Ignite Your Bones

It was Friday night, the clock was about to strike 6 o’clock. Halvo waited patiently for John to pick him up to go to his house, where they would just drink with all their friends. John, however, had other plans.

No way was John canceling this date. The only way he could get Eric to go was to trick him. They would start driving towards his house when he would distract Halvo and drive towards the Italian restaurant Andrea and her friend would be at.

Eric heard a honk from outside and made his way to his best friend’s truck. “You ready man?” John asked, driving off as Halvo got in.

Smiling, Halvo nodded. “You bet,” After messing with the radio, Halvo found a music station the two liked and a comfortable silence fell between them. It was perfect. The music would distract Eric, allowing John to take a turn onto a street, sending them the opposite way of John’s house, and towards the restaurant.

John gulped, hoping Halvo wouldn’t throw a fit. It was the last thing he needed right now.

As he finally made his way closer to the restaurant, John thought it was a good idea to just tell Halvo the truth about where they were really going. “Hey, uh, listen,”

Eric turned his head, looking at his friend, waiting for him to continue his sentence.

“We aren’t going to my house,”

Halvo stared at John for a couple seconds, trying to figure out what he meant. John figured he finally put the pieces together, because within seconds his face showed pure anger. Shaking his head, Halvo began to speak. “I told you I wasn’t going to go,”

“Well, guess what?” John asked, not even letting him answer. “You are going, we’re here already,” By then Halvo realized they were parked in the restaurant.

Eric couldn’t believe John would even trick him like this. He thought he understand when he said he wasn’t going to go in the first place. He couldn’t back out now, though. It would make things worse. “Fine, I’ll go, but you owe me, man,”

The smile on John’s face showed that he was grateful. The two got out of the truck and made their way into the restaurant, where John made reservations for the four.

Taking a deep breath, Halvo tried to figure out what he had gotten himself into. It’d been so long since he’d been on a date. Did this even count as a date, though? He had never met this girl before, so it was more of just hanging out, right? Eric didn’t know what to think anymore, and it was too late to think of what to do because before he cold process what was going through his mind, he saw Andrea’s car park in the restaurant parking lot.

John smiled, seeing her car too, and sat down on one side of a booth. “I think you’ll like Courtney,” John reassured him, “I’ve only met her a couple times, but she’s really cool and sweet,”

Eric nodded, as he sat on the opposite side of his friend. He was nervous. He couldn’t deny it to himself that was straight out nervous.

“And, uh, Halvo?”

Looking up at John, he waited for him to continue.

“Don’t mess this up, please.”

The begging in John’s voice showed how much this meant to him, so Eric knew he had to make this night as fun as possible.

--

Courtney played with the keychain on her purse as her and Andrea found a parking spot at the restaurant. John and his friend were already here, since Drea immediately spotted John’s beat up truck in the front. After the two found a spot, they sat in the car for a while.

Although Courtney wasn’t nervous, she didn’t feel confident either. She just wanted the date to be over as soon as possible, just to avoid any awkward situations.

“Don’t worry, Court,” Andrea said, smiling at her best friend, “Halvo is a really cool guy, you’ll like him,”

She sure hoped she did. The two stepped out of the car, and started to walk to the entrance.

Andrea smiled when she saw John, and he stood up and gave his girlfriend a quick hug and kiss on the lips. Courtney smiled at the couple, before noticing the boy who she guessed was Halvo, sitting at the booth.

Suddenly Courtney felt herself becoming nervous. As John and Andrea let go of each other, John did the introductions.

“Halvo, this is Courtney,”

The boy finally looked up at Courtney, and the two stared at each other. He was cute, at least Courtney thought so. Standing up, Halvo put his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Courtney,” He smiled slightly, but Courtney could see right through it. Something was wrong. He didn’t want to be here. It was okay, though, because Courtney didn’t want to be here either. “You can call me Eric or Halvo, both works,”

“Nice to meet you too,” Courtney smiled slightly, same as him. “You can call me Court, if you want.”

Halvo nodded, and everyone sat down and began to look at the menu.

Andrea and John were already in a conversation of their own, leaving Courtney and Halvo in complete silence. You could practically feel the awkwardness between the two. Courtney was hoping Eric would try to stir up a conversation, and when he didn’t, she frowned slightly and continued to look at her menu.

It was going to be a long night.