Ties should be gathered and burned. That's my final statement as I loosen the tie around my neck. Madaline is sitting quietly on my bed, waiting for me to finish, so she can fix up my hair. She's the only one that knows about Julie and I going on a date. The group knows our parents were trying to set us up, but that's it.
I turn to Madaline who nods at my appearance before getting up with a long sigh. She does this every time she has to leave my bed. Its more comfortable than her own, is what she always tells me. We head to my bathroom with a brush and hair products. Madaline is about the same height as me so she doesn't need a stool or anything.
"You nervous?" she asks while tugging my hair in different directions.
"No," I reply truthfully. "I'm pretty sure Julie doesn't want to do this either, and plus..." plus I think I'd rather be doing this whole date with someone else.
Madaline drops it and we go downstairs after she's done practicing her skill in my hair. Her parents are the first to see me and drop compliment after compliment. I smile and thank them before turning to hug Madaline goodbye. She reminds me to call her or text after the little date. I tell her I will as I grab my phone and my wallet that my parents put more money in. They wanted me to buy Julie some things, even if she didn't ask.
"Nolan, are you ready?" my mom calls, waiting by the door with my dad. I stuff my wallet into an empty pocket before leaving out the door without saying anything. My parents follow after me and we pile into the car.
It all feels familiar seeing as we did this same routine a few days ago. Except it wasn't a meet up between Julie's and my parents. It was a date set up by them. I should be happy. Julie is nice, and we can just look at it as two friends hanging out. It'll make it much easier and me more comfortable.
My phone vibrates, once, letting me know I got a text. I barely glance at my parents while taking it out. Scarlette. My mood shifts from a little bad to a little good. I expect to open our messages to a joke or something, but what I got was completely different.
Scarlette: hows the date
Me: How'd you know?
Scarlette: Me n maddy are like best friends now
Me: Of course. I'll text you afterwards ok?
Scarlette: ok
I exit our texts with a sigh. My phone darkens as I turn it off and place it in the safe place of my lap. Scarlette still seems off to me. Her usual teasing remarks, the amusement laced in her voice, the nicknames. She hasn't done any of that since that day at lunch. Julie can't be the problem. She likes Julie. She said hi to her and everything. Well a head nod is basically the same thing. My mind fogs and I hum a tune instead to clear it. I'll talk to Scarlette about it whenever I can.
My head tilts to the side when the car slows to a stop. We're at the same calm diner as last time. I wonder who's choice this was. It surely wasn't mine, but still. I like the place. My parents don't say anything, their faint smiles the only thing I can see. They probably guessed that I don't want a pep talk, or any kind of talk. My legs carry me out of the car and to the diners doors. My parents are still sitting there. I walk inside the diner and look out the barely tinted glass windows. Still there. My eyes roll on their own accord before I look around in search for Julie.
I find her in two minutes time in a window seat. Her hair is pulled back into a neat ponytail that shows off diamond earrings. I can tell she's wearing a dress as I get closer to her. Also because she stands up to hug me. It was a side hug kind of thing that wasn't too awkward.
"Hi," she says first.
"Hi," I reply as we both sit down across from each other.
Julie doesn't say anything more- her eyes taking me in while I look around nervously. I thought this wouldn't be awkward for me. Maybe the 'just friends hanging out' thought will still help.
"You look handsome," she finally says, giving me a compliment. I look back at her with a surprised look and light blush. Compliments always do that to me. It's embarrassing.
"Thank you. You look nice too..." I say, placing my hands flat on the table. "I'm nervous. Am I the only one feeling that way?"
Julie shakes her head with no hesitation, her body slightly relaxing at my confession. She leans her arms on the table and looks around before whispering to me- "I'm feeling that way too. I've never been on a date before."
"Yeah," I breathe out, "me neither."
After our embarrassing confessions, Julie and I fall into simple conversation. We talk about our parents and how they're crazy for randomly setting up this date. Julie admits that this isn't the first time her mom's done this. I couldn't even form a sentence to respond, too shocked to thimk . Julie laughs at my reaction and says it's only happened twice and it was two years ago when she was fifteen. After that, our simple conversation turned into us telling embarrassing stories.
"S-stop," Julie laughs out, struggling to breathe, "you did what?"
"I'm not repeating it," I huff with a smile of my own. It didn't matter that I refused to repeat it because Julie was laughing every time she looked at me. "Hey, we should probably order something."
Julie wipes tears from her eyes and nods. "There's a buffet portion near the back. On the other side of the diner. There's a set price of fifty dollars."
"Whoa, just fifty for an all you can eat?"
Julie nods and we get up to go to the buffet. We talked on the way, saying what we thought they'd have. I want fries, and maybe I can order a milkshake. Julie wants pizza. Nothing less. We get to the buffet table, and see our options making us smile. I grab two plates before giving Julie one and we go our separate ways around the table. I stack my plate with fries, chicken nuggets, and a slice of pizza.
Julie gets something similar- her plate full of pizza and fries. We take our plates back to the booth before going to get drinks. Julie gets her cup first then hands me one. I fill my cup up with sprite, and Julie gets fruit punch.
"I didn't take you as a sprite kind of guy," Julie states out loud, as she finishes filling her cup. We walk side by side back to the booth and sit down.
"It's my second favorite. Or third, I don't know," I tell her. "I wanted a milkshake with my fries, but ordering one is too much work."
Julie suddenly gets excited, leaving her pizza to get cold on her plate. "I love dipping my fries in my milkshakes!"
Our food became forgotten, us only eating every five minutes because we jumped from topic to topic. There were friendly debates about the best movies and food combinations. Mutual agreement that marvel is better than DC movies, and what we thought the best milkshakes were. We ended up staying at the diner for two hours. We eventually finished our food then decided to get milkshakes which I paid for. We talked more, and the nerves, along with the awkwardness, faded away.
"Hey, Nolan," Julie suddenly calls.
"Hm?" I hum around my straw. I was finding joy in slurping down my chocolate milkshake.
"If we both like today- if we liked this date, can we do it again sometime?"
I falter, not expecting her to ask that. I stop drinking my milkshake and clear my throat. "Um, sure. I like hanging with you." Hanging. I can't say dates because it seems wrong. Feels wrong. Like I'm betraying someone and I know exactly who. The same girl who I told I would text after this date was over. Julie doesn't notice my small, distressed state. She just smiles widely at me before going back to dipping her fries into her vanilla milkshake.
I take out my phone to check the time when I notice new, recent messages from the groupchat. We should really add Julie. I open the chat to see the texts.
Madaline: we need to hang out
Scarlette: im busy today
Jackson: ok
Madaline: tomorrow then
Madaline: no isn't an answer choice
Scarlette: sure new skating rink just opened
Jackson: cool. skating
Madaline: cool!
I put my phone away to find Julie looking at me. I throw a smile her way and tell her about our plans. She nods excitedl and we finish up the rest of our shakes before I pay. Julie calls her mom while I call mine to let them know the date is over. I wait with Julie because I'm pretty sure her mom will get here first. And she does. Julie hugs me goodbye and I wave as their car drives away. My parents come a minute after and immediately bombard me with questions as I get in the car.
"Just tell us if there'll be a second date," my mom pleads.
"Maybe," I mumble.
My parents seem satisfied with that answer and I tune the rest of their conversation out as I check my phone. I ended up getting Julie's number, so I go to add her to the groupchat. I add her as the group gets another text.
Scarlette: rink is on me
I smile at her name popping up before typing a quick response to her text. I also let them know that I added Julie to the chat before turning my phone off and leaning my head against the window. I close my eyes and hum while thinking of tomorrow. It should be fun.