Breathless

It's Just Us, Tonight

As soon as I got back home, I threw open the front door and called madly for Alex. She shouted from upstairs, the beating of shower water muffling her voice. I just about kicked the front door shut and sprinted upstairs, banging madly on the door. "Alex, Alex, Alex! You'll never believe what happened!" I shouted, excitement bubbling up making me feel like I'm about to burst.

"What the hell is it?" She asked, opening the door, one hand on the door frame, one holding a towel around her body. Her hair was soapy and dripping, her skin still red from the hot shower. She seemed irritated, but I knew that she was just trying to mask her curiosity.

"I got asked on a date!" I howled, throwing my hands up in the air. I don't think I would have been this excited if it weren't for the fact that I hadn't been on an actual date since my senior year in high school.

Alex's eyes grew wide, a grin spreading from ear to ear. "That's amazing! Who was it?" She asked, leaning in closely as if I was revealing an age old secret in a group of people. I chuckled softly to myself at the thought, and leaned in close to her.

"It was that guy from the grocery store," I continued, clasping my hands together to keep them from shaking. Despite my unbelievable joy, it had been joined by jittery nerves and doubt. Of course, this whole date could be another joke, or maybe Brian just wouldn't show up. He hadn't even sent me the address, so what if he never actually meant for us to get together? Alex's shriek of excitement shocked me out of my thoughts, her hands gripping me by the shoulders. She had tucked in the end of her towel to keep it from falling to the ground specifically to shake me wildly. I started laughing, and she joined in after a moment. Once we had calmed down, I let Alex finish her shower, and I returned downstairs to take a spot on the couch. I plucked the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV on. I didn't have much better to do since Alex had promised to make dinner tonight, and so I decided to kill some time flipping through the channels. I saw Impractical Jokers come up on the TV guide, selecting it with only a hint of doubt. Even seeing Brian fueled the thoughts of him standing me up. I was scared, so nervous I might throw up, and overjoyed all at the same time. It was a weird mix of emotions that I wasn't sure what to do with, and it easily killed any hint of hunger that even thought of creeping into my gut.

I watched on in silence, only looking away from the screen to see Alex come downstairs, fully clothed and still bouncing with happiness. At the moment, I didn't really feel like sharing the mood, but with enough coaxing, and way too much shrieking, Alex finally convinced me to join her up in my room to pick out an outfit. I wasn't sure what the big deal was, and I told her I was probably just going to wear a sweater and some jeans, but she "strongly suggested" I wear something else, and when I say strongly suggested, I mean saying "Hell no," and picking something else out for me.

We had spent a good hour up in my room and it was edging close to 8:30. Neither of us had eaten, and I could tell she was as hungry as I am. We both agreed to go down and start dinner, and even though Alex had promised to make it, I ended up helping out more than I would have liked to. We had decided on homemade macaroni and cheese, flashbacks to my college days, making Instant Mac in the microwave and eating it over a textbook. It didn't take long to make, but it wasn't half bad. Alex was an exceptional cook, and growing up with a mother who lived and breathed home style cooking, she must have inherited some of those skills, gracing me with them when she moved in. Though Alex made some of the best food I've ever tasted, she often despised being anywhere near the kitchen except to get a snack or a drink. I couldn't understand why, maybe it was all of her years practically growing up in a kitchen that left her with a distaste for the room. But when I did manage to get her cooking, it was well worth it.

"So did Brian text you the address yet?" She asked through a mouthful of cheesy noodles, making me visibly cringe. She swallowed loudly and asked again, leaning over the table to look at me. "Well, by the look on your face, I'm guessing that's a no," She frowned, genuine sadness in her eyes. She felt bad for me, I could tell, and though I appreciated the sympathy, I wasn't much up for talking about it, fearing that it would only make me feel worse. I shoved my chair back and stood up, my appetite creeping away from me once again. I cleaned off my plate and shoved it in the dish washer, hoping to distract myself from the nagging doubt in my mind. Though I was disappointed, I was starting to understand why I hadn't heard anything. This guy was famous, girls probably threw themselves at him wherever he went, and so I could understand why one more wouldn't mean all that much to him. I was trying to come to terms with the fact that I probably wasn't going to hear from him, and walking back to the living room, I was shocked to hear my phone go off. I looked down at the small screen, unlocking it to see a message from an unknown number.