Out of Grasp

I felt like banging my head against the wall. Maybe If I faked my death, Melanie and Tori would shut up for five minutes to call the ambulance or something.

Mel called Tori immediately after finding out John asked me to the movies, literally yelling about my "date" with him, and Tori was at my house in 10 minutes flat. I don't want to know how many laws she broke getting over here that fast. They then spent the next two hours rambling about how it took us long enough, how the "date" was gonna go, and what our children were going to look like.

"Woah, woah, woah. Do you two even hear yourselves?" I stopped them. "This isn't even a date and you guys are already planning our wedding?"

"Emily, this is so a date! A guy doesn't just ask a girl to the movies for some leisurely fun!" Tori said, her eyes wide.

"It's called being friends!"

"It's called he wants in your pants!" Mel exclaimed, digging through my now messy closet.

I smacked my forehead. "You two are ridiculous. Are you saying that if Jared asked one of you to go to the movies, that's considered a date?" I asked them.

"No, because we both have boyfriends and we know that he doesn't like us like that," Tori answered.

"How do you know he doesn't like you like that?"

"Because we've known him for a long time,"

"So? I've known John for a while,"

"A few weeks hardly counts as a while. Besides, everyone knows he likes you. It's not like he does nor care to hide it." Melanie and Tori both rolled their eyes at my confused and shocked face.

"Please, don't act like you didn't know," Mel said, picking up one of my shirts and looking at it before throwing it to the floor.

"I actually didn't,"

"You two flirt whenever you're together! Not to mention all the googly eyes you two give each other!"

"We do not flirt that much," I argued, my face burning. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Because it's true. It's sickening. It's like you two are clones of Melanie and Pat, except you two don't go make out any chance you get," Tori shrugged.

"For the last time, Pat and I are not that bad! You all just like to target us because we're the youngest and cutest!"

Tori snorted and Mel threw her a dark look, turning back to my closet muttering under her breath.

"Hypothetically speaking, if this was a date, don't you think it's too soon? I only recently got out of a two year relationship."

"You and James have been broken up for almost a month. And it's not like the last few months of your relationship were good, anyway." I internally flinched at her blunt statement.

It was true, that much I couldn't deny. My relationship with James has been on the rocks for a long time now, and our break up was basically inevitable. But that didn't mean I wasn't upset when it happened. I feel like the only reason I was sad though was because I was going to miss his familiarity. I've been with him for so long I almost don't know what it's like to be on my own. I've never not been with James. Without even realizing it, I let myself go on autopilot in our relationship.

I didn't even realize that I wasn't with James because I love him, but because I was used to his presence, his voice, and the company he gave me. Sure, we fought a lot, but at least I wasn't alone. I always had someone to talk to, someone to keep grounded. It was time that I broke away from that comfortable place I've allowed myself to enter and put myself in more situations, however awkward they may make me feel because I've lost sight of who I am and what I find important in life.

"So, are you going to get dressed on your own or do Tori and I have to put these clothes on for you?"

I hesitated for a moment, before grabbing the outfit Melanie picked out for me and heading to the bathroom, not missing the smirks she and Tori had on their faces.

I quickly showered and changed into the clothes Mel gave me. I scrunched my hair and straightened my bangs, deciding to put an across-the-forehead headband on and finally lightly spraying some hair spray on to be sure everything stayed in place. I did my make up, keeping it simple like I always do; mascara, eyeliner, and a little bit of eye shadow. I put on some of my strawberry chapstick before throwing it in my makeup bag, and putting that back under my bathroom counter.

When I walked out of my bathroom, Melanie and Tori were no where in sight. As I put on my shoes, I noticed half a piece of loose leaf tapped next to my bedroom door above the light switch.

We decided to leave before JohnO showed up! Have fun and relax! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!....Or rather, don't do anything Mel would do!

-Love, Tori

I laughed at the note before crinkling it up and throwing it in my garbage pale. It was only 6:30, so I spent the next half hour cleaning up my closet now that Mel had totally destroyed it. At 7:05, my doorbell rang, making me drop the pair of jeans in my hand and my heart skip a beat.

I grabbed my cell phone and some money off my dresser, shoving both of them in my front pocket. I quickly walked down my stairs and took a deep breath before opening my front door, seeing John standing there with his hands stuffed in his front pockets.

To say he looked amazing would be a huge understatement.

He was wearing black skinny jeans, with a white v-neck and a black leather jacket, black vans covering his feet.

