One Day at a Time

I thought long and hard about how I was going to tell Jenn about my date with Joe. It wasn’t like I was going to tell her without actually telling her, it was more like thinking of something that wouldn’t exactly say that I had a date, but would make her put the pieces together. But what was I going to say?

“So,” Jenn started as soon as I called her after class. “You and Joe. What happened? I wanna know every detail; don’t you dare leave anything out.”

“Do you mind coming over? I just got out of class, so I’ll be home in like ten minutes.”

“Hell yeah, I can probably be there in five.”

“I know that,” I laughed. “But I’ll still be ten minutes, so be prepared for a full five minutes of disappointment.”

“Oh gosh, how ever will I survive?”

“Shut up. I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, see ya.”

I hung up and began walking toward my car. It wasn’t too dark outside, but it was just enough for the street lights to turn on. As I approached the parking lot, I had this strange feeling that I was being followed. I began to walk a little faster, trying to avoid any confrontation. It was when I reached my car that I knew I was right because when I was about to open my car door, someone from behind me slammed it shut. I jumped at the sound.

“Hey, babe.”

I turned around slowly. I knew that voice sounded familiar to me, and it didn’t surprise me when I realized who it was.

“Luke, get out of here,” I pushed his arm aside so I could attempt to open my car door again.

“Well, hold on a second,” he leaned against my door, making it nearly impossible to even make the door budge. “I only wanna talk.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t. Please get off my car.”

He didn’t move and I was beginning to get really angry. He moved in closer towards me, pinning me against the car. I felt his hand move up my arm and to my face.

“Now, tell me how you don’t still have feelings for me.”

“That’s easy; I don’t have feelings for you. So, get off me now,” I said as I shoved him as hard as I could out of my way, quickly got into my car, and immediately locked the doors. As fast as I could, I turned on the car and back out of the spot, trying my best to ignore Luke hitting my car. “What an ass.”

I got home in time to see Jenn pace up and down the hallway, worried where I was. I was probably two minutes late.

“There you are! Where were you?”

“Goodness, take a damn chill pill. I was caught up in the parking lot for a second. Calm down,” I laughed and opened the door to my apartment. “And why didn’t you just let yourself in? You have a key.”

“Yeah, I know. But I forgot it at home. So, tell me!” She exclaimed and followed me inside and into the kitchen to grab some food. I shook my head at her ability to not care what she did in my home.

“I need your help to pick out something nice to wear. Come on,” I grabbed her arm and closed the fridge after she grabbed a piece of leftover pizza.

“Something nice? What for? Got a date or something?”

I raised my eyebrows and let a smile show slightly. She stopped as soon as we walked into my bedroom.

“Oh my god, you have a date?” She stared at me, her mouth open in shock. “And with whom may I ask are you going on a date with?”

“Seriously?” I shook my head in disappointment.

“Oh my god, it’s Joe?”

“Who else would it be, dummy?” I smacked her head lightly. “Could’ve had a V-8.”

I laughed at my own comment, sort of embarrassing myself too because of my snorting. Jenn stared at me without the slightest smile on her face; not even a tiny smirk.

“Sorry.”

“Okay, anyway, where are you two going?”

“I don’t know; we’re just going out to dinner. I don’t even know if it’s a real date.”

Jenn began searching through my closet, looking for something for me to wear. She didn’t have a happy look on her face as she was looking at my clothes.

“Well,” she began as she was making faces at my stuff. “Did he specifically ask you to dinner or did he just ask you to grab a bite to eat, or something similar to that?”

“He just said ‘would you go to dinner with me Friday night’ and that was it.”

“You’re sure?”

“And he said it didn’t have to be a date if I didn’t want it to be. So, I have no clue.”

“And you want it to be a date, don’t you? Because you’re not very good at keeping things to yourself, or lying about anything. So, don’t deny it.”

“I do want it to be a date. I mean, I kinda like him…possibly, sort of. Ugh, I don’t know.”

“Aw, you’re so cute when you’re confused,” she smiled and continued pushing hangers to the side. “And, by the way, your clothes are terrible. You have nothing to wear that would be fitted for your date. Come by my place tomorrow and I’ll…you know what? Better yet, I’ll bring over my stuff so…”

“No,” I interrupted. “Not the infamous, bottomless Nike bag.”

“Okay, look. If it weren’t for that bag, you would have looked terrible for the dates that you went on.”

“Oh, you mean those dates with those guys that I hate now?” I asked, sarcastically.

“Shut up,” she glared at me as she said it. “I’ll be back tomorrow with my stuff to pick something out, and yeah. I’ll see you then.”

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and left. Just thinking about the fact that I would be going on a date with Joe made me nervous and gave me butterflies. But they were good butterflies.