I Think You Could Do Much Better Than Me

“Did she drop her panties for you?” Dayln asked.

“Oh god no,” I laughed into the phone, “Why do you always think like that?”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t go to a girl’s house, especially if she’s high, and not get anything. I mean, shit doesn’t work that way,” Dayln stated.

“It’s not even like that, okay? We just started talking; I think we are still considered strangers,” I said.

“Dude, she wants you. You’re like the first guy at our school that she’s talked to in years. Well, the first guy she’s talked to without insulting.”

“I doubt that’s the case,” I said as I put my phone on speaker and placed in on the dresser. I went into my closet to look for something to wear. “Um, Dayln?” I said as I poked my head out of the closet.

“Hmm?” He hummed through the phone.

“I, uh, asked Rose to the movies tonight,” I said a bit awkwardly.

“You what?!,”Dayln screeched through the phone, “Dude, when did you grow the balls to do that?”

“I have no idea,” I said taking out a T-shirt, “She hugged me when I was leaving her house and all of a sudden I got some confidence out of nowhere.”

“You like her don’t you?” By Dayln’s tone I could tell he was raising his eyebrows.

“I don’t,” I defended, “I just want to hang out with her and get to know her.”

“Whatever, dude,” I heard Dayln shuffle around, “Hey dude, that hot blonde I met a couple of weeks ago is calling and I have to answer. I’ll catch you on the flip side, Ryan.”

The call with Dayln disconnected. I grabbed some dark jeans from my closet and dressed myself.
I couldn’t lie, I was a little nervous about tonight. This would be my first time in almost a year to go out with a girl. I didn’t really consider the whole thing a date even though that is pretty much what it was.

I sprayed on my favorite cologne and combed through my dark hair. I fixed my clothes a little and I grabbed a jacket and headed downstairs. I picked up my keys from the bar as I went through the kitchen.

“Ryan, where are you going?” My mom called after me.

“To the theater,” I called over my shoulder as I continued walking.

“Did you finish all of your homework?” She asked.

I exhaled loudly and rolled my eyes, “Yes ma’am.” She said nothing else as I walked out of the house.

I drove to Rose’s house and arrived around 7:30. The sun was setting. Pink and orange clouds were placed around sky. I pulled into the driveway and killed the engine of my car. I went to Rose’s door and knocked a few times. A blonde guy with piercings opened the door.

“Is Rose home?” I asked chewing on the inside of my lip.

“Why?” The blonde questioned as he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, “Why do you want to know if she’s home or not?”

“I came to pick Rose up for a movie,” I said as I stood there awkwardly. I kind of assumed the blonde was Rose’s boyfriend. Inside the house, I heard what sounded like feet running down stairs.

“Why are you—,” The blonde began, but was cut off. Rose shoved him out of the way and walked outside, closing the door behind her.

“Hey,” she breathed, “I’m sorry about James.”

I was a bit confused about the whole situation. “Is that your boyfriend?” I asked.

Rose laughed, “Fuck no. He’s like my brother and best friend.”

“Okay,” I said a bit relieved, “I thought I was about to get my ass kicked for asking you out.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” She laughed as the door opened again.

The blonde, whose name I learned was James, stepped outside. Rose gave him a look as he began to talk, “If Rose doesn’t come back happy, I will fucking kill you.”

Rose rolled her eyes at James, “Oh fuck off, James. Don’t you have anything better to do than harass my date and I?”

“So, it is a date?” James said raising his eyebrows at us both. Rose’s face flushed red. James laughed and ruffled her hair, “Have fun little squirt. And I’ll be watching you,” He gave me the “I’ll be watching you” look and then went back into the house.

Rose gave an apologetic smile, “I’m really sorry about that. James usually doesn’t act that way.”

“It’s cool,” I shrugged. Rose wore an All Time Low tank top and blue shorts. She also wore the flip flops I had given her earlier. Something was different about her though. Her hair was dyed a maroon color and it was placed up in a bun. “Nice hair,” I complimented as I walked with her to my car.

“Oh, thanks,” She said touching her bangs and then playing with the strands of hair that weren’t in the bun. She laughed, “James kept begging me to dye my hair, so I finally did and I usually don’t wear my hair up. After I finished washing my hair, I didn’t feel like doing anything else to it. I hope you don’t mind me looking gross in public with you.”

