Across the Railroad Tracks

Chapter 13

Picture of the dress Lilly is wering in this chapter on the side

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“This is too tight!” I said as I tried to feel comfortable in the tight dress Jane had picked out. I Jane held in a laugh and covered her mouth.

“Sorry I picked out the wrong size…also it doesn’t look good on you.” She said and I glared at her as I felt the air squeezing out of me. I walked back into the changing room and spent fifteen minutes squeezing out of the dress. I handed it to Jane through a crack in the door and she handed me a sleek black dress. I put it on and it felt good. It hugged my body in the right places and it was a mid-thigh high dress. I stepped out and Jane smiled.

“Perfect. Now take that off and get dressed then lets go get you the right shoes.” I sighed and after getting dressed Jane dragged me to the cashier and we payed for it. She then dragged me to three other stores till we found a pair of black high heels for the dress. We then went to my house.

*****

Jane spent the next four hours getting me ready by trying different hair styles, one of which looked like Elvis hair, we finally decided on it being slightly curled at the bottom. After getting burned we moved onto makeup, which I don’t rely like that much unless it’s needed, and just settled for lipstick and eyeshadow after Jane made me look like the clown from IT. We finished when we heard Riley pull into the driveway. I walked into the living room and my grandma stood up after she saw me.

“Well don’t you look beautiful.” She said and grabbed my shoulders.

“My little Lilly pad is growing up.” She said and I felt my cheeks turn red in embarrassment.“Lilly pad?” Jane asked as we heard a knock at the door. Jane then shoved me into the hall. I almost fell on my butt.

“Hey why’d you do that?”

“I want you to make an entrance.” She said and I heard the door open.

“Hello Riley. Why you look absolutely fetching.” My grandma said as Jane ran past me and came back with a black clutch. She pushed it into my chest and pushed me into the living room. I squealed as I fell back and Someone caught me. I looked back and saw that it was Riley. I stood up and cleared my throat.

“Sorry.” I said embarrassed. He smiled at me.

“Don’t worry about it…you look absolutely beautiful.” He said and I blushed slightly.

“Thanks…you looked…way better than I do.” I said. He was wearing a black suit that looked really well on him. He looked amazing. He then held out his hand.

“Shall we?” He asked and I smiled. I put my hand in his and headed for the door. My grandma stopped us, took a few pictures, and we walked out the door.

“So…where are we going for diner?” I asked as he opened the passenger side door. for me, I got in and after he got in he drove off.

“Just…a place I’ve been planning on taking you…even though we’ve only known each other for a while. But I want this to be special.” He said and I looked at him with a slight smile.

“You don’t have to take me anywhere special.” I said.

“Well I want to.” He said and after talking for a few minutes we got to the restaurant.

“L’Andana? I’ve heard about this place. Isn’t this place expensive though?” Riley nodded and held the door open.

“After you.” Riley said and I walked in with him following. We locked arms and walked up to the hostess.

“Welcome to L’Andana do you have a reservation?” She asked. I looked behind her. The place was packed.

“We do.” Riley said and smiled at her.

“Name?” She asked.

“Jones.” Riley replied. She nodded and motioned for us to follow her. She picked up two menus and we followed her. She led us to a table in the middle of the restaurant. Riley pulled out my seat for me and after I sat down he pushed me in, went around to his chair and sat down. The hostess handed us our menus.

“Someone will be here to serve you momentarily.” She said and walked away. I looked at Riley and crossed my legs.

“You are being very polite…what are you planning?” I asked Riley and squatted my eyes at him as I rested my chin on my hand.

“Nothing…I’m just being polite.” He said and a girl came up to us and we looked up at her.

“Hello I’m Terry and I’ll be serving you this evening. What would you two like to drink?” She asked and I looked at Riley. He motioned for me to go first.

“I’ll have a Dr.pepper for now.” I said and Riley got a coke. She left and I picked up the menu. There were a lot of weird dishes, the one that caught my eye though was swordfish. I looked at Riley.

“They have swordfish here…I wonder what it tastes like…does it taste like swords or does it taste like fish. How would you even cook  swordfish?” I asked as I looked over the menu. Riley laughed and Terry came back with our drinks.

“What would you two want for your appetizers or do you want to just order your entrees?” She asked and I looked at Riley.  I shrugged and he looked at Terry.

“Well have our appetizers since I’m still deciding. We’ll have the calamari.” He asked and she wrote it down then left. I gave Riley a confused look.

“What’s calamari?” I asked as Riley looked back at his menu.

“It’s fried squid.” He said and my eyes widened.

“Fried squid? Won’t it taste weird?” I asked and he put his menu down.

“Trust me it’s delicious. You won’t regret trying it.” He said and a few minutes later Terry came back with a plate of calamari and sat it down in the middle of the table.

“So have you two decided on your entrees?” She asked and we handed her our menu’s.

“We have, I’ll have the 12 oz. ribeye please.”

“And I’ll try the swordfish.” I said and she wrote down our orders then left.I took a calamari off the plate and stared at it. It looked like a small onion ring.

“Why are you staring at it like that?” He said and I looked at him.

“It looks like an onion ring.” I said and uncrossed my legs. I then ate it and closed my eyes. I then opened my eyes when I swallowed it and I resisted from taking the rest of them and inhaling them like a vacuum. After Riley and I talked for a little bit our food came and I took a bite of the sword fish. It tasted so good. After Riley and I finished eating he left a tip for Terry and we went back up to the front to pay. Riley paid for dinner and we left. I rested my head on Riley’s shoulder as we slowly walked to his car.

“This night has been perfect.” I said as we got to his car. He opened my door and I got in. He got in the drivers seat and drove off. When we got to my house he walked me to the door.

“I had a great time tonight. You certainly know how to treat a lady.” I said as we stood on my porch.

“Why thank you. I had fun too.” He said with a smile. I smiled back and we leaned in. We kissed and it felt amazing. When we pulled apart I opened the door and smiled at Riley as he walked back to his car.

I felt like I was in love.