Lifetime

Nirvana

"Gabby wants the four of us to go out on Saturday." Hobi mentioned a little over a month after Jimin moved into the neighborhood. It'd been two weeks since the night he grabbed my hand, both of us going on with our developing friendship as if nothing happened. Honestly, I considered that he may have liked me in the beginning, but to me it didn't make sense to move to a new town and immediately settle on the first girl you meet. Plus, I'd seen him with other girls at school, a side that was surprisingly flirtatious, the opposite of his usual coy charm.

I felt pretty adamant about not wanting to hang out with Gabby, but Jimin spoke up before I could. "Sounds fun, there's a new horror movie coming out this weekend. You're into that right Sel?" His question cued me to look up at him.

"Yeah, but I don't think Gabby is." I focused my attention on Hobi, a mischievous grin on his lips.

"She's not, but she owes me for going to this makeup convention with her." He shrugged, seeming excited to have Gabby involved in one of his interests.

I could see how excited they both were as they waited for my response. A part of me wanted Hobi and I to stick to our usual routine of seeing the latest scary movie releases alone, but after I saw the way Jimin's eyes almost disappeared, still somewhat hidden by his hair and pinched together with his smile, I couldn't say no.

After two more days of school and an afternoon of pulling out nearly every piece of clothing I owned, trying on countless outfits before settling on the one I first tried on,  I was almost ready for our outing.

"So you're dating this Jimin now?" My mom leaned into my doorway, one of her brows arched in curiosity.

I stood in front of the mirror, layering a few necklaces. "It's not a date. We're going to the movies with Hobi and his girlfriend." I replied.

Her other eyebrow rose. "So it's a double date."

"It's a date between a couple and two other friends coming along." I tried to mask the hint of irritation in my tone.

"The massive pile of clothes on your bed says otherwise. I know what it looks like when someone's getting ready for a date." She retorted.

I sighed. "It was Hobi's idea. It wasn't like Jimin even asked me."

She picked up on the slight questioning and disappointment in my voice, walking to where I stood to pull a few loose strands of my hair into place. "Well he's an idiot if he doesn't. You have more love in you than anyone I know, and if he doesn't want that, it's his loss." She stood back to look over my outfit, giving a nod of approval. "But even if it's not a date, don't forget curfew." She reminded me before walking out.

Listening to her words felt like a contradiction to everything I read on the page that she'd written about my attachment divinity reading, like she was proud of the supposed vast amount of love that lived in me.

I wanted to write out my thoughts about it, to process the contradicting messages and theorize about what they might mean, but Hobi's horn sounded from his yard, letting Jimin and I know that we were set to leave.

We stepped from our houses at the same time, meeting in the middle of the street on either side of Hobi's car. Once we slid inside I looked over at him, taking in the simple dark jeans and soft looking button up he wore. When I met his eye he smirked, his head tilted slightly as he looked at me up and down.

It was only a second between the time we got in the car to the time we met each other's gaze, Hobi turning around so that he could see us from the front seat. "I saw a spoiler for the movie. The killer is—"

"No!" Jimin and I shouted at the same time to stop him from giving the ending away. I'd been friends with Hobi long enough to know he couldn't hold on to secrets or spoilers, our laughter filling the car as we started the drive to get Gabby and into town.