Kevin was at home finishing up one of his 'recharge weekends' when his phone beeped. Intending to ignore it, he glanced at the screen and then bolted upright when he saw the name: Stephanie.
It had been nearly a month since the incident on the train platform, and he hadn't heard from her at all. He hadn't even seen her on the train though he looked for her every single day. He picked up the phone and read the message.
Stephanie: Hey. Something came up, and I couldn't go to the Spellmasters premiere as planned. Any chance you can go with me on Wednesday night?
Kevin's mind reeled. It seemed like she wasn't missing a beat, and just ignored the past month they had no contact. He had no idea what to make of it. However, he desperately wanted to see her again, and responded immediately,
Kevin: Hey! Sure. I'm free that day. What time, and which theatre? I figured it would be sold out all week.
Stephanie: Well, it kind of is, but downtown CineShow just added a 7:00 showing. I was thinking we could go there. Wanna meet right at the theatre at 6:30?
Kevin: Yeah. See you then
After a month with no contact, Kevin saw this as his chance to get a fresh start with her, and wanted to look his best. Thinking about what was in his closet, he knew he needed help, and picked up the phone to call Katy.
*
On Tuesday evening, Kevin collapsed onto his couch with a collection of shopping bags. He had freshened up his haircut and Katy had taken him shopping. He had new jeans, new shirts and even a new jacket. According to Katy, as an adult, his rain coat should only be worn in the rain, or on his hiking trips. He didn't need the swishing noises to announce his movement.
As he finished putting all his new things in his closet, his phone started beeping. He walked over and found a slew of incoming messages from Jared. Katy had shown him all of the pictures, and Jared was teasing him. He hadn't told anyone who he was going out with, and Jared assumed it was just a random girl from MatchedUp.
At work the next day, Jared had all the other guys whistling and cheering at him. He had a lot of work to get done and knew it as going to be a long day, so he shut the door to his office to keep the extra noise out. They had a pitch meeting starting at 4:00 pm, and he trusted they would be done on time so he could get to the theatre.
Under no circumstance was he going to be late meeting Stephanie. He was already wearing his new jeans and jacket, but at 5:30pm he changed into one of his new button downs, and headed out the door.
He stopped to grab a burrito for dinner and still got to the theatre ten minutes early, so he went to the bathroom to fix his hair. He couldn't remember a time in his life he had ever worried so much about how he looked.
Stephanie arrived slightly breathless at 6:37pm. Kevin felt a flutter low in his belly, and suddenly he felt as breathless as her. He hadn't seen her in weeks, and he had missed her. He wanted to take her into his arms and hold her tight.
His terror of doing something stupid that would remind her he wasn't worth it froze him in place though, and he needed space to compose himself. So he said the first thing he could think of.
"Do you want me to buy the tickets?" Mental facepalm.
"No, I bought them online when you said you'd come with me. I'm going to get some snacks though, do you want some?"
Kevin generally didn't buy snacks at the movies, and he shook is head. His palms were clammy, so he excused himself to the bathroom while she waited in line. He needed to get a grip on himself if he was going to survive the night.
He joined her at the counter while she waited for her order. Her arms were full of treats, but she refused his offer to carry anything for her, certain she could manage the balancing act on her own. They headed towards the theatre doors, and he couldn't help but chuckle. She turned to him with narrowed eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing! I like how you got the commemorative bucket AND cup, that's all."
"I always get them for Spellmasters. I have a collection for movie nights at home."
"Fair enough." He was quiet for a moment, hesitating on the best way to say what was on his mind. "So, what came up that stopped you from going to the premier with your friends as planned? I feel like I'm a poor substitute."
"Oh. No, you're not. I mean, its different for sure, since I've always gone with the others, but a crazy work thing came up and my boss wouldn't let me get out of it. So, I was actually at a wedding."
"I didn't think you went to weddings as part of your job."
"Normally I don't, but this was a special circumstance. It was mayhem for the past month, but at least I got to save the day!"
"Good for you!" He smiled warmly at her, and he saw a bit of tension relax in her shoulders.
They didn't speak again until they found their seats, Kevin getting settled first and offering to hold all of Stephanie's snacks while she got her jacket off.
As soon as he saw the shirt she was wearing, he felt over dressed. She was wearing an old Spellmasters t-shirt and a Spellmasters cardigan. As he looked her up and down, he noticed her shoes were also covered in a Spellmasters pattern.
"What? Something wrong?" She looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
"No. You look great."
"Oh." She smiled, "you look really good too."
He smiled back, internally so pleased that she noticed he tried. As she took her seat, he figured it was a good time to apologize for what happened.
"So, about what happened that night. I'm sorry I said what I did. I didn't mean to be a jerk."
"Oh, It's okay. I was totally awful to you about it. I know what I said was wrong, but I've just been down that road enough times where a guy finds out I'm into something and then just starts to be difficult to try and prove I can't be THAT into it, and I just didn't want to deal with that again so I got pretty defensive about it." She paused for a moment while he considered that, "and then I tried to text you, but I didn't know what to say so I waited to hear from you. When you didn't, I just figured you didn't want to talk to me ever again."
"Are you kidding? I figured you didn't want to hear from me. I was too scared to text you. Then I never saw you on the train so I figured you were avoiding me completely. I was so happy when you texted me about this."
"Well, I'm glad. Can we go back to being friends again, or is it always going to be an awkward thing between us?"
The lights went down and the trailers started. His mood plummeted at the mention of friends, but as he handed her popcorn back to her with a tight smile, he responded, "Friends."
