The Dating Debacle
“Does this shirt look too fancy with these pants?” I
inquired as I contorted my body, my back facing the mirror as I tried to get a
better angle, observing the combination in the mirror. My tight black jeans
offsetting the loose-fitting emerald blouse. “No, it looks fine.” came the
disinterested reply, my older sister Katie not even bothering to look up from
her phone. Her dark brown bangs covered what little I could see of her face. “Ughhh”
I groaned, exasperated, “you can’t tell me how good I look if you’re not even
going to look at me!” Katie finally lifted her head to glance up at me, almost
immediately dropping her gaze back to a scene from Keeping up with the Kardashians. “You look cute” she offered.
Finally satisfied I snatched my black, leather satchel from its position draped
over the back of my chair and clambered through the carnage of rejected
outfits. I looked at the clock and gasped at the glowing time. “He’s almost
here!” I screeched scrambling to shove my feet into the closest pair of black
flats. A knock on the door stilled my frenzied motion. “Oh no” I breathed. I
quickly shoved my second foot into the shoe and laced it. I ran to the door and
yanked it open.
“Hello,” I gasped, breathing harder than usual. “Hi.”
Garrett, my date for the evening, returned the greeting. “Are you ready to go?”
He asked. With a nod I pushed past him, pulling the door closed behind me. I
desperately hoped he hadn’t noticed how flustered I was. As we made our way to
his car, I quickly patted my curly, brown hair into place. “Are you excited for
the movie?” He asked opening the car door for me. “Of course,” came my hesitant
reply. I had absolutely no idea what this movie was nor did I have an interest
in seeing it, but I wasn’t about to suggest we derail the entire evening. “So,
I was thinking Café Rio for dinner. Is that okay?” Garrett asked, glancing in
my general direction. I silently cursed, thinking about the sweet pork burrito from
the same establishment settled on the top shelf of my fridge, reminiscent of
the previous day’s ventures. “Ya, sounds good to me,” I agreed. We pulled up to
the restaurant, parked, and then walked in. While we were standing in line
waiting to order, I nervously fidgeted with my shirt. I pulled it down to cover
the top of my jeans and rolled up the sleeves. I bit my lip. “Should I get the
salad or the burrito?” I asked anxiously, watching the line in front of us
dwindle. I hadn’t yet reached a decision when an associate asked, “what can I
get for you?” “I’ll have the chicken tostada.” Garrett answered, then turned to
me, his head tilted and one eyebrow raised. “I’ll have the same” I replied, shrugging
my shoulders. After grabbing the hot meals off the trays, Garrett turned to
face me asking, “Where would you like to sit?” I looked at the wide expanse of
options at my disposal and my eyes widened at the overwhelming array of seats. “Anywhere
is good,” I replied. We made our way to
a table near the back of the restaurant and I sat across from him. I wondered
if I should’ve taken the seat next to him instead.
Once we finished eating, we made our way back to his
car. The rest of the night passed by in
a blur, with me intermittently biting my lip and fidgeting as we talked. As the
night came to a close, he dropped me off at the door step. I hurriedly wrapped
my arms around his neck in a hug and then stepped away. I opened the door,
stepping inside and ducking my head as I quietly expressed my thanks for the
fun night. “Ya thanks so much for saying yes. It was way fun,” he agreed. “Well
bye.” I said, shutting the door. The breath I’d been holding the whole night
came out in a sigh of relief. I rubbed my eyes in exasperation thinking about
all the awkward and dumb things I’d uttered throughout the duration of the
night. I groaned thinking about seeing him at school the following Monday.
“Did you have fun on your date last
night?” My mother asked giving me a quick hug before repositioning herself on
the wooden stool next to the counter. I cringed. “Ya, it was great.” I replied,
shoulders shrugging, my eyes downcast. She reached over and tilted my chin
upwards, forcing my eyes to meet hers. “Tell me about it,” she softly inquired.
I sighed pushing her finger away and resting my head against the granite
countertop. “I didn’t know how to act around him the entire time! I was
wondering what he was thinking the entire time! I didn’t want him to think I
was super pushy or opinionated so I wanted him to decide literally everything.”
The stream of words just kept coming. “And I know I should act normal, but I
really want him to like me!” My head came up from the counter to ascertain what
my mother thought of these words. My mother stared back at me thoughtfully and
finally rested her hand on my shoulder. “Honey, I think you’re focusing on who
you think he wants you to be instead of just being yourself.” “But what if he
doesn’t like me?” I countered. My mother patiently replied, “that is completely
fine. You will find someone one day who loves and accepts you for who you are.
