Firsts

First Double Date

Ashton's car rolls down the street and pulls up in front of my house. He walks to the door, dressed in khaki pants and a blue and green button down shirt, complete with a black tie. He hold a single red rose. I quickly fix my carefully manicured curls and smooth the front of my strapless black dress. Julia mimics me by checking her complex braid and makeup in the mirror one last time and puffing out the skirt of her dark blue dress. 

Ashton knocks on the door. I sigh, straighten my shoulders, and open it, letting him in. He walks in and does a double take. Then, he stares at me, smiling.

"Wow." 

"Hey," I say, trying to sound casual.

"Wow," he repeats. "You look gorgeous."

Julia clears her throat. Ashton looks up.

"You, too," he remarks quickly. 

Then, he proceeds to stare dumbfounded at me. He reaches up and brushes a strategically placed curl out of my face. I lean forward, determining that my trick worked as he gets swept up in the moment and leans in to kiss me. Julia coughs from over in the corner. I smile slyly at her, but pull away from Ashton.

"We just need to wait here for a minute for Julia's date to show up," I tell Ashton.

He nods, and, despite very annoyed gagging from Julia, continues to kiss me. That is, until Mrs. Barnes walks into the room. Then, he backs away awkwardly, going red in the face. Thankfully, Mitchell knocks on the door then, saving the two of us from severe embarrassment. 

I let Julia answer the door, and Mitchell has the exact same reaction as Ashton, only the attention is directed towards Julia. She smiles at him nervously, rubbing her braclet. 

"You look sharp," she comments, gesturing towards his black blazer over a red t-shirt and dark jeans. 

"Not as sharp as Ashton," he returns, eyeing his khakis and bowtie with annoyance. "And not nearly as good as you and Skylar. But mostly you!"

Julia laughs at his feeble attempt to both compliment her best friend and prevent jealousy. Ashton, determined to make it as awkward as possible for Mitchell, stands behind me with his hands on my waist and kisses my neck.

"You're making him uncomfortable," I say under my breath. 

"This is what you get for making me go out for coffee with your dad," he whispers in my ear. 

Mrs. Barnes whips out a camera, saying, "You girls look so great," and insists on taking our picture. 

We all pose on the front porch to humour her and head to Mitchell's sleek blue car. He opens the passenger door for Julia as Ashton opens the side door for me. We both climb quickly in. In the few seconds we have before the guys get into the car, I try to convince Julia not to be so nervous. 

"Your car's the same color as mine," Julia remarks when Mitchell gets in the car.

"Cool," he says, grasping for conversation. 

Ashton and I grin at each other as they sit there uncomfortably, remembering when we first started going out, about a month and a half ago. Things were so awkward. I bring up how crowded the mall was yesterday when Julia and I went to get our outfits. Mitchell doesn't seem to take the hint, so Ashton responds instead.

"It was definitely worth it. You guys look incredible!"

"Uh, yeah," Mitchell stammers. 

The rest of the car ride is just as awkward, filled with short bursts of conversation and a whole lot of silence, but somehow we all make it through that and dinner. Julia and Mitchell seem to make good conversation for the most part. After dessert, the check comes, and Ashton offers to pay, but Mitchell, seeing at his last chance to make a good impression on Julia, picks up the tab. Then, he drives us home. Mitchell offers to drive Julia to her house, but I tell him that she was planning to spend the night at mine. 

Nevertheless, I hang back at Ashton's car to give Mitchell and Julia a moment. Ashton smiles at me. We pretend to talk, but watch as Mitchell gives Julia a kiss on the cheek and turns to go. I frown, a little disappointed at his lack of taking the initiative. Just as Mitchell's about to walk away, Julia grabs the back of his shirt and kisses him. He blushes, returns the kiss, and walks back to his car, a spring in his step.

Ashton laughs, gives me a hug and a kiss, says goodbye, and pulls away in his car. I smile and wave, watching him go down the street. I walk back to an excited Julia. She appears to be bursting at the seams. I unlock the front door and am pulled inside. A thousand words begin to spill from Julia's mouth.

"Did that go well? I think it went well! I had a great time tonight. Do I text him now, or will that seem needy? When do I text him? Do you think he likes me? I do! He's really cute, isn't he? I hope you had a great time. Thanks for agreeing to come with me! What are we gonna do now? Are we gonna talk or watch Netflix or-"

"Julia calm down." I stop her. "Let's just go upstairs, get changed into more comfortable clothes, watch some Netflix, eat some icecream, and try not to explode. Okay?"

She nods and practically runs up the stairs, two or three at a time. I sigh and begin to climb the stairs, far behind her. This is what I get for having such a hyper best friend. As I walk into my room, I text Ashton, Miss you already. Julia's being really hyper. He responds, See you Monday. Hope Julia lets you get some sleep. I smile, thinking to myself that I have the best boyfriend in the world. Little do I know that it's all about to end.