Fried Burrito

s e V e n

It was three o clock and I was freaking out. The official-uninterrupted-planned-out-endlessly- timed "hangout" with Jace was here and I wasn't ready. I watched him with a beating heart as he locked the door to the coffee shop.

"So Caden, where should we go?" he asked once he slid into the passenger's seat of my car.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Wherever you want to go, you're the driver."

"And you're the one who kept asking to go somewhere with me."

Jace simply smiled at me and turned on the radio, soon filling the car with some song I liked from a band I didn't remember. His attention was focused on the scenery around my car instead of the lingering question that hung in the air between us. 

Looks like I will be deciding where we go after all.

"Let's get something to eat and go from there."

"Great," he sighed while peeking over at me. "Chinese would be fantastic." 

The drive over to the closest Chinese food place in town wasn't awkward but it wasn't completely exhilarating either. Jace was being quiet and despite the fact that I'd only known him for a couple of days, I could already tell that was unusual for him. It seemed like he always had something to say. 

We walked in and ordered our food with uncomfortable silence stuck in the air between us and I was starting to get anxious. Jace was making me feel a wave of indescribable emotions and I truly didn't know how to feel about it. What we were doing wasn't a date yet it couldn't be classified as a proper hang out because we were barely friends. "Hanging out" with guys was something I usually didn't partake in but I guess as I continue to develop in the world, so should the actions in my relationships with others. 

"Order 116!" called out one of the workers from behind the counter. 

Jace's sudden movement broke me out of my trance of endless analyzation once he inched over me to grab our order. I started moving to a booth but stopped when I noticed him staring at me like I was a shark walking around on land. 

"Is there something wrong?" I questioned lightly.

"I just want a change of scenery. Let's go somewhere different?"

"Sure," I sighed contently. "Any ideas?"

"I'm sure that anywhere you take me will be great." 

Surprisingly, I didn't want to oppose his suggestion because I knew the perfect place to take him. It was somewhere sacred and quiet, and it was a perfect place to be in my times of awkwardly dreadful thoughts. 

I found myself driving back to the apartment I currently shared with my favorite idiots (from time to time) with the heavy weight of Jace's extreme mellowness. If it were any other given day, he would've been prodding me to fill his ears with answers from his impulsive questioning but today he wasn't. He had given me complete control and it was weird. Don't get me wrong, being in control wasn't something I disliked but it was something that I didn't know how to properly exert it with a boy. 

Come to think of it, what exactly was I doing?

I'd been complaining about this strange coffee barista I barely knew yet here I am, outside of my apartment, in the middle of the day... with no one around... with him in the car! 

Apparently, I must've left my brain at the coffee shop I spent the early morning in because it surely wasn't present with me now.

"You know, it's insanely cute how much you're always analyzing everything even when nothing is wrong," Jace said while stepping out of my car.