Swept Away

9 - Juillet

I wake up at 6:30 for my not date with Colby. It's not a date. I think he wants it to be. And maybe it kind of is. I don't know him well enough to know if I want this to be a date.

I didn't sleep much last night. I couldn't stop thinking about the party, and frankly, Colby. He's messing with my head. I can't tell if I like him, or if it's just my brain's reaction to someone finally liking me. I don't know much about him other than the fact that he likes to surf and lives here. I know he's going to college in Remington, but I shut that topic of conversation down before we could move any further. I'm still patiently waiting on a letter from them. Can they please just accept me already?

And now I have to figure out how to get out of this house without waking up Ashlyn or the rest of her family. But that's a problem for later.

Right now I have to get ready. What do I even wear to a not-date? Is there a dress code? If I dress up too much am I going to give the wrong impression?

I've never actually been on a date before, not that this is a date. But if this is a date...what do I do on a date? How do I act? How do you talk to boys? How have I survived this long without making a fool of myself? Maybe I already did? Does he even like me?

I'm getting way ahead of myself. I pick out an outfit that I deem appropriate to wear for a not-date breakfast, and start doing my hair. I wear it in its natural, curly state because I am too tired to do anything else. And I like my curls. My mother has always taught me to embrace them rather than try and change them. Ashlyn has wavy hair, but she always straightens it. I could never. Well, sometimes I do cause nobody's perfect. But I like wearing my hair naturally a lot better.

When I'm finally ready, I look at the clock that reads 8:30. I have a half an hour to bike over to the diner. I only need about 15 minutes, but I should probably leave now considering I barely know where I'm going. I grab my crochet tote bag off my bed, and leave the house. When I get to the diner, which I now know is called Mel's, I see Colby's truck in the parking lot. I lock my bike up by the side of the restaurant, and walk in the door. I'm greeted by a woman in a light blue T-shirt that says Mel's Diner in pink writing and a pink apron. Her name tag says Mel, "Hello, welcome in! What can I do for ya?" She says in a slight southern drawl. She looks incredibly familiar, with her light blonde hair and green eyes, but I can't quite place it.

I smile at her, "I'm actually meeting a friend. I think he's already here."

She grins, "Colby?" I nod my head, "Right this way." I start to follow her to the back of the diner, "Now what business does a pretty girl like you have with a boy like him?"

"I have no idea," I mutter to myself, but I think she heard me.

We eventually reach the booth where Colby is sitting, "Your Prince Charming awaits," Mel says as she exits.

Colby stands up, "Hi." He wipes his hands on his shorts. He looks me up and down like he's unsure of what to do next. Like he doesn't know what else to say, "You look nice," he finally says.

"Thank you," I smile, "you do too." He's wearing a white linen button down shirt and khaki pants. His hair seems to have been tamed a little bit, but not by much. We sit down across from each other.

Colby has already ordered himself a coffee. I stare at the mug trying to figure out how I know Mel. "Oh, did you want me to order one for you, too?" He asks noticing my staring at the mug.

"Oh, no," I laugh, "I don't really like coffee. I was just thinking about how familiar Mel looks, but I can't quite figure out how I know her."

"Yeah, uh, she's actually-"

We get cut off by our waitress, who has now approached our table. I look up and it's Eleanor. "Hi, I'm Elle, I'll be your- Juillet? Hey, what are you doing here with Colby?"

"Just hanging out," I laugh.

Colby takes a sip of his coffee, "Elle's mom is Mel."

Realization courses through my brain. That makes so much sense. Elle looks exactly like her mom. She's the spitting image of the woman who welcomed me into the diner. "So what can I get you to drink?"

I give her my drink order and she walks away. Colby and I sit in silence both staring at our menus. "I assume you probably know what you want," I say to him.

He grins, "I do, but that's only because I have the entire menu memorized."

"I can't believe that. I've never had any menu memorized ever. I can't think of a single place that I've been that I know everything on the menu," I say looking through the items on this menu.

"It happens a lot around here. I'm really going to miss this place," he says looking out the window next to us.

I sigh, "Aren't you just going to Remington? That's not that far."

"Yeah," he nods, "But I'll still be gone the majority of the time."

"That's true, but it's not like Ashlyn who will be like 8 hours away," I say.

"I don't know you two are going to be apart for that long," he says with a smile.

I let out a small laugh, "Yeah how would we ever survive?"

He scratches his forehead, "Where are you going next year? I feel like Ashlyn told me, but I can't remember."

"Well," I start, bringing my hands to my lap, "I don't actually know. I was supposed to go to school in Paris, but decided really late that that wasn't what I wanted to do. So I applied to Remington but I got waitlisted," I sigh.

"So you might be going to Remington?" He asks with a hopeful look on his face.

"Hopefully." I smile.

Just then an old man walks in and walks over to our booth. Colby sees him, and a bright smile plasters onto his face. He stands up and gives the man a hug, "Mr. Doc," he says, "How are you?"

"I'm good Colby," the man tells him, "How are you?" He notices me and smiles, "I'm not interrupting am I?"

"Not at all," Colby and I say at the same time.

Mr. Doc smiles, "Well, who's this pretty lady?" He asks.

Colby chuckles, "This is Juillet. She's one of my friends from out of town."

"Well, she seems lovely, so don't you go messing it up," Mr. Doc shakes his head.

"I won't." Colby sits back down in the booth as he says goodbye to Mr. Doc. "You probably have a lot of questions."

"Just a couple," I tell him, "First, is his name actually Mr. Doc? And second, how do you know him?"

Colby opens his mouth like he's about to say something, but then shuts it, "It's kind of a long story. You probably don't want to hear it." He hangs his head and takes a sip from his coffee. He leaves his hand on the table.

"I've got nothing better to talk about." I grab his hand, and he looks up at me. He then goes into the story about how this man used to be a doctor and was actually the person who delivered him. It's actually quite a good story.

*******

The two of us end up ordering the exact same thing: chocolate chip pancakes with a side of bacon. And while Colby finishes it all, I'm left with about half of it to take home in a box. When the Elle brings the check, Colby quickly grabs it and pulls out a debit card from his wallet. "You don't have to pay for me," I tell him, reaching for my bag to grab my debit card.

Colby puts his card down and shakes his head, "It's no big deal. I've got it."

"But I feel bad," I say, putting my debit card back, "let me at least give you money to pay for it."

"No," Colby grabs my hand, "How about to repay me, you go on a second date with me? A real one."

I look at our hands intertwined on the table. I would love to go on a second date or a first real date with Colby. But I just don't know. My life feels so up in the air right now. "Can I say maybe?"

Colby looks taken aback, "Uh, sure, yeah."

"Ok," I smile, "then maybe."

"I'll take it."