Ana's POV
Awaken by my alarm clock I groan as I just wanted to sleep. I slap my hand on my phone and grab it, pulling it towards me. Looking at the screen with my tired eyes, I read:
9:00
December 1, 2018
Alarm Clock: Date with Justin!!
I instantly rise from the bed and start a cold shower. Justin and I ended up talking until three in the morning last night, so the sleep deprivation is real. And the only thing to wake me up is an ice cold shower.
After the shower, I shiver as I wrap myself in the towel and I walk to my room. I didn't even get to shop for a new outfit, but I'm sure I'll find something.
Dress? It's December, I'll be freezing.
Overalls? Might as well yell "yeehaw!"
Nice shirt and nice jeans? Seems adequate for a first date to a museum.
Getting the nice shirt out of the hanger and my jeans, I change into them. Afterwards I look in my shoe closet for a few minutes.
Should I look cute and be in pain? Or do I stay comfortable and look decent?
Booties it is, cute, and not too painful considering I'm going to be walking around all day. As I put my shoes on, Justin calls. I look at the time, it was already ten. Great.
"Good Morning Ana, I hope you're not too tired for today, sorry for keeping you up so late last night." he says and I smile shaking my head, "I am tired, but the adrenaline to spend the day with you is keeping me awake." I say and he chuckles. I take my hair out of the towel and I head to the restroom to fix it up.
"Well I just wanted to call you to tell you that, if you're worrying about what to wear, I don't care. You could honestly go in pajamas and I'd still take you on a second, friendly date. And I'd still think of you as the most gorgeous woman I've laid my eyes on," He says and I blush while laughing. "A little too late for that. I totally wasn't freaking out about what to wear," I say sarcastically and I could hear the smile in his voice as he responds, "If it makes you feel better, I was too. But hey, I'm sure we'll have fun today. So don't worry about how you look, all I care about is how much fun today is going to be," he informs me and I smile.
"That's sweet of you to tell me. It's a little late, but the thought is sweet." I say giggling and he puts the conversation to an end. "Well, I'll let you go, and I'll see you in about an hour," he says and we say our good byes.
After somehow taming my hair and being able to let it loose with my natural curls, I check the time and it was almost eleven.
I run down stairs and eat something small. Taking out a bagel I place it in the toaster and take out the cream cheese along with an apple.
While I waited for the bagel I bit at the apple. And then it finally pops up. "Fuck," I hiss accidentally touching the metal.
Maybe I'm a bit too nervous about today?
I take the bread and spread the cream on it. As I eat it, I check the time, and it was already three past eleven. I'm sure he's not one to come on the dot.
Eating the last bite, I sigh as I see it was almost half past eleven. I worry if he flaked out on me.
And then I hear my door bell ring.
As soon as I open it, I hear his voice say, "I'm sorry for being late, I was at the st- oh my god," he says as he sees me and he smiles at me. "You look so gorgeous," he says and I gasp, "You got me my favorite pink roses! Aw!" And I unintentionally hug him and he holds me tightly.
Hearing his heart beat bolster as I hugged him put a smile across my face. He's so shy and I love it.
After I let him go he hands me them, "I kind of got them last minute, I'm sorry for being so late," he apologizes and I smile at him. "Don't even apologize, these are beautiful Justin," I say as I walk into my house to get a vase to put them in.
"You can come in," I say and he walks in as I look for a vase. "Just give me a moment, I have a vase in here somewhere," I say and he stands leaning at a wall. "Where did I put it?" I say and he points at the vase. "Is it that one right there?" He asks and I look to where he was pointing.
The peonies...
"Oh, I'm an idiot," I giggle and I take the peonies out of the vase and throw them straight in the trash. I wash out the old water, and fill it with new water. I then place the roses in and smile at them.
"All done," I say, "Ready?" He asks and I nod my head. We walk to my front door and I lock it behind me.
As we walk to his car, I felt Jason's eyes on me.
"Ana?" Justin says and I snap back to reality. "Huh? I'm sorry, I was thinking about something," I excuse myself and he laughs. "I asked, did you eat something?" And I reply, "Oh! Yes I ate. Did you?" I ask and he nods his head, "Something small. I'll take you to eat after if that's okay?" He says and I smile, "I can never say no to food," I say and he laughs.
