CHAPTER 27: First date

CHAPTER 27: First date

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"I don't want to look like I'm trying too much but it shouldn't come off as I didn't try at all," Ella said analysing her outfit choice for the date as she stood in front of her full-length mirror and looked at herself under bright lights while Nora sat on her bed and ate Cheetos noisily.

"It's not bad, but maybe you should wear a skirt, you look no different than how you look every day," Nora said, giving a once over to her baby blue crop top and white ankle-length pants.

Ella contemplated her friend's words, as she looked at herself "Maybe it's better that way..." It was just going to be a movie date anyway.

Nora shrugged, "Suit yourself, you look nice either way... you have a cute-yet pretty face, it can't be helped."

Ella laughed. "You're just flattering me because you want to raid my snack drawer," she said gesturing at the Cheetos Nora ate messily.

She didn't even try to hide her Cheshire smile. "You know me too well..." a beat passed in silence and she spoke again, "El, have you thought about what you're going to do if it's not him?"

Ella froze in the middle of adjusting her clothes for a millisecond and then continued again as if nothing happened, "I said it could be him, not that it is..."

"But you wish it's him." Nora voiced her thoughts and she suddenly couldn't look at herself in the mirror.

Ella looked away and turned to meet Nora's gaze, "Maybe I'm setting myself up for disappointment, but even if he's not Elliot I like Neo for who he is...maybe we'll hit it off...who knows?" She shrugged, appearing casual, even though she was nervous as hell and desperately wanted to believe her own words. Ella grabbed her shoes and quickly secured them around her feet, then she picked up her sling bag, jacket and walked out the room saying, "Save some for me..."

Nora ignored that comment, stuffed more Cheetos in her mouth and hollered, "Have fun on your date... I want all the details later."

Ella chuckled just as the doorbell went off. He was right on time. She rushed to open the door and found Neo standing there with a small smile, "Hey Ella," He said softly in his deep voice, his gaze swept over her quickly, "You look really nice..."

Ella stared fixedly at the flower stem in his hand and asked, "Is that for me?"

He looked down, at his hand by his side, blushed and then held out the single purple tulip for her. "It is..."

Ella smiled at the sweet gesture, felt all giddy and fluttery as she received the flower, "Thanks, you look nice too." He looked really good in his casual polo light-grey shirt peeking from underneath his open black hoodie jacket and pants, she was glad they were both in a similar form of informal wear.

"You're ready to go?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Just, let me put this in a vase..." Ella said and walked inside to find a vase, turns out college students don't have vases laying around so she just filled up a glass with water and left the sweet-smelling tulip in there.

She returned, and smiled at him, "Let's go..." she closed the door, letting it lock as she walked out of the apartment, they exited the building side-by-side.

"Are you nervous too, or is it just me?" He asked unsurely.

Ella laughed at how honest and adorable he was, "I'm really nervous, to tell you the truth I haven't really been on a date before." she confessed.

He turned to look at her on the sidewalk, they both stopped "Wait! So, this is your first date ever?"

When he puts it that way... her ears felt red as she looked down at her shoes, feeling embarrassed. She nodded but tried to make light of the situation with a sarcastic joke "Yeah, don't worry though, it's not like this would be my first real experience of dating or anything, no pressure."

He looked a little pale, but a smile still slowly formed on his face, "I was nervous before, but now I'm full-on anxious, so if you find my hands sweaty throughout this night, it's just my physical reaction to anxiety."

"Why would I find your hands sweaty...?" She asked.

His eyes widened, "Are you saying you wouldn't want to hold my hand?" Before she could answer, he held his hand up, palm facing her, "I'll have you know I have really strong, safe hands and you're gonna want to hold it."

Ella bit her lower lip, trying not to laugh as her hands tightened around her bag strap, "You sound quite certain about that."

He sighed and dropped his hand, as he kicked a pebble. They began walking again, "You're wrecking my confidence Ella, which is bad news because I don't have a tonne of it like some other guys out there..." He admitted.

"Could have fooled me, when you asked me out that day I thought you knew what you were doing," she said, it felt nice to be so open and truthful instead of worrying over things like if she looked okay, or if she was boring him to death or any other silly conundrum.

"Are you kidding, I was so shocked after you said yes, I could barely focus in class." He admitted and she chuckled, her laughter ringing merrily in the silent night.

