How To Be Straight

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CHAPTER 10

     [ Calvin ]

Nicolas was really the most beautiful boy I have ever seen.

When I breezed past the double doors of Cheesecake Factory, my heart thumped loudly in my chest at the sight of Nicolas standing near one of the benches. The curls of his quiff was gelled back and he was dressed formally but causally at the same time, with a white button-down shirt folded at the elbows that was tucked into his black trousers. He finished it off with a pair of black converse.

He looked amazing, while I was stuck with an ugly plaid shirt and khakis.

As soon as he saw me, his face softened and his blue eyes sparked with something that I couldn't recognize. "Wow," he breathed, "you look beautiful."

I frowned as I looked down at my clothes. "Really? Because I couldn't find anything to-"

My words got stuck in my throat when Nicolas grabbed onto my hands. "I am not talking about your clothing, Calvin, but they look good as well. I am talking about your face, your cute smile, your nose, your slightly unkept eyebrows, your entrancing blue eyes, your long lashes, you."

He was looking down at me with a sincere and honest look in my eyes, and I couldn't stop myself from melting on the spot. "Do you rehearse these lines?"

Nicolas laughed. "There is no need to rehearse what I feel, mon beau. If I do not tell you how crazy I am for you, then who will?"

I smiled at that. "I'm crazy for you, too."

His long, slender fingers slipped between mine and he led me past another set of double doors into the actual restaurant. It was as busy as one would expect a popular restaurant to be on a Saturday night, but Nicolas had already made us a reservation two hours ahead, so we didn't have to wait long. In fact, five minutes hadn't even passed by the time we were seated in a booth near the window.

I wanted to say something, but I didn't know what to say. It wasn't like I was used to going on dates or anything because this was my first. So like the fool I was, I flipped open my menu and stared blankly at it.

But we didn't sit in silence for long, because Nicolas eased my worries by saying, "I thought the Cheesecake Factory was really a factory." I glanced up to see he was avidly studying the restaurant like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

"You don't have one where you're from?" I ended up asking.

He shook his head. "If we do, I did not hear of it."

I gave him a gentle nod in response and brought my attention back to the menu. I absentmindedly swiped my tongue over my lips when I read over the description for a pasta dish.

"What do you want to eat?" He asked me suddenly, eyes flicking back to me. He still hadn't opened his menu yet.

I wasn't exactly sure how these dates were supposed to go, but I knew that eating messy food would only be setting myself up for failure. "Um, maybe a salad or something."

"A salad?" Nicolas questioned, brows furrowed in concern. "A salad will fill you?"

"Um, well, I only brought like ten bucks, so..." I trailed off.

He sat back in his seat and smiled at me. "Calvin, I am paying for you."

A weird sensation coursed through my body. It felt like my body was freezing over, starting at my toes and slowly working its way upward. "What?" I finally found the words to say. "No, you can't. Um, I can pay, really."