The Greatest Accessories

A father tries to teach his son how to get a girl

My teenage son has had crushes before.  I can count a number of times when I caught him staring wide-eyed at girl oblivious to everything around him.  This time was different.  I arrived at Jon’s school a little early to pick him up. Having been a teenage boy myself, I knew to park as inconspicuously as possible.   He walked out of the entrance with a group of friends who truly looked like a bunch of mischievous delinquents, but while they were joking around, my son was focused on one thing.  That one thing that had captured his attention was about five foot four inches with dark brown hair and a presence about her that seemed enchanting.  Her group of friends was not as playful as the boys.  None of the girls even gave a glance over to them.   I could tell that Jon longed to go talk to her, but the moment was gone quickly as she disappeared into the exiting school crowd.  I was sure that many moments had been missed leaving Jon one step further away from getting to know this girl. 

“She’s pretty,” I stated as we pulled away from the school.  Jon quickly looked at me in horror.

“Who is pretty?” 

“The girl you were staring at.  Brown hair.  Beautiful smile.” 

Jon groaned.  Mentally, he was already refusing to talk to me about the issue.  I didn’t press the issue.  Our relationship was an open one; and since his mom was no longer in the picture, we had grown even closer.  We were about five minutes from home when he sighed.

“She doesn’t even know I exist.” 

“What’s her name?”

“Emily.  She’s really nice, but she hangs out with a bunch of snobs.”

“Have you talked to her?”  That questioned elicited a laugh.  Obviously, talking with her was out of the question.  I pulled the car up to our flat and put it in park.  “Jon, do you really like her that much.”

“I guess,” he shrugged.

“No.  No shrugging.  Honestly,” I said raising my eyebrow. He slowly nodded. “Okay, then I will make you a deal.  If you listen to me, I can guarantee you a date with her by the fall dance.”

“The fall dance!” Jon’s reaction was part disbelief and part nervousness.  I nodded.  Jon shook his head.  “That’s only three weeks away.”

“And I have a plan for each week,” I said.  “Here’s my deal.  If she goes with you as her date, you owe me whatever chores I need you to do for a month.  Any chores.”

“And if she doesn’t? Am I’m just going to live my life in shame?”

“No, son.  If my plan doesn’t work, when you get your license in a few months, I will get you a car.” 

Our agreement commenced right away.   I started the car and drove to the nearest shopping mall.  Growing up, I remember going shopping with my dad for brand new clothes.  All of my friends wanted the latest and coolest things, but I wanted to clothes that turned heads.  It was the secret to being seen as more than just a school boy.  Jon, at the moment, was just seen as a schoolboy.  Emily needed to see more than that in order for this plan to work. 
          Jon’s eyebrows raised slightly in concern when he saw the number of shirts and ties that we collected.  His frown grew deeper when we searched for shoes. 

“There is a phrase that goes ‘dress to impress’.  No one can impress 1% of the people 100% of the time.  Son, you need to learn to dress to de-stress.  When you dress nice and know you look good, you feel better.  You worry less about appearance.  No one can tell you any different than how you know you feel.”

The next day was the first football match for the school, and it was Jon’s first leg of our plan.  In between school and the match, most of the students hung around the field or at cafés around the school until the match began.  Jon knew that Emily and her friends hung out at Maggie’s.  I’m not sure how it happened, but Jon walked into Maggie’s dressed in a slim gray blazer with dark blue jeans and a white shirt with a dark blue tie. The goal was for him to walk in, say hi to Emily, and sit at a table near the girls without saying anything else.  Not only would Jon stand out at the casual hangout because of his attire, but he would evoke curiosity in Emily.  After several minutes, Jon stood up and left giving only Emily a nod and a smile. 

“What was supposed to happen?” Jon asked me that night.  “I expected her to run after me or at least find me at the football game.”

