acquaintances { fionn whitehead }

s e v e n

It was 4:42, almost time to meet Fionn. I was changing in the bathroom since the gang decided to hang out in Izzy and I's room. I wore some jeans and cuffed them since I was short and the jeans were too long. I put on a burgundy v-neck tee and my Birkenstock sandals.

"Are you ready for your date?" Izzy asked as I walked out. Her and Charlie were laid down on her bed, Derek was sitting on the armchair on his phone, and Lindsay sat on my bed.

"It's not a date." I said sternly.

"It's totally a date." Charlie said. Lindsay and Derek agreed.

"Definitely."

"No doubt about it."

"You guys are idiots. It's not a date, we're just getting ice cream." I laid back on my bed waiting for 5 o'clock to come around.

"It's an ice cream date!" Lindsay said.

"It's not a date!" I groaned.

"Even if it wasn't, you know you want it to be." Charlie said.

"Oh shut up." I laughed.

"Looks like Rosie's getting herself a fella." Izzy mocked.

I rolled my eyes and got up.

"I'm gonna go wait downstairs and away from you all." I told them standing up. I grabbed my purse and walked out. Before the door closed I heard Derek yell:

"Go get em America!" I laughed as I entered the elevator and down to the lobby. It was 5 til and I saw Fionn sitting at a chair by the main desk. I walked over to him. He looked up and gave my a smile.

"Hey!" I said as he stood up.

"Hi!" He said. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's go." We walked side by side outside and down the street toward the shop.

"Thanks again for agreeing to come with me." He spoke. He was wearing the same clothes as earlier, except he wore a light blue shirt instead of his sweatshirt.

"No problem, I could never say no to ice cream." He giggled.

"Sooo...." He started off.

"Sooo..." I repeated, mocking him.

"How's your first week been?" He tried starting small talk.

"Busy, but I'd say pretty good." I was awful at starting small talk. I could never keep a conversation going, I was probably the most boring person ever.

"How's filming going?" I asked him.

"It's good. We're right on schedule which is important." I could tell that this was awkward for him too.

"I'm sorry, I'm really bad at keeping conversations going." I told him.

"Don't worry about it, I'm bad too." He laughed. We finally arrived at a small ice cream shop and walked inside. I ordered a scoop of mint chocolate chip while Fionn ordered a scoop of cookie dough. I began reaching into my purse for my wallet until Fionn stopped me.

"No I'm paying." He took out his wallet and grabbed some change.

"Fionn I think I can pay for my own ice cream."

"No, I asked you, so I pay." He gave the woman the money and took the change given back. We walked outside and sat down at a small table.

"I hate when people pay for me. I'm paying next time." I told him.

"So you're saying there's going to be a next time?" He smirked.

"Possibly, but that's not the point." I said eating my ice cream.

"Well I asked you out for ice cream to get to know you. So tell me about yourself."

"What exactly do you wanna know?" I asked.

"Anything. About your home, about your school, hell, even about your great uncle Rodger!"

"Well, I grew up in a small town just outside of Charlotte. I attended the local schools there. It was a bigger town than most, but still nice. Traffic is horrible though." He laughed. "It's your average "family-friendly" town." I said using my hands as air quotes. "After I graduated high school I moved about four hours away for college at SCAD." Fionn listened to every word I said, he was a good listener. He looked at me when I talked and didn't make me feel as if I was talking to a brick wall.

"What made you want a career in production?" He asked. We had finished our ice cream and we were now walking towards a park nearby.

"I've always loved film and filmmaking, ever since I was a kid, but I wasn't sure what I wanted to do exactly. It wasn't until my junior year of high school when I realized that I would go into production." We arrived at the park and sat down on the swing sets. We kept talking as we softly swung back and forth.

"So what about you? What made you want to be an actor?" I asked him.

"Well, growing up I wanted to be a breakdancer, but then I realized I can't danced." We both laughed at his remark. "I grew up watching a lot of cool movies 'nd shows and I did a lot of plays in school. Acting makes me feel good, it makes me feel, like... like erm.."

"A dog."

"A what?"

"A dog."

"No, not quit-" I slapped his arm.

"No I don't mean that. Look, there's a dog over there." I pointed at a corgi playing in the grass with its owner.

"Let's go pet it." I said standing up from the swing. I walked over to where the dog and its owner was, trying hard not to run towards it. Fionn laughed at me, but followed.

"Hi, I don't mean to bother you but I was hoping if I could pet your dog." I asked. The woman smiled at me.

"Of course darlin', he loves the attention." I squatted down and pet him.

"You're so cute, a good boy, yes you are." I told him. I heard Fionn and the woman laugh at me, but I didn't mind. I loved dogs and nothing was going to stop me from loving this dog. After a few minutes of petting him I thanked the woman and Fionn and I walked off.

"I have a dog ya' know. His name is Lewis." I gasped.

"Why wasn't this mentioned sooner?" He laughed. We sat down in the grass on a hill and talked more. I laid back and looked up at the clouds in the sky.

"How about your family?" He asked laying back to join me.

"It's just my mom, my sister, and I" I told him. "My dad passed away when I was 16."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up." He said in a worried tone. I shook my head.

"No, it's fine. He had heart failure and died waiting for a new heart." I let out a little sigh. I felt Fionn reach over and grab my hand, giving it a little squeeze. I looked over at him, he was looking at me too.

"I'm here if you need someone." I gave him a smile. We laid there for a few minutes watching the clouds drift by. It felt nice to lay there next to him.

"Wait I have a question." I said breaking the silence.

"And what might that be?"

"What's your last name?" I sat up looking at him. He laughed at the silly question. I had spent over an hour with him and I still didn't know his full name.

"Whitehead." He sat up next to me. We then got up and walked back to the hotel. The sun was setting and light filled the streets. We shortly arrived back at the hotel and walked into the elevator. I clicked the button for my floor and we began to go up.

As soon as the doors opened I walked out, Fionn following me out. I was confused but I'm guessing he wanted to properly say good night.

"Thanks for today, I really enjoyed your company" He said once we arrived at my door.

"Me too, thanks for the ice cream." We exchanged smiles and he walked away. I unlocked the door and walked in only to find Izzy quickly running back to her bed.

"Just so you know, I was not listening through the door."