Smile - CrankGameplays

38. Dating

The thought of dating was weird. What was the point of going on a few dates with a person, to test the waters out, to hang out and grow attached, and then to never see one another again? It was pointless and something Ethan didn't really understand.

But then why was Ethan sitting at a small table with a warm cup of coffee in his hand, filled to the brim with French vanilla creamer? Why was he anxiously glancing over at his phone every two seconds, waiting for a text that wasn't going to come?

His fingers brushed over his phone as he unlocked the cell, eyes scanning over the previous messages he forwarded over.

Just when he lost all hope, the bell to the front door pinged and a woman rushed inside. She held onto her lavender colored scarf for dear life as Ethan could feel the gust of cold air flood into the heated coffee shop that she allowed in from her entry.

"Hey!" she sang out loud to him, waving him down as she hobbled over, "I'm so sorry I'm late, do you see the snow out there?"

"Is it bad?"

"Oh, yeah." She giggled, "Driving here was an adventure."

Ethan peered out the front window of the shop and saw the endless amount of snow that was  outside, "Looks like a typical Maine snowstorm."

He reflected back on the time where the heavy layers of snow would rain down in his hometown. Inches piling up overnight to the point where schools were frantically making calls to parents and canceling the school day.

"Definitely," she peeled off her mittens and placed them in her purse, finding a seat in the wooden chair, "Thanks for inviting me out here."

Ethan searched for her eyes and nodded, "Sorry for making you drive through all of that, it wasn't as bad for me. Thanks for coming, Olivia."

Olivia sat up straight in her chair as she ran her fingers through her auburn colored hair, "Kind of crazy we both live out here, huh?"

He bored his eyes into his steaming cup of coffee, not finding the energy or the effort to even respond to her. 

The pair began texting shortly after the holiday and since then, they really hit it off. Sending weird Snapchats, funny text messages, awkward encounters throughout the day. A game of numerous questions was asked, some being personal and some extremely general. The question of where they were from surfaced and they both realized they were only two towns away from each other.

Ethan enjoyed her company and gave him laughs when he needed it the most, so asking her on a date was a little awkward but she seemed pretty eager to say yes. Olivia's eagerness was completely new because she seemed interested in getting to know him more, which was terrifying in its self.

"Hey, are you okay?" she asked in a comforting manner, placing her hand on his shoulder. 

Even though they weren't together or anything remotely close to that, Olvia was able to identify a shift in Ethan. Whether it was over text or phone calls, she knew when something was wrong.

"Yes," he croaked, "Sorry, I'm being totally rude."

Her hand never left his shoulder as she slightly rubbed down the length of his arm, "No need to apologize, want to talk about it?"

Ethan shook his head and internally laughed. If she knew the real reason why he was upset, she would get up from her chair and leave the café in an instant. The last thing Ethan wanted to do was hurt anyone else because clearly, he had hurt people enough.

"Let me go order something, okay?" she smiled sweetly as she hopped off the chair and over to the counter. "Then we can talk."

Ethan returned the smile and took another gulp of his coffee, washing away the words that were caught in his throat.