I was jogging with my dog this morning when I saw John Archer at a street corner. He was sitting on a bike with one of his feet on the ground. "He's waiting for someone," I thought. John and I were both in the ninth grade. He was a basketball player on our school team and was very popular with many girls. But I never talked to him before. He was not my type.

John saw me, too. He smiled. For a moment I thought he was smiling at someone else. But he was not. "Hi, Mary Jones," he said to me. "You have a cute little dog." I smiled but did not say anything, because I did not know what to say. "I'm here waiting for you. Would you...would you like to go to the movies with me?" he asked. I was very surprised. I never thought he would do this, and I never thought about going out with him.

I said "no," of course. But he seemed nice and friendly. Maybe I would go to watch him play basketball some day.