7812jk+Norman+Rockwell+Story

Soda Jerk James

This is the best job ever. Free soda. Free ice cream. Frequent ladies.

“Hey Girls,” I said, greeting, Hannah,the redhead, Rachel, the blonde with the dog, and Esther, the brunette.”Want the usual? Vanilla with hot fudge for Hannah, mint-chocolate chip for Esther, and a frozen yogurt for Rachel and Scruffy.”

“Of course, Jason,” they all answered in unison.

All of them, even Scruffy the dog, had been coming here since the beginning of the summer vacation. “So, what’s up?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Esther said.

“Yeah, just hanging out,” Rachel confirmed.

“Well...” Hannah started.

“Shut up!” stage-whispered Rachel.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Oh, well there’s a dance in our summer camp and we were wondering if you would like to come,” Esther explained.

“Sure, when is it?” I asked.

“It’s on Thursday, at 8:00, in the cafeteria of Harrisburg High school,” informed Hannah.

"Great,” I lied. Thursday I was going to the reunion dance at my school where I was going to try to talk to this girl I like, Bess. But, I also think these girls were kinda cute. They are very mature for their age. I had a decision to make. Ice cream shop girls or Bess.

That Thursday, I went to the dance. The one at Harrisburg High School. I could always meet Bess during school. Also, a girl like her, she probably had a date.

We danced all night and had a great time. I was driving home when I realized that the dance at my school was still going on. “What the heck,” I told myself and drove right over to James Madison High.

Shockingly, Bess was standing in the corner crying. I ran over and asked, “Is everything okay? What happened?”

“He...” she sobbed, “he didn’t show up.”

“That’s okay,” I assured her. “I’m here now.”

“Yeah, I guess you are,” Bess said smiling. “Do you want to dance?”

“Sure,” I said casually, but inside I was blowing up! This is awesome! Uh, oh. Is the DJ playing a slow-dance song? I’ve never slow-danced before. What if I step on her feet?

Weird enough, I was a great slow-dancer. I even led her!

“Wow, you’re really good at this,” Bess said, just as surprised as me. That was, by far, the best night of my life.

For the rest of the summer, I worked at the ice cream parlor and talked with Hannah, Rachel, and Esther. But I hung out with Bess. She even started coming to the parlor and became friends with Hannah, Rachel, and Esther. Once school started, I had to say goodbye to the ice cream parlor, but I always remembered that summer.

The summer I was the soda jerk. (Jason punches the air in a freeze-frame and Don’t You Forget About Me dramatically plays in the background)

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