My Date with the Frat President

Ch. 3 The First Lady

"I don't think I can do this." I turn away from the mirror, full make-up on, my hair curled, my dress on, and sit on my bed. "I can't go on a date with a guy I've never met!"

"We went to lots of parties at his frat freshman year; I'm sure we must've met him! We just don't remember meeting him," Sophie says.

I laugh and fall back on my bed. "This is crazy, right?"

Sophie mimics me and lies down on the bed. "I wouldn't say crazy. It'll be an adventure for sure!" She stands up from my bed and pulls out a handle of vodka. It's my secret stash that is apparently not so secret. "A shot to help with nerves."

"Sophie, I already told you I can't get drunk tonight. I need to be able to write the article as detailed as possible."

"We both know you're a heavy-weight, Brooklyn." She hands me the handle. "One shot won't hurt."

She's right. I take a pull of vodka and hand the bottle back to her.

I shake out my body a little before jumping off my bed and rubbing my hands together. "This is crazy." I check my phone. "He just messaged me. He's downstairs." I take another pull.

It's for good luck.

I hug Sophie goodbye and walk downstairs to the entrance of the apartment. I'm overthinking everything. Do I take notes so I remember what he says? Do I tell him about the article? Do I act like I really like him? Will that make the article more exciting?

Aiden is sitting in a chair in the lobby. He stands when he sees me. "Brooklyn?" He says my name like it's a question.

For a minute, I don't think he's actually real. Sophie and I spent hours stalking him online, looking at his photos, many shirtless. It's so weird to see him in person, this chiseled god of a man. His voice is deep, sexy. There's such a relaxing composure about him that almost makes him seem comforting.

"Yeah," I breathe out a shaky breath after realizing I was just imagining him shirtless. "Hi."

He takes a minute to look at my outfit before meeting my eyes. "Hi."

There's an uncomfortable silence as we both stand in the lobby, unsure of what to say to each other. I've been on enough blind dates to know that this is expected. The amount of awkward silences I've had to endure with my Tinder dates...

Aiden clears his throat. "We should head to the bus."

"Okay."

"How was your day?"

Here comes the small talk. "It was good! Yours?"

"Good. Good."

I nod. "Good."

Good suddenly didn't seem like a real word.

"What's your major?"

"Journalism," I answer.

"Right, that was in your bio. Sorry."

He's unusually apologetic for your average fuckboy.

"You're okay. What's yours?"

"What's my what?"

"Your major. That's what we were talking about," I say, a small smile on my face. He seems really nervous. I think those two shots helped me with the nerves.