Living the Life by Elle Marie Calhoun (each kindness read aloud .txt) 📕

“Sure is.”

When Matt arrived, he walked up to Carley who was simply just drinking a cup of coffee. He taps on her shoulder and as she turns around, he begins to speak, “Carley, I’ve been in love with for 3 years and I never told you. You’re amazing and beautiful, Carley. Will you go out with me?” “Oh, Matt, of course I will.” Carley said hugging Matt. Jodie watched them walk out hand in hand then she began to walk over to a table where 3 girls sat. The girl sitting on the left was Amanda, her blonde hair hidden underneath a curly brown wig. She wore a hot pink shirt with golden skinny jeans accompanying hot pink flats, over her eyes; she wears dark sunglasses that hide her eyes. On the right sat Melanie, her brown hair now a mix of blonde and purple. She wore a turquoise tube top with purple jeans and turquoise vans. Sitting against the wall, sat Alex, her black hair now a bright red, short and flowing. She wore a neon green top with black, shiny shorts with ripped tights and black pumps. “I see this must be another one of Amanda’s plans.” Jodie said smiling. “Actually, this was Melanie’s idea.” Amanda says through bright pink lips looking toward Melanie. “Guilty.”, Melanie said grinning largely. “Well nice job, guys. I see you wanted to see it happen, but didn’t want to be recognized. Correct?” Jodie asked. “Yes. Also, we got something for you too.”, Melanie said pulling out a long black wig with purple blue streaks, a neon blue skirt, a yellow cropped top, and the black knee-high converse of her dreams. “Whoa.”, Jodie manages to say. “How bout we head to the mall?” Amanda suggested. “Okay.”, everyone replied back.

“Hey. Who is this?” Susan said after Derek dialed her phone number into his phone. “Hey. It’s Derek Watson, from the mall.” Derek said when Susan came on the line. “Oh, hi, Derek, What’s up?” “I was wondering if you might want to go see a movie with me.” “You mean, like a date?” “Yeah, a date, is that okay?” “Derek, I would love to.” “Oh awesome, I’ll pick you up at 7.”

“Hey Jodie, I’m so glad you came.”, Ryan said as Jodie walked into the coffee house, laying her gold frenge jacket on a chair. “Did you ever doubt that I would?”, Jodie said, walking toward him. “Well thanks for coming. Why don’t you help me set things up.” “Okay, what first?” “Here, hang up this garland. There’s a ladder over there.”, he said, handing her the black garland and positioning to where the the ladder stood.” “I’ll get right on it.” Jodie walked toward the ladder then, holding the garland, positioning it where it should be. She climbed the ladder and taped the garland down and stepped toward the top of the ladder and started to reach higher to tape the next part up. She reached again, higher and slipped and started to fall.

“JODIE!!!!!”, Ryan yelled as he ran to her as she started to fall. Right before she was about to hit the ground, she landed in his arms. “You saved me.”, Jodie said, looking into Ryan’s eyes, which were a bright turcoise blue. “Yeah, I guess I did. Are you okay?” He put her down then, her legs unsteady. “I think so.” “Maybe I shouldn’t have had you to do that on your own.” Yeah, probably not.” “Hey, I’ll tape the rest up and you can work on the refreshments. Sound good?” “Awesome.” He grabbed her hand then and pulled her into a hug. “I’m just so glad you’re okay.”, Ryan said, still holding her close. “So am I.”

“So far everything is going well with the speed dating.” Ryan says, fixing another pot of coffee. “Yeah, it is.” Jodie says watching the next rotation talk. Carley walks in then and comes to Jodie. “Jodie, now why exactly are not out there meeting a guy?” she says. “Well… there is an even amount of people out there and if I get out there, it’ll be an odd number which doesn’t work.” “Then both of you get out there?” “Me?” Ryan says, a look of shock on his face. Jodie looks from Carley to Ryan then back to Carley. “Carley, are you sure?” “Somebody has to take care of the refreshments and if I go, there will be nobody to take care of them.” Ryan says. “Then I’ll take care of it and you two get out there.” She says, literally pushing Ryan and Jodie out with all the people. Jodie hears Carley hit the bell then and Ryan finds a table and sits down and Jodie finds one behind him and sits as well. People have started to realize that there were two new players in the game. A guy with sandy brown hair came to Jodie’s table. She watched as Ryan got up to sit with a girl with blonde curly hair. Guys always have to move, girls stay in speed dating. The guy that sits down across from her began to speak, “Hey I’m Jordan Burke. I love hard rock music, dancing, and I am 19 and plan on being a marine biologist someday.” He had a nice voice that was deep but flowed, it was pretty enticing. “Oh well that’s really cool. Well I’m Jodie Kelly. I also love dancing and I love to write. I am 17 years old and I plan on either writing for a living or being a fitness instructor.” “Oh well that sounds really awesome and you seem really nice.” “Thanks, you too.”