Her smile was blinding, but it wasn't magic enough to stop his heart from cracking.
At the end of the film, most of the crowd filed out, but Stephanie and Kevin stayed in their seats discussing the movie. Kevin didn't think it was nearly as good as the first three movies, and he was very happy when she agreed with him. He loved watching her talk about it, she was so passionate and her eyes lit up as she spoke. He felt he could listen to her talk for hours and never get bored. When the credits finally ended, they got up and slowly made their way to the street.
"So, do you want to grab a bite?" She lingered on the theatre steps.
"Wasn't the popcorn and licorice enough dinner for you?"
"Not when there is pizza nearby! You coming?" Kevin knew there was no way he could say no, and jogged the first few steps to catch up with her.
Twenty minutes later, they were full of pizza and talking about the book Kevin had suggested for Stephanie. She wanted to buy the next one, and Kevin offered to meet her at the bookstore on the weekend. He needed a new book as well, and with her, he'd had more fun than ever before.
*
They met at Books Etc. again on Saturday afternoon. Following their last conversation where Stephanie said she wanted to just be friends, Kevin didn't get quite as dressed up. He wore jeans and a plain t-shirt, and called it 'good enough'.
When he saw Stephanie though, his jaw dropped. She looked amazing. He felt under dressed in comparison. They browsed the books for half an hour, and then went into the coffee shop for hot chocolates with their purchases.
It was another half hour of chatting before Kevin finally felt the ease of their old friendship return. A middle aged man holding out hot pink flyers approached them. Stephanie took one and read it out.
"Saturday Night Bowl. One night only. Thirty cent wings from 5-7 and $2 per game from 5-9. Does not include shoe rental." She looked up at him "Well, that sounds fun. Wanna go bowling tonight?"
"I am terrible at bowling. But sure, I'm in."
"I'm not good either. Do you want to invite anyone else, or just us?"
"I'm good with whatever."
Stephanie looked at him for a minute, then pulled out her phone and began typing. She looked up at him again, "Well, it starts in an hour, so we should probably think about heading over." She pulled up a map on her phone. And examined it for a few minutes.
"Also, its not really close to public transit, so we will probably have to drive. We could go together, or just meet there. It's really up to you and what your plans are for later." He shrugged and she cut him off before he could speak, "Do not say you are good with whatever."
He mimed zipping his lips and threw away the key.
She scowled momentarily, but broke it with a laugh. "Alright then, together it is. Let's go to my place and grab my car." Her phone beeped and she looked down at it, "and Denise. Is there anyone you want to invite? Carly and Drew are busy."
"Uh, nah that's okay."
"Seriously, if you want to invite someone, I'm good with it. The more people who are there, the more likely I might have a chance at beating someone. Bowling is fun with more people. More time to chat between turns."
He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Jared, inviting him and Katy to come along. He really wanted to get to know Katy a bit better, and not just when she was treating him like a doll. Stephanie and Kevin headed out and were halfway to her place before he heard back.
"Okay, my friend Jared and his girlfriend Katy want to come, but they can't make it until after 6."
Stephanie turned and smiled at him, "No problem. You better believe I am not leaving that place before the price of wings goes back up."
"Is it always about food with you?"
"Yeah, pretty much. I may be terrible at bowling, but I'm a pro at eating wings!"
*
At 6:15pm, Stephanie and Denise were halfway through their second order of wings when Jared and Katy showed up. Stephanie's hair had been down when they were at the bookstore, but as soon as the wings arrived, she tied it into a bun and still looked super cute. She looked cute with wing sauce all over her face. She looked cute in bowling shoes. She could be dressed in a brown sack and covered in mud and Kevin was sure she would still look cute. The month without her was boring and dull; if she just wanted to be friends he'd respect that as long as she let him keep her light in his life.
When all the introductions were made and Jared and Katy settled in with shoes that fit, they started the next game. Denise had easily won the first game. Kevin hadn't been bowling in years, and felt quite rusty. He was also pretty sure that Denise was actually good at bowling, whereas he and Stephanie were definitely not.
In the second game, Denise was still beating them all, Katy and Jared were in the middle, while being sickeningly couple-y together, and then Kevin and Stephanie battled for last place. Kevin also had to admit Stephanie was right about it being better with more people. You got to chat and hang out, with conversation less interrupted than if there were only two bowlers.
At the end of the second game, they decided to play a third, and Jared went off to secure them all another round. Stephanie and Katy declined, as they were both driving, though about halfway through their third game, Kevin was starting to think that maybe it was in an attempt to beat him.
Sure enough, by the end of the tenth frame, Stephanie had beat him by thirty points, the biggest spread between them of the entire evening. He could blame the alcohol, or the distraction Stephanie was to him, but he chose to admit that he was just truly terrible at bowling. They packed up their things and returned their shoes. Kevin wasn't quite ready for the night to end.
"Anyone want to watch a movie? I have snacks and drinks at home, and can get Netflix queued up to settle the X-Men debate we had earlier."
Everyone nodded their agreement and they headed to Kevin's apartment to watch the movie.
As soon as the movie ended, Jared and Katy announced their need to head home, and Denise asked if they could give her a ride too.
"Denny, I can take you." Stephanie piped up.
"They are going to Katy's, which we found out is only like two blocks away from me, so this makes more sense. Plus, I need to get home so I can get up in the morning for my run before I meet Clara for brunch."
"Okay, call me tomorrow."
"Will do. Thanks for having us Kev. See you soon!" She called over her shoulder as they headed out the door, leaving Stephanie and Kevin alone on the couch.