The most important thing, however, is that you
like who you are.” My hand formed a fist under my chin to contemplate these
words. My eyes narrowed skeptically. “You are okay just as you are,” my mother
continued, “don’t worry about what he thinks about you. Just be you.” I nodded
repeating this new mantra in my head. “Thanks mom, you always know what to say”
I said giving her a tight squeeze. “They did let me graduate from mom school
and everything.” She joked, pulling out of my embrace to look me in the face.
“Just remember I love you more than you could possibly know. You’re a darling
girl.” “Thanks mom.” I repeated, pulling her back into an embrace.
* * * * * * * * *
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and then
eagerly bounded from my room into the living room. Melissa, my roommate, stared
up at me from her position beside the couch, her stomach resting on the floor,
her bent legs almost touching the ends of her blonde waves of hair. “Are you
excited for your date?” She asked repositioning herself into a sitting position.
I nodded and wondered if I should ask her if she thought my shirt was too
loose, but instead, I remembered that I thought my shirt looked great with my
pants. I straightened my back and pushed my shoulders back. “So what do you
have planned for the evening?” Melissa asked eagerly. “We’re going to play some games and then go
out for ice cream.” I replied. “That sounds like fun.” She asserted. “I know,”
I said grinning from ear to ear, “I suggested it.” A knock at the door signaled
my date’s arrival. My eyes widened and my mouth gaped open. My roommate
regarded my panicked reaction and laughed. “Would you like me to get the door?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Tell him I’ll be right there.” I answered,
calmly walking over to grab my shoes. I silently repeated the words I’d told
myself a hundred times before and took another calming breath. You’re okay. Just be yourself. Everything
will be fine. I looked at myself in the mirror again and squared my
shoulders.
“You look great!” My date greeted as I stepped into
the hallway. “Thank you.” I said, giving him a hug. “This is my roommate
Melissa and Melissa, this is my date Matt.” I introduced the pair. “Nice to
meet you.” They both welcomed in turn. With formalities taken care of, I looked
up at Matt and asked if he was ready to go. He smiled and said, “yes, let’s
head out.” We made our way to the door and walked into the basement of building
14. “Is pool okay?” Matt asked as he walked up to the equipment checkout
counter. “Yes! I love pool!” I answered enthusiastically practically skipping
to the table. After playing a few rounds, Matt asked, “would you rather play
ping pong or foosball next?” I weighed both options in my head, pursing my lips
in concentration. “I like foosball better, but either is just fine with me.” I
answered honestly turning to smile up at him. “If you want to lose badly I’d
suggest you go with foosball,” I boasted. His dark eyebrows arched up in
surprise, but then he checked my teasing expression and laughed. “Well, we’ll
just have to see about that.” He replied grinning.
After a
few more rounds of games we walked down to the creamery. While we stood in
line, Matt turned towards me and asked, “what would you like?” I looked at all
the options and resolutely replied, “definitely the mint brownie. What about
you?” His brows furrowed. “Hmmm…that’s a tough one.” He tapped his chin with
one finger. “Probably the salted caramel pretzel,” he finally decided. “An
excellent choice,” I praised smiling up at him. Once we got our delicious
confections Matt asked where I wanted to sit. “I prefer booths, but we can sit
wherever.” I suggested. “A booth it is.” He agreed. I strode confidently to a
free spot in the back and he followed close behind. We both sat down and began
talking. “So how are you liking school this semester?” He asked me. “Oh I love
it! I really love the atmosphere. If there’s one thing I could change it would
be starting class an hour later. I really need to get more sleep.” I looked up into
his eyes and smiled. “What about you?” I reciprocated. “No complaints here. I
completely agree with you about the sleep thing. It’s a real problem,” he
replied laughing.
We talked for another hour until we both agreed it was
getting late. Matt walked me back to my apartment and gave me a hug at the door.
I looked into his deep, hazel eyes and thanked him for a wonderful night. I wrapped
my arms around his neck once more and then turned away, firmly inserting my key
card into the door and striding inside, quickly glancing behind me, waving in farewell.
He waved back and started walking down the corridor. After the door had safely
swung shut, a small smile slowly spread across my face until it split into a
wide grin. I did a little dance, breathing out a sigh of content at a
wonderful, carefree night.
(Me and Matt)
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