folklore- a taylor swift inspired fanfic

Chapter Eight

Alisa and I are totally dressed and walk out into the hallway. We walk down the stairs (two flights) and there is everyone waiting for us, except Augustine and James.

“Where are those two?” Grandma wonders aloud.

I was just thinking the same thing. God, I hope it isn’t what I think.
I turn my attention to the crowd. There’s my mom, in a tight fitting white dress and her going out shoes and purse combo. Aunt Elizabeth is in a similar outfit, but looking much more elegant in a black dress. It’s flattering, but not tight. Inez is, like her mom, in a black dress, but it’s tight fitting and pretty cute.

Grandma is in a floor length dress that is just basic enough to not be too fancy. It’s a muted red and she’s wearing her pearls.

James comes into view walking down the stairs, fixing his messy hair and straightening his tie.
He’s wearing a black suit, a little much for this event.

Augustine comes down the stairs, wearing a dress identical to Inez’s. She pulls down her dress so it covers more, and her hair isn’t exactly perfect. She walks over to Inez, a twinkle in her eye and whispers something. Inez rolls her eyes and looks upset.

So it is what I thought.

We have to take two cars to get there. Mom, Aunt Elizabeth, Inez, and Augustine are in one while Grandma, James, Alisa, and I are in the other. Alisa is driving, with Grandma giving her directions, and James and I are in the back.

Alisa was elected to drive because she’s had her license longer than me and she begged. Grandma doesn’t like to drive very much anymore.
I don’t talk to James the entire ride.
Eventually, we get there, and there is a huge table reserved for us. The place is called The Invisible String.

The theme is very elegant and coastal at the same time. The walls are a white so bright that it almost looks blue. Maybe it is. There are fairy lights wrapped around pillars all over the place and the floor is a white and blue mosaic tile. It’s one of my favorite places here.

Everyone slides in, and Grandma is on the end. Then it’s Mom, Aunt Elizabeth, Inez, Augustine, and… crap. This should be fun. Between Augustine and I is James, and on the other side of me is Alisa. I grab her hand and squeeze as if to say, help

The adults get into a discussion about the local drama they’ve missed out on.

“Oh, my Lord!” my mother exclaims.

“I know!” comes from Aunt Elizabeth.

I’m already bored and dreading the rest of this.

James has his phone under the table. He’s texting someone, but I can’t see the texts without making it blatantly obvious that I’m looking.
He shuts it off and puts it in his pocket, his hand grazing my thigh.
My heart skips a beat and I want to scream at my brain and heart for reacting this way.

He glances my way but I don’t look at him.

Finally, the waiter brings us the menus. He looks to be about our age.
Augustine starts attempting to flirt with him, probably in an attempt to make James jealous, but he doesn’t react. Instead, when the waiter comes back to bring us our drinks, take our orders and collect our menus, he slips me a napkin with his number on it.

When he asks me what I’ll have, I’m the last one to order. I tell him what I want to eat and he winks as he walks away.

There’s a flicker of something in James’ eyes and his hand clenches and unclenches. I slip the napkin into my pocket and my hand grazes James.

Again, my heart skips a beat and I go to the bathroom, frustrated with myself.

This boy is messing with my head, and I don’t even know why I’m feeling hostile towards him, especially because I didn’t even talk to him or Augustine last year. Is this jealousy for him with Augustine on the stairs?

God, I hope not.

Standing at the sink, I look him up on instagram. There isn’t any posts, but he’s tagged in several. Him with his friends at parties, him with some girl, him with another girl, and another, and another…
There’s maybe one or two with Augustine. He’s a player and a partier. No wonder I’m feeling hostile. I wash my hands and fix my makeup. I pull the napkin out of my pocket and put the waiter’s number in.

Hey, I text him.

Hi, he replies immediately. I see you put the number in already.

Yep. Got bored.

He sends a winking emoji. Can I meet you outside in five minutes?

Dang. Making a move already.

Sure, I reply.

I guess this dinner is about to get a lot more eventful.

I put him into my phone as “Mystery Boy”.

I walk back to the table and sit down. I sip on my soda and in the corner of my eye, someone is walking outside.

“Excuse me,” I mutter.

Alisa barely notices, because she’s staring at someone across the room.
I go outside where I meet the mystery boy.

“Hey,” he says.

“Hi,” I reply, reversing the roles from our texts.

“Will you go on a date with me?” he asks.

That was fast.
“Uh…”

“I’m sorry, that was too forward, wasn’t it?”

He has a little bit of a British accent, which fits really well with his blonde hair and blue eyes.

“No,” I laugh, smiling. “It was kind of sweet. There’s a problem, though.”
He looks worried. “What?”

I smile again. “I don’t even know your name.”

His mouth slides into an easy smile. “You can find that out on our date.”

“In that case, you don’t need to know mine until then, too,” I reply.
“So that’s a yes?” His face breaks into a grin, his accent coming out even more.

“Yes.” I turn around to walk back inside, but he grabs my hand and spins me towards him.

I’m dizzy and realizing that he’s really cute.

“7:00 pm, here, tomorrow,” he says.

“Counteroffer,” I say. “Tomorrow, 7:00 am, the Mirrorball Cafe in Grand Falls.”

“Deal.” I shake his hand and walk back inside, giddy.