Sparks Fly

The next morning, I woke up to another text message from Jeff: Good morning :) see you later.

I replied: See you later :)

I put on jeans, my red vans sneakers, and my Jeff Skinner t-shirt that I had bought last season. I let down my hair, leaving it in its natural wavy/curly style. I put on a light amount of makeup and texted Charlotte to let her know that I was leaving. When I came to pick her up, Charlotte was waiting on her front steps. She was wearing something similar to me; jeans, sneakers, and a Hurricanes t-shirt. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a Faulk t-shirt yet.

“Hey, hun.” Charlotte said as she got in the car.

“Hey, Char. I was thinking Starbucks for breakfast. What do you say?”

“Sounds great to me!”

We eventually got to Starbucks and Charlotte grabbed a table while I ordered.
“One Chai Tea Latte, one Vanilla Latte and two Blueberry Scones.”
I paid for our stuff and brought it to our table.
“Thanks, hun.” Charlotte said.

“No problem.”

“So...have you talked to Justin since last night?”

“No....why? Have you talked to Jeff?”

I blushed and looked down at my scone. “He’s texted me twice since last night. Once to say goodnight, and once to say good morning.”

“That’s so cute oh my god.”

Now I was blushing even more. “Yeah it was sweet.”

Not too long after that we finished our scones and headed back to the car so we could drive to where the Canes were practicing that morning. We pulled into a spot in front of the arena and walked towards the entrance. Once we were inside, we made our way to the main area where the ice was. We walked down the steps past the many rows of seats until we were in the first row right in front of the glass. To our surprise, there weren’t many other fans there. The team wasn’t on the ice yet, so Charlotte and I sat down in a couple of seats and drank what was left of our coffees. A couple of minutes later, the guys were on the ice and practice began. Charlotte and I were big Canes fans, so we recognized all of the faces that skated by us. We stood up and walked closer to the glass. The players were doing laps around the ice and I began looking for Jeff. We saw each other simultaneously. He smiled at me and gave a little wave. I smiled and waved back. Next to me, Charlotte was in a whole other world. She was staring at Justin and practically drooling. He winked at her and I thought she was going to faint. After the players skated some laps, they began to do drills. At times Jeff and Justin would be right in front of us and the other guys on the team would mess around with them by pushing them into the boards or teasing them about us being there. When they weren’t near us they would shoot pucks at us and make faces at us, although that was mostly Justin. Eventually practice was over and they guys left the ice. As Charlotte and I were walking out, I got a text from Jeff: Wait outside for us.

We waited outside for a few minutes until we saw Justin and Jeff walking out. Once they saw us they walked over to us.

“Hello, ladies.” Justin said.

“Hello.” Charlotte and I said.

After that we split up into separate conversations. Jeff and I moved away from Justin and Charlotte.

“Hey.” Jeff said.

“Hey.”

“What did you think of practice?”

“I had fun. I didn’t appreciate that puck you shot at me that hit the glass right above my head though. That scared me half to death.”

Jeff laughed. He had a cute laugh. “But it got your attention, didn’t it?”

“Yes, yes it did.”

Jeff paused. “So...um...I was wondering....if you would want to maybe go out sometime. On a date, I mean.”

I giggled. “I knew what you meant. I would love to.”

“Really?”

“Ha ha yes, really”

Jeff breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay. Awesome.”

“So when do you want this date to take place?”

“How about tonight?”

“Sure!”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at 7.”

“I’ll be there.”

We looked over at Justin and Charlotte. Charlotte was making a high-pitched giggling noise. Taking this as a signal that their conversation wasn’t ending soon, Jeff and I continued to make small talk. Eventually Justin and Charlotte finished their conversation and the guys left. I looked over at Charlotte while we walked towards the car; she was beaming.

“Would you like to share something, Char?”

“Justin asked me on a date.”

“Really? Jeff asked me on a date too.”

“Oh my god. Are you guys going out tonight?”

“Yeah, are you guys?”

“Yes! This is so great.”

Charlotte and I got into the car and I took her home. All the way there she wouldn’t stop talking about her upcoming date with Justin. It was like she was thinking out loud; debating what outfit she was going to wear, how she was going to do her hair, the possible places that Justin could be taking her too, etc. I was grateful for the peace and quiet once she got out of the car.

When I got home, I made myself lunch and watched TV until it was time to get ready for my date with Jeff. I went to my room and began looking through my closet for something to wear. I pulled out some dark jeans and a cute blouse that wasn’t too fancy but wasn’t too casual either. Jeff made it harder for me by not saying where we would be going. I also took out a pair of wedges that had a short heel. All together it was a nice outfit. I also straightened my hair and put on a little bit more makeup. I almost poked myself in the eye with my mascara brush because my hand was shaking. I had never been so nervous for a date before. My palms got sweatier and sweatier as 7 approached. I heard my phone ring in my clutch. It was Jeff texting me to let me know he was outside. I took a deep breath, fixed my hair one last time, and headed outside.