Getting to his car, he opens the door for me and I sit in. He then goes to his side and he turns the ignition. "Let's roll," he says and I giggle.
"What type of music do you like?" He asks and I reply, "Anything honestly" and he plays an extremely loud song that sounded like someone screaming.
"Bring me the Horizon?" He says and I shake my head, "Very loud," and he laughs. "You should hear Of Mice and Men's first album. It's worse than that" and my face expression said "Seriously?" And he nods his head, "Yup, seriously."
"Alright, how about this?" He asks and some song I assume from the '90s was on. No lyrics played just yet, just the melody. And then the lyrics came, "You listen to Tupac?" I ask laughing and he nods his head. "I love any music, unlike someone." He says eyeing me and I punch his arm making him laugh.
"I'd like to hear you rap this song," I say and he laughs, "Unless you want my tongue to get twisted, I'll gladly do it," he says and I laugh. "Just do it, I'm sure you can't be that bad, wait no! Sing!" and he nods his head. "Alright Ana, this one is for you," he says changing the album.
I wait a few moments and I mumble, "oh my god," as the first few notes of the song comes on.
"Hey pretty baby with the high heels on!" He begins, pointing to my booties and I couldn't refrain myself from laughing. "You give me fever like I've never ever known, you're just the product of loveliness. I like the groove of your walk, your talk, your dress. Feel your fever from miles around, pick you up in my car and we'll paint the town," he sings along to and he stops the track.
"That was probably the most embarrassing things I have ever done," he says becoming red and I laugh. "Don't ever tell anyone about that," he says laughing and I just stare at his genuine happiness.
"You gotta promise me you won't tell anyone that," he says and I say, "I promise," and he takes out his pinky. "Gotta pinky swear Ana, the only way Ima believe you is if you swear on the pinky," he says seriously, but I knew he was joking and we intertwine our pinkies.
"Can I hear you sing another song?" I ask and he blushes and he looks away from the road to now me. "More?" And I blush, "Another love song," and he hands me his phone, "Go on Spotify and look up '2000s Love Songs' he says and I press shuffle.
"Oh it just had to be this one," he says and I had no idea what the lyrics of the song were. But I was excited to find out. "Skip a little later in the song," he says and I do so, "Perfect spot!" And I look at him.
"And I know this much is true, Ana, you, have become my addiction. I'm so strung out on you, I can barely move, but I like it, and it's all because of you," he sings and I cover my face. "I'm embarrassing myself more than ever right now, but I just love seeing you smile. Do you want me to continue?" He asks as I blush and nod my head.
The rest of the car ride was him singing love songs to me, and me not being able to make a straight face because I was too busy smiling and laughing. The ride was almost two hours long, but it was definitely a good bonding time.
"We're here?" I ask as we finally get off the freeway, "Very close, yes," he says making a turn and I look out the car to see if I would be able to see it. I then gasp, "Oh my god I see it!" I say ecstatic to see inside the museum.
We parked, and he opens my door for me. "This is going to be an amazing first date, I can tell you that," I say and he smiles. "What makes you so sure of that?" He asks and I reply, "I could just tell." And we walk to the museum.
There was a train to take before actually getting to the museum. But the museum was so packed today, that many people had to stand while the train was on. Justin and I happened to be amongst one of those people standing. But I didn't mind, the view of the museum from an outside look was still beautiful.
"Oh my god there's a garden, they have a garden here?" I ask and Justin nods his head, "They have a lot of things here. A lot of things to take pictures of, and with," he says as the train comes to a complete stop.
I saw the fear in Justin's eyes when inertia hit me and I almost fell to the left but he caught me, luckily. "Be careful, I don't want this date ending up in the emergency room," he says and I laugh. "I'm fine Justin," and he lets me go. The doors opened, and we were finally at the museum.
"So the first place we're going to is the paintings I suppose," Justin says as we walk up some stairs and he lightly place his hand at the small of my back. "What else do they have here?" I ask since I've never been here, obviously. "Pictures taken by photographers, paintings, sculptures, and a huge garden," he informs me and I nod my head, excited for today.
As we walk into the painting section, Justin was very astonished by the paintings. "These are amazing," he mumbles and I look at the very detailed paintings. "My favorite painting would have to Irises by Vincent Van Gogh," he says and he asks me, "Do you have a favorite one?" And I reply, "Im not much of a lover for paintings that much to have a favorite one," I say.