"Hey," he said, rubbing the back of his neck before running his fingers through his hair.

"Hi," I smiled. I grabbed my keys from the bowl besides the door and stepped out, locking the door behind me. I didn't feel like carrying my entire key chain, so I took my house key off the chain and threw the rest of the key chain into the bushes next to my door. I slipped my key into my back pocket and turned to John who was laughing at me.

"You are one weird girl, you know that?" he laughed, guiding me down my walkway and to his car. He stepped up to the door before and opened the passenger. I hesitated at the action. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, I've just never had someone open a door for me. I wasn't aware people even did that anymore."

"Seriously?" he asked, closing the car door behind meas I sat down. I shook my head as he walked around the front of the car and climbed into the drivers seat. "Well then, I need to make up for lost time. You will not be opening a single door tonight."

"Wow, don't I feel special,"

"Chivalry still lives on in some of us," he smiled, starting up the car and backing out of my driveway.

We made small talk all the way to the theater, John's easy-going attitude calming me down. It took us some time to find a parking space, considering it's a Friday night, but eventually we found a space and as I was unbuckling my seat belt, John spoke up.

"Don't even think about opening your door."

I couldn't help but to let out a ridiculously girly giggle as he climbed out of his seat and rushed around the car to open my door for me.

"I did promise you wouldn't be opening any doors tonight."

I blushed as he held out his hand for me. I gently placed my hand in his and climbed out of the car. He closed the door behind me and clicked a button on his key chain,the doors locking with a beep. He pulled me towards the theater, still holding my hand. As we approached the theater doors, he dropped my hand and raced ahead a bit, pulling open the door and bending down slightly as to bow.

"After you,"

"Thank you," I smiled, stepping past him and into the cool, air conditioned building.

Like predicted, it was packed. There were people of all ages, waiting on line for their tickets, or to buy food, or playing video games in the little side game room. John came up next to me and grabbed my hand again, leading me to the ticket line.

"So, what would you like to see?" He asked.

"Um, anything I suppose,"

"What do you like? Horror? Action? Chick flick?"

"As much as I love chick flicks, I'm sure you don't. And I don't want you to feel like pulling your hair out for two hours,"

He looked at me, a gleam in his eyes. "You are the first girl I ever heard say that. Even Tori makes us all watch those frilly kind of movies with her."

"Tori lives for chick flicks," I said, stepping up as the line moved. "Don't get me wrong, I do too. The Notebook is one of my favorite movies, but I'm assuming love stories aren't you're favorite,"

"I can tolerate a few,"

"Yeah? I never pegged you for the hopeless romantic type."

"You also didn't think I had muscle,"

"Oh, right, right. You're 'big guns'" I laughed, using air quotes.

"Don't mess with me; I can kick your butt."

"You went from holding doors open for me to kicking my butt. I feel like this date is going down hill fast,"

I didn't even notice what I had said until John's eyes began to burn into mine, a smile slowly sliding onto his face.

"Date? We're on a date?" He asked, a taunting tone to his voice.

"Um...I, uh, I just assumed, if this isn't....Tori and Mel said, and I-..."I stuttered, unsure of what to say. My face began to burn and my heart began to race. I just made this exceptionally awkward.

He chuckled at my obvious nervousness. "Emily, calm down. I was only joking,"

"You, you were....wait, what?"

"This is a date, yeah?"

"Oh, um, yeah. I just wasn't sure if you just asked me to the movies as friends or...because, I'm....."I trailed off, taking a big breath. "I'm extremely nervous right now," I said, letting out a humorless laugh.

"I can tell," he smiled, rubbing my arm soothingly up and down with his hand. "Calm down. You don't have to be nervous. It's like you've never been on a date before."

I awkwardly nodded my head, avoiding eye contact. His hand stopped moving and when I glanced a look at his face, I could see the disbelief on his face.

"You've never been on a date before?"

"Well, I mean not a real one. My ex-boyfriend, James, just never got around to taking me."

"How long were you two dating?" he asked, taking a step forward. Only two other people were ahead of us.

"Almost two years. We broke up a few days before our two year anniversary."

"You were dating him for two years and he never took you out on a real date? Not even to the movies?"

I shook my head. "We've known each other for so much longer, too. He just wasn't the date type of guy. "

"Well, not only do I have to open all doors for you, but I also have to take you out on a multitude of dates."

"Well, I look forward to all of them."

"Good. Now, what movie looks good?" He asked, turning to look up at the list of movies playing tonight.

"What about Source Code?" I asked.

