Aarg and the Question He Didn’t Ask
Aarg had a crush on Sammy. Lately, he could lift almost anything except his voice when Sammy was nearby. At the gym, Aarg rehearsed asking Sammy to go to the park. Each practice question came out sounding like a complaint about the park.
Jim and Bob were there too. Jim began a song about Aarg leaving weights on the floor. Bob added a chorus of pig noises. “Put the weights away,” Rramon told Aarg after tripping over one. “Watch where you’re going,” Aarg snapped. Aarg moved the weight, but only far enough to stop Rramon pointing at it.
Sammy arrived while Aarg was practising a sentence under his breath. “What did you say?” Sammy asked Aarg. “Nothing,” Aarg replied. Then Aarg lifted something much heavier than he had planned to lift. Sammy waited. Aarg wished Jim and Bob would stop watching. He also wished Sammy would keep watching.
Darlene came over. “Were you going to ask Sammy something?” she asked Aarg. Aarg’s face went hot. “Did I ask you to help?” he snapped at Darlene. Darlene picked up her bag. “I was only asking,” she said. “Well, don’t,” Aarg replied. She left. He watched her go and stayed angry, although now he was angry about several things at once.
“I’m heading out,” Sammy told Aarg. “Fine,” Aarg replied. That was not what Aarg wanted to say. From a television by the desk, a pig announced a special offer on Advanced Snorting. Jim copied the pig. Bob laughed. Sammy said goodbye, and Aarg still had not asked about the park.
After Sammy left, Aarg told Jim and Bob their song was rubbish. He stayed at the gym until the keeper finished closing. Darlene did not come back. On the way out, Aarg picked up the weight he had left by the door. He put it beside another door.
