Yearbook Club. ||Joshua Bassett||

Like Other Girls

5% tint - Travis Scott

Mason asked if I would go on a date with him tonight. I was hesitant at first since he asked me on such short notice, but after texting my mom asking her for permission, she said yes, and I feel nothing but nervous excitement. Throughout the rest of the day, I imagine what outfit i could wear tonight. Then I remember that he didn't even tell me where we'd be going, so that makes choosing my outfit much more difficult.

At lunch, Maddie, Charlie, Josh, and I are sitting at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. I ask her what she thinks I should wear. "Why don't you just stick with this whole elderly vibe that you're wearing right now? I'm sure a lot of guys are into that." Josh mocks. I grimace at him like I usually do, and look at Maddie, waiting for her answer.

"I say just go with a casual look. You don't wanna look too nice but also not too laid back." She responds.

"Knowing Mason, he'll probably just take you to In-N-Out. He does that with every girl he dates." Charlie says without breaking his concentration from his biology project-- an exact replica of a pair of lungs. Maddie kicks his shin under the table. "Ah! It's true." He scrunches his face in pain.

I know Charlie didn't mean for what he said to sound like I'm not any different than all the other girls Mason has gone out with, but I couldn't help thinking that maybe it was true. "Yeah, and then he takes them to a secluded area where they-" Josh says.

"She gets it." Maddie interrupts.

My level of excitement begins to lower, but I'm still going to keep an open mind about this date. Maybe he's changed his methods?

As I wait for Mason to pick me up, my brother comes down from his room and sits in the living room with me. He looks at me like he's waiting for my attention. "What are you looking at?" I ask.

"You're seriously going out with that guy from the grocery store?" He asks.

"Yeah, I am. Is there something wrong with that?"

"He doesn't give me a good feeling, Hayden. Remember when you were talking to that Landen kid at our old school and I told you he seems like a douche?"

I sit up from the couch. "Yeah?"

"And then the next day we saw him making out with Chloe Duvall under the stairs by the spanish hall?"

"That was my fault, I heard the rumors about him but tried to keep an open mind." I roll my eyes. "You're wrong about Mason. He's been nothing but nice to me, and I haven't heard one bad thing about him."

"Okay, but when you come home crying because of him, I'll be here to tell you 'I told you so'" He raises his eyebrows, folding his arms above his chest.

********************************

I spoke too soon..

As we sit in the parking lot of In-N-Out, the music is low, and our food smells up the whole car. I'm not necessarily complaining though, our burgers smell just as good as they taste. Unfortunately the food can't take my mind off of what Charlie said earlier today. "Is this your signature move with girls?" I boldly ask.

Mason gives me a questioning look. "What?"

"Do you do this exact same thing with other girls?"

"No."

We sit in silence for too long, that's when I decide to ask the next burning question. "How many girlfriends have you had?"

"Um... four I think."

"Why did you break up?"

"What's with the interrogation?" He snaps.

I sigh, "I'm sorry, I just- Someone told me that you take girls to the same place on a first date. And I thought it'd be different with me but clearly it's not..."

Mason lets out a deep breath and leans closer to me. "Those girls are in the past, Hayden. I'm here with you because you're different. Whoever told you that information didn't get it right. I've only taken one girl here before. Not this exact In-N-Out but.."

"I got it. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He laughs.

"But wow, four girlfriends?" I say shocked.

"I don't count the first two. They were only in middle school."

The rest of the night we talked as if we weren't even on a date. We talked how we usually did, about random stuff, and it felt like we could talk for hours. I feel a real connection with him, and i hope this leads to him asking me to be his girlfriend in the future.

We didn't kiss when he dropped me off at home. Not that I expected it, but I'm kind of relieved because I've only ever kissed one person before, an that was a long time ago. He's probably so experienced, it would have been embarrassing on my part. There just wasn't a right time to kiss. Well.. there was time, but not a feeling. I believe that it has to feel like the perfect moment to kiss someone for the first time.

Maybe I should've at least kissed him on the cheek... I don't know.

**************************

The weekend goes by quick, as it always does. I didn't really do anything except movie night with my family on saturday. Then Sunday, I just caught up on homework.

I haven't told Maddie about how our date went yet. I'll probably tell her at school sometime this week, or if she asks. I've never had a boyfriend before, so I have no idea if this is how relationships go. It's not that i've never wanted a boyfriend, guys back in Florida just didn't like me for some reason, so I eventually gave up looking for one.

But maybe Mason will be my first.