"Oranges" by Gary Soto is a sweet, simple poem about the narrator's first date at the age of 12. In cold December weather, he goes to the girl's house to pick her up. She comes out smiling, her face touched with rouge, a type of makeup. The poet is carrying two oranges in his jacket pocket. He disposes of one of the oranges in the first stanza of the poem, and the other orange in the second stanza.

The narrator has a nickel and wants to buy the girl some candy, and so they walk together to the drugstore. When they go inside, he encourages the girl to pick out what she wants. To his dismay, however, she selects a piece of chocolate that costs 10 cents, and he only has five cents. Instead of saying anything to the girl, though, he walks up to the counter and attempts to pay for the chocolate with his nickel and one of the oranges. As the poet writes:

And when she lifted a chocolate
That cost a dime,
I didn't say anything.
I took the nickel from
My pocket, then an orange,
And set them quietly on
The counter.

Fortunately for the poet, the shopkeeper accepts the orange in lieu of the extra five cents, and the poet is able to purchase the chocolate for the girl and avoid an awkward scene. Outside, they walk hand in hand for a few blocks, and then they stop for the girl to unwrap the chocolate. While she does that, the boy peels and eats the remaining orange. The poet writes:

I took my girl's hand
In mine for two blocks
Then released it to let
Her unwrap the chocolate.
I peeled my orange...

The poem ends at that point, while the poet is unpeeling the remaining orange. We assume that as he eats it, he would have offered to share it with the girl.