The Boy Down the Street // Blake Gray

21

Steph's POV
Saturday couldn't have come any faster. All week a was all full of anxiety about this date, and my friends could tell.

"Come on Steph, all you're doing is watching a movie, in the dark! So what if you look like a slob," joked Liz when I told her about the date. I guess she was right.

"He's not gonna judge you, he's really into you. Don't stress!" said Kyle as I vented to him during science class earlier this week.

"Steph, you're super cool. If he doesn't appreciate you then he's not worth it," Gavin texted me last night when I told him about my Saturday plans. Gavin and I are like brother and sister, we are close but not romantically.

With my friends pep talks in mind, it helped me get over some of my anxiety about this date, but not all of it. The one thought that I had that was driving my anxiety was this-what the hell was I gonna wear?

I went to my closet and stared at all of my clothes-there were so many of them but then again-there's nothing to wear!

I went to the wall of my bedroom that faced my closet and slid down into a sitting position and just stared at my clothes-making no progress whatsoever.

"Looks like someone's stressed," said Trent peeking from the door to my room. I sigh and look at the floor, but he comes in and plops beside me.

"Nothing to wear on the first date?" he asks patting my back. "Yup," I say popping the p. He shakes his head then goes to my closet.

He proceeds to select a pair of dark blue jeans, a white tank top and a long grey cardigan, and once he seems 100 percent happy with his choice he throws the clothes to me.

"What made you choose this?" I ask. "They were the first three items in your closet I saw, so I just picked them," he responds.

I sit there and stare at him like I'm some confused foreign tourist looking for directions. How can someone just choose a date outfit just by choosing random clothes? Hey, I may not be the best at dates or whatever, but I have some idea on how to choose an outfit.

"Why the confused face? At least you have something presentable to wear," he says with a wink as he exits my room. Real smooth Trent.

I get up and get dressed for the date. I go to my mirror and give myself a long, hard stare. Hey, I don't look that bad, I think to myself. But then I look again and realize I forgot to do something very important-I forgot to brush my hair.

I run to the washroom and brush my hair. It looks decent, but I want to do something more with it. Okay Steph, what should you do with your hair that won't be hard whatsoever.

Lightbulb! A messy braid.

I throw my hair up in a messy side braid that I learned to do three or so years ago. The top of my head looks a bit messy, so I decide to cover it up with a black beanie.

I take one last look at myself before I go downstairs. I feel good about my look, especially since I look like one of those hipsters from Starbucks.

I check the time on my phone-6:55. Blake said he'd pick me up at 7:00, do I have five minutes to stress even more. Steph, don't stress, you have nothing to loose tonight. You know what, I'm right.

"Yeah let's go!" I say I but to loud for my liking. My parents or Trent probably didn't hear that, so it's okay. Hey, I'm pumped now, no need to judge.

I dash out of my room and go down the stairs, expecting to see nobody. Instead I see Blake and my dad chuckling and my face goes red.