First Date: Baby Steps

Small Talk and Gentle Thoughts

My nerves shook me to the core as the hostess walked us to a bench seat for two. I fixed my sight on the back of Blake's head and drew in a deep breath. I was on a date with the school's bad boy.

I was on a date with the school's bad boy?

I'm some scrawny outcast, only five foot five, out on a date with my former bully and school bad boy. Blake Howard. I swallowed hard as I scooted into the bench seat.

The last week has been a whirlwind of weird. I broke up with a girl I'd dated for eight months. The relationship was toxic, but it still hurt when the initial shock of her disloyalty set in. I loved her, and I was a side piece. I'm typically outcasted. I wear band shirts and skinny jeans in a school where literally any other kind of person could fit in. This girl I dated was my only friend, my only anything.

Blake didn't bully me consistently. Every couple days or so he might have pushed me against the lockers to prove to the student body that I was a shrimp. Despite his build being rather slim, the boy had amazing strength along with a decent height, and that was all he needed to separate his self from me. He too had little friends, but Blake owned it confidently. If he wanted friends, he could get them easily. The entire school either idolized him or feared him.

Somehow, for some reason, he chose to be dining with me. Aiden Smith; School emo, school weirdo, possible midget.

"Do you have any idea what you might like?" His jade orbs scanned the menu and glanced up to look at me.

"I'm getting the chicken and broccoli alfredo." I answered far too much quickly. "I'm sorry, I just go to Applebee's a lot." I blushed, feeling a nervous sweat break out under my arms.

"Don't apologize." He smiled at me and returned to the menu. My mouth went dry. God, his smile was beautiful. In that moment, I realized I'd never truly seen him smile before. I wondered if anyone had.

With the time he took to figure out what he wanted to eat, I looked over Blake for the hundredth time tonight. He wore a white Ramones tee shirts with a leather jacket over top, matching it with a black pair of jeans. His jet black hair was kept short mainly, but gradually got longer at his bangs which he pushed back. A single stubborn strand would fall in front of his forehead without fail. His height reached at five foot nine— not terribly tall, but definitely normal i comparison to me. Blake's semi slim, semi lean build lent itself to his attractiveness. I could go on, but to condense— I was thirsty for my former bully.

"Aiden?" Blake touched my hand gently. "You wanted the chicken and broccoli alfredo?"

I snapped out of it to find the server giving me a patient smile. "Oh, uh, yes! And just Pepsi to drink will be fine." I forced a friendly grin across my lips.

"Okay, the alfredo and the sandwich medium well?" She smiled and looked up for confirmation. "Okay, we'll have it out as soon as possible." And with that, we were alone again.

How long was I ogling at him? I blushed deeper and stared down at the edge of the table. We shared a few moments in silence.

"So.." Blake squeezed my fingers. Despite his bad boy status, his hands were extremely soft. "Are you okay?"

I nodded and gazed at his pale hand over mine. "I just zoned out, I guess."

"Alright." He gripped my digits now and ran his thumb over my fingers. "I know things have been happening quickly, but I wanna take things slower with this dinner." Blake looked at me expectantly and chuckled at my silence. "It's gonna take a lot to get you out of that damn shell, huh?"

"I guess." I looked at his arm. "Why are you having dinner with me? What's been going on? Is this like, an elaborate public humiliation scheme?" The thoughts had just popped into my head and tumbled out of my mouth.