Hope is Rising

21. Late Lunches

"Wake up, Steph!" Kate jumped onto my bed like when we were little.

"What," I moaned with my eyes still closed.

"Get up!" She yelled. "It's almost noon."

"What day is it," I slowly asked as I turned over on my pillow.

"It's Sunday, and I want to go eat lunch," she said loudly in my ear.

I knew she wanted to hear all about the date last night.

I slowly rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom. I grabbed a sleeveless orange top and a pair of jean shorts to change into. I also wore the flower necklace Dylan had given me.

Kate and I talked while I was getting ready.

"So Matt told me that he and Dylan want to meet up with us for lunch," Kate told me as I put on makeup.

"Sounds good," I said smiling. I decided to put my hair in a messy braid. "Want to go to the hamburger place down the street?"

"That's perfect," she said. She texted Matt what restaurant we were going to.

We decided to walk since it was so close to my house.

"So, how was your first official date?" she asked me excitedly. I could tell she couldn't contain herself.

I couldn't keep the huge grin off my face.

"It was great!" I told her. "He literally thinks of the best ideas to surprise me with."

I told her everything about the perfect dinner and surfing experience. And yes I included the jellyfish part, too.

"That's a horrible jellyfish sting," she said as I showed her my leg. "I'm glad he was there to help you."

"So what about you and Matt?" I asked her as we turned the corner.

"He took me to see a movie last night and we had dinner," Kate told me grinning.

Kate always loved simple things. Everything about her was simple and I loved it.

"That sounds like fun," I replied.

As we walked toward the door of the restaurant, Dylan and Matt were standing there waiting for us.

We all greeted each other. Immediately their faces brightened.

Matt and Kate were talking.

"Hey, babe," Dylan came up to me with a smile.

"Hey," I replied. His smile is contagious.

He gave me a quick kiss before we all went inside.

We sat down at a table and looked at the menus.

A cheerful waiter came up to our table.

"Hi, I'm Alexa and I'll be your wai--Dylan?" she stopped mid-sentence.

"Alexa? I didn't know you were in San Francisco," he replied slightly surprised.

She went over to him and gave him a hug. Matt looked like he knew something the rest of us didn't.

"I moved here not too long ago," she said smiling.

"Well, what would you all like to drink?" she motioned to the rest of us.

Everyone gave their drink order and Alexa left the table.

Dylan looked somewhat stunned. I looked at him for a minute while he was shuffling through his thoughts. He looked up at me and gave a small smile.

I felt so confused. Who is Alexa? I thought I recognized the name but I couldn't think of who it was.

"We'll talk later," Dylan whispered to me softly as if reading my thoughts. He smiled at me with a comforting look.

Alexa came and took our food orders. She talked with Dylan a little more.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," I said a little uncomfortably. I could tell Dylan sensed it but he couldn't do anything about it.

I found the bathroom and went to the sink. I tried to remember where I knew that name.

A few minutes later, Alexa walked into the bathroom.

"Hi," she said recognizing me.

I forced a smile as she went to a stall.

As she came out and washed her hands, I noticed her phone on the counter.

"So how do you know Dylan?" she asked me curiously.

"Umm, I'm his girlfriend," I stated.

"Ohh, that's great," she replied as she dried her hands. "I have a boyfriend, too. Carter is great."

And then it hit me. That was the girl Carter had been texting when I found out he was cheating on me!

The feeling of dizziness was clouding my mind like when I found out Carter was cheating on me. This is the girl that turned my life upside down. And the fact that Dylan somehow had a past with her really scared me.