Tentacles

6

I pushed open the glass doors into Tony's Pizzaria, breathing in the familiar doughy smell.

It was about then that I had no idea what Hailey looked like, or her age, or anything about her.

And, I had just pulled on a random pair of jeans and a knitted gray sweater I had already worn for a couple of days.

I pulled out my phone. There was one unread text from Hailey.

I shook my head. I was being stood up, AGAIN.

Hailey: back left. I'm in a booth.

I smiled and manuevered my way through tables and past waitresses, before I reached the very back of the restaurant. 

A girl stood up from her table and grinned. "Jaimie?"

The girl looked like an angel.

A pastel pink dress with baby blue watercolor splats on it brushed the middle of her thighs. Dark gray socks peeked out from her pastel blue converse, and her brown hair was swept into a messy bun, complete with pink flowery chopsticks. She was definitely my age, maybe a bit older.

And there I was, ripped jeans with spagetti stains on the front and a gray sweater with hopefully unnoticiable sweat stains.

"Hi! You look- beautiful."

She grasped the hem of her dress and smiled. "Thank you!! You look amazing as well!"

Dang it, her grin was contagious. 

I sat down across from her and played around with one of the forks.

Of all the other dates I've been on, which is only one, things were awkward. Silence had a weird buzz to it, kind of painful, but with Hailey, even when things were silent, I never felt that buzz. The quiet was like syrup, it was thick with unshared emotions and smiles. And even when we did talk, we agreed on most things, except for the fact that Hailey had never listened to My Chemical Romance, but I could fix that problem.

After an hour and floppy, greasy pizza, we left the restaurant.

The bitter cold hit my cheeks and I was suddenly aware of how much my cheeks hurt from smiling. I turned and shoved my hands in my pockets.

"Thank you, we should do this again," she said, twisting her hips so her skirt twirled around her.

My smile disappeared. I had to think of my dad, and what he would of wanted.

Yet he's not here anymore-

I nodded, my grin slowly evolving to a smile that was Titan-sized.

Hailey leaned and brushed her lips against my cheek, before she ran off into a gray Honda Civic. 

She waved at me from her car, and I waved back. 

I never really realized how cold it was that day. It was around 35 degrees, but I was too nervous walking there and too happy walking back to notice.

For once in the past couple of years, I was happy.

Inside and out.

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Hey, how would you feel if I changed the title to Inside and Out?

Or keep it like it is?

I dunno. Feedback, please!