Mr. Ryan Flent and Me

First Date

Chapter 15:

Ryan's POV:

It's Saturday afternoon and I'm standing in my room right now staring at my body length mirror. I take in a nervous breath and let it out slowly. I wasn't sure what to wear on our date tonight so I settled on a pair of jeans, a gray short sleeve collared shirt, and my usual black vans.

I head over to Cassandra's house after grabbing Allan's – well, my – jacket. I reach her house at 4:55, five minutes before I'm supposed to pick her up. I ring the doorbell and Mr. Townsman answers.

"Hi, Mr. Townsman, sir." I say, nervously.

"Oh, hello, Ryan. How can I help you?"

"I'm here to pick up Cassandra for our date tonight."

"Oh, yes, she told me about that, I didn't realize that was tonight. Okay, come on in." He says stepping aside and allowing me into the house. He then leads me from the foyer and into the family room, which is past the stairs then past the kitchen. The room has a modern, professional feel with three walls that are pale gray and one that is a subtle bright blue. The couch and two matching chairs are a bold white with grey and blue pillows. He sits on one of the chairs and I sit at the end of the couch next to him.

"So, where do you plan on taking Cassandra tonight?"

"We are going to go see a movie tonight and then grab some dinner."

"Classic, nice, nice. What movie do you plan on seeing?"

Last night I spent hours googling movies and comparing their reviews and times and theater to find the perfect movie to watch with Cassandra, but I don't tell him that. I finally decided on Paper Towns because I figure that it's the perfect chick flick. Secretly I want to see the movie because I enjoyed the novel. I only read the novel because Veronica made me though. She claimed it was the best book and she loved it so she suggested it to me, and by suggest I mean she asked me daily if I started reading it until I finally started reading it (and she only believed I started reading it after asking me questions about the book.) I only read the book at night in my room so no one would think I was reading a girly novel.

"Paper Towns, I read some good reviews."

"Oh, yes, I've heard of that, the previews looked interesting. Cassandra read the book when it first came out, she loved it. Not that she would remember though." He says with a cough at the end, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"How late will you two be staying out tonight?" he asks protectively.

"Well, the film starts at 5:50 and it's almost two hours long. So after dinner I imagine we'll be back around 8:30 to 9:00. Is that okay, sir?"

"Yes, that'll do. I mean, err, don't be a second later than 9. Umm, don't touch her, well, I guess you can hold hands, but that's it. Drive safely. You haven't been drinking, have you?" he says with uncertainty, attempting to act tough. But at least he's trying.

"No, sir."

"You don't drink at all, right?" he adds quickly.

"No, sir."

"Or smoke, or anything else that's illegal?"

"No, not at all, sir." I say with a smile.

"That's good, that's good," he says nodding. He looks at his watch with strained gray eyes. "Well, she better come down here soon so you two can arrive at the movie on time. It's already 5:10." He stands up and heads towards the stairs. I follow him, not wanting to be left behind and sit alone in someone else's home. He heads to the stairs and leans on the rails.

"Cassandra!" he yells up the stairs. "Hurry up, sweetie." I see Cassandra run to the railing.

"I'm coming." She yells back, then runs back from where she came from. She leaves before I can see her outfit. She comes back seconds later. She rushes down the stairs holding her shoes.

"Sorry," she says. "I was getting my shoes."

"You look great." I say with a smile. She's wearing a tank top black dress that is flowy to her mid-thigh. The dress has orange, maybe peach, but I'm not really sure what peach looks like, roses scattered on it.

"Thanks." She says blushing. "Sorry, I'm not late, am I?"

"Actually I was planning on leaving a few minutes ago so we won't be late, but don't worry! It'll be okay, the film doesn't actually start for another forty-or-so minutes."

"Okay, thanks!" She says with a smile. She gives her dad a kiss on the cheek and tells him bye.

"Bye, sweetie, have fun! Be safe! I love you." He calls after us as we head towards my call. She waves at him before getting into the car.

After the movie, in which we each had a coke and shared a small popcorn, we head to dinner. We decide on Chick-Fil-A. We order our food, a chicken deluxe for me and chicken strips for her. After our food comes out I grab the tray and follow her to a booth in the back.

"The movie was good, thank you for taking me." She says, opening her box of strips.

"Anytime, I enjoyed the movie, too." We sit in silence for a few minutes while we eat our food.

"So, when's ring dance?" she asks me, finishing up her food.

"Umm, I'm not really sure." I take the last bite of my sandwich.

"Isn't ring dance supposed to be a big deal? It's the prom before the actual prom. Rita's excited, she told me that Chris has already asked her." I finish up chewing before I answer.

"It's more of a girl thing, I'm not really into the whole prom thing anyway. It's so expensive, I'll just wait until senior prom."

"I guess that makes sense. I don't know, I'm kind of exited for prom. It'll be fun to dress up and act all prissy and get all sweaty with the people I've spent the last four years with." She says with a glee in her eyes.

"Ahh, yes, the sweet joys of sweeting in a pricey tux, and don't forget trying not to get puked on." She laughs with a bright smile.

"Well, just don't drink the punch."

"Or the Kool-Aid." I say with a smirk. She smiles back.

"So." She says, giving me a questioning look.

"Yes?"

"Why do you always where that jacket? Mr. Ryan Flent in his sexy signature leather jacket. Ooh-la-la." She says with a laugh. I smile, shyly, unsure on how to answer.

"Well, umm," I begin, not wanting to tell her about my dysfunctional up family. "It belonged to my brother. He left for college and gave it to me. It's cool looking, and I like it, so I wear it. It's not a big deal, haha." I say, sort of telling the truth without telling her everything. She nods with a smile, I think she can tell that I didn't tell her everything, but she doesn't push it at all.