Forbidden Love

Chapter 8

Maya

"You're going to be fine. Everything is okay. Just breathe." I muttered to myself while driving to Anna's house for our first date. I was really nervous. We hung out all the time, but it was different now. We weren't just friends anymore. I hated change, it gave me so much anxiety, but this was good. We didn't need to hide our feelings from each other anymore.

After stalling in the driveway for a while, gathering some confidence, I finally got out of the car and walked up to her house. I rang the doorbell with a shaky hand, and Anna's dad opened the door. "Hi Mr. Canning, how are you?" I asked politely. "I am very well, thank you. I assume you are too?" he answered with a smile.

"Yes, I'm good. Is Anna ready?" I asked "I think so. I will go and get her for you." he replied, walking back into the house. I stood at the door awkwardly waiting for her, growing more nervous by the second. After a minute, she appeared at the door, in a black dress with silver flats, and her coat over her arm. "Bye dad, we'll be back at about 11." she told him. "Okay, have fun!" He closed the door and we walked to the car.

I didn't really know what date protocol was, so I walked around and opened the door for her. After getting in myself, I broke the silence and said "You look really nice." "Thanks, so do you." she replied, blushing. "I'm really nervous, are you nervous?" I admitted while starting the car. "Yeah, I am too." she laughed, tucking her hair behind her ear. I turned on the radio and we drove to the mall.

We parked at entrance 4, closest to the movie theatre, so it was only a 2-minute walk. We went up to the ticket booth and I asked for two tickets. We went with a safe choice, a romance/comedy. We saw each other reach into our bags and said "I'm paying" at the same time. "Okay, you pay for the tickets, and I'll get the snacks." she replied, laughing.

The cashier handed her the tickets and I went to buy the snacks. We both got popcorn, a large coke and smarties, our usual. We added salt to our popcorn, found our seats, and sat down. I was finally relaxing a bit and could see that she was too.

Anna

20 minutes into the movie, Maya reached over and took my hand, intertwining our fingers. I started smiling to myself like an idiot, blushing. Luckily it was dark in the theatre, so she couldn't see it. I've only ever dreamed of this and now it was finally happening. It still didn't feel real. After a while, I rested my head onto her shoulder and saw her smiling like an idiot too.

***

"What did you think of the movie?" Maya asked, while opening my door for me again, which I loved. "It was interesting." I lied. Honestly, I barely watched any of it. I was looking at her the entire time. I tried to be discreet at first, but she probably noticed. I wouldn't even be able to tell you what it was about, thankfully she didn't ask about it again.

We talked and laughed like old times on the way back to my house, and it felt really good. I was scared that it would be weird between us now that we're dating, but that didn't seem to be the case.

My only relationship was with Brandon, and that ended badly, so I was really nervous about this at first. It was Maya's first relationship with a girl too, so it was like a fresh start for the both of us.

I didn't know how to describe it, but it just felt right. I wasn't a big believer in fate and that stuff, but it did feel like it was meant to be. If we hadn't been so scared to say something, this could have happened years ago. The important thing was that it was happening now, and I was really grateful for that.

"This was really fun." Maya said sincerely after we stopped in front of my house. "It really was." I agreed, smiling. "Do I need to walk with you?" she asked, turning towards me. "No, it's okay. You need to get home too." I replied. I almost kissed her right there, but it was too soon. I didn't want us to move too fast.

"Okay, bye Anna." she said as I was getting out of the car. We just looked at each other for a while, then I replied "Bye Maya." with a grin on my face. I walked to the front door, getting my key out of my bag. I could feel her watching me, but I didn't turn around again. After I closed the door, I heard her driving away.

I couldn't stop smiling, but I had to get it together. My parents didn't know about us, and I wasn't ready for them to start asking a bunch of questions. "Hey dad, I'm back!" I shouted as I walked into the house. "Hey honey, do you want to watch this movie with us?" he asked from the living room. "No thanks. I'm really tired so I'm just going to go to bed." I replied.

I wasn't really tired at all. I probably wouldn't even be able to fall asleep, but I couldn't get that stupid smile off my face, and I didn't want to explain why I was so happy all of a sudden. I knew I would have to tell them eventually, just not yet.