Five Month Lie | t. holland

February | III

Peter called on Wednesday night.

"Hello?"

"Hey, ___, it's- ah, Peter. Yeah, Peter. Anyw-"

"Oh hi! Oh, sorry you go ahead,"

You could hear his nervous laugh on the other end. "So, I know I'm leaving in a few days but I kinda wanna spend some more time with you. Is- are you cool with that?"

You smiled, even though he couldn't see it. "Yeah, that sounds cool. I'd love to get to know you more."

You thought you heard a sigh of relief. "Great. Are you um... well you're probably not free tonight but what abou-"

"I am."

"What?"

"I'm free tonight. Sorry, I cut you off." The conversation was getting more and more awkward.

"You are?"

"Well, yeah. There's this party my roommate's friends are throwing but I don't feel up to going. Did you wanna hang out tonight?"

"Oh, yeah definitely. But uh, I was thinking more of a date... if that's alright with you."

You laughed. "Of course it's alright with me, I just didn't really know what you were asking so I thought better not assume it's a date."

He laughed as well. "Oh, it's a date alright. Speaking of which, can I pick you up for it in half an hour? We can go grab some dessert if you've already eaten. Well, have you eaten? We could go for dinner?"

You had eaten, but it had been a bowl of cornflakes almost an hour ago and you were still hungry. "No, I haven't eaten. That sounds like fun."

"Oh awesome. Okay, this is great, okay. Um, I'll see you in thirty?"

"Yes, yes you will," you laughed.

~~~

Peter held the door open for you as you reached the In-N-Out. You had been shocked when he said he'd never eaten there, so of course you'd teased him into going.

After you ordered your usual burger and fries, you waited for Peter to finish his order, and then you both found the soda machine.

When the food was ready Peter stood up to go get the order, but his drink tipped to the side and orange Fanta sloshed all over the table and into both of your laps.

"Oh my- oh no, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry ___ I'm so, so sorry. I'll just-"

But you were laughing too hard to hear him apologize again. "Peter, it's okay. It's fine," You took the napkins he handed you and began to mop up the sticky mess.

A worker brought a mop for the floor and another one set your order on the table next to yours.

After maybe a thousand apologies from Peter, he eventually started to laugh along with you.

The fries were cold and mushy by the time you had actually started eating, but both of you enjoyed yourselves nonetheless.

In fact, you'd had so much fun that you didn't realize it was past midnight until Peter pulled out his phone and cursed. "Gosh it's late, and you have class tomorrow, I'm sorry I should have been watching the time."

"No, no, no. It's fine, it really is," You really didn't want this date to be over.

Ever since your breakup with the idiot you'd dated earlier, you'd refused to like any boys. So you didn't know if it was just separation from them that made Peter so appealing to you, but you thought it might be something else. Something like how you already adored the way his cheeks went pink when he smiled, and the way he instinctively went to protect you from the wind by giving you his scarf in the parking lot.

You wished he was a local at your college so you could spend a whole lot more time with him. He was so intriguing and you finally felt that excitement in your stomach, like butterflies, every time he looked at you and smiled that small smile.

"Still, I should get you home." But even as he said it, you could see he didn't want to go through with it.

You put your hand over his. "Hey, I uh... this was a lot of fun."

He looked surprised. "Really? I spilled that drink on you."

"So?" You laughed. "Something to remember. I wish you weren't leaving so soon."

He took you hand and helped you up from your chair. "Yeah, believe me, I wish that too."

He drove you back to campus and walked you through the chilly night and snow to your dorm.

"Really Pete, thanks for this. I haven't had that much fun in a while."

He smiled at you. Then looked swiftly and fleetingly at your lips. Realizing his action, his face tinged pink. He cleared his throat. "Yeah, well, yeah. That was a lot of fun. Thanks for coming." He stepped a little closer.

You smiled and bit your lip. It'd been a while since you'd kissed anyone. Did he want to kiss you?

You almost sighed in relief when he reached for a hug instead. Not that you didn't want to kiss him, no that wasn't it. You just knew that if you did, you might never get over him leaving that weekend.

"Can I still call you after I leave?" He whispered.

You barely contained your smile, even if he couldn't see your face. "Of course you can. I would absolutely love that."

He pulled away and beamed. "Awesome. Well uh, in that case, maybe I'll see you again. Maybe even some time soon. Who knows," he laughed as snow fell into his hair.

You realized you still had his scarf. "Oh, here," you unwrapped it from your neck.

"No, no. You keep it. You look better in it than I do anyway." He smiled.

Your face went pink. "Oh," you smiled back. "Thanks." You swallowed and shuffled the snow over your boots. "Well um, see you around then Peter."

He smiled again and nodded. "See you ___."

Peter opened the door to your dorm building and you walked in. He let it close behind you and started to walk towards his car.

You watched him leave and then, holding the red scarf in your palm, you climbed the stairs to your dorm and later went to sleep with a smile.