That Girl | David Dobrik

𝒲𝑒𝒶𝓀𝑒𝓇 | 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓁𝑒𝓎'𝓈 𝒫𝒪𝒱

It was Tuesday, the night David and I had agreed on him taking me out. I had just gotten home from work about a half hour ago, and was getting ready, a nervous pit in my stomach. He was going to pick me up any minute, and I was scrambling to get ready.

I wanted to cancel. I knew I couldn't, but I really was regretting my decision. I was weak in the moment, seeing him there in front of me. The alcohol had a slight impact on my decision-making, but the main issue was... David. Which was why I had been avoiding him that night... and yet, here we were. He'd gotten me alone, and now I was furiously blending my eyeshadow, getting ready for a 'date'.

I was throwing on a jacket when I heard a knock at the door. I took a long, meditative breath, before plastering a smile on my face and opening the door.

David was standing outside, his hands shoved into the pockets of his dark jeans, eyes fixed downwards at his red Vans. As soon as I laid my eyes on him, my smile somehow tuned from fake to completely authentic.

"Hey..." I said quietly, and he looked up at me, a lopsided grin on his face. His mop of hair had fallen in front of his eyes, and he pulled his fingers through it quickly to tame it.

"Hey! Ready to go?"

"Yeah, for sure..." I grabbed my purse, slinging it over my shoulder and closing the door behind me. "It's a bit weird seeing you in the light of day."

"Yeah?" David laughed as we walked towards his Tesla, and it hit me once again what I was doing, what I'd gotten myself into. "I guess that makes sense. I'm glad I'm seeing you in the light of day, though."

I tried to stop another smile from breaking onto my face as he opened the door for me, unsure of what to say. He got in on the other side and started the car, while I sat there, fidgeting with my phone.

"So... I'm not really good at this whole date thing to be completely honest," David said, looking over at me. He seemed nervous, gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Do you like steak? I know a place that has really good steak..."

"Yes, David. I like steak." I laughed, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm not really the fancy type, but steak is always fine by me."

"Oh, thank god. I mean, I usually just go to Olive Garden or Chipotle, but I wanted to impress you, so..." He smiled shyly, looking over briefly before fixing his eyes back on the road.

"I would have been fine with either of those options, honestly."

"Well, we'll do that next time then."

"...Deal." I wanted to tell him that there probably wouldn't be a next time, but I held my tongue. Seeing as how I had no intention on even going on this date originally, I figured he could probably sway me into another one.

The rest of the drive was relatively quiet, mostly due to my own nervousness. We just chatted back and forth about our days, about how work was, so on and so forth. Without the social cheat-sheet alcohol gave me, I was rather awkward. David finally parked the Tesla, once again opening the door to let me out.

"Alright, ready?" He asked, glancing nervously up and down the street.

"Yeah, lets go." I said, sidling up beside him, trying to figure out what he was looking for. "What?"

"I just... this is going to sound really egotistical, I just get recognized a lot, and I didn't want that to freak you out," he shrugged, looking down at his feet. I raised an eyebrow, wanting to roll my eyes at the big hot-shot youtuber, but I couldn't help but appreaciate the fact that he was trying to shield me from it.

"Yeah, I would honestly hate that."

"I figured." David chuckled, putting a leading hand on the small of my back and rushing into the restaurant in front of us. I hung back as he greeted the woman at the front, confirming our reservation. I wrapped my arms around myself protectively, smiling politely at the server as she guided us to our table, tucked into the back away from curious eyes.

I could tell he was nervous, just as nervous as I was, if not more. His leg was bouncing underneath the table as he read through the menu, the both of us completely silent for almost too long.

"I don't know if a fancy date suits us, David," I said to him, smiling slightly and closing my menu.

"Maybe not," he smiled back at me, tilting his head. "We can eat fast and get out of here, if you want."

"Sounds good to me."

"I guess I should have just asked you what you wanted to do... I just wanted it to seem like I knew what I was doing." He grinned, and I felt myself melt a bit. He had a goofy sort of charm that I found adorable. "I haven't been on a date... in a while."

"Neither have I. So I suppose we're navigating it together."

The server came over and I followed David's lead, ordering what he ordered, as well as a vodka soda, which I swallowed back quickly when it got to the table. David watched me curiously, but didn't say anything for a moment.

"Do I make you nervous?"

"Hm?" I sat the empty glass down on the table, eyes wide.

"Do I make you nervous? Or am I just so hideous that you have to drink when you look at me?" He said with a wink, and I felt a blush rising into my cheeks.

"No... I mean, no to the second question, but yes, I guess you do make me kind of nervous." I said quietly, nervously pulling on my jacket sleeves.

"Why? I don't think I'm very intimidating."

"I don't know why. I've been trying to figure it out myself." I said, tapping my finger nails against the empty glass. "I was honestly going to cancel tonight."

David frowned slightly, nodding. "Well, I'm glad you didn't. I... well, I guess I might like you a bit."

I smiled, wanting to say 'I like you too', back to him, but the words remained caught in my throat.

I felt trapped. I felt embarassed of my own feelings. I felt like I just wanted the date to be over.