Saving Him

Chapter 4/ The Date

My heart is racing out of my body and I feel like I'm going to throw up. My hands are shaking vigorously as I pin parts of my hair up and talk to the girls on my phone.

"Why am I nervous? Should I be nervous? Am I sweating?" I ask frantically.

"No! Girl, you're fine! You always look hot," Taylar says on the call. I know they're trying to help, but it only makes me more nervous. I wanted to calm down so I called all 5 of them before it was time to get ready.

I'm not usually this way before a date, though. It was weirding me out. "No, I look like crap!" I say.

"Oh, stop it! You most likely look fine! Calm down!" Jennifer tries to back Taylar up.

"Thanks, guys. It's not really helping, though," I say sadly.

"Okay. Stop, breath, and just imagine the best case scenario," Emilia tries to help me out. I have two friends named Emily, both spelled the same way, so I have to give them nicknames. Emilia is one that goes to school with me and always reads, and Emily the Hype used to but moved schools, then moved states so I hardly see her.

"Yeah. Great thinking, me," Emily the Hype says to Emilia,"Just think, you could go to the movie and when a scary part happens you cuddle closer into his arms and before you know it...BAM!"

I look at the phone weirdly. "What does "bam" mean?"

Before she can answer, the doorbell rings. "That's probably him. I've gotta go, girls. Bye!"

"Wait! You're actually ready for something on time?!" I hear Lizzy ask before I closed the call.

I rush downstairs and then calm myself down while I'm standing in front of the door. Scenarios of the night swarm my head, but I put them aside and open the door to reveal Jake Meyers at my doorstep.

"Hi," Jake says and smiles widely.

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. It's as if someone randomly stole my voice box in that moment.

I eventually manage out,"Uh, words are hard. Um," before I can say any real words, Jake chuckles and I laugh with him.

"Hi," I say firmly.

"Hi again," he replies and we both smile.

"You look nice," I say a tad bit too sheepishly for my liking.

He does, though. He's wearing a turquoise and white plaid shirt with the sleeves long and buttoned at the ends. His dark hair is combed finely and his jeans are a lighter shade, matching his shirt and white sneakers.

"You do too, I mean you look beautiful," he says as he glanced at my outfit briefly. (Picture up top)

"Thank you."

"You ready to go to the movie? I mean, if you're not its fine-"

"No! It's fine! I'm ready," I stop him as I close the door and lock it. I smile when he leads me to his vehicle, a white truck.

He opens the door and closes it when I'm inside. He drives away from my house and turns on the radio.

From then on, it's a little awkward in the car. The radio plays endlessly on the country station, making my eardrums bleed.

I guess he noticed my distaste for his tunes, because he turned the music down.

He turns to me. "What? You don't like country music?"

I scoff. "Not only that, but I despise it."

"What?" He asks me, dismayed and upset. "Why?"

"The only thing they ever sing about is alcohol, and parties. That's it! Their songs have no purpose!"

"Neither does pop."

"I never said I listen to pop."

He glances at me inquisitively. "You don't? Then what do you like?"

I had a thought of saying 'I like you,' but disregarded the thought quickly.

Instead, I pulled out my phone and went to my music. I tapped on a song and Misery Business by Paramore started playing through my phone.

His eyebrows furrow. "Rock music?"

"Yeah," I say and notice his odd look. "What?"

"I never figured you for one who listens to that music."

"What kind of music did you peg me to listen to?" I ask, giggling a little.

He chuckles as well. "Well, I thought maybe pop."

"No," I say with a grim look.

"Huh. Okay. Not bad for a first conversation on a first date."

I laugh and he does too. We reach a movie theatre and again, he opens the door for me. I'm a little wary about people opening doors for me. I just like doing things on my own instead.

Regardless, I step out of the truck and wait for him to close the door behind me before we walk in the direction of the theater.

My heart feels as though it might explode. Why am I feeling like this?

Jake nudges me, breaking my thoughts, and nods to a list of movies on the from of the theater.

"Which one do you wanna watch?" He asks me and I look through the list.

"Doesn't matter to me."

"Okay. What about the new horror movie?"

"Yeah sure! I love horror!"

"Really?" he asks me, shocked.

"Yeah . . . ," I reply shyly as my face heated up.

He chuckled. "That's not a bad thing. I just didn't expect you to be into those kinds of things."

"Apparently there's a lot you didn't expect me to be into. Did you think I was just a blonde who loved pop music and romance movies?"

"A little bit. Wow, that's embarrassing." He laughed nervously.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about. I can understand why you'd think that."

He smiles at me, which I return as we walk into the theater.

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"You were totally scared!" I cross my arms as I injure Jake's ego.

"I was not!" he yells back, pulling into my driveway.

"Alright! You know, denying it doesn't make it true," I say as he opens my door for me and helps me out. "Thank you!"

"You're very welcome, princess," he says and does a fake bow.

I blush at his comment and wait for him as he closes the door behind me. We make small talk as we walk to my front door.

"I had fun tonight. Your fear of horror movies really topped it all off," I say and he rolls his eyes.

"I had fun too! We should maybe go bowling too sometime!"

"Are you asking me out on a second date?" I ask.

He scratches the back of his neck nervously. "I might be?"

I chuckle. "I would love to go with you just so that I could crush you at bowling."

He laughs. "Is that a challenge?"

"Who knows?"

He smiles and I return it. He gives me a small hug and then I turn around to open my door. I walk inside, giving Jake a small smile before closing the door behind me . . . and then squealing like a maniac.