I opened the car door for her and leaned against the car once she got inside the car. I raised an eyebrow at her and gave a smirk, “You can’t ever look gross even if you tried. If anyone is gross out of the two of us, it’s me.”

She smiled an amused smile that touched her sea colored eyes. “Whatever you say,” she laughed and buckled her seatbelt. I closed her door and got in the driver’s side of the car.

As I drove to the theater, I started a conversation, “So you like All Time Low?”

She nodded, “Actually they’re one of my favorite bands; Avenged Sevenfold is my favorite.”

“Well, I can tell you have a great taste in music,” I said glancing over at Rose and noticing she was tattooed. I asked, “How long have you had tattoos?”

“Oh, are you talking about my half sleeve?” She asked looking at the arrangement of tattoos on her left arm, “Well I got most of it done my sophomore year and I got it finished the summer before junior year,” She pointed to a tattoo on her wrist, “I got my first tattoo as a freshman and it’s the Avenged Sevenfold death bat.”

When I parked in the parking lot of the theater, I looked at Rose’s tattoos. I noticed one in the center of them that read “Can we create something beautiful and destroy it?”. The words had colorful flowers on them and around them. The flowers began to die as you looked toward where her other tattoos were and the flowers around the edge were engulfed in flames.

“I take it you also like Pierce the Veil, too?” I said more than asked noticing the tattoo was lyrics from the band Pierce the Veil.

She gave a smile, “Yeah, you must be looking at my Disasterology tattoo.”

I nodded, “It looks really good.”

“Well I’m glad it does since I spent over $3,000 for this half sleeve,” She stated.

“You get what you pay for,” I shrugged and laughed as I looked at the rest of her sleeve, “You really like bands don’t you?”

“I wouldn’t have all these band related things if I didn’t,” she joked.

“Good point,” I said getting out of the car and opening Rose’s door for her.

As we walked toward the theater, Rose and I decided on a movie. I paid for the tickets and we went inside the theater. We stood in the lobby and waited until we could be seated for the movie we had chosen.

I heard a high pitched voice call my name. I turned to see Megan, my ex girlfriend. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Rose who had a smirk plastered on her face.

“I’m just going to go get a drink or something,” Rose told me then headed off toward the snack bar.

“Hey Ryan,” Megan said in her annoying voice as she approached me.

“Hi,” I said. I really didn’t want anything to do with her. Megan had to be the biggest whore ever. I dated her for six months and she cheated the whole time; much like all her other relationships.

Megan hugged me and her blonde hair was thrown into my face. I didn’t hug back; I just stood there awkwardly as she hugged me. She pulled away after a while and gave her best fake smile, “Hey, do you want to hang out with me, Kelly, and Ian after the movie you’re seeing is over?”

“I have plans,” I said uninterested.

Her smile faded just as Rose returned back to where we were standing. “Oh, who’s your friend?” She asked with a sarcastic laugh.

Rose raised an eyebrow and laughed, “Don’t play around, cunt. You know exactly who I am.” I looked over at Rose who had an amused look on her face. Megan’s face went emotionless as she turned and walked away from us. “Good riddance, bitch,” Rose called after her.

“You know her?” I asked.

“Yes,” Rose said, “Actually think I know her a little too well.”

I raised an eyebrow, “You’ll have to fill me in on that later.”

“I’ll be sure to tell you about that,” Rose laughed.

When it was finally time for seating for the movie we were seeing, Rose and I walked to the theater together. We sat at the very top of the seats since we were one of the first people in the room. It was just my luck that Megan and her friends sat in the row in front of me. Rose and I looked at each other and laughed.

“You just can’t get rid of that whore, can you?” Rose leaned over and said to me.

I shook my head and laughed, “I guess not.”

Rose giggled and placed her elbow on the armrest that separated us. She propped her head up on her hand and looked at me. “I hope this isn’t really scary,” She started, “I don’t want to bruise your arm from holding on too tightly to you.”

“Well, I’ll always be here to hold you in my strong arms if you get scared,” I joked holding up my arms and flexing.

Rose gave a light hearted laugh. Her sea colored eyes sparkled in the dimly lit room. “I might have to take you up on that offer if I get scared shitless.”

I smiled at Rose just as the lights went completely out and the movie began.