The Freshman Tease ✓

13. Happier

Jason

Katie is waiting for me outside her dorm building. She's wearing a light pink sweater dress and black boots. She looks slightly more tired than usual, but smiles a little when she sees me. "Hey Katie," I say, reaching to give her a hug.

She slightly hesitates, but hugs me back. "Hi Jason."

"I'm glad you agreed to go out today. You seemed like you had a rough birthday," I say sympathetically.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting me. This is just us going out as two friends though, so we're clear," she says sternly.

I nod. I think she might change her mind though.

"So where are we going anyways?" she asks.

"I thought we could have some classic fun, a movie and dinner?" I ask, as we reach the car.

"Sure, sounds good." 

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"Oh my god, what is this place?" Katie asks, wide eyed.

"A theater," I say teasingly.

She frowns. "Come on, no one expects a place like this when someone says they're watching a movie."

She's not wrong. I've brought her to an exclusive VIP theater that requires a membership to visit. My parents have been members here since I was a kid. The lobby has a giant chandelier, the floors are a rich brown and shiny wood, the walls are painted matte black with gold trimming, there are plenty of floor to ceiling windows, there's a full kitchen and bar, and all the staff are dressed formally.

"I don't belong here," she whispers, looking around at everything around her.

"Don't worry about it, it's a special birthday treat. Let's go pick a movie," I reassure her, gently patting her shoulder. We head towards one of the kiosks.

She still looks unsure but follows me. We scroll through the options, and settle on a rom com. We take the elevators to the theater. Katie's eyes widen again as we walk inside.

Each seat is a soft leather recliner with plenty of legroom, there are speakers to the sides of every seat, small tables pull out of the arms of the seats for food, there's a small button on the other arm to call for a server, and the screen is huge.

We sit in our seats and I hand her a menu. She ends up just ordering a small popcorn. I do the same.

The movie ended up being pretty cliché. I don't mind though, Katie seemed to have enjoyed herself.

Katie

"Dinner now?" I ask, buckling up my seat belt.

"Yup, what kind of food are you down for?" Jason asks.

I think for a bit. "Sushi?" It's been a while and I heard seafood is good here.

He smiles. "Anything you want," he says, and sends a text before we start driving.

"You're Japanese right?" he asks.

I raise my eyebrows. "Because I look Asian and want sushi?"

He laughs. "No, your last name."

"Oh, yes, Sato is Japanese," I chuckle, "I don't look like it, but I'm only half. My mom is French."

"Oh, I never would've guessed," he says, surprised.

"I was born here though, it took a lot of convincing for my parents to let me move across the country for school," I add. "They're pretty overprotective but I really needed some freedom." I do miss them though.