"You're not drunk are you, you're being way too honest." Ella joked.

He took a deep breath and said, "It probably would have been easier that way..., but I wouldn't dare drink and drive." He mumbled loud enough for her to hear "It's this way..." He gestured to his Honda CR-V that was parked right across the street and soon they were on the road, driving towards the movies.

The window was half open and a nice breeze circulated as she looked out at the blurring lights, he didn't switch on the music system so that made room for conversation.

"What movie are we watching?" Ella asked as she turned to look at him, while he drove effortlessly.

"The theatre next to the central art gallery is re-releasing Night at the museum." Neo said, "I thought you'd like that...since you like art history." Then doubt seeped into his voice, "Unless you want to watch something else."

"No, it's perfect," Ella reassured, "I'd say it feels like we're doing an assignment together if I didn't know that movie is a fantasy-comedy," she told him, but her insides fluttered at how much thought he put into it.

"They would never assign something so fun." Neo agreed as they both laughed. The drive was short, she could see the art gallery building at a distance and soon they were parking the car and walking to the entrance. Neo went ahead to get the tickets while she decided to get some popcorn.

Ella approached the counter and almost lost her footing when she saw a familiar face on the other side, "Patrick?"

He looked up at hearing his name, "Hey Ella!" Patrick greeted, "Decided to liberate yourself from academic pressure for the night?" He joked.

"Something like that..." She shrugged. "I didn't know you worked here." He made that labelled apron and baseball cap he wore look way too good.

"I've been around...So, where's the gang?" He asked, a cheeky grin on his face as he started preparing her order without her even telling, he knew she liked caramel.

"There's no gang, I'm on a date..." She said and as soon as what she said registered he froze and looked at her, his smile dimmed. "I'd like another box of cheese popcorn," she added.

"A date huh? Who's the lucky guy?" He asked, as he handed her the popcorn box and went back to prepare the cheese popcorn.

Ella rolled her eyes at his teasing, "You don't know him, I met him in a class, his name is Neo." She told him and Patrick nodded.

"Well, here you go..." he handed her the order. "Anything else you'd like?"

"No this is all..." She handed him her card which he swiped and returned to her.

He smiled again, meeting her gaze, "Enjoy your date."

"Thanks, I'll see you later..." she said and walked away with popcorn in hand and soon found Neo walking towards her with a smile.

The movie was about to start soon, and so they found their seats and settled in. The theatre wasn't filled since it was a re-release, but there were other people scattered all over.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked and she nodded as she smiled at him.

"I'm fine, come on, sit down, it's about to start..."

The screen soon lit up and then they were both engrossed in the movie, barely remembering to shovel in some popcorn in their laughter filled mouths. Ella turned to look at him, catching him a moment of joy as his light eyes twinkled from the light of the movie while he looked ahead, Ella was reminded of one of those polaroid pictures with blurred background, that's how he appeared to her and just for a moment her mind wandered, 'Could it be him?'

This question had been on the back of her mind all day, the more she tried not to think of it...the more she thought of it. A vicious loop.

The movie ended way too soon but Ella was glad, her face hurt from smiling too much and they both talked about the movie they just watched as they crossed the street towards a restaurant to grab a bite.

They got seated, gave their orders and then talked about all sorts of things. Ella thought she couldn't laugh anymore but there he was, making her laugh again...

"I find it hard to believe no one asked you out on a date before. Were all the guys in your high school jerks or plain dumb?"

"You don't have to flatter me Neo, I'm already out on a date with you..." she narrowed her eyes at him teasingly.

"No but really...I don't get it," he said, looking truly baffled.

"I wasn't exactly popular in high school, in fact, I was like an outcast, the weird girl who actually enjoys school and writes stories...no one really wanted to be friends with me."

"Wow, so they were jerks and dumb...makes total sense." That made her smile.

"It's in the past..." she shrugged. Her confidence had taken a hit because of that, but she has recovered. Thanks to her friends and family.

"It really feels like a lifetime ago... I was quite different in high school too, I wasn't always this smooth, composed guy you see me as..." She laughed at his self-depreciation.

"Really? I thought you were born super charismatic..." he cracked a smile.

"How I wish, I used to be this excessively geeky guy with huge rectangular frames and broad shoulders that I didn't quite grow into and I was completely oblivious to the vibe I gave off, I still am but it was way worse back then... I think I even creeped out my crush in high school."

