First Times

The first time they went on a date

The first time they went on a date,  Lisa pulled up at Jennie's apartment 30 minutes early.
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I can do this.

I got this.

Okay. I got this.

Okay. Let's go.

She'd been sitting rooted in the driver's seat for the past 10 minutes, trying to convince herself to get out of the car and cross the street to Jennie's apartment. But her hand had apparently decided to declare sovereignty from the rest of her body, because as much as she willed it to pull the latch all it did was tap against the steering wheel incessantly.

After a brief mental battle, she finally managed to make it out of her car. Her hands were sweating bullets by the time she got across the street, and she was sure she left a sweaty handprint on the metal door handle as she pulled open the glass door. The security guard glanced up when he saw her enter, and she gave him a shaky smile, wiping her hands nervously before handing him the bundle.

"Thanks again for helping me out, mister."

The guard sitting behind the security counter took the bundle and gave her a friendly smile before turning back to the camera monitors.

"No problemo, girlie. I've always been a sentimental sap anyways."

He'd seen Lisa walking Jennie home a few times before. And he'd watched on his security cameras as Jennie nearly bounced off the walls in uncontainable joy as soon as the elevator doors closed. So when Lisa had approached him earlier in the week with her plan, he gladly agreed.

"Go get her, tiger," he gave her a thumbs up before the elevator doors slid closed. Lisa wished she had half the confidence that he seemed to have about this entire situation.

Was everything ready? She went over her mental checklist for the umpteenth time that day, counting on her fingers to make sure she hadn't missed anything. She checked the time on her phone. 6:43pm. Jennie wasn't expecting her until 7. She took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves.

The elevator dinged and came to a stop, doors opening to let a girl who looked about Lisa's own age to get on. They shared a polite smile and the girl punched in the main foyer button.

They rode down in silence, the girl turning her head to glance at Lisa every couple of seconds. Lisa wasn't sure how to react until the doors slid back open and the girl stepped out. She turned back around to face Lisa and held the elevator doors open with her foot.

"You're Lisa, aren't you?"

"I...what?" Lisa pointed to herself, eyes wide. She'd never met this girl before. The girl nodded, an amused smile on her lips, and Lisa nodded hesitantly back. "How do you know my name?"

"Jennie hasn't been able to stop talking about you for weeks. I feel like I've practically known you as long as she has."

Lisa had no idea what to say, so she just nodded back mutely. The girl laughed and winked at her, "She's been ready since 6, so you might as well go up now."

"Oh, uh, okay."

"And Lisa?"

"Uhm, yeah?"

She drew back her foot, and as the elevator doors closed slowly, she said, "We live on the 9th floor. You might want to press the button with the 9 on it. Elevators usually work better if you press a button."

Lisa took the girl's advice. And then turned and slammed her head repeatedly against the elevator wall. Apparently she was doomed to a life of terrible first impressions.