Timothy’s Terrible Prompt Stories - 56. Prompt 563 Oh, God! What should I do?

“Oh, God! What should I do?"

“Calm down, Tobias. It’s no big deal,” Mitch said.

“But she’s real pretty and clever and…and there’s no way she’d want to go on a date with me!”

Rob face-palmed himself while Jasper chuckled and Mitch sniggered. The four teens were in the showers after baseball practice, with Mitch and Tobias facing him and the redhead. Rob had been pleased to see Tobias act completely natural and carefree about them all being naked, wet and sudsy. He didn’t even check out Jasper’s admittedly impressive package or stare at Rob when he deliberately showed off his washboard abs and well-shaped biceps.

However, now he knew it was because Tobias was lost in his own thoughts about Veronica, who must have made quite an impression on him last week. Well, Amy was good-looking as well as a nice person, so with any luck her sister was the same. And with Tobias being a junior, the age difference wasn’t a problem. Rob would be more than pleased if Veronica transferred her crush to Tobias, and he was going to do his best to bolster the dark-haired teen’s confidence.

“Dude, why wouldn’t she want to date a hot baseball player like you?”

Tobias went bright-red and mumbled something inaudible, which had Mitch rolling his eyes. Rob quirked an eyebrow at the senior pitcher, who shrugged. But he seemed on-board with the idea of prodding Tobias, which was probably why he’d mentioned Amy and her sister asking about his teammate.

“Ronnie, I mean Veronica, thinks you’re good-looking,” he said casually, and Tobias’ head jerked around to his teammate, who obliged with a slow reveal of his girlfriend Amy’s information about her sister’s good opinion of Tobias.

Rob had finally worked out Tobias lacked confidence, and perhaps his glances at other guys had been feeding a budding inferiority complex, which should never have developed. OK, so maybe the junior wasn’t as hung as Jasper, as muscular as Mitch, or as handsome as Rob himself, but few guys were. However, charming looks were nothing special to be proud of. Rob’s dad had long ago made both his sons aware of his belief in ‘handsome is as handsome does.’

He’d reinforced his views with selected and heavily edited tales of the teens he met via his work as a psychologist. Plenty of them had been affected by what Mr. Perry called ‘the beauty obsession,’ either in themselves or others. Some were teens with eating disorders, mostly girls, but boys too. Others had depression or anxiety added to physical damages after accidents or illness, because they felt – and in many case were – less attractive to eyes judging only on superficial matters.

Relatives and friends of the family had been repeatedly told that remarks on the Perry brothers’ cuteness when younger or handsome looks when older were acceptable, but their parents would prefer to hear praise for polite manners, hard work, or good deeds. Once, Rob’s dad had caught him vigorously defending a ten-year-old playmate, who suffered from a bad squint. Rob hadn’t been aware of the adult audience, which included the other boy’s mother, when he berated two older kids who had made his friend cry with their cruel teasing on the playground.

It still made him cringe a bit when his dad repeated his words with relish to other people, but at the time he’d enjoyed coming up with something cutting to say. “You’re so stupid. When one eye looks in another direction you can spot the bad guys round the corner better and shoot two robbers at once. And my daddy says people who make fun of a nice guy like Ronnie have black hearts, pea brains and micro dicks.” OK, maybe his dad hadn’t said the part about dicks, but Rob had been on a roll.

The other boys were wonderfully insulted, and they had no chance to retaliate, because Ronnie’s mom chose that moment to appear from behind the bushes. She’d been really cool, simply telling her son it was time to go home, but the angry looks she gave the bullies informed them she would remember their faces. Rob had followed them and he was slightly dismayed to find his father waiting out of sight. One look at the way his dad was trying not to laugh calmed him down, and the firm clasp on his shoulder, coupled with a proud look on the way home, dispelled all worries about a parental rebuke.

“What are you grinning about, Rob?” Jasper’s voice pulled him out of his memories.

“Huh? Oh, I was just remembering when my dad bought me my first great baseball bat.” That reward had been appreciated and much used.

“A baseball bat? You’re chubbing up thinking about a baseball bat?” Everyone within hearing distance broke out laughing.

“Huh?” Rob looked down to see he was definitely on his way to be half-erect. “Nah, this bat has a mind of his own, and he’s been feeling neglected for a while. Any excuse to get some attention.”

“Aww, poor Rob,” Jasper teased, as they made their way out of the showers to the locker room.

“Shut up, Jazz. You’ve got Carolyn, Mitch is dating Amy, and Tobias has Veronica drooling over him.”

“And I bet your brother has Nelson going cross-eyed with love. Those two are completely head-over-heels.”

Rob shared an eye-roll with the redhead, and Mitch sniggered again. “Yeah, tell me about it…no wait, don’t.” Rob returned to the important subject at hand. “Anyway, are you going to invite Amy’s sister to the Junior Prom, Tobias?”

“Ah, well, uhm,” Tobias stuttered, but then he got a look of determination on his face. “I’m going to call her this afternoon and ask if she want to see a movie with me on Friday night. Or perhaps we can meet up after the game on Saturday.”

“Tell her Amy and I will join you on a double-date on Friday if their parents are reluctant to let her go alone,” Mitch told him.

“That would be cool. Those two are close, aren’t they?”

“Yes, and let me tell you Amy’s quite protective of her baby sister. You’re the first guy she’s approved of as dating material for Ronnie.”

“Yeah?” Tobias’s whole face lit up in a smile.

“Dude, any sibling would approve of you for their kid sister,” Jasper told him. “You’re nice, handsome but not vain, unlike some we could mention.” He flicked his towel at Rob, who managed to jump out of the way.

“Oy, cut it out, carrot head. But you’re right about Tobias being a good catch and match for Veronica. If she’s anything like Amy she’ll need a clever, patient and hot baseball player.”

“Don’t you say anything bad about my girlfriend,” Mitch began, but then a slow grin spread on his face. “Dude, did you just call me hot?”

“Yup, I have on good authority you’re smoking hot where it counts.”

“You mean Amy?” Mitch frowned, half-confused and half-flattered.

“Nah, but I’m sure she’ll say the same about your action on the mound. Coach says it’s getting hotter all the time. Why, were you thinking of something else?”

Rob did his best to smile with innocent surprise, when Mitch flipped him off with a growl; Jasper and Tobias chuckled.

“Anyway, Jazz and I have to go pick up the lovebirds at the drama club. Good luck on inviting Ronnie out, and when you take her to the Prom, you can hang out with the cool gang led by Sir Traffic Cone here. Don’t forget, you two are going to be the senior pitcher and catcher next year.”

“I thought the lovebirds would get that award.” Jasper grinned as they left. “At least outside the diamond.”

“Yeah, I bet they will both walk funny after the Prom, if not before.”

“Yikes, TMI. Dude, TMI.”

  to droughtquake for inspiration and AC Benus for a fast edit.