» 𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕖: i had a lot of fun writing this, and at this point i've decided to stop apologizing for how cliche it is. fanfics are supposed to be cheesy, right?
» 𝕕𝕒𝕥𝕖: 8 / 13 / 20
» 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕒𝕣𝕪: "i've just been stood up but you pretend to be my date who ran into traffic to save me from being embarrassed."
» 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕕𝕤: 1400
. . .
Tonight, Katie expected a relaxed evening to boost her confidence and take a break from the stress of school. Tonight, she expected to be flirty, fun, and casual.
Tonight, she had a date with the cute guy from English Comp.
As she sat alone at the table nearest to the door in the cafe on campus, Katie rolled up her sleeve and checked her watch for the fourth time.
Fifteen minutes late.
Maybe tonight wasn't going to go as well as she'd expected.
When she adjusted her denim skirt's waistband, she cursed herself for putting style before comfort. If she had to wait much longer, she decided she'd just leave. It wasn't worth sitting there looking pathetic while she waited for some guy she'd only met at the beginning of the semester.
Seventeen minutes.
Outside on the patio, the dusk light illuminated a table full of rambunctious guys she vaguely recognized as other people from her college. Of course, she was in the process of getting stood up while other students were there to watch it all happen.
One of them kept looking at her, wonder striking his shadowed features.
Taking in his auburn curls, his red beanie, and the flannel tied around his waist, it dawned on her that she knew him better than the others.
He was the guy who'd run into her the first day of school.
She'd been leaving her class and he was just coming in for the advanced contemporary lit after hers. He'd unslung his backpack off his shoulders just in time to smack her in the stomach, and she'd stumbled back and dropped her binder. Luckily, the papers were secure and didn't spill everywhere, but she still warranted the people walking by to stop and stare.
He hadn't even said a word to her, he just walked past.
He kept looking at her.
She felt like everyone knew she was being stood up.
The waitress had come by her table twice since she sat down, only to be asked to hold off a bit longer. Each time, she'd given her a pitying smile. She knew. Katie knew.
The guys outside knew.
Twenty minutes.
She went ahead and ordered.
"Thanks," she muttered as the woman set a croissant sandwich on her table. Though she didn't feel much like smiling, she offered one to the waitress regardless.
Thirty minutes.
She'd really thought he was into her. He always sat next to her in class, he flirted casually, and he never failed to give her butterflies when he touched her arm to say goodbye. When she asked him out, he'd grinned and said yes.
What kind of sociopath could stand someone up after all that?
An older couple walked by Katie's table, nodding at her. When Katie nodded back, the woman stopped, leaned, in and pat her forearm. "I'm sure whoever you're waiting on will be here soon."
