entrenous88:

Thanks
for asking about Direction to Perfection!  I flailed around for a little wondering what
Chris and Zach would remember most about their pre-dating/pseudo-dating time.  But then I started to wonder what Jeffy might recall about getting to know Zach.  

One
off-screen (but partially referenced) moment Jeffy will remember for a long
while happened just after they had to hot tail it out of the movie theater (remember,
when Jeffy had a meltdown because the aggravating woman sitting in the row
ahead of them not only interrupted Zach and Chris’s almost-kiss but woke Jeffy
up from his nap?).  

On
the sidewalk outside, his dad had said they should probably be getting home, “Because
I think this one needs some quiet time.” Jeffy had nearly started to wail
at the unfairness of it all; he’d missed most of the movie, and he’d barely
gotten to see Zach.  But Zach had caught his attention when he
patted his pockets like he was searching around and said, “Wait,
buddy, I just remembered: I’ve got something for you.”  When Jeffy had stopped mid-inhale/pre-shriek
in surprise, Zach had taken his hand out of his jacket pocket and unfolded his
fingers to show two of Jeffy’s tiny trucks.

Jeffy
had started to grab them back tearfully.
But then he’d stopped and looked up at Zach watching him and waiting
patiently.  And he’d mumbled, “One
is for you to have,” and hidden his face against Chris’s leg.  

His
dad had laid a hand gently atop his head, and Zach had said, “Wow, seriously?”  When Jeffy had looked up, Zach was crouched
down on one knee so that he was at Jeffy’s eye-level.  "Which one should I hold on to?“
Zach had asked.  Jeffy had hesitated, his
hand hovering over the two trucks in the palm of Zach’s large hand.  He’d nearly reached for the green one; it was
shinier, and the red one had gotten a dent when Jeffy had thrown a rock at it
one time.  But then he’d glanced up at
his dad, who was smiling down at both of them with that soft look on his face he got
sometimes.  So Jeffy had said, “You can choose.”

Zach
had picked the red one.  "It’s my favorite color,” he had said when Jeffy made a surprised sound.

When
they parted later (because for some reason his dad didn’t make them leave right
away after all), Zach had waved and held up the truck in his hand, like a
little reminder that he would keep hold of it.
So Jeffy had raised the red one in return before he waved back.  His dad had put him up on his shoulders and
they had headed home together, the green truck clutched tightly in Jeffy’s hand the
whole way.