"But I am enjoying this," I smile at him. As we finished looking at the painting section, we enter the photographs. There was a small frame with "The Getty" on it. "Justin, can you take a picture of me with the sign, please?" I ask and he says in an obvious tone, "I'm going to get kicked out if I do that," and I ask confused, "Why?" He replies, "We can't take photos of the artwork," and I laugh as I blush.
"I'll take it," he says and he takes out his phone. After he takes the photo, I ask him to send me it. "After we leave, because there is no reception in here whatsoever," he says and he puts his phone back in his pocket.
"There's the garden, lets see if we can find your favorite flowers," he says and I walk with him. The garden was just a massive area filled with all shapes and sizes and colors of plants.
"This is so beautiful," I say and he mumbles, "Quit talking about yourself Ana, look at the flowers," and I punch his arm making him laugh. "Jeez woman, you hit hard," he says rubbing his arm and I laugh at him, "I barely even touched you." I say and he scoffs. "So you think, I just gave you a compliment and you hurt me" and I roll my eyes laughing.
"Oh look, the red peonies," he says and there was a huge bush of them and he lightly touches them. "Mess with them real quick," he says and I do so. I hear his camera click and I laugh, "No! I probably look horrible," I say trying to get his phone and he puts it behind himself. I reach to his back and he then puts the phone over himself as high as he can.
"Let me see!" I say laughing and he stares at me smiling as I try to get the phone to see the picture. "Ana, don't worry about it. I'm sure you look beautiful in it," he says with the phone still over him.
"Then show me it," I say laughing and he shakes his head. "You're going to delete it," and he puts it in his back pocket.
After walking around for three hours, we decided to leave and go get food. "What do you feel like eating?" He asks and I say, "I like sushi," and he smiles, "I was hoping you'd say that." And the drive to some sushi place began.
Walking in the small place, we get sat down and we begin looking at the menu. "Have you ever tried wasabi?" Justin asks and I shake my head, "What is that?" I ask and he laughs. "It's this really spicy thing, and some might mistake it for guacamole." "Have you tried it?" I ask and he nods his head yes, "It was not a pretty reaction. I thought it was guacamole, so I got a scoop of it, and put it on the sushi... I actually teared up from how bad my nasal passage was hurting" and I laugh at the explanation.
"I wanna try it," I say and he looks up from the menu to me, "Are you sure?" He asks and I say, "I'm sure, let's see if it's actually spicy." I say and when the waitress comes he orders some on the side along with the food.
"I am ready to feast like a beast," He says and I say, "I would find that hard to believe," and he asks why. "You seem pretty fit," and he responds, "Well that's the thing, if I wanna stay fit, I have to work out a lot so I am able to eat a lot and not be overweight." And I nod my head. Interesting way to think. "You came up with that yourself?" I say laughing and he sips some of his water, "The hard way yes." And I giggle.
Minutes later, the food comes, and so does the wasabi. "I don't think you're ready," he says laughing as I take a scoop of it and spread it on the sushi. "Ana, I'm serious, your nasal pathway is going to burn," he says laughing. And I say, "It's fine, it'll be funny," and I take put it in my mouth.
He looks at me, and I nod my head, "It's not bad," "3...2...1" he mumbles and I feel my nasal pathway burning up. "Oh my god, holy shit, this burns" I say and he begins laughing. I begin drinking water and he says, "No! That's going to make it worse!" And I feel the spice spread through out my whole mouth.
"Here," he says handing me his coke and I skip the straw and gulp it down. He begins chuckling, "I'm sorry for laughing, but I told you so," and I shake my head, "That was too funny," and he laughs along.
The rest of the dinner was filled with laughter as we told each other stories from our childhood. And learning things about one another.
"So you broke your foot, your arm, and almost messed up your vocal chords because of how much you screamed as a teenager?" I say and he nods his head, "I was a mess, I just did not care. I was always the class clown." He says and I ask, "So why are you so shy now? What made you become more focused on school?" I ask and he answers, "In college, I realized that it was time to be an adult and actually care about my future. Because no one else but myself would give me a good future to live on my own. You know, maturity, and stuff." and I nod my head as I understanding what he meant.
"I suppose you've always been like that," he says and I smile, "You're not wrong. I was always known as the school nerd," and he comments, "At least you were a pretty nerd." And I smile at his statement.