“Jon, what most boys don’t understand is that the greatest accessory you wear is patience.  Act desperate and rushed, and you'll look desperate and rushed. You know you look good; now own that.” 

For the next week, Jon made sure that everything he wore was sharp and crisp.  Every time he passed by Emily, he made sure to either say ‘hi’ or give her a nod and a smile.  But something else happened; something that I was hoping for.  The group of boys that Jon hung around with started to notice a difference in Jon’s appearance and attitude. They also noticed something that Jon did not. Students and teachers around the school were noticing Jon, too. Slowly, they started to change their look and attire to mimic his.

“When you go to the match today make sure that you sit near her group,” I told him one morning.  “And bring a jacket-a nice comfortable one. You know what you need to dress yourself, but now you need to pay attention to what you need to dress her.  Being a gentleman is a lost art.  Most men wait to be asked to be one; a real man does it with no hesitation.”

Jon did as I suggested. His group of friends cheered and paid attention to the field.  Jon paid attention to Emily and waited until he saw her shiver a little.  Without hesitation, he moved over to her.

“I noticed you seemed a little cold,” Jon said while taking off his jacket. “Here.” 

He didn’t wait for her to respond, but simply wrapped the jacket around her shoulders and moved back to his seat.  After the match, Emily approached him.

“You didn’t have to give me your jacket,” she said softly. “I don’t think anyone has ever done that for me.”

“I just thought you might want something to keep you warm,” Jon smiled.  Emily nodded and returned the smile.  She gave the jacket back and started to turn back to her friends who Jon now noticed were looking at her and whispering.  Emily bounced once on her tip-toes before turning back to Jon again.

“Okay, so, I’m really nervous about this,” she admitted, “but my friends told me that I shouldn’t be a coward and just ask you.”

“Ask me?”  It still wasn’t registering in Jon’s mind as Emily stood there nervously trying to piece words together.

“Yeah.  You’re so--well, I figured you would already have a date to the fall dance, but if you don’t yet,” Emily bit her lip.  Jon put a finger to his lips.  This was the signal I had told him to wait for.  Patience had won out. 

“Jon, always make her feel like she is the most coveted accessory that you want,” I had told him.  “You’ll always win that way.”

There he was with his finger on his lips.  Emily stopped talking and waited. Jon took a deep breath.

“Emily, I actually wouldn’t want to go to this dance with any girl but you.” 

So, did my plan work?  Let’s just say that Jon had plenty of time to spend with Emily outside of the many chores I had been writing down for him to complete since the beginning.  The car did come eventually, but what my son gained first was the greater gift.

Author's Note

I was given the task to write a story for a fashion journal. I decided to have fun with it.

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahahaha smart ol' dog you are ...could have lost a car full of money sir! ;) i had fun reading this .. i am 68 yrs old, so you can understand that if my dad ever asked me to go shopping for clothes i would have dropped dead right there ... but you are involved of all kinds of public appearing things so it makes sense you would come up with such an innocent teen presentation for the journal .. my mom and dad both taught me to be the gentleman ..by word and mostly by the way they treated each other .. your story brought many fine memories of those days .. i was a single dad for my 4 children so i did shop with all of them once a year for school clothes ..always on a budget .. if they wanted something "trendy spendy" they had to earn it .. there are a few minor editing things that you will catch if you read it again .. but overall easy reading with a fine story ..almost Norman Rockwellian :)
E.

[A.C. Jones]

thanks!! I did a little more editing on it. This was copied and pasted; so I missed a few things.

[JKennings]

Had a grin the entire time reading this! My dad used to always quote ZZ Top, "every woman loves a sharp dressed man." Too stubborn to have listened back then! Kudos!

[Old Iron Shark]

I loved it and agree. Most men and boys are no longer taught or shown how to be a gentleman.

[Tamara]

This was amazing and I loved the chivalry. I hope many guys nowadays can learn this lesson as well to get a girl. His innocence is so adorable and the title is just perfection!