I was so nervous about the whole thing that from the moment we were all seated, I just stared at the menu.
"Wow, so many options," I murmured, trying to pretend like that's why I was completely absorbed in the list of various starters and soups that were on offer.
I peeked over my menu shyly, only to see Summer very visibly roll her eyes. I didn't know what more she wanted from me - we couldn't all be super confident goddesses, okay?
Because of my insistence on checking through every single item on the menu, we seemed to all get our meals ordered quicker than usual. The waiters seemed to notice that I was studying the menu like I had to take an exam on its contents tomorrow morning, and kept filtering by our table until finally, finally, David decided whether he wanted the salmon or the chicken. I gave our waiter a thankful smile, but then realised that his quickness to tend to us had left me without a crutch. What was I supposed to focus on now? Being social? Holding good conversation? How pretty Nora looked?
When Summer breathed a dainty, dreamy sigh and clasped her hand over David's, he looked like he might have been about to burst out laughing. She was laying it on thick, admittedly. He reeled it in at the last moment, but I caught the fact that Nora quirked an eyebrow at the sight of them getting closer.
"You two are getting along well then, huh?" Nora asked.
Summer looked at me, then David. I felt a pang of guilt, like maybe Nora was about to catch on to our weird scheme, but then I realised she looked more like she was teasing the two of them.
It certainly seemed to work on David, who stumbled over his words adorably trying to make everything come across as totally normal and authentic.
"Well, um, yeâyouâyeah, you know, I'm justâso happy that Summer, here, wanted to... hang out," he smiled, finishing proudly and confidently, as if he couldn't believe he'd actually managed to make that mess into a semi-coherent sentence.
Summer stifled a giggle and squeezed David's hand. "Definitely, babe," she said, so concisely, in contrast to David's bumbling, that it almost made me laugh too.
"Speaking of, you know, new beginnings, or... whatever," Summer smiled, dismissing the need for a perfect segue with a wave of her hand, "how are you settling in, Nora? That coffee machine I fixed holding up well?"
Nora laughed brightly and nodded. "Mom is eternally grateful, I mean it. Like, you probably need to stay away from her because she will adopt you, if she sees you again," Nora joked, stressing the idea to her as if it was a real threat.
Summer wrinkled her nose up cheerily and shrugged. "I can think of worse things than living next door to Jess," she said, and I almost felt like I'd just been blinded by the sudden spotlight that'd been shone down on me.
"Oh, um. It's not all that great, I'm sure," I said, looking at Nora and shaking my head as if to say I was sorry that Summer was being so Summer, when really I should've been sorry that I was being so me.
I mean, I was on a date with the literal girl of my dreams and I could barely pluck up the courage to say two words. I had to get it together - for the sake of maybe securing a second, slightly less weird, slightly more real date.
"I don't know," Nora sing-songed, "you did bring us cupcakes, so. That's A+ neighboring, in my book."
I smiled, remembering meeting her for the first time and how completely thrown I'd been. It was kind of funny, really. She was just a girl, at the end of the day. Sure, it was incredibly weird to think I'd been seeing her in my dreams before I'd even met her - but of course my dumb subconscious would pull something so hilariously jarring for me and my lovelife. I couldn't ever have it too easy.
"You know, cupcakes aren't even really our speciality." It was true, Dad and I had barely dabbled in cupcakes before, but they'd seemed like a nice idea considering we didn't know how many people were going to be moving in or helping out the new residents next door. "Like, you should try our banana bread," I said, bordering on bragging as I nodded confidently, trying to project a little bit of Summer into my voice. "I'd give you the recipe, but then I'd-- actually have to have a recipe," I laughed.
Nora chuckled along with me, but tilted her head questioningly.
"We kind of just wing it, but the weird thing is, it always turns out awesome," I explained, a smile lighting up my face as my confidence grew. Was this how Summer felt 24/7? It wasn't too bad. I started to understand her big mouth a little better.
"That's gotta be a metaphor for your life or something, Jess," Summer chimed in, grinning back at me.
"Pretty much. Like, how did I end up here with you, right?" I said, looking at Nora, trying my best to keep channelling Summer and charm my date.