Page 63 of The Dating Game

“Will,” she hisses, though I can see the pleasure my words brought her, “the kids.”

“Can’t hear me,” I say. I turn back to the two boys only to discover that they’ve both gotten out their phones and are holding them up with the Google docs app open to reveal giant numbers. Silas’s screen says 4.3 and Lee’s says 4.6.

“That’s out of ten,” Silas calls. “In case you were wondering. This is purely a reflection of him, Brooke,” he adds gleefully.

“Absolutely,” Lee agrees, nodding vigorously.

“Don’t you two have anything better to do tonight?” I ask them. “Like maybe go jump in an ocean?”

“Somebody’s a bit testy, Lee,” Silas booms. “He’s actually telling us to break the rules. He knows we’re not allowed to go swimming without a chaperone present and yet he’s telling us to go into the ocean. The wild, unforgiving seas.”

“I know, Silas,” Lee replies. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think he just wants us to go away, but surely a mission trip chaperone wouldn’t send us away just so he can keep kissing his girlfriend in peace. Although, I suppose Brooke is doing her own form of missional work, kissing him. That’s a good deed, right there.”

Silas can’t keep it together. He busts out laughing.

Brooke is struggling too. She grabs hold of my arm and buries her face in my shoulder, her body shaking against me with suppressed laughter. Any irritation I was feeling toward Silas and Lee melts away. I could get used to this, Brooke laughing into my shoulder like the two of us are a unit, like the spot next to me is always hers for the taking. No one else.

“Look at you,” I say to her in a teasing voice, “encouraging these two baboons.”

“Hey, I heard that!” Silas protests without any real offense in his tone. The two of them move closer to us. “And you should know that baboons are highly intelligent animals, so thank you for the flattering comparison.”

“Actually,” Brooke says, breaking her laughter to look up at me, eyes still shining with amusement, “baboons are only about as smart as a 3-year-old child.” She glances toward the boys, still approaching us. “It’s chimpanzees that are highly intelligent.”

“Another zoo fact?” I ask.

“I’m full of them,” she informs me with adorable pride. “Though most of them have to do with otters. I could wear a name tag that says, 'Ask me about otters,' and no one could stump me.”

I laugh.

“Otters are the coolest,” Silas enthuses, having gotten in range of having a conversation at normal volume.

“And also the cutest,” Brooke says.

“They are really cute,” Silas agrees. He hesitates then goes on in a tone far more serious than his usual joking one, “My dad loved otters.”

Brooke catches the past tense; I can tell by the way her shoulders tense, then release. “They are quite lovable,” she says, a note of compassion in her words. “They’re my favorite animal to watch at the zoo.”

“Yeah, when I was little my dad used to take me to the zoo and we’d watch the otters play for like an hour. My favorite was this one named Olive.”

“Oh yeah! Olive! She’s still there!” Brooke exclaims.

“No way? Really?” Silas grins, though it’s tinged with sadness. This side of heaven is a broken world, and Silas losing his dad five years ago to a heart attack is one major example of that. The fact that this otter continues to live while his father has long since passed has to leave a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

“She is indeed.” Brooke reaches up and touches him lightly on the arm. “You should go see her sometime.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Silas shrugs noncommittally, but I see the spark of interest in his eyes.

“Maybe you can get Will to go too,” she suggests, nudging me in the side. “I mean, I did once hear him say that zoos are for children, but I think he must’ve been hangry or low on sleep to say such a nonsensical thing. Right, Will?” She looks pointedly up at me, eyebrows raised in expectation, lips curved up in triumph.

“Something like that,” I agree, more than happy to give her this win. Especially since I truly was not in my right mind when I said that. “I’d love to go to the zoo sometime. Maybe we can do a youth group outing.”

Silas nods, shoving his hands into the pockets of his gym shorts. “Yeah, maybe.”

“How about sloths?” Lee pipes up. “They got sloths at our zoo?”

“Absolutely they do!” Brooke replies with enthusiasm. “Another ‘ask me’ button I could wear. Fun fact: Sloths are faster in water than they are on land.”

“You might have to come with us on this outing,” I tell her. “Be our tour guide.”

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