Finding Love

Nathan looked at me with a smile and pushed a piece of hair behind my ear, “You look amazing.”

I blushed and looked down, “Thanks…I had a great time tonight.”

“I’m glad,” He said leaning in closer to me. My eyes fell shut, as he got closer….

I jumped awake and groaned. I was having such a good dream and for me to wake up at that moment sucked. I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered what happened the night before. I slipped out of my bed and headed down the hall to the kitchen to start making the bacon for Quinn and me. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole way there and I think that is what tipped my mom off.

“Morning sweetie, have a good night?” My mom asked looking up from her paper.

I nodded and walked over to the fridge, “It was great. Mom, there is something I need to ask you.”

She put her paper down, “Ask away sweetie.”

I bit my lip and sat down across from her, “Well, there’s this boy, Nathan, he kind of asked me to go to on a date with him, at least I think it was a date and I accepted…is that okay?”

My mom hugged me tightly, “Oh sweetie, your first date! Of course it is okay. I just wish I could be here but I have a meeting with publisher today. Maybe, Marcus could stay and meet this young man.”

I blushed, “Mom, I don’t think that is necessary. I mean, Marcus has better things to do then stay and meet Nathan.”

Before my mom could answer Marcus walked into the kitchen not knowing that we were just talking about him. She smiled at him, “Honey, guess who has her first date today?”

Marcus looked at me as I felt my face heat up, “Really? Are you going to be able to meet this boy?”

My mom shook her head, “No, I have a meeting with Eleanor and Steven. I was hoping you would stay and meet him.”

“Sure,” He kissed her cheek with a smile. “We need to make sure this boy is good enough for Lillie Mae.”

I rolled my eyes as the door opened and Quinn walked in with what she needed to make pancakes. My mom smiled at her, “Good morning Quinn.”

"Good morning Mom, Marcus, Lillie Mae. How is everyone on this fine Saturday morning?" Quinn said even more cheerful than normal

“We’re all doing good, Lillie Mae was just telling us about a date she has today,” Marcus said smiling. I sent a glare his way and bit my lip.

Quinn almost dropped everything she had in her hands. "A date?!" she exclaimed. "With Nathan right?"

I blushed and nodded, “Yea, he asked me last night when he dropped me off.”

Quinn squealed and ran over to me. "You're just NOW telling me this? You SOOO should've called last night and told me!!"

“Sorry,” I said laughing.

My mom looked at Quinn, “You’ve met this boy?”

"Of course I have mom. She plays football with him. He's the famous Nathan Daniels. QB for the public school!" Quinn exclaimed.

She laughed, “What’s he like? Is he a good boy?”

I groaned, “Mom, can we not do this? You’ll get to meet him soon enough, promise.”

“Honey, we should go to her next game,” Marcus said with a smile.

I glared at him again and sighed in defeat, “Fine but no embarrassing stories.”

Quinn giggled as she started mixing the pancake mix. "But embarrassing stories are fun!"

“Maybe, I should tell them about Sam,” I said laughing as I started the bacon.

“Sam?” My mom asked.

"Did you really have to go there?" Quinn said so only I could hear. "Sam is nobody mom! Just a friend, that's it, a FRIEND"

My mom nodded and looked at Marcus for a second, “Lillie Mae, your dad called the other day.”

I dropped the fork I was holding and faced her, “What did he want?”

“He’s coming to New York in a few months and wants to see you and Andrew,” She said pausing. “I’m not going to force you but please at least think it over. Samuel will be there, and I know you want to see him. Just think it over sweetie.” She looked at the clock, “I have to go. You two behave.” She kissed our cheeks and walked out the door.

I sighed, “Wow.”

"That's not something you hear your mom say like EVER...something must be up!" Quinn said looking at me with questioning eyes.

“My dad,” I said sighing. “He’s coming here. He hates New York. Sam…I think he’s the only reason I would go. I miss him…the way she said his name though, it’s like something is wrong with him…”

Quinn quickly gave me a hug. "I'm sure everything is fine. Maybe she's just not used to calling him Sam anymore?"

I nodded and went back to the bacon, “He taught me how to play. He and Drew did before my parents split; back then Drew wasn’t so solitary. I miss that, the relationship we had. He was one of my best friends. You would have liked the old Drew. You should come with me to see my dad, you could meet Sam, and I don’t think I could go alone.”

"If that's what you want sweetie. I'll be here for you through thick and thin." Quinn said smiling. "Speaking of thick, these pancakes are very fluffy and smell amazing, my mouth is watering!"

I laughed, “Well, then let’s eat.”

"YUMMY!" Quinn said sitting down. "Do you think Andrew would like some?"

I got up and walked back to his room and knocked on his door but he didn’t answer, “Drew, if you’re hungry Quinn and I made pancakes and bacon, you’re welcome to have some.” I walked back to the kitchen and sat down with a frown, “Didn’t answer his door, so I don’t know.”

"I hope he's okay. I worry about him, and I'M not even his sister!" Quinn said looking down the hallway. "I don't even think we've had a full conversation!"

I bit my lip, “I’m sure he’s fine but I don’t know. So, how was your evening after we spilt up?”

"It was amazing, but nothing to tell. I'd rather hear about YOUR evening!" Quinn said with a grin on her face.

I blushed and looked down at my food, “We got to my door and he said that he had fun with me and that we should do it again sometime. I said I would like that and then he said how about tomorrow and I agreed. I’m not even sure that it’s a date, he never said it was…for all I know it is just two friends hanging out.” I purposely left out the part where he kissed my cheek because I didn’t want her to think too much into it.

“It sounds to me like it's a date! Maybe you should call him and ask him where you two are going?" Quinn said smiling, covering her pancakes with syrup.

