I Think You Could Do Much Better Than Me

Ryan and I sat quietly through the horror movie. The graphics and the acting were complete shit, but I couldn’t complain. Ryan had bought my ticket and it wouldn’t be polite to complain.

About halfway through the movie, I felt something warm and wet trickle down my lip. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and realized my nose was bleeding. “Great,” I said to myself as I got up and exited the theater.

I went to the restroom and wet a napkin. I placed it to my nose and held it there until my nose stopped bleeding. I got a clean napkin and finished cleaning my face. I checked myself in the mirror making sure there wasn’t any more blood left, and then I washed my hands before leaving the restroom.

As I walked out of the restroom, I noticed Ryan leaning against the wall next to the restrooms. He uncrossed his arms and got off the wall when he saw me. “You okay?” He asked raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

“You left the movie really fast and I was just wondering if everything was okay,” He told me.

“It was just a nose bleed. I’m fine,” I told him.

“Let me see your nose,” Ryan said walking closer to me.

I laughed and covered my face with my hands. “My nose is fine honestly,” I told him, “It happens occasionally and I know why, so there is no reason for you to look up my nose.”

Ryan smiled, “Okay, I won’t look in your nose, but you have to put your hands down and tell me why you have nose bleeds.”

I dropped my hands from my face and crinkled my nose at Ryan, “It’s really embarrassing.”

“If you tell me, I’ll tell you something embarrassing about myself,” Ryan said.

“Okay, well promise you won’t think differently of me once I tell you?” I said seriously.

“I promise,” He told me with sincerity in his voice.”

“Well about two years ago,” I began, “I started doing cocaine and I became addicted. It’s been almost a year since I quit though.”

Ryan gave a slight frown, but then shook it off. “It’s good that you stopped.”

I gave a small smile, “Yeah, it’s a really big accomplishment for me.”

Ryan smiled back, “Well now time for an embarrassing fact about myself,” I giggled as he began talking, “Okay, so I was homeschooled until ninth grade and I didn’t know exactly what sex was until sex-ed class.”

“You’re shitting me,” I said not believing him.

“Nope, I’m serious,” Ryan chuckled, his cheeks pink from embarrassment. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Don’t worry, I caught on quick,” Ryan winked.

I gave an amused smile, “I guess we should go back to the movie, although it’s complete shit.”

“Actually, I was thinking the same thing. We can go do something else if you want,” Ryan said.
“What is there to do?” I asked him.

His stomach growled loudly before he answered, “Well we could go get something to eat and then go to the boardwalk or something.”

“I’m down for something to eat, but I’ve been to the boardwalk like three times this week,” I told him.

“Okay, that’s cool then,” Ryan said and led us out of the theater and back to his car. He opened my door like he usually did, then drove to a restaurant. After about ten minutes of driving, Ryan parked in the parking lot of an expensive looking restaurant.

“You’re not a vegetarian, are you?” Ryan asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt. I shook my head. “Good, because you wouldn’t have a big selection since most of the food is meat.”

After getting out of the car, Ryan led me to the door of the restaurant. He held the door open for me as we walked inside.

“This place looks really expensive,” I commented as I looked around.

“It is I guess, but don’t worry about that,” Ryan told me, “You can get whatever you want.”

Just as I was about to argue on what Ryan had said, a blonde lady greeted us. “Hello, Mr. Henderson. Table for two?” She smiled.

“Yes, please,” Ryan told the lady.

The waitress walked us to a place away from everyone else in the restaurant. She directed us to a table that seated two people. The table was next to a big window that had a great view of the beach and the ocean. The waitress handed us menus and asked us what we would like to drink as we took our seats. “I’ll be back soon to take your orders and bring your drinks,” she told us.

Ryan thanked the lady and began to look at the menu. I opened my menu and scanned for anything that I would like to eat. I decided on a small steak.

“You must come here a lot,” I stated after closing my menu.

Ryan placed his menu on the table. “Nah, my dad owns a company and he comes here for some personal meetings.”

“So you’re rich?” I raised an eyebrow.

Ryan laughed, “I don’t consider myself rich.”

“Your dad owns a company and you drive a mustang. How are you not rich?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know. I don’t live like I’m rich. My parents only give me so much a week anyway.”

“I bet you get like $1,000 a week,” I mumbled with a smirk.

“No, I don’t get that much a week,” He laughed.

“Sure,” I said playfully, “You probably live in one of those really big houses on the good side of town.”

“Well, I live in a large house, but I’m not sure that it’s on the good side of town,” He chuckled. The waitress returned and took our orders. Both Ryan and I ordered a steak. The waitress left and Ryan and I were alone again. He took a sip from his drink. “So, about the Megan thing earlier,” he trailed off.

I laughed, “You want to know how I know her, don’t you?” He nodded, “Well, this probably sounds really cliché, but I used to be friends with her. Actually not even really friends; she was just someone to hang out with, but all of a sudden she became too good for someone like me I guess. She started hanging out with other people and she started telling people stuff about me. And now she pretends she doesn’t even know me.”

“What did she tell people?” Ryan asked curiously.

“She mostly told people that I smoked and drunk, but it wasn’t really new news.”

Ryan frowned, “How long have you been doing stuff like that? I hope you don’t mind me asking.”

I thought a moment, “I think I first starting smoking when I was 13 and I started drinking soon after that.”

“That’s a long time,” he commented still frowning.

“Hey, don’t frown at me. I know it’s bad and I know I should stop, but I really don’t have a reason to.”

“But you do,” He told me, “You have a life and you can do so much with your life.”

I gave a half smile, “You think so highly of me, yet you barely know me.”

“I may not know a lot about you, but from the little I know, I know that you are an amazing person and that you have potential to do something with your life,” Ryan smiled.

“You sound like an adult talking to a troubled child,” I laughed and took a sip of my drink.

He gave a lighthearted laugh just as our waitress returned to our table with our food. We thanked the waitress and ate in a comfortable silence. When we were both done Ryan asked, “How was your food?”

“It was great actually,” I told him. I was very pleased with the quality of the food.

“I’m glad you liked it,” He said then drank the remainder of his soda.

The waitress set the check on the table and then walked away. I picked it up before Ryan could and looked at it.

“Holy shit, $100 for that,” I said in disbelief.

Ryan laughed, “Whoa, calm down Rose, I can pay for it.”

“That’s really expensive. I don’t care how rich you are,” I told him.

“Don’t worry about it, okay? It’s fine,” He took the check from me and placed a credit card inside of it.

After paying the bill, Ryan and I headed back to his car. It was almost midnight and the beach was becoming empty, besides the people that had bonfires. Ryan drove me back to my house and walked me to my door once we arrived there. I smiled and thanked Ryan for taking me out.

“No problem,” He grinned, “We should hang out again soon.”

“We should,” I said giving him a soft smile. We hugged again much like we did earlier in the day. It was a short hug, but it was nice.

“I’ll see you around, Rose,” He told me as we pulled away from the hug.

“Goodnight, Ryan,” I said softly and walked inside my house.

“Goodnight, Rose,” he told me with a smile and then went back to his car.