Monsters University - Truth behind the ROR frat

Chapter 21: Third Challenge

It was a cold and quiet evening in the Hardscrabble house, Joey was sitting with her aunt in the living room reading while she quietly sorted through papers. 

There was a knock at the door, they glanced up at each other before Joey stood, placing her book on the coffee table. 

"I'll get it," 

"Thank you, Dear," Abigail said with a smile, flipping through a large packet. 

Joey opened the door, gasping softly seeing Johnny standing on her front steps with a bouquet of flowers. 

"Johnny..." She said awkwardly, leaning back to peer into the sitting room, keeping her voice down. "What're you doing here? Has the next Scare Card arrived?" 

He shook his head with a smile, extending the flowers towards her. 

"Uh, no, I just wanted to see you," He gave a small smile. She took the flowers, smiling much bigger than she would have liked. 

"Josephine, whose at the-" Her aunt walked into the entranceway, her brow furrowed seeing Johnny standing there. "Mr. Worthington, this is a pleasant surprise, what brings you here?" 

"I was just asking him-" Joey started, feeling her face darken. 

"I was going to take Joey out on a date," He said bluntly, Joey and Abigail's head whipped towards him with wide eyes. "If that's alright with you Ma'am." 

"Hmm." Her aunt glared at him before turning to Joey, seeing the smile and blush on her face, Abigail softened her voice. "If that is what my niece wishes, you two may go,"

"Really?" They both asked in unison, her aunt smiled, taking the flowers from her hands. 

"Yes, now go before I change my mind. I'll put these in water for you when you return. Which will be at 11 PM." Her voice hardened at the last part, glaring at Johnny. 

"Uh, ok, I'll see you later," Joey said, walking down the stairs with Johnny. She waited till her aunt closed the door to hit him. 

"Ow, what was-" He said, rubbing his shoulder. 

"I hadn't told her yet! What were you thinking?" 

"I was thinking about taking my girlfriend out on an official date," He said with a smile, Joey looked away, smiling to herself. 

"Where are we going anyway?" 

"Just a walk, I wanted something simple 'cause the last few days have been pretty intense," He said. 

The sun had gone down, the moon shined down on the sidewalk beneath them.  The stars were bright and full, spread across the dark sky, with no clouds in sight. 

"Why aren't you wearing my sweater?" Johnny asked, seeing Joey put her hands into her gray sweater. 

"I'm washing it, I don't wear it 24/7." Joey chuckled, glancing at him. "Did you think I've been wearing it for the past few weeks without washing it?" 

"It wasn't that I thought you hadn't washed it, I just figured you really liked it," He said with a smile, they shared a small laugh. 

Johnny reached his hand towards her pocket, she took his hand in hers, interlacing their fingers and stuffing both hands into her sweater. 

"Hey, so, I get my cast off tomorrow around like noon," Joey mumbled. "and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," 

"Yeah, I can go with you," He murmured back, squeezing her hand. 

They walked around campus for another 30 minutes before Joey began to feel hungry. 

"Okay, I'm all for walking around aimlessly, but I'm starting to get hungry, so-" She started.