Break All Your Rules

It was a beautiful, clear night, and Mason and I were sitting on the hood of his black car outside of Harry’s Burgers. He had dressed up for our date – a different beanie, a blue plaid shirt unbuttoned over a plain black t-shirt, some nice, light wash jeans – and I hated to admit that he looked really good as he finished his burger and gazed up at the sky. The Verve’s “Space and Time” was playing over the car’s stereo, and it fit everything perfectly.

I munched on a fry and looked down at my outfit: a purple v-neck sweater, dark flare jeans, black Mary Jane heels. I had left my hair down and opted for a little green eye shadow to play up my eyes. I looked back at Mason, who was looking at me with a little smile. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“C’mon, what?”

“I think you’re enjoying this,” he said softly.

“Why do you think that?” I put another fry in my mouth and watched him carefully.

“You just look really serene. Usually you look really focused or deep in thought or tense, but you just look so calm and peaceful right now.” He turned pink. “It’s nice to see you relaxed. I don’t think you do it enough.”

“Thank you?” I asked, unsure how to take that last statement.

“It’s a compliment,” he answered with a quiet little chuckle. “So, Fiona, you finished?” he asked, observing my fingers scraping absentmindedly against the bottom of the fry container.

“Oh, yeah.” I handed him my trash; he hopped off the car and threw them in the bin. He held out his hand to assist me in my dismount. “Wanna head back to my place, watch a movie?” He didn’t let go of my hand.

“What one?”

“That Thing You Do.”

“I love that movie!” I gushed. “It’s gotta be one of my all-time favorites.”

“Mine, too,” he admitted. “So… you want to?”

“Yeah, absolutely.”