John nodded his head and we stepped up to the counter as a woman called "Next,".

"Two tickets for Source Code," John said, pulling his wallet from his back pocket.

"$12," the woman said. I reached into my pocket, pulling out six dollars. As I stretched to hand her the money, John's hand grabbed my wrist, pushing my money back to me.

"I know you haven't been on many dates, but I'm assuming you've seen enough movies to know that the guy always pays."

"I know, but I think I should at least pay half."

"You will not be spending one cent tonight, Emily ." He handed the woman the money and she handed him the tickets, turning her attention to the couple behind us.

"Can I at least buy us popcorn?" I asked.

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'.

"John,"

"Emily," he mocked, smiling down at me as I huffed. "Enjoy your first date experience,"

"I would enjoy it more if I knew you weren't spending all the money."

"Well, suck it up sweet cheeks. You're about to be spoiled."

I was too taken back by the fact that he called me sweet cheeks to argue the case anymore.

"This is so cliche," I laughed.

On the outside, I was pouting to the fact that he wouldn't let me pay for anything, though that only made him chuckle at me. But on the inside, the butterflies in my stomach were going crazy and I couldn't keep the smile off my face.



"Okay, I'm confused. How come when he looked in the mirror he saw a different guy?" John leaned over and whispered, his breath tickling my ear and causing goosebumps to spread out over my body. I turned my face slightly towards his, the close proximity of our faces making my breath catch.

"Because who we're seeing isn't actually who he is. It's like if you were the guy who was hired to try and stop this bomb, you wouldn't look like this," I said, gesturing to his face.

"Why not?"

"Because it's all in the mind. It's not real life,"

"This is so confusing." He muttered, turning his attention back to the screen as I giggled.

I reached over my seat, not taking my eyes off the screen, to grab some popcorn from the bucket. Instead, my hand touched John's, who was reaching into the bucket at the same time. I pulled my hand back, blushing as John chuckled.

"Well, wasn't that cliche," he said.

I smirked. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"Me? Noooo,"

"I don't believe you," I said, reaching into the bucket and grabbing a few pieces of popcorn.
John started to respond before the older couple behind us shooshed him. He sunk down in his seat, sticking his tongue out in their direction, thought they couldn't see. I giggled, turning my attention back to the screen.

A few minutes later John turned back to me.

"Why did he attack that guy on the bench?" He asked.

"He thought he was the guy who was setting off the bomb."

"If he catches the guy, then what?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll have to watch the movie and find out, huh?" I asked sarcastically. John rolled his eyes playfully, throwing a piece of popcorn at my head. I flicked his nose, laughing as he scrunched it up. He threw his arm over the back of my seat and turned his attention to the screen again. I tried doing the same, but that fact that his hand was rubbing small circles on my shoulder was causing a minor distraction.

An hour later, when the movie ended, John and I stayed seated, waiting for everyone else to leave before we got up. I stretched my arms above my head, hearing my back crack from sitting in the same position for so long.

"I was not expecting that ending," John said, picking up the now empty popcorn bucket. He gestured for me to walk out first before he followed behind me.

"Me neither. I'm glad that director lady finally decided to do something right. She was pissing me off the entire movie." I said, throwing my trash into the bin outside the theater door.

John did the same and we walked side by side towards the exit, talking about the movie.

"I felt you jump when the trains crashed into each other," John said, laughing as I turned red and groaned.

"I was not expecting them to impact that hard!" I said, then realized how wrong that sounded. "Okay, that came out really wrong."

"I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't said anything. God, get you're dirty mind out of the gutter."

"I am not the one that turned every sentence Sean said in the movie into a sexual innuendo."

"If they're going to write the script so that it sounds sexual, I'm going to point it out,"

"I'm pretty sure they didn't write it to sound sexual. You're just a dirty boy,"

"You like it,"

"That I do," I muttered under my breath, approaching his car.

We stepped up to the car, John reaching out in front of me to open my door. He smirked as I rolled my eyes playfully at him. He climbed into the driver's seat and reached into the glove compartment, pulling out his ipod and plugging it into his stereo.

"Pick a song," he said, handing it to me.

As I scrolled through the list of artist, I only recognized a few, but most I had never even heard of.

"Would you believe I don't know who any of these people are?" I asked him, still scrolling.

"What?" He asked incredulously.

"I mean I know Death Cab For Cutie but other than that, I really don't know any of these artist."

"You need a serious lesson in good music," he said, sounding completely serious. I hummed in response, not taking my eyes off the glowing device.

