Leap of Faith

Ilooked up at the large cafe wall clock for the third time in as manyminutes. I knew I was doing it, but couldn't help myself. I'd beenwaiting for almost 20 minutes and it was almost time for the agreed-upon meeting. I could hear my heart ticking in sync with the secondhand and prayed they wouldn't be late. My anxiety-ridden braincouldn't handle it. I couldn't believe I had let Blaze talk me intothis whole mess. Taken in by all her words of encouragement andworries about how I needed to leave my comfort zone and socializewith others besides her and Espio. Letting her help me make a profilefor a well-known dating sight even as I had mini heart palpitations while filling out all the question boxes. Sometimes I ask myself whyI let others talk me into things that I know were going to blow up inmy face. Then I remember that I'm a complete pushover that hatesconfrontation of any kind and that shuts me up really quick. Now hereI was, sitting at a two-person table in the corner of Chaos Cafewaiting for my dates to arrive. Just the thought of dates, as inplural, makes me want to puke with nerves. When I received thefirst text notification about having a possible match I immediately ran to Blaze in a panic about what to do. She had, asusual, called me silly, and told me to go and see who it was. Aftercalming myself down with a few deep breaths I clicked on thelink of my supposed "match" and had been greeted by a veryflattering picture of a blue hedgehog with a smile that could rivalthe sun. Another quick click and I was taken to the other profilepage and found that his name was Sonic and he was only a year olderthan me. He loved running, adventures and apparently had anoverwhelming fondness for chili dogs. What really caught my attentionthough was the fact that he was also a Chaos user. Mu heart nearlyjumped out of my chest at those couple words and I spent more timethan I should have staring at them. Chaos users were quite rare andthe idea of meeting someone else like me finally replaced my earlierapprehension with excitement. Enough of a push to actually invitethis Sonic into a conversation. It wasn't until a week later that Ifound out that my "match" was actually "matches".

Anotherhour-long minute passed before the sound of the front entrance's belljingled loudly to signify another customer had entered the shop. Myeyes shot away from the wall clock to find the bright blue quills ofmy date. Our eyes met and I was hit by the full force of that bright,sunny smile. It was even more breathtaking in real life. I foundmyself swallowing heavily as my date strode confidently over to mytable and took a seat on the opposite side. Sonic leaned backcomfortably in the seat, one leg crossed over the other casually while maintaining eye contact.

"Hey."the hedgehog greeted simply and I had to remind myself that sittinghere silently like an idiot wasn't going to make a good first dateimpression. Taking a deep breath o steady myself, I returned theother's smile with an, admittedly, awkward wave.

"Hello."Sonic's smile only seemed to widen and his eyes twinkled withamusement.

"It'snice to finally see you in person. You're even cuter than Ianticipated from your pictures."

"What....oh...um."I felt my face heat up at his words and my heart was now doubling inits attempts to jump out of my chest. I instinctively tried to covermy cheeks to hide the red coloring that was undoubtedly coveringthem, but another gloved hand grabbed the right one and lowered it tothe table.

"EasySilver, just relax okay? There is no pressure. Just think of this asa casual meeting with a friend, alright?" Sonic advised stroking his thumb comfortingly over the top of my glove. I swallowedheavily again before letting myself take deep calming breaths.

"Right,sorry, I'm just not good with new situations," I admitted quietly.Enjoying the other's gentle touch. Sonic hummed in reply beforeleaning forward and forcing my gaze back to his emerald eyes and nothis hand. Were his eyes always so bright green? How could I notnotice something so beautiful before now?

"It'salright, Shadow is also bad with certain social situations so it'ssomething I'm used to." At the mention of that name, I found myselfsuddenly realizing that I should be seeing two hedgehogs, not one. Ifoolishly looked to the front door as if expecting I'd see the otherwaiting there or something. Sonic of course noticed and gave achuckle before taking my other hand and repeating the motions of theother.