Recollections

The Time I Tried To Date

The Time I Tried To Date
(song of the chapter: Hide Away // Daya)

Elena insists that I'm ready to date. "It's been six months." She says. Like that's supposed to mean something to me? "I know just the guy. Trust me." She'd assured me.

Now that it's almost eight o'clock and my date should be arriving any minute, I'm regretting the fact that I'd trusted her. What the hell am I thinking going out on a date with a guy I've never seen before?

The black dress I'm wearing is atrocious. I'd selected something much more conservative, but once again Hurricane Elena blew through and changed things up. My door swings open and in comes Elena and Phoebe. Elena begins to fiddle with my hair, trying to give the curls some volume, however it keeps falling back to how I'd styled it. She's smiling at my reflection in the mirror, the same one I'm grimacing at.

"Oh c'mon Erin, you look good." She gripes.

"I look like I'm about to walk the streets." I complain, and Phoebe laughs from her spot on my bed.

Elena glares at Phoebe. "No you do not." There's a knock on the front door and Elena squeals in delight, prancing out of the room to get the door.

My head snaps towards Phoebe. "Hurry put my outfit on and pretend you're me."

Phoebe laughs lightly. "You don't have to like the guy Erin, but at least try and have a good time. For you."

I nod and sigh. "So does that mean you won't go on the date and act like you're me?" I rhetorically tease.

Phoebe gestures towards the door and I groan as I leave the room. Elena is talking to someone in the living room and when I round the corner and I see my date for the first time.

He's tall, like really tall. His skin is perfectly sun kissed, a nice even tan as if he lived in Florida his entire life. I'm trying to get a good look at his eyes, when the flick over towards me. A warm smile stretches across his face and I remember that I'm awkwardly stood here in the hallway staring. Clearing my throat, I walk towards him and Elena.

"Hi, I'm Erin." I take the initiative of introducing myself before Elena tries to take over. My hand is extended towards him and he gladly takes his.

His eyes are raking over me as well. "I'm Hunter."

His eyes are blue, but they're boring. They don't captivate me. Instead, they're this matte blue tone that makes me sad. I'll forever hold blue eyes up to an impossible standard.

"Well Hunter, let's get out of here." I grin and he nods. We both wave goodbye to Elena and then we're on our way.

**

The restaurant that Hunter brought me to is obnoxiously lavish. He spends most of the dinner talking about himself. I've zoned out at this point and I've told our server to never let my margarita glass get empty. After all, if Hunter is paying for this overpriced place, I might as well waste his money since he's wasting my time.

"I was actually born and raised in Florida." Go figure. He's too predictable.  "I didn't  move here to South Carolina until my sophomore year of college." He's been talking for nineteen consecutive minutes.

I interrupt his talking streak. "What college did you attend?"

He grins a smug smile and I hate myself for asking. "Clemson University."

"Go figure." I mumble under my breath so that he can't hear.

"Yeah, after I graduated from Clemson last year I moved here to Charleston." He breaks down.