Soft Boy

Second date

     I'm up bright and early at 4 am. I work as a barista at a coffee shop and I got pinned with the morning shift. I sigh. Its always so busy in the morning, everyone wants coffee before work. I shower, pull on my uniform and get going. When I get there I say hi to my coworkers and take my spot behind the cash register. People come and go. It gets busy and slows down. Then gets busy again. At around 6 am there seems to be every coffee drinker in the town. The next person comes to my counter and I gasp.

   "Tye? Oh my god what are you doing here?" I say excitedly. She gives me a smile. Last night I mentioned that I was working today and when my shift was. She came to see me.

   "I heard this place was good. But between you and me I don't drink coffee, so I'll request a caramel apple cider," she says ignoring my awe.  I wanna talk to her, but I know I had to keep the line moving. People get angry when the line moves too slow.  I roll my eyes at her

   "Signature basic fall drink, wow Tye, I thought you were better. That'll be $3.50," I tease her. She gasps at me and hands me the money.

   "I'll see you tonight. Let's catch a movie," and with that she leaves. I watch her pick up her drink and go out the door. There really is something magical about her. The rest of the work day goes by slow. But the good thing about working early is you get off work with most of the day left. I get off at 12 and go straight to class. Just a math course. A boring long math lecture. I was barely paying attention. Once class is over I go home. My mom is sitting in the living room watching some dramatic show. 

   "Hey Leo you got a package, I put it in your room," mom says. 

   "Okay thanks mom," I say walking down the hall to my room.

   "Oh and by the way, Aaron is in there," she shouts after me. Aaron. He has a tendency to show up unannounced. I don't mind, he's my best friend. I walk in my room and see him sitting on my bed. He opened my package and was inspecting. I bought a pair of training pants a few days ago

   "Cute buy, I'd forgotten all about babypants. Might have to get me a pair for those days where you're feeling little but not babyish. Nice one," he says. I lay down next to him. 

   "You're never gonna believe who stopped by work today," I say teasingly. He sits up and grabs my arm.

   "NO WAY!" he yells. I shush him.

   "She did! Took me completely by surprise. But she ordered a apple cider," I say. Aaron sighs.

   "Basic," he says. I tell him that we're going to see a movie tonight. He asks to tag along with his daddy but I tell him not yet. Its only our second date. Sure we've hung out, but since the cafe we haven't went out.  Just then my phone vibrates. 

   "Its her!" I say grabbing Aaron's shoulder.

   "What'd she say?" he asks. I open my phone and look at the message. She asked what movie I wanted to see. To be honest I don't really know what's out. I look up the options at the local theater.  Big me got excited by wonder woman. Little me saw cars 3 and started jumping up and down. 

   "Wonder woman seems good," I say out-loud and text. She responds right away. I dig that.

   "I would've guessed cars," she says.

   "If we see cars I'd go into littlepace real quick," I say to her. Basically the question was little date or big date. I let her choose since I wanna move at her pace.

   "Well I don't think either of us can miss cars 3," she says. I celebrate in my head. I love cars almost as much as dinos. She says she'll pick me up at 3:30. I look over to talk to Aaron and I don't see him. I scan my bedroom and see my closet door is open.

   "Aaron what are you doing?" I ask getting up to meet him. He's starring at my clothes. 

   "Take a wild guess. You have to wear something," he says. We decide on my onesie that has construction vehicles under a pair of shortalls. I decide fairly quickly to wear my new training pants. I sneak a red paci in my pocket and wait for Tye. 

   "Where you going dressed like that," my mom asks. I know she doesnt really care, but its pretty unusual for me to leave the house dressed little.

   "To the movies," I say looking out the window.

   "Leo's got him a date!" Aaron says happily. I groan quietly. Not that I care that my mom knows, its just the questions I know I'll get.

   "Leo has a date?" she says getting up to come talk to me. Just then I see Tye pull up in the driveway.

   "Sorry mom, she's here. I'll talk to you later I promise!" I run out the door and hop into Tye's car and she hugs me right away. I go to buckle my seat belt then Tye reaches over me.

   "Let me get that for you," she says kindly. I fluster a bit as I feel myself start to regress. I hear the click of the seat belt and then we're off.  I sit shyly as she drives.  I take a toy car out of my shortalls pocket and start playing with it. The car abruptly swerves and I look up

   "What happened?" I ask.

   "You looked so cute I stopped paying attention to the road," Tye says with a chuckle. 

   We pull up to the movie theater and she reaches for my hand.

   "Careful crossing the road, sweetie," she says. She reaches for my hand and I gladly accept. We hold hands as we walk. Snacks are little heaven.  My eyes grow wide.

   "What can I get for you?" asks a bored teen behind the counter.

   "Popcorn!" I say happily while tugging on Tye's arm and hopping a little. 

   "We'll get a large popcorn, two medium drinks, and a box of sour patch kids," she says.

   "Extra butter!" I say accidentally slurring my r. The teenager sighs and gets our food. We take our seats. I notice the two of us are among many groups of kids and their parents. Tye must've say me looking around because she grabbed my hand again. I relaxed.  

   The movie was good, my little self felt fulfilled. When we were in the car it hit me. I groaned out loud.

   "What's wrong Leo?" she asked.

   "I has a tummy ache," I reply with a over exaggerated voice. Tye makes a sad face. 

   "When we get you home we'll get you comfy and in some PJ's, then I'll fill your bottle with warm milk and we'll call it a night," Tye said. I wiggled in the seat. That sounded perfect! And that's exactly what happened. My mom left a note saying she'd be gone for the night so I didn't have to introduce Tye yet. I wore my favorite dino PJ's and Tye tucked me in.

   "I gotta go baby," she said when I finished my bottle. I whimpered a bit.

   "Okays, nini miss Tye" I said. I wanted her to stay but I knew she had to work in the morning. 

   "Goodnight Leo," and with that she crept out of my room and left. And I slept amazing.