Pretty Broken

Chapter 3

Dan called me and asked if I wanted to go to a small taco shop, and I agreed. I wore a long sleeves sweater and leggings and waited for him to pick me up. I got in the car and smiled, and he smiled back. It was a pure exchange and it made the butterflies in my stomach erupt, but I ignored them. The drive to the taco shop was silent but comfortable. I would steal glances at him focusing on the road. He was tapping the steering wheel and observing all of the aspects of the road. Before I knew, we arrived.

We both got out of the car and made our way inside. He ordered first, paid, and then I ordered. I started looking around for my card, but he handed the cashier his.

"uh no." I looked at the cashier and said, "oh I'm paying sorry." The cashier looked at me, and apologetically said,

"I already charged his card, I apologize."

I turn to Dan and glare, "what is wrong with you?!"

"Relax," he said, "it's not a big deal, it's 2 tacos."

Under my breath, I mutter, "grr sexist pig."

I turn to look at him and he is slyly smiling like he's won something. Honestly, the biggest problem I have with him paying is first he didn't ask me if he could, and secondly, it makes it feel like a date. Which it is not. This is a strictly platonic friendly get together. Right? Him paying made a bunch of random questions bombard my head. Does he think it's a date? Does he want it to be a date? He's never paid for me before, does this mean something? I tried to calm my thoughts but they weren't being very cooperative, so I just let them run wild, as we make our way to a booth and wait for our food. He sits first, and I take the cushioned seat across from him. I steal a glance at him to see if anything was different about him, but he seemed completely normal, like us being at this restaurant is normal, like him paying for me just minutes ago was normal. If he is acting so normal, I should act normal too right? Pointing out how confused I am at this point would do nothing other than cause awkwardness. So I decided to just act like my normal charming self because I didn't know what else to do.

The server dropped off our tacos and I started digging in. I love tacos, I seriously do, and due to my undying love for tacos, I think I ignored the fact that he was sitting in front of me. I took a second to look up and saw that his eyes were fixated on me with a small smile, which made my stomach act up once again. I started laughing,

"what are you staring at, annoying." And he just shook his head in response. And started eating his tacos. We had a normal conversation which made my nerves calm down. We talked about school and classes nothing out of the ordinary and finished up our meal. He asked if I was done and I informed him that I was and we both threw our trash away. As we made our way outside, he swung his arm around my shoulder and asked,

"what do u want to do now?"

I responded with, "I don't really care, it's up to you"

He nodded and we made our way into the car. I kept asking him where we were going and he didn't really give a clear response, each time it would be a variation of, "just wait and see." After pestering him for a bit I just gave up because It became obvious that he wasn't going to let any details slide about the mystery location we were going to. I wasn't scared or nervous, I trusted him, but I couldn't stop my heart beating a little faster and the gears in my head making up wacky scenarios in my head.

He turned into a parking garage, a rather empty parking garage, and drove all the way to the top. I turned and looked at him, my eyebrows raised, confused,

"Uh, why are we here?"

He just shrugged, "I don't know it's nice weather we can just chill."

Okay, that isn't weird at all... Right? I don't know what this means. We normally always go eat and then we will park outside of each other's houses and just talk for a bit and then go home. We don't normally go somewhere specific to go talk. But maybe he just didn't want to go home right? My head was running a hundred miles a minute. I hated not knowing what this meant. Honestly, it probably didn't mean anything and I'm just over here overthinking my butt off. He opens his car door and stands outside. The music from the car is still blaring. I get out of the car and join him leaning on the trunk of his car. He was right. The weather was beautiful. Not too hot or cold. Windy but with the sun shining. It was close to perfect weather. His music changes to a slower song. Moonlight by Ali Gate. Not my absolute favorite, but a good song, and completely weird, because it is the literal opposite of his music taste. He grabs my hand and that is when the craziest thing happened.

He took my hand, turned me towards him, and we started dancing. Well, swaying to the music. I looked at him, wide-eyed. I was confused. I recall telling him that I always wanted to dance with a guy on top of a garage because I saw it in a movie once and thought it was so pure and romantic. And I was dancing with him. And I didn't know what it meant. Maybe he was just dancing with me as friends? But it didn't feel like we were just friends. It felt like something more. He was smiling at me, not a full-blown out smile, but a soft glimmer of a smile was about to break through his face, and I couldn't help the smile that found its way plastered against my mouth. I looked at him and whispered,

"what are we doing?"

And he responded with, "you told me you always wanted to do this, so I decided we should do it."

I let out a soft giggle. My heart was pounding against my chest. I was honestly so nervous because I didn't know what he wanted. Heck, I didn't know what I wanted. I always felt this weird attraction towards him, but I just thought it was because I felt comfortable around him. I threw out the possibility that there was anything more between us because I didn't think he saw anything in me... like that... but maybe I was wrong? But again, maybe I was jumping to conclusions. I don't know. I could be overthinking this too. He breaks off my crazy thoughts,

"what are you thinking?" he whispers to me.

I look up at him, "nothing. I'm not thinking anything."

He chuckles down at me and then he calls my name, "Aaliyah."

I look up at him and he looks down at me and I feel this weight in my stomach weighing me down. You know when you're on a roller coaster and the drop happens and your stomach falls down to the very bottom of your body. That is what I was feeling. I knew that when you meet someone that you're clearly into you don't generally feel sparks when you touch or fireworks when you kiss. That is something people make up for dramatic effect in books and movies, so I'm assuming what really happens is your stomach starts acting crazy. I don't know but the effect he was having on me was extremely foreign. I've kissed people before, but I haven't felt like this or heard anyone describe this specific feeling. It was brand new and pure and unique. He kept eye contact with me and his face slowly got closer to mine. My eyes slowly go wide as his eyes slowly close, and then he kissed me. There's was a moment between his gaze and his lips when the world stopped. For that moment there was nothing else except us. I was anticipating his lips on mine the feeling was so intense, and when our lips touched I was so consumed with an influx of emotions. I've kissed people before, but this was different. That connection I felt towards him magnified, and I was overwhelmed with my emotions, but in a good way. It felt like the kiss lasted forever but also only for a split second. Time was nonexistent. I was feeling things I've never felt and experiencing something that I feel only existed in movies without all the drama.

He pulled away and smiled. That smile was genuine and I couldn't help but get giddy by the fact that my lips were the reason for his joy. I couldn't help but feel happy. I was so genuinely happy. I haven't felt this way since my father died, everything was mediocre at best but at that moment I was feeling absolute bliss.