Better Together

After scheduling a visit with the young man on the phone, my replacement showed up on time and I thanked her quickly before running out of the office with my jacket not on, my back pack on one shoulder, and hair flying around my face. Once I reached Big Ben, the campus cafeteria, I didn’t stop to grab food but went directly to the corner that Jake and I claimed our second day on campus. I craned my neck to see around people taller than me to see if he was there and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I closed the distance between us and he barely acknowledged me and so I did something completely out of my comfort zone. I went up to him in the red leather chair and placed a kiss on his lips. He reacted like I hoped by wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. When I landed on his lap, I broke the kiss to giggle. He didn’t let that last long because he just sealed his lips over mine.
A couple of minutes later, I broke our short make-out session up. “I’m hungry, can we eat and talk?” he nodded and helped me off of his lap before we headed for the buffet line. Today was chicken with pasta, pizza, or soup and salad. I went with the chicken dish while Jake hit up the pizza since he just came off of his Olympic diet. We grabbed sodas before heading back to our corner.
Our corner is kind of secluded from the rest of the cafeteria, it was meant to be a study nook for those who eat and study at the same time. But we put a claim on it as soon as we found it and no one has ever tried to take it from us. It’s really nice because we usually get stared at because Jake is who he is and with us being in our own little world, no one can stare. There were two leather chairs, one red and the other brown to match the color scheme of Big Ben, red and brown with an accent of yellow.
“So, where do we stand now?” I asked prior to taking my first bite of the chicken.
“Will you be my girlfriend?” he asked seriously as he stared at me, gauging my reaction. I nodded with a smile, his face got that goofy grin that matched his dad’s. “Then how about you and I go out for dinner tonight, off campus, I’m an Olympic Gold Medalist, I can afford it.” He chuckled and I agreed. We then sat and talked about his Olympic experience and the city the games were hosted in, Winnipeg which was so close to home but far enough that he didn’t have to see his parents.
I’ll pick you u up at 8, wear something nice is all the text said as I read it from my messages while walking back to my dorm opposite of Big Ben.
It was only six thirty now and I had just left Jake because he had to visit the library for a little while so I went back to the dorm to study a little. But now I didn’t want to in anticipation of our first date tonight.
I’ll be ready I texted him back. Once I arrived in my dorm, I got to prettying myself up. I showered, shaved, and dressed in something casual but fancy enough before putting on a light shading of makeup. Just as I was going to start on my hair, Jake texted me back.
Can we go at 730 instead? I quickly sent him a sure before braiding my wet hair and finishing my makeup with some eyeliner and mascara not bothering with shadow. My roommate entered the room a minute later, when I was looking at myself in her full-sized mirror.
“Damn girl, did you get a date?” I nodded. “Wait a second; Jacob Crosby did not get a clue today, did he?” I just nodded and let out a little squeal.
“He kissed me.” I admitted. I continued to look in the mirror to check over my sweater dress and leggings combo with boots. The red sweater dress complimented my auburn hair nicely even though it was wet and in the braid at the moment. And the brown leggings went super well with my brown boots and the dress.
“I do not believe you.”
“He initiated our first kiss and the third. Then he asked me out, we are going for dinner.”
“You always eat together, hell, you two do everything together except hockey. I’m surprised it took him this long.”
“Oh shutup, he’ll be here any minute.” Candy hated when I braided my beautiful hair when it was wet so she went about her own and then casually undid my hair without me noticing. I guess my head was somewhere else. Day dreaming about my first date with Jake, I mean, I had been dreaming of him asking me out for years now and today something finally hit him.
“So, what are you going to do now that you are officially dating?” she questioned as she fixed my hair to a somewhat reasonable setting as it still lay wet.
“I don’t know exactly. We are going to do this one step at a time,” and there came his knock. I brushed her hands off of my hair and answered it. In his hands were floors in a vase and he wore his goofy grin.
“Isn’t he sweet, those are pretty! I’ll take them, you two go and have fun. I won’t wait up, Dan,” Candy winked and shut the door after throwing me my leather jacket.
“I hate you, Candy. She’s a HORRIBLE roommate,” I told Jake but loud enough for her to hear.
“Nah, she’s a good friend. Let’s go,” I nodded and he grabbed my hand to lead me to his car which he managed to park right in front of my building.
“Who did you bribe to get this spot?” I giggled as there never was an open spot in front of any dorm for any period of time. As soon as one person moved, the next swooped in. He dropped my hand to open the passenger door to his Ford Pickup, a ranger. It was older than the two of us and ran like shit.
I hopped up, careful not to slip back into the icy grass. Once in, he slammed the door because otherwise it would open while we were driving.
“Jake, maybe you should be using your Gold and endorsement money on a new truck. This one is always breaking down, the doors either stick or fly open, and it is a gas guzzler.”
“Want to know why I keep this truck?” he paused to look at me as he drove away from campus. “Because it pissed my dad off that I drive a beater.”
“Oh, then, by all means keep on driving the death trap. But from now on, we will take my car.”
“We will, will we?” he teased and I crossed my arms and nodded. “Alright, but I will still drive,” he stated and I just agreed. He took my hand as we made it closer to Pittsburgh and we settled in for a comfortable silence.