrations on the grout lines. When they heard the door open, they pounced - only to see that it was Jennifer.
"Is Charlie here?" she asked.
"We haven't seen Charlie all day." said Ana.
"We figured he was with you." Anthony added, and the girls gave him warning looks.
"Actually," Jennifer continued, "I'm glad he's not here, because now I have the opportunity to discuss a few things with you." The Kids looked at each other, but didn't say a word. "I know that you were all hesitant about Charlie going out with me from the start - "
"That's not true." said Haylie. "It was Charlie who was freaked out because you asked him out. We were just trying to help him."
"You help Charlie a lot, don't you? It's as if you don't think he knows what he wants."
"And you do?" sneered Anthony.
"I think what Anthony is trying to say," Nicole intervened, "is that you...might have that a little backwards."
Before the tension could come to a head, Charlie appeared. "Oh, good, you're all here." he said.
What's going on, Charlie?" asked Ana. "Where have you been all day?"
“I went and had a long talk with a good friend.” said Charlie.
“Who?” Anthony asked.
Charlie smirked. “Charlie.” Everyone stared at him.
"And what did Charlie have to say?" Jennifer asked.
"A lot. He's had to wait a long while for everyone else to stop talking to me." said Charlie. "Turns out he's not so good at speaking up."
"Good for you, Charlie." said Jennifer. "I've always told you that you should stick up for yourself a bit more. It's not right to let people walk all over you-"
But Charlie held up a hand to interrupt her. "Jennifer, you're my girlfriend, and I love you, but you need to let me talk more often." he said. "I like spending time with you, but I don't always want to do what you want to do."
"Wow." said Nicole.
"Where'd that come from?" asked Ana.
"Who cares?" said Anthony. "We get our boy back!"
"Anthony," said Charlie, "girls...you're my friends, and I love you guys, but you need to let me take care of my own relationship. I know I've been spending a lot of time with Jennifer, but I haven't forgotten you."
"Sure feels like it sometimes." said Anthony.
Jennifer came to stand beside him. "I'm sorry you felt that I was trying to come between you." she said. "That was never my intention."
"Mine, either." Anthony replied. "We have a lot in common - we both care about Charlie."
Dena came around the corner with a dishtowel draped over her shoulder. "The P*lace is looking great, guys." she said. "You know what? You worked so hard that I think you deserve the afternoon off."
"All right!" everyone cheered.
"Hey! A free afternoon!" said Charlie. Jennifer appeared to be leaving, so he stopped her. "Are you doing anything, or...do you wanna hang out?"
"Well...what do you want to do today, Charlie?"
Charlie smiled. "Ever played foosball?"
The End
