The Orphan Club

A Random Visit: Moving Forward

Austin and I hold hands as we walk down an unexpectedly lively street. There are three different people, playing instruments in front of similar-sounding restaurant names, each claiming they have the best Italian or Mexican food. No other cuisine is seen in sight. Then again, this is New Jersey.

Austin drags me by my hand urging me to pick up my pace. I follow his request and by the time we are at the end of the street, we are running.

We don't stop till we are facing a small shop. From the large windows of this shop, we can see two workers cleaning the few tables that are scattered in the small space.

"Phew, they are still open! Almost missed it!" He sighs, and now I know why we were running. "Can we just order two small ice creams?" Austin requests after we both burst through the door.

"Sure," one of the workers who is washing something in the back area groans.

"We'll keep it simple, two small cups of the soft vanilla ice cream—" he turns to me, "that's the best here." He explains his reasons for why he ordered for me. I shake my head in agreement. Any ice cream is good ice cream, and Austin has been talking nonstop about this shop. I can see why. The inside of it is small but the cherry pink color that paints the wall gives you the illusion that you've entered a different world. It also smells nice here. I smell sugar, vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate all at once but also individually. It takes me back to some vague memory in my childhood that I can't fully remember.

We were quickly handed our ice cream and glared so hard that we knew we couldn't sit at one of the two tables placed on either side of the shop, so we walked out.

Outside, a violinist is playing a fast song somewhere in the distance, but we walk away from her. I am not sure where we are going, but this is Austin's town so I follow him.

"Did you like dinner?" He asks after licking his spoon clean. I also take a bite and let the familiar taste of vanilla coat my mouth.

"The best pizza I've ever had. Almost worth coming to nowhere, Jersey to get it." I joke.

"I am so happy! So date number five was successful?" He inquires, hopefully looking at me.

"Yes sir, you did well."

Austin and I have been in contact on and off for the past six months. We had our second date right after New Year's at a coffee place in NYC, but after I got busy with the grand opening of my tutoring business, Lesson Learned, time was a currency I couldn't spend frivolously. So all of February I was running around with Eddie looking for teachers and students alike.

In March Liam was in NYC for almost two weeks so the weekends were busy hanging out with the Orphan Club—minus Matty and Mac. I invited Austin but he felt awkward joining without Mac. Though we were able to squeeze in a movie date. Austin spent most of the movie trying to make out with me and I did a bad job trying to stop him. Maybe I didn't want to, maybe I did. Still confused about all of this.

April was a busy month for Austin. He had to travel for work and had something called a release he needed to worry about.

Finally, in May we get another date on the books. We had a dinner date. I even invited him up to see my apartment but he was a gentleman and only tried to touch my boobs once. I swatted his hands away and he hasn't tried touching them since.

Today was our fifth date, the date guys usually try and "get some" according to Heidi—like she would know.

"Funny enough, we are only a block or so away from my apartment. If you wanted to—" he pops the last bit of his ice cream into his mouth.

"Oh um—sure—" I hesitantly say. Damn it! Heidi was right.

"Yeah?" He hopefully chirps. "Mind if I stop by the drugstore? I need to get something—"