One Night ✔️

Chapter Ten

I worked on table arrangements with Michelle and Mariah until it was time for the meeting to come to a close. Sitting on the floor, I tied up the spools of silk and laid them in neat rows. As I moved to put them into a bin I heard a door shut and then the squeaks of sneakers on the recently waxed gym floors.

"There you are. I lost you for a whole hour," Joseph said, walking over and taking a seat on the floor beside me. We were sitting so close that his knee brushed up against mine. Not that I minded. His presence was always comforting.

"Oh, hey, yeah, I was running around."

Joseph dragged his fingers along one of the silk spools, and I found my eyes following their every move. They were long and slender and traced blind patterns as his hand moved up and down the smooth fabric. "This is a really pretty color."

I'm not sure when I moved, but I saw my hand inching toward his. He noticed too, craning his head to look over at me.

"Do you want to hold it?"

My eyes widened in surprise. "No!" I blurted out, snatching my hand away from his.

"I mean...it's not that I don't want to- I was just- I don't know. I-I would enjoy holding your hand, but —"

"Listen." Joseph shifted, facing me completely. My ears were ringing.

"You can hold my hand, but if you want any more than that, you're gonna have to wine and dine me first."

He held out his hand for me to take and I playfully smacked it away, the tension instantly leaving my body as laughs overtook me. "Do you even drink wine?"

"I don't. How about you buy me a milkshake?"

"Deal, but only if the milkshake is vanilla with crushed Oreos on top... and I get to have a sip," I said, picking up a spool and placing it in the bin beside me.

"Wow. You wanna hold my hand and drink my milkshake? You're insatiable."

Joseph helped me by picking up the three remaining spools. I packed the lid on and pushed the bin across the floor next to the other supplies.

"Mmm, I want cookies now. Come with me to the vending machine?"

He chuckled. "Sure. Let's get you some cookies."

We exited the gym and made a left, entering what I called the 'hall of vending machines'. There were several machines for sports drinks and water, chips, and candy. My eyes roamed over all three until they landed on the blue mini bags of joy, chips ahoy.

"Yes!" Cheering, I skipped to the machine furthest right. After slipping my dollar in and punching in the code, I claimed my sweet when it fell to the bottom. "The administrators have the snacks inside switched every two weeks, so this is a blessing," I told Joseph.

"You should just buy all the cookies that are in stock right now, so you're not disappointed when a granola bar is taking its place," he said leaning against the water machine.

"I couldn't. Surely I can't be the only one with a chips ahoy addiction."

He shook his head, smiling. I fidgeted with the package of cookies in my hand, deciding if I should act while we had a moment.

"Joey? I mean, is it okay if I call you Joey?"

"You can call me anything but stupid."

My lips curled into a grin. "Well, alright Banana Head."

Joseph laughed and I joined him. "I was wondering... well, my mom was wondering. D-do you want to- would you like to come over for dinner?"

It could have come out more cohesively, but it definitely could've come out worse.