Ocean Eyes . Jonathan Brandis

Seventeen

The date.

6 o'clock had come and I was hoping that maybe Jared would blow me off. I was ready to go and waiting downstairs. Lily was over at the Brandis' again and I was anxiously listening for a car to pull in the driveway. I didn't know how to act tonight or how it would go but all I could think about was Jon seeing me with Jared. There was a knock at my door, startling me. I take a deep breath before opening it. "Hi," Jared reveals his award winning smile. "Hi," I force one back awkwardly. "Your parents here?" He looks confused. "Nope, they're at the hospital," I say walking past him and shutting the front door behind me. I really just wanted to get the night over with. "Hey wait," he rushes to catch up with me on the way to his car. "Are they okay?" He asks, worried. "Oh yea, they um, work there," I come up with something not wanting to go into detail about the real reason. "Oh," he was confused. He opens the passenger side door for me and I get in. After he settled in the drivers seat he looks over at me. "Are you okay?" He raises an eyebrow. "You seem a little off," he looks worried. "Just a little nervous. I kinda lied about not being afraid of horror films," I shrug making up another lie. "Well," he didn't seem to know what to say. "You look beautiful," he gives me an assuring smile. Why was he such a nice guy? "Thank you," I sigh but add an assuring smile as well.

On the way to the drive in, Jared tried to create conversation as much as possible. I knew all of my blunt replies were raising suspicion but I just wasn't very good at lying. Once we got a good spot at the drive in, Jared went to go buy us popcorn and sodas. So far, he was a real gentlemen. Which only made me hate myself more for doing this. I tried not to attract too much attention but it was hard since Jared drove a bright red convertible and everyone knew about it. He usually rode with Hudson to school but every once in a while he'd take his car. After arriving back he gave me the popcorn along with a Hershey's bar he had gotten me. I laughed at him as he handed it to me with the most proud smirk. "What? Girls love chocolate," he defends. "I may not be the biggest fan, but thank you," I smile. He looked shocked but amused as well. "I knew you weren't like most girls," he says reaching into his pocket. "So I grabbed a bit of everything just in case," he says pulling out licorice, air heads, and some red hots. "Jared!" I couldn't help but laugh. "You've got to like airheads," he looks worried. "I do, but keep the red hots away from me," I make him laugh. "Don't have to tell me twice," he tosses them in the back. "Who actually likes those?" He says making me laugh. "Now this is the Grace I know," he says with an admiring stare. I calm down from laughing after noticing. I don't say anything. "What's been up with you? You barely even looked at me the whole ride here," he asks with disappointment. I didn't know what to say. I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore. It just reminded me that I was a horrible person. "I'm okay, really. Look, the movie is starting," I give him an assuring smile. He doesn't push the question any further, which I appreciated very much.

Throughout the movie I could sense Jared getting uncomfortable during some parts since he'd cringe or readjust so that he could glance at something else. It was actually more entertaining than the actual movie. Occasionally, he'd take a deep breath. He really didn't respond well to cannibalism. Once the movie ended and the credits rolled, car horns erupted. Jared looks at me with a relieved smile. "You okay?" I try not to tease him too much. "You kidding? I thought it would never end," he lets out a nervous laugh.

We were interrupted by someone calling Jared's name outside his window. Someone in a truck had pulled up beside him. He rolled his window down, probably recognizing them. "A few of us are headed to Phillies, you comin?" A boy, who I recognized from the varsity team, asks Jared. "Uh..." Jared looks over to me. "You wanna go? It's up to you," he asks me. "Yea, why not?" I force a smile. I knew Jonathan would be there but this was the plan after all, right? "We'll head over there in a minute," Jared tells them and they speed off to deliver their next invitation, probably.