- Taylor's POV -
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“Jamie!” I yelled. “Come here!”
I heard my best friend’s sigh as she came to the bathroom to inspect yet another outfit. I knew I was overthinking, but this was my first date and I wanted it to be good if not perfect.
“It looks fine,” Jamie said, leaning against the doorframe. “I love it.”
“You said that about the last outfit.”
She threw up her hands. “Girl, just pick out some clothes! If he’s anything like Aiden, he’ll take a look at your outfit, think ‘nice,’ and not think another thing about it the rest of the time.”
I laughed and inspected my outfit in the mirror. I was wearing a short plaid skirt with a crop top. It didn’t feel right, somehow. Might be because it’s Jamie’s. She looks better in preppy stuff. Plus, I don’t want to look like I’ve spent an hour on my clothes. Because I have.
“Yep, I’m just going to go with my usual,” I decided.
“Spice it up a little,” Jamie suggested. She fluffed up my hair, which I had left down, and I swatted her away. “Go for the leggings, but wear a flannel and put up your hair in two low ponytails. And wear that cute red flannel you never wear.”
I pictured the outfit in my head. It did sound cute.
And it was. Jamie helped me choose some simple silver earrings and fixed up my ponytails for me. Somehow they looked better when she did them.
I checked out the final result in the mirror. I looked casual and relaxed. It was perfect. “Thank you, Jamie.” I grinned. “You’re the best.”
She leaned against the doorframe again, smiling at me. “Any time, girl. You’re gonna do great. Just be yourself.”
Nervous butterflies chose that moment to start mixing up my insides. I took a deep breath, fluttering my fingers. “Alright. I can do this. It’s gonna be fine.”
“Of course it is. Now go on!” Jamie pointed at the clock. “You don’t want to be late for the first date!”
I gave a small yelp and grabbed my purse and keys. “If you want you can stick around, you know where the food is, I’ll call you when I get home!” My last few words were probably lost in the sound of the front door slamming behind me.
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When I arrived, I screamed behind my hand to let out some tension and then got out of my car, nearly shutting my purse in the door. My eyes searched for Henry as I walked in. He wasn’t there. Great, I thought, mentally hitting myself over the head. He’s the one taking you out, and you’re here before him. Congratulations, you’ve already screwed up.
“Looking for someone?” There was a smile evident in the deep voice behind me. I turned on my heel to look up into Henry’s blue-green eyes. He was smiling.
My brain ceased to function. I must have had a dazed expression on my face, because he took my arm and led me over to the table in the corner of the Starbucks. A barely active part of my mind registered that it was the same table Brandon and his blond friend had used. My brain was fuddled—he had a hold of my arm—mayday mayday this is not good, I’m already flustered and I haven’t even sat down yet, he’s touching me, help, what do I say—
“So…” Henry looked around. “Nice Starbucks.”
“Yeah.” I winced at my voice crack. “Yeah, it’s cool. It’s fun to work at.”
“I bet.” He dug his wallet out of his pocket. “Hey, what do you want to drink, hmm? Do you want anything to eat?”
I blinked at his sudden subject change. “Oh, I can pay for myself, don’t worry.”
“Pshhh.” Henry shook his head and smiled at me. “Nah. I’m the one treating you here. I insist.”
I was too flattered to protest, so I told him to surprise me with a drink. The butterflies were making quite a ruckus in my stomach. Calm down, Taylor, I lectured myself firmly. This is not a big deal. Just a date. He probably doesn’t even like you. He’s just bored and you’re gullible. Chill.
I saw Henry standing in line talking to my coworker Kara. I was surprised to feel a twinge of jealousy. I barely know him, and I’m already getting jealous when I see him even looking at another girl? Wow. I’m so shallow.
She is really pretty, though…
I shook my head. I needed to chill. I set myself to the simple task of reciting the formula for third order differential equations. That mostly kept my mind off of Henry. Mostly.
When he came back, he had two iced coffees and a bag of something. Curious as to what was in the bag, I surprised myself by smiling and poking at it. “What’s in here?”
He winked and my heart did a flip flop. What am I, a schoolgirl?! “It’s a secret,” he said, sliding me my drink. “Something fun for us to share.”
I calmed down. A little. “What did you get me?”
“A mocha latte.”
“Mmm.” I sipped it. It was delicious. “Alright, I’ve gotta know. Seriously, what’s in the bag?”
Adding great flourishes and drama, Henry pulled two slices of lemon pound cake out of the bag. “Tada!” he exclaimed. “It’s my favorite. I hope you like it…”
He sounded a little scared I wouldn’t, so I reassured him that I most certainly did love lemon pound cake. He’s even more frightened than me, I thought. That’s…actually kinda cute.
We drifted into conversation. He told me about his family--his dad owned a large business and he had two younger sisters, one 15 and one 18 years old. I smiled at that. Guys with sisters were pretty attractive for some reason. It might be fun to get to know his sisters too. He liked playing sports for fun, reading classic literature, and drinking coffee early in the morning. Henry explained that he was going to major in accounting at what I recognized was a very, very expensive college. He sounded like he had his whole life planned out. I felt lame.
After he told me about him and his family, Henry sat back in his seat and broke off a piece of pound cake. “Now,” he said, munching on the cake, “you have to tell me about you.”
“Well.” I took a sip of my coffee. It was so good. “I have three younger siblings. Isaac and Elijah are seven years old and Emilie is two. My dad runs a graphic design company.” I saw Henry’s facial expression change, but I couldn’t place the emotion, so I moved on. “My parents are…well, I’m pretty sure they’re about to separate. My dad is a jerk.” My voice turned bitter.
Henry reached out and put a hand on one of mine. “I’m so sorry,” he said, looking into my eyes. He looked so…genuine. “That must be terrible.”
“I just wish my dad wasn’t such a jerk.” I shook my head. “I’m sure it’ll all be okay, though. We’ve just got to work through it. But anyways. That’s depressing. Let’s talk about something happy.”
Henry opened his mouth to say something, and at that moment, Brandon walked up.
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(wow folks, the SAT and everything else happened and wow)
(also trench dropped and i am shooketh)
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