The Eccedentesiast

Chapter Nineteen

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Chapter Nineteen
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Tara tried not to blush as she waited giddily for Connor to get to her.

"Hi," she greeted shyly.

They got close to each other, Connor going in for an awkward high-five and Tara going in for an even more awkward fist bump. Then, they exchanged actions; Connor going for a fist bump and Tara for a high-five.

"Oh!" They laughed loudly, neither thinking it was funny.

They stood in silence, or as silent as it could get on a sidewalk, next to mild traffic.

Then, it happened; the most awkward high-five in the history of awkward high-fives.

You're so weird, Tara! she mentally scolded herself.

Connor rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her in his line of sight.

Don't look at her boobs!

Tara looked at him after seconds of their exchange. "So, you wanna . . ." She pointed at the entrance of the Chinese restaurant.

Connor gestures for her to go first. "After you." He bows halfway, trying his hardest to act gentlemanly.

Tara blushes at the plain yet heartwarming gesture. "Thank you."

Connor opened the door for her, letting her walk in front of him and trying not to gaze at her legging-clad butt.

"Have you ever been here?" Tara asked him, eyeing the red walls and booths.

Connor hummed for a second as he pretended to think, not knowing what else to do. "Nope."

Tara giggled.

Connor tore his eyes from the cultural atmosphere to where she stood beside him. "What's wrong? Did I do something?" he worried.

Tara shook her head and tried to reassure him, "No, not at all. It's just . . ."

He arched a thick, black eyebrow, letting her know he wanted the minutiae. "What is it?"

"I've never been on a date before," she confessed adorably, hiding her relatively crimson cheekbones.

Connor tried not to laugh, not knowing if what she said was a joke—because the way he saw it, she was gorgeous enough to call the Goddess of Beauty.

"Neither have I."

They stayed silent throughout the five minutes they stood and waited in line. Throughout those five minutes, Tara couldn't stop thinking about how he asked her out.

Tara rubbed her left shoulder as she began to stress. She rolled her head around as she sighed, wincing at the pain on her shoulder.

She jumped when someone tapped her arm. She turned around to look at the guy that sat behind her.

"This is for you," he whispered and handed her a folded piece of line paper.

Tara frowned, took it from the boy's grasp, and turned back around to reveal what was written inside.

'Will you be willing to go out on a date with me?