Our Escape in the Stars

The Date

It's Friday afternoon, and I'm standing outside the front door of the coffee shop. I couldn't focus on anything the whole week because I've been consumed by the thought and anticipation of seeing Ethan today. It took me hours to get ready today. I never really cared about how I looked when I went to the hill, but this time it's different because he's going to actually see me. And I couldn't be more nervous. I had put on a cute summer dress. It's a red, flowy dress with small white flowers. With that, I put on some basic white sneakers and a small, white purse to put all my stuff inside. My hair is slightly curled to accentuate my waves, this took me way longer than I'd like to admit, but it finally looks decent now, so I don't really care. In general, I think I made myself look the best I can.

I realize I've been standing in front of the cafe door for a while, which is confirmed by the confused looks I've been getting. So I finally step inside the cafe and am immediately hit by the comforting smell of coffee and pastries. I go to order a coffee with a muffin from the lady behind the counter and when I'm done paying, I finally look around the shop. Blond hair, dark green eyes, tall, and good-looking. Blond hair, dark green eyes, tall, and good-looking, I repeat in my head as I scan the cluster of people sitting around the shop. Then, suddenly my eyes stop at a guy sitting alone by the window. Blond hair, dark green eyes, tall, and incredibly good-looking. With an emphasis on 'incredibly'.

For some reason, my mind doesn't believe that I would get that lucky, so my eyes move on. Just as I am about to look to the other side of the shop, the guy by the window looks up at me. My heart stops. He looks me up and down, studying me. I stay frozen in my spot from the attention, when, finally, his eyes land back on mine, and a smile spreads across his face.

"Iliana?" says the guy by the window.

My heart rate spikes. So it is him. I slowly walk up to him, still not believing my eyes. As I get closer, he stands up and meets me halfway.

"Ethan?" I question.

"Yes, that's me," he responds, and my skin tingles.

He leads me to the table he found for us and I see that he had ordered himself a coffee and a doughnut. He's got a sweet tooth like me.

He pulls out a chair and gestures for me to sit down. I put down my coffee and muffin on the table and sit. He rounds the table and sits in the seat across from me. For a few seconds, neither of us says anything and we just stare at each other. I study his face. His eyes are the color of a dark forest on a gloomy day. His face is chiseled and sharp with the precision of a sculptor. His lips plump and in a permanent smile. His blond waves are perfectly messy on his head with strands that fall comfortably onto his face.

I look back at his eyes and see he is doing the same to me. He is studying every detail of my face. I get a bit shy with the realization and can feel my cheeks getting warmer. He sees this and smirks, making my face get even warmer. So I look away from his stare and occupy myself with stirring my coffee.

"You are even more beautiful than I imagined," he finally says.

And I don't think my face could've gotten any warmer, I probably looked like a red tomato, which is great.

"You aren't so bad yourself," I finally muster out.

"So you agree I wasn't lying when I said I was good-looking?" he says slyly.

I laugh. "I guess there's some truth to it," I reply, smirking.

"Some?!" he sputters out.

I burst out laughing and he joins me. Just like on the hill. We continue to talk about everything and anything. Before the date, I was scared that it would be different between us in person, that it would be awkward, and that it wouldn't be like usual. But it's not like that at all. Our conversation flows smoothly from one thing to another because we add on to each other and connect to each other in so many ways. We talk about meaningful and deep things like our pasts, our dreams, our fears, and so on. In the midst of this, we laugh and joke around. I discover that Ethan is quite a big flirt. And I cherish it.