I blushed, “I asked last night and he said it was a surprise.” I took the syrup from her and put it on my pancakes. “I hate surprises.”

"Well too bad! If it's a surprise that means it's a date!" Quinn said getting really excited. "I can't wait to hear all about it!"

“You have to help me get ready. I have no clue where to even begin,” I said laughing as Drew walked into the kitchen. “Morning Drew.”

"Of course I'm going to help you!" Quinn said smiling. "Good morning Andrew, we saved you some breakfast if you would like some.”

Andrew nodded and grabbed some pancakes before looking at me, “Mom, tell you.”

I nodded, “Yup.”

He nodded and left back to his room. I looked at the clock, “He said he’d be here around 4.”

“Well it's now 11:30 in the morning. We can spend the rest of the day getting you ready, OR we could goof around for a while then get you ready." Quinn said giggling.

I smiled, “Let’s spend the rest of the day getting me ready…I guess.”

Quinn laughed and said, "You do know that we're probably going to be goofing off anyways right?"

“I know, we always do,” I said laughing and getting up and putting my plate in the sink.

"OH!!" Quinn said getting an idea. "We could try on some of the clothes we've always wanted to, but never found time to...ya know? The WANT section of your closet?"

I looped my arm through hers, “Let’s get to it.”

Quinn giggled and started skipping while singing, "We've off to try the clothes, the wonderfully pretty clothes!"

I laughed as we skipped back to my room then into my closet. We spent hours trying on the clothes that were always there but we never tried on. Until we exhausted through almost all of the clothes on the want side of my closet, and that is when I saw it. It was a purple and blue dress that I had never worn before but I felt like it was perfect for the date. I grabbed my favorite pair of dark skinny jeans and put it on before walking into my room where Quinn was, “What do you think of this for the date?”

Quinn looked at me with her mouth wide open. "You look AMAZING!" She said jumping up and down, laughing. "You're going to blow Nathan away!"

I smiled, “I was thinking I’d go a bit more natural tonight, with the make-up. Maybe curl my hair and leave it down. I just want to be me. I don’t wear make-up when I am just being me.”

"Well, let's get started on your hair then. You only have 45 minutes before he gets here." Quinn said turning on the curling iron. "As for make-up, I think you should just put some eye liner on."

I nodded, “Okay then.” I sat still as Quinn went to work and let my mind wander. I wanted to know what we were going to do and I couldn’t wait to see him. By the time Quinn had finished we had five minutes to spare. I looked at Quinn, started getting nervous. I bit my lip, “What do we do now?”

"You stop biting your lip, and I'm going to get something to drink. Just take a few deep breaths and calm down!" Quinn said smiling and leaving the room.

I stuck my tongue out at her as she left the room. I took a deep breath and smiled. It was taking too long to for four o’clock to get here. After a few minutes the doorbell rang and I got up and walked out to the foyer just as Marcus opened the door.

Marcus smiled, “Hello, I’m Marcus DeMario, you must be Nathan.”

I looked at Marcus like he had ten head, “Marcus!” I looked at Quinn for help before Marcus said something stupid.

"Marcus, now that you've met him, why don't we leave and let them leave?" Quinn said smiling at us as she pulled Marcus down the hall.

I mouthed “Thank you” as she looked back at me with a smile. I turned to Nathan, “Hi.”

“Hey,” Nathan said smiling at me.

I bit my lip, “Ready to go?”

“Of course,” He said still smiling, as he said this he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my apartment.

As we left the apartment building, Nathan interlaced our fingers as we walked down the sidewalk towards Central Park. I couldn’t help but smile. Central Park was one of my favorite places in New York. We spent the whole time in Central Park talking, just getting to know each other. We discussed everything from family to what we wanted to be when we got older. I never knew that I could have so much fun just talking but I was having the time of my life with Nathan. We also walked around the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, after I had mentioned that it was one of my favorite places. I could tell that Nathan wasn’t enjoying himself, so I suggested maybe we should go get something to eat. So, we went to The Loeb Boathouse Central Park. During dinner, we talked some more, I had never felt so comfortable around a boy before, it was great. There was something about Nathan that made me want to tell him everything but I didn’t. I didn’t tell him that Alex was actually me and that my dad cheated on my mom, that’s why he met Marcus not my real dad or that I had another brother named Sam. I kept those things to myself but I told him about why I love music and how Quinn and I met. I told him everything that I felt comfortable letting him know and he told me things to, like how he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be the star athlete that he was anymore. He wasn’t sure if it was all worth it anymore. By the end of dinner, I thought the date was over but Nathan had one more surprise up his sleeve; as we were leaving the boathouse, a carriage pulls up and Nathan hands the driver some money and helped me get into the carriage. During the carriage ride, we cuddled to stay warm and talk some more, the conversation between the two of us never really stopped. By the end of the ride, we were ready to head home and that is just what we did. I was sad to see the night end but all good things come to an end sometime. I smiled at him Nathan when we got to the door of my apartment.

“I had a great time tonight,” I said with a smile.

Nathan smiled, “I’m glad. We should do this again.”

I nodded, “I’d love that.”

“I’ll see you Monday?” He asked.

“Monday?” I asked confused.

Nathan chuckled, “After football practice, I was thinking we could hang out for a little bit.”

“That would be great,” I said smiling.

He smiled and kissed my cheek, “Sweet dreams, Lillie Mae.”

I smiled and whispered a good bye as he walked towards the elevator. As soon as he was gone, I let out a sequel and opened the door to my apartment…knowing what was waiting for me on the other side but I didn’t care. Nothing could bring my spirits down after the day I had.