At exactly 7’o clock, Derek arrives at Susan Hatchet’s home and walks out his car and to her front door. He had spiked his jet black hair and was now wearing dark blue jeans, a Three Days Grace tee shirt with a black leather jacket. He knocks on the door and he hears shuffling and then Susan’s voice through the door saying, “One second, I’ll be right there.” A bit more shuffling then the door opens and she walks through it. Her wavy blonde hair is now straightened and looking longer, her lips, a bright pink. She wears a one shoulder, purple flowered top, a pair of ripped blue jeans, and purple flats. Derek is at loss of words. “Derek? Are you alright?” she says. “Uh yeah. You just look fantastic.” He finally says. “Awe, thank you.” She begins walking toward the car and he opens the door for her and she climbs in.

Susan was hesitant about seeing a movie with Derek. Most guys she would go out with would want to make out the whole time, which she didn’t want to do. But… Derek wasn’t like the other guys she had dated in the past. He was sweet and nice, and seemed like he liked her for her not just because she was pretty. She thought about this a good while until Derek spoke up. “So what movie would you like to see?” he says looking at Susan. Susan looked up at the movie show times, and only saw one movie that sparked her interest. It was called ‘Halie Rising’, sounds like an action thriller. “Um ‘Halie Rising’ looks good.” Susan says. “Oh yeah, I’ve seen the trailer for it. It looked really good. We’ll see that.” She smiled then and walked up to the ticket-box with him.

After 8 minutes of participating in the speed dating, Ryan was getting pretty bored. So far, he had met 4 different girls. One a scuba diver that was in love with the water and could not stop talking about ocean life. The second was a gamer that was obsessed with having and playing the newest games and would drone on and on about it. The third was worst of all, she was a self-absorbed snob that would only talk about herself and would get mad if he tried to say something, saying that he was interrupting her. The fourth was a girl named Alyssa, she was his age, exactly 19, and she was majoring in Philosophy. She was also someone he got along quite well with, she had a sense of humor and she talked about how she was also a nature lover. Ryan was interested in her… but when the bell rang and Alyssa gave him her number all her could think about was the table he now walked to. Jodie’s table.

“Hey.” Jodie says as Ryan sits down at her table. “I don’t know how Carley talked us into this.” he says, rubbing a hand through his hair. “Neither do I. Most of the people I’ve met are crazy.” “Tell me about it. It’s been awful.” “So I guess you should tell me about yourself.” “Well I’m 19 years old, I study Philosophy online, I have 3 brothers and one sister, I love animals and I am afraid of snakes.” She chuckles a little and begins to speak, “Okay. I am 17 years old, I am a junior in high school, it’s my second semester, I have one brother, I love to act and dance, I also love animals, and I am afraid of spiders.” “Very interesting Jodie Kelly. You are not one of the crazy ones.” “Haha neither are you.” “That’s good to hear.”

After 20 minutes, the speed dating was over and Carley and Ryan were cleaning up and Jodie was gulping down a cup of coffee. “Do you need any help with cleaning up?” Jodie says, passing her empty coffee cup toward Ryan. He takes it from her and sticks it in the dishwasher and says, “No, I think me and Carley have it covered.” “Actually, I have to leave. Mom called and told me that Dad is home from his business trip. So I’ll see y’all later.” She says walking toward the door. “But Carley, this was your idea.” Ryan says from across the room. “Look I’m sorry, but Jodie is still here so she can help. Bye.” She says then takes off her apron and walks out the door. Jodie turns on her stool to face Ryan then. “Well I guess it’s just me and you then.” he says to Jodie, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah I guess it is.”

“Well that took longer than I thought it would.” Ryan says wrapping his fingers around a plastic cup of water. “It sure did.” Jodie says. “Hey it’s only 10 o’clock, why don’t we do something?” “Like what?” “How bout we go dancing. I know this club nearby. And they don’t serve any alcohol. Would you like to go?” “Um I’d love to but I’d like to change first.” “Yeah that’s fine. I’d like to change as well, I’m pretty sure I have coffee stains on this shirt.” She laughed and walked toward the door. “Yeah I think I see a couple.” He smiles and walks out the door, Jodie following him.

Jodie goes inside and changes into a turquoise blue suede dress with black flats and pulls her sandy brown