"How many more years of college are you going to be taking?" I ask, and he responds, "Well I have to get my bachelors in order to begin working in that field, which will be next summer, and then I'll be working to get my PhD which will take another two years. But I'll just see if I have time with that," he says and I was impressed with how he knew what we wanted. He wasn't just hopping from job to job. He had his future planned out.
"You?" He asks as he puts a sushi in his mouth and I explain my plan. "I was actually planning on getting my PhD as well. This year, I actually finished my two years of internship. So now I have my license, but I am still going to go to school to get my PhD which is going to take about three more years of school. But I'm honestly just fine if I have a Masters, that will only take a year more of school." I say and he nods his head.
"Have you always wanted to do Psychology?" He asks and I explain, "Well at first, I wanted to be a nurse at a Psychiatric Ward, but I have, had, a good friend who um was a nurse at one, and she said it was just really dangerous." And he says, "Wow, why is it dangerous for her?" He asks and I say, "It was dangerous for her because she said she would get strangled sometimes, or she would have really mean words said to her. But not all of them were like that to her. Only a few, she could handle it, but I don't think I could. So I'd rather talk to them, and not be hands on with them and taking care of them." And he nods his head.
"Got it, why aren't you guys friends anymore. Did she scare you off with her job?" He asks laughing and I try to laugh it off, but it was hard to. "No, um, she died. She was murdered," and he looks at me, "Oh my god I'm so sorry. I'm sorry," and I shake my head, "It's fine, you didn't know, I was the one who brought her up," I say laughing it off and I could tell he still felt bad.
"And you?" I ask and he says, "The movie I told you about actually got me into forensic psychology. Kind of makes no sense, since no one was a serial killer or anything. But I liked the whole idea of getting into the mind of prisoners, and I found out about the career while picking my college. I was going to be a cop, but the movie just took a turn for me and I became interested in psychology and working with those who commit crimes. It kind of just blended in," he says and I smile nodding my head.
"So do you do that now?" I ask him and he nods his head yes. "Oh my god that's crazy. How does it feel working with serial killers? Or working with people who've committed crimes?" I ask and he explains, "It does kind of scare me when I see a big buff guy, and I know he has Antisocial Personality Disorder and I know he just killed someone. Because I know they have no remorse for others," he says and I remember Jason.
Unfortunately.
"I don't know what their intentions are with me, I have gotten almost hit multiple times, or gotten cussed out, but at the end of the day, I'm just glad I'm putting them in a place that will get them help. Not all people with the personality disorder are dangerous though. They just need help, with a psychologist and all. And not a dark metal building to drive them into more of a severe case of their mental illness," and I smile at the reason he wants to do his job. "I think that's an amazing reason to do your job." And he smiles, "I love doing it."
He just wants to help others, and I think that's amazing of him.
We continued talking for a really long time, a really long time. A waitress ended up telling us that we had been there for four hours and Justin began laughing asking if she was serious. Obviously she was being serious.
"I guess it's time to leave Ana," he says and the waitress smiled. I could tell from her face she thought "finally" which made me laugh.
Getting outside, the sun was already going down. "Wow, we did stay in there for a long time," he says and we both laugh. "It was a good four hours though." and he nods his head agreeing. And so the long drive back home began.
"This one?" Justin asks referring to which house I lived in. "Yeah," and I take off my seat belt. He gets off of his seat and he opens my door for me. He then walks me to my door step and we stop.
"I had a great time today, spending the whole day with you was honestly amazing," he begins and I blush as I smile. "I had a great time with you Justin, and in case you're wondering, I'd love to go on a second date with you." I don't miss his smile, "Aw really?! Aw that's awesome, alright, let me know when you're free and I'll make some time for us," he says and I notice him staring at my eyes.
I go in and hug him, I could tell he was surprised as he didn't hold me for a few moments. But then he does as he gives me a good squeeze, a genuine hug full of love and happiness.
"And in case you were wondering, I don't mind talking to you on the phone every single day. I love talking to you, and if you ever need anything, know that I'm here okay? Whatever it is, I'll be there though the phone, or here to talk to you." he tells me and I hug him again. "That means so much to me Justin, thank you" I say in the hug and then I let him go. "Good night Ana," he says and I smile, "Good Night Justin."