Breakaway

melodramatic

*trigger warning: SA*

melodramatic (adj.): exaggerated and emotional or sentimental; sensational or sensationalized; overdramatic.

Olivia

Tonight is my first date in a year. For some reason, I'm not nervous or super excited. I just feel neutral about the entire thing. I'm sure that once Tyler picks me up, I'll start to have fun.

I curl my medium length brown hair and put on a cute black dress and heels. He told me to dress fancy, but not too fancy, so I hope this is what he meant.

"Olivia! Tyler's here!" my mother yells. I grab my purse and make my way to the front door, where they're standing. Tyler smiles and hands me a beautiful bouquet of red roses.

"Oh!" I gasp, bringing the roses up to my nose and taking in their fresh scent. "Thank you, Tyler."

"Dad and I are heading to the hotel for his work party," my mom says. "We won't be home until tomorrow, so have fun, sweetie. We love you."

"Love you, mom," I smile and she walks into the living room.

"Shall we go?" Tyler asks. I nod and set the flowers on the counter behind me, knowing my mom will put them in a vase once we leave. I follow him to his car and he opens the door for me.

"Thank you," I smile. "Where are we going?"

"I looked online and found an Italian restaurant with good reviews. I figured we could try that," he says, glancing at me as he pulls out of my driveway.

"Sounds great!" I say, receiving a text from Aria about an away game that she wants me to go to with her. I decide to answer her later, not wanting to be rude to Tyler.

After about a fifteen minute drive, we arrive at the restaurant and I smell the delicious flavors before we even go inside.

"Could we get a bottle of Cab Sauv, please?" Tyler orders once we're seated at a table. The restaurant he chose has a very romantic setting, with dim lights, t-light candles on the tables, and soft piano music.

"Wow, Tyler," I say, looking around. "This place is really nice."

"I want you to have a good time," he says, smiling at me. "Hey, after dinner, I want to take you for a drive, is that okay? I wouldn't want the night to end here."

"Sure," I smile, bringing my glass of wine to my lips.

The service here is great and we order and get our food quickly, talking about random things while we eat and drink. I don't feel the same comfort I felt when Bennett and I were at Taco Loco together, but it's still a decently enjoyable conversation. We finished the bottle of wine, each having two glasses, and Tyler asks for the check, seeming like he's suddenly in a hurry to get out of here.

"Ready?" he asks, standing up after paying. I nod and stand up, following him out to the car. He opens my door for me again and we drive around for about ten minutes. Tyler reaches over and rests his hand on my thigh while he drives with his other. I should probably feel some kind of way with his hand where it is, but I don't. Zero tingles.

Stop overthinking it, Olivia.

"There's an R&B playlist on my Spotify," he says, glancing over at me. "Would you mind playing it?"