"Oh! I love Tom Petty!" I said, choosing Night Driver. I quietly sang along to the music as I finished searching through John's ipod. "Wild Nothing, Wild Sweet Orange...I don't know who these bands are either,"

"That doesn't really surprise me. Those aren't really popular bands,"

"Well, how did you find out about them?"

"My dad mostly, but my family in general. I've always been surrounded by music my entire life and I guess I've just learned about different music than most kids. I didn't grow up listening to the radio. I was always listening to old records. I just have all these memories of sitting around listening to all these influential artist with my dad and my brother Ross."

"You have a brother?"

"I have two. Ross is 21 and Shane is 16."

"That's awesome. You're lucky to be so close to your family."

"You're not?"

"Um, not really. We just never got along. I never acted the way they wanted, or hung out with the people they deemed socially acceptable."

"Socially acceptable?" He questioned.

"Let's just say my dad was more like a dictator than a father."

It was quiet after that except for American Girl playing through his car speakers. Before I knew it, we pulled into my driveway and John shut the car off, the music following, leaving us in complete silence, except the crickets chirping through the open car windows.

"So, Emily."

"So, John," I smirked.

"I think we need to do this again."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I have many more doors to open for you and a lot of music to teach you about."

"Well, if that's the only reasons-..."

"Not to mention you're adorable and the fact that you blush at everything is cute," he added, causing my face to burn and me to avert my gaze from his eyes to my house. He chuckled and then I felt him place his hand on my chin, lifting my face up. He kept his eyes locked on mine, but he rubbed his finger up and down my cheek. "You're face is very red," he mused.

"You're only going to make it worse."

"I have that kind of effect on you?"

"That and more,"

"Well, don't I feel amazing," he replied cockily.

"Waita' ruin the moment John," I rolled my eyes.

"I like the way you say my name," he purred. I giggled and then clamped my hands over my mouth, my eyes going wide. "Oh my god! Did you just giggle?" He laughed, pulling his hand off my face. My cheeks literally burned, and I shook my head, placing my face in my hands laughing.

"I'm getting out of the car before I do anything else embarrassing," I said. I unbuckled my seat belt, and as I turned to open the door, I saw it was already open, John standing there with a smile on his."Did you run to open the door?"

"No, I used my mind powers."

"What else can you do with those mind powers?" I got out of the car and John closed the door behind me. We started up my walkway, our hands brushing.

"I can move objects, read minds, see through clothes..."

"Oh really? I can't help but to feel violated."

"Don't. You have an amazing body."

"You're going to make my face turn the color of a tomato. Again."

"At least you'll be a cute tomato."

"You sure know how to charm a girl don't you,"

"I've had practice,"

"You were probably just born with it. You are in a band." We stood in front of my front door, John with his hands tucked his back pockets and me shuffling from foot to foot.

"Are you saying all band guys are charmers?"

"No, I'm saying they like to try to be."

"So, my seductive advances haven't worked at all tonight?"

"Oh they have. So much so that I'm really tempted to just jump you right here, right on my front yard."

"That can be arranged," he smiled, taking a step closer to me. I put my hand on his chest, smiling up at him, since he was so much taller than me.

"Maybe next date, Casanova,"

"So there will be a next date?"

"I'd say you've won me over,"

"Well then, I'll give you a call tomorrow," he said, smiling. I nodded my head and suddenly his arms were wrapped around me. I could smell his cologne and feel his pulse beat as my cheek rested on his neck. He pulled away slowly, taking a small step back. "Goodnight, Em."

"Night John."

I unlocked my front door and stepped inside, locking it again behind me. I leaned against it for a moment waiting to hear his car start up again. After 5 minutes and still nothing, I reopened my front door to see if he had driven away yet. I jumped at John still standing on my front step, his hand balled in a fist ready to knock. I quirked an eyebrow at him and he dropped his hand, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I uh, I forgot something," he said.

"Oh, um, what is it?"

I barely finished my sentence before John's lips were on my cheek. He pulled away a second later, his cheeks a light pink.

"Goodnight...again," he smiled, his eyes gleaming. I managed to smile back through my shock.

"N-night,"I stuttered.

He awkwardly lifted a hand, letting out a small wave before turning and walking back down the walkway. I waited for him to climb in his car and drive away before closing my front door.

My cheek was burning from where his lips had just been. Even as I walked upstairs, got undressed, took off my make-up, and climbed in bed, I couldn't whip the smile off my face.