Ella laughed, "What! I have to know this story..."

"Wait, I think I broke the unspoken rule for first dates of not talking about other girls." He said frowning.

"I didn't know there was such a rule... besides I'm curious now, tell me." Ella insisted.

He ran a hand down his face, "Oh man, I'm probably ruining your first impression on dates..."

"No you're not, now tell me before I threaten bodily harm, I wanna know the story..." Ella said laughingly.

His eyes widened, " That sounds serious... alright," he reluctantly gave in, "So, it was the first dance of the junior year, The homecoming dance I think, and I wanted to ask this girl out to be my date...but every time I approached her I got all nervous, sweaty hands and all and didn't say a word." He breathed, "A few days went by, and I just followed her around school but didn't really say anything, she was definitely creeped out and probably thinks I was a stalker."

"Oh my god..." Ella laughed, almost choked on her water.

"Yeah, it was a real fun time in my life..." he said sarcastically. "Glad you're amused."

"C'mon give yourself some credit," Ella said, "You're a great guy, she probably knows you meant to ask her out."

"I can only hope so, I never talked to her after that, she was kinda popular and I had a bad case of awkward," he admitted. Ella wanted to face-palm so badly, but she held back and just smiled at him. He was such a sweet guy, but throughout the night, Ella has been looking for something in him...something she couldn't find.

When the food arrived they both got busy with their steaming plates and conversation lapsed, when it soon picked up again the subject changed to family.

"It's just my brother and dad... and we hardly meet. I'm here for college, my brother lives in the same city but he's always busy with work, but we call each other a tonne, we're really close." Ella told him with a loving smile that always spreads over her face whenever she talks about her family.

"That must be nice, I always wanted a sibling... but it's just me. I am really close with my cousins but it's not the same." He confessed.

"Be careful what you wish for, sometimes having a sibling can be a huge headache since murder is still a crime..." She told him flatly and he chuckled.

After dinner, he drove her back to her apartment as they talked and laughed and teased each other but there was a feeling of unease deep inside that she tried to ignore. It wasn't because of him, he was too nice and somehow that made it harder.

When they reached her apartment building, he opened the car door for her and she smiled at his gesture, "Thank you..." she spoke softly, "I really had fun tonight..."

Neo smiled, "I was hoping you'd say that, I didn't want your first date to be a bad experience."

"It was far from it... don't worry." She reassured him.

When he stepped closer, Ella froze, he reached his hand to the side of her face, grabbed a loose strand of her hair and tucked it behind her ear as he said, "I'm not trying to kiss you Ella... something tells me I shouldn't, besides it's not appropriate for the first date." he joked.

At hearing that, Ella blinked up at him, she couldn't believe how intuitive he seemed but the relief she felt was unmistakable. "It's not that I didn't like the date..."

"There's a but." He mumbled.

"I just, I'm not sure what I want right now and there might be..."

"There's someone else." Neo completed her thought and she felt her throat closing up and her heartbeat accelerating at how openly he could read her.

Ella looked down at her hands and played with the hem of her crop top, "I'm not sure about it, but there might be." She didn't understand what she was doing and she could hardly process the meaning of it all but she felt it was the right thing to do.

When she blinked up, Neo was looking at her, their eyes locked, and he said softly, "Alright, that's fair...you should take your time, figure it out..."

"You're not mad?" She asked.

"Of course not." he shook his head, his smile dimmed but he didn't look angry.

She felt like she still needed to explain herself, "I probably shouldn't have said yes when you asked, I wasn't trying to disregard your feelings Neo, I was just trying to not make things awkward." but this was probably worse.

"I'm glad you said yes." He spoke softly, "Besides, things will never not be awkward between us."

Ella was now smiling and frowning simultaneously, "Why are you so sure about that?"

Neo raised his left eyebrow and said, "Because I'm awkward and that's just how I operate."

She laughed and just like that the tension broke, it dissolved away into the breezy cold night as they both stood there facing each other.

Ella reached for his hand and held it with both of hers, his hand was warm and so much bigger than hers that it almost enveloped both her tiny hands. "I'm really glad that you're my first date."

"The pleasure is mine." Neo smiled, he looked at their joined hands and cracked a smirk, "I told you, you would want to hold my hand."

"You did," She smiled up at him with gratitude shining through her, "you should stop being right all the time..."

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