17 DATES

CHAPTER 7: failed dates and rocky friendships

Ruby: date iv, v, vi, vii
Flynn: date iv, v, vi, vii

It was the middle of March, not warm enough to wear short sleeves, but hot enough to sweat when you walked from the apartment to campus. Ruby's week had been filled with dates, assignments and presentations. Without friends that shared her major, all of her presentations lacked a pair. Everyone in her class had grouped together, while Ruby stayed on her own. It was depressing when their professor asked if she had a partner and she had to tell him she didn't. Everyone in the class stared at her. In reaction, she chuckled nervously and glared at the person closest to her, who was accidentally Will. He stared at her with some type of pity, which Ruby loathed. After hissing at everyone that it wasn't that bad, she followed with a very bad presentation.

The heat from the to-go cup of fresh coffee kept her warm. She had a scheduled meeting with a certain frontman, who shared her misfortune in love. Not that he cared about love the way she did. He couldn't have cared less. Flynn couldn't be distracted by something as fickle and high maintenance as love. No, he had an album to write.

"Tell me about the dates." Flynn stopped their short walk and leaned on the fence, careful not to put all of his weight into it. The post to the left was a bit wobbly, shaking the rail when he touched it.

Ruby sat down on the bench opposite of Flynn and threw one leg over the other. It was one of the colder days. Her dark scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck, almost restricting her breathing. She wore only a thick jacket over the dress that was the newest addition to her wardrobe. Her left hand was wrapped tightly around a to-go cup, filled with scalding coffee with rice milk.

"Which one was the fourth date?"

"Richard Hickman." he reminded her. "The financial advisor."

"Right. I knew it wasn't going to work the moment he told me I was late after hugging me hello. Two minutes past meeting time is not something you have to announce." Ruby rolled her eyes and looked to the side. Being closer to the river meant the breeze was turning into wind. She pushed her chin further into the collar of her jacket and let out a huff, a small cloud appearing before her face.

Rick Hickman smelled of heavy cologne and swiped his hand by the side of his head, every five seconds, to fix his hair. They met up for a coffee at the same shop she had visited with Flynn when they made the deal.

"He asked you if he could give you a 'little' kiss?" Flynn was holding in a laugh. Ruby saw it in the way his eyes watered and the way his lip sucked inside his mouth. She narrowed her eyes.

"That's not funny," she said. "I couldn't wait until I left."

Heat rushed up her legs and to the top of her head. A wave of dizziness hit her, making her feel disoriented. The toast she had eaten in the morning and the coffee from the date threatened to come up past her lips. Richard Hickman's cologne was all she smelt. The heat in her head was all she felt. It was almost as if she wasn't in her body anymore. She felt light and heavy at the same time. If her heart wasn't weighing her down, she would have floated toward the sky like an abandoned balloon.

Richard Hickman wasn't a guy Phoebe could be around. Even by the end of the date, when he was talking about taking her to eat pancakes when she had the time, she was planning her escape. Something about him made her feel locked or restricted. It didn't matter that he didn't stop talking about cars or himself in general. He simply didn't feel like a right match for her energetically.

She told Flynn how the moment she ended the date, she called Peggy and Olivia. The pair met up with her halfway to their apartment and linked their arms through hers on both sides. They laughed together about the same thing Flynn joked about.