Peanut Butter

            The paste stuck to the roof of her mouth, her inner cheeks, her tongue, and her lips and fingers. The salty flavor made her wrinkle her nose in annoyance and smack her tongue against the roof of her mouth, like one would see a dog do if they were given peanut butter. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this.

            The hot July air made her sweaty and sticky, the hot wind didn’t help, but she was grateful for the spaghetti strap thing blue shirt and denim shorts that went half way down her thighs. Her flip-flops dangled off her foot as she sat against the tree, lying against the tree really. Her back was slouched and was half on the tree and half on the grass, one leg bent over the other, toes in the air.

            Her date wasn’t what she had expected either. He was as disappointing as the peanut butter that had oozed out of her PB&J from the heat. His name was Alexander, he was golden-haired, bronze skinned, and lean enough to be a swimmer. But he had the personality of an anti-social gamer who didn’t want to leave technology for more than a piss break. Every twenty-five seconds he would check his phone, and not for the time, but to see who was the latest tweeter.

            Sighing, Sasha finished the peanut butter on her fingers, the salty flavor making her think of the sweat rolling down her neck. She wanted a shower very badly. Taking a sip of the apple juice that they had brought, because Alexander didn’t drink alcohol and Sasha didn’t drink soda, she washed down the salt with sweet and finished her sandwich.

            Alexander was reading his twitter feed out loud, laughing at some of the posts, scolding others, and Sasha felt like this was the longest flop of a date she had ever been on. The summer air exhausted her, her date exhausted her, and the peanut butter exhausted her. It was like there was no end in sight to the exhausting day that she was now having. At least until she saw the yellow balloon elevating in the sky.

            Following its trail up, she wondered where it had come from, and stood up. Her date kept reading his twitter. Moving towards where the balloon had started to rise, she saw it. Something that would release her from her date, and the dullness of her summer day. A water themed carnival.

            It looked like it had just been set up, spare of the moment, and she looked over at her date to ask him to join her. She could at least attempt to not be a bitch. But he was still latched to his phone, so she shrugged and left. She got soaked, she got laughed at and she laughed at others. She had fun. They had melted peanut butter cups, she partook, and the salty peanut butter latched to the roof of her mouth. She giggled and loved it.