Southern Comfort

It was five thirty when Ellie and I raked through both of our closets, desperately finding the appropriate attire. I let out a frustrated groan.

“I’ve told you three times, El,” I took a breath to repeat Matt’s words from earlier, “Dress nice, but not too formal,” I relayed, my eyes watching as she pushed a group of dresses aside.

“Okay, so how about this,” Ellie pulled out a navy blue baby doll tank, “your white skinnies,” she nodded her head towards my dresser, “and since it’s warm, how about some nude peep-toes?” I smiled, finally satisfied with what my roommate picked out.

After dressing, I let Ellie run her curling iron through my long brown hair. When she was done, she spritzed the big loose waves that cascaded down to the small of my back. People often wondered if I had extensions. I would always laugh and tell them that nothing about a true Southern girl was fake. I had been growing my hair since eighth grade to get it to the perfect ideal length.

Deciding that natural looking make up would probably go better with the navy blue against my tanned skin, I only lined my waterline and top lid ever so faintly, then applied mascara to my eyelashes. Once I was satisfied, I added some accessories; a white flower pin for my hair, a white beaded bracelet, and the locket that only left my neck when I showered.

By six thirty-five, I was sliding my feet into Ellie’s size eight nude pumps. The heel was a little too high for my taste, but I could deal with it this time. Like Ellie said, “they never said beauty was easy. It only hurts if you’re doing it right.”

My stomach was upside down by ten till seven. It flip flopped back and forth to the beat of the ticking clock on the wall. I let out a sigh, and glanced over to Ellie, who was sitting on her bed on her Macbook.

It had been far too long since I frequented the dating scene. Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t gone on a date since junior year in high school. Back then, I had to hide the fact that I was even talking to a boy from my dad, but when I got home, my mom and sister would meet me in my room and force all of the details out of me. Alabama seemed so far gone by now. I had my first North Dakota date.

I pushed my hair over my shoulder, and tapped my heel on the floor, earning a glare for Ellie. She hated repetitive noises, she said it irritates her. I shrugged with a smirk, and checked the clock again. I took note that it was five minutes until he was due to arrive. The nervousness started to take over my entire body now, as my hands shook slightly.

“Calm down,” Ellie spoke smoothly, “it’ll be fine. You have no reason at all to be nervous,” she reassured me. I nodded as I forced my stomach to calm down and behave.

“Thanks,” I muttered, wringing my hangs in my lap. Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ellie shot me a proud smile.

“Have fun,” she said as I pulled I picked up my Vera Bradley handbag, and pushed the strap up onto my shoulder. “But not too much fun,” she finished with a knowing smirk. I rolled my eyes at my roommate.

“Don’t wait up for me,” I mumbled under my breath as I put my cellphone into my jeans pocket.

I opened the door, and smiled warmly at the sight of Matt Frattin. He wore a nice looking pair of jeans, and a white button up with the collar popped. He sent me a chilling grin.

“You look beautiful, Gracianne,” Matt said sweetly, eyeing my up and down. I got nervous all over again. I sent him my signature Malloy sugary smile.

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I shot back, trying to hide my lack of experience in the dating scene. Closing the door behind me, I mentioned for him to lead the way. He slipped his hands into his pockets, and started down the hall.

“I didn’t want to take you out to dinner,” he started, “that seemed too cliché. I thought about making you dinner, but then I realized that I kinda suck at cooking anything,” I stifled a giggle, which made him smile wide.

“So what’s the plan then?” I asked him curiously. I couldn’t even recall a time where a date took me somewhere other than a restaurant.

“I can’t tell you that now can I?” he asked charmingly, with his chest puffed out slightly like he was proud. “That would ruin the surprise.” I laughed.

“I wasn’t aware that it was a surprise.” He just grinned.

“So I love your accent,” he told me, “where are you from?”

“Southern Alabama,” I answered, “how about you?” I asked as we walked side by side across campus. I didn’t know where we were going, I kind of just followed. Every few steps, our shoulders would bump together, or our hands would brush, ending in a blush from both of us.

“Edmonton,” he replied, walking straight off the sidewalk and into the grass. I followed his lead.

He led me to the middle of a random empty court yard, and in the middle, was a massive willow tree that looked to be at least four hundred years old. The river ran only fifteen feet away. The branches and leaves of the willow acted as a canopy, forming a shelter underneath everything.

Matt held back branches for me as I walked through to get to the underneath. I looked around. The trunk of the tree was about six feet in diameter, and it was all shaded, no sunlight shone through. Beside the trunk was a blanket laid down flat in the grass, and there was a basket in the middle of the blanket. I smiled to myself as he led me to the blanket, where we both sat down.

“I hope you like peanut butter and jelly,” he said with a playful smile as he reached into the basket. I let out a soft, delicate laugh.

“That’s perfect,” I reassured him as he pulled two sandwiches out of the dark brown wicker basket. He then pulled out two pouches of Capri Sun, and random little sandwich bags with assorted candy and chips in them.

“It’s not much, but I figured this would be relaxing…”he trailed off, and I could hear the nervousness in his voice. He was afraid that this wasn’t good enough for me. I smiled at him.

“This is perfect,” I started, letting my eyes wonder above me, and around the tree. “It’s beautiful.”

“This is where I come to study when the guys are being too loud,” he informed me, “this place just calms me down, even more than the rink.” He took a big bite of his pb&j.

“So you play hockey?” I observed, sliding the sandwich that he handed to me out of its bag. He nodded. “I’ve never really watched a hockey game,” I thought out loud. He gave me an odd look.

“I’ll get you a ticket to our first home game,” he proposed with a smile. “You’ll have so much fun!” I laughed at how excited he was. It was cute.

Matt made me laugh a lot. To say the least, he was adorable. He would crack stupid little jokes just to hear me laugh. Or he would laugh after hearing me say something, then beg me to repeat it because he liked the way I talked. To be honest, it was the best time I had ever had on a date. Matt sure did know how to show a girl a good time. It almost made me wonder how many girls he had taken to that special spot before.

He had asked details all about me. He wanted to know what my home was like, he was interested in what my hobbies were, and he even listened to me complain about the beauty pageants my mother forced me into. Matt laughed with me when I impersonated the annoying girls who I competed with.

I had learned all about his two sisters, and his mother, who he adored. He told me his favorite characteristics in a girl, and what he was looking for in a relationship. He complained about his classes, and how annoying the guys on his team were. Matt told me that he was only a year older than I was, and he was a sophomore.

When our date was over, he walked me back to my room, after wrapping his arm around my shoulder upon catching me shiver slightly.

I looked into his beautiful green blue eyes. It was too easy to lose myself in his bright orbs. But my eyes fluttered shut when his lips neared mine gingerly, almost as if he were scared of my reaction, or he was terrified that I wouldn’t kiss him back.

But when he placed his lips on mine, we shared a short, simple, sweet kiss. He pulled away too soon, and then whispered that he would call me soon, then placed another peck on my cheek and then strutted away.

I watched him walk down the hall way, and I let out a long satisfied exhale from deep in my lungs and leaned against the wall.

Matt Frattin was perfect.