Chapter 14: Date
I walk towards the building, Hazel on my side. The air is cold and brisk, leaving no mercy to it’s victims in the chilly outdoors. We jog up to the entrance, entering without hesitation. She’s shaking like a Chihuahua. Poor thing.
“What are we doing here?” she asks me once we’re inside, her nose puffy and red. She kind of looks cute that way.
“You’ll see,” I say as we walk up to the clerk at the front desk. I can tell that Hazel is examining the menu, but it doesn’t bother me because we’re here already.
“Two adult tickets,” I tell him and he nods, ringing me up. I pay the man and he hands us our tickets and wristbands. That’s when we enter the area, her following me. I hope this is a pretty good experience for her as well as me. It’s one of my favorite things to do, but I’ve never brought a girl here.
“Go-Karting?” she asks me.
“Yeah. You don’t mind, do you?” I ask her a bit nervously. It never crossed my mind that she might not like what we’re doing.
“No no. I love it. It’s definitely better than sitting around all day and doing nothing,” she laughs. Her laughter is slowly becoming one of my favorite sounds.
“True. Let’s go put on our helmets and stuff,” I tell her.
“We’re really wearing helmets?” she asks.
“Yeah. Safety first,” I tell her. She just stares at me with a smile, creeping me out a bit if I’m being honest.
“What?” I ask her.
“Oh nothing,” she says quickly shaking her hide and turning away to attempt to keep the blush off of her face. Okay?
“Let’s go,” I tell her as we go to climb in our carts. She stares at me with a wicked look and I know that I made the right choice. I’m glad that I’ve done something right for the first time in these past few weeks.
“You’re all buckled in. When the light turns green feel free to go,” the woman who made sure we were restrained properly says. Nodding, we stare at the light. I count down the seconds, having been here enough to know exactly when it starts. Right before the light turns green I step on the gas and the gate opens, Hazel surprised and taking off right after me. I make every sharp turn precisely and speeding down the lanes. Surprisingly enough though, Hazel is right behind me, not giving up.
The rest of the day kind of goes like this too. We just race and have a good time joking around with one another and it’s perfect. We go through every course here that we can and it’s just an amazing time. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such bliss by just hanging out with someone.
Slowly, we come to the end of the course we’re on and I’m breathing heavily from the adrenaline. Of course, I won.
“You cheater!” Hazel shouts from next to me, laughing a bit.
“I did not cheat,” I counter as I climb out, laughing as well.
“You so did. You cut me off right around the last turn. I should have one!” she defies. I just shake my head.
“Face it. I’m just so much better at go-karting than you,” I reply.
“No way and I’ll prove it to you. Let’s make a bet,” she says, watching me smugly.
“Hold up,” I say as my phone is vibrating in my pocket. We get in line for the next course.
“Hello?” I ask.
“Hey mate. Where you at?” Zayn asks from the other line and Hazel is still fuming. I never thought that someone as tiny as her could be so competitive.
“Hazel and I are at the Go-Karting ring. Why?” I ask.
“I’m bored and hungry alone at our dorm. We should go out and eat yeah?” Zayn suggests. Sighing, I debate about it for a moment, but I know that it’s what would really top off Hazel’s day. So, I agree to the idea.
“Where at?” I ask him again.
“How about that one restaurant down the street from our dorm?” he suggests.
“Yeah. We’ll be there in half an hour,” I tell him and hang up before he can argue with me.
“What’s going on?” Hazel asks.
“Zayn wants us to go meet up with him for dinner,” I tell her and she just nods. We stand in line, our argument still in my head from before.
“What was this about a bet you were saying before I answered the phone?” I question her as we move up to the front of the line.
“Well. We were going to prove who the best go-kart driver is. Winner gets something,” she says.
“What would the winner get?” I ask her. Should I make this interesting? I don’t think there’s a doubt in my mind that I fancy this lass now.
“Hmm. How about if I win, you take me on another date, if you win…,” she trails off, not sure what to suggest. Suddenly though, a thought comes to me.
“If you win, I’ll take you on another date. If I win, you owe me a kiss,” I tell her, still not believing that she just called what we’re doing a date.
“Fine. Let’s shake on it,” she says and I nod, reaching out for her hand. Luckily, it’s our turn to get in the kart. I buckle up and place my helmet on again. The woman checks us before telling us the rules again and sending us off. Our engines are roaring as we speed down the intricate course. Each turn is sharper on this one than all of the others. I’m being extra careful so that I don’t tip, likewise is Hazel.
We’re driving head to head at this point, her on the inside. She’s got the good methods, I’ll give her that. Shortly she cuts ahead of me, making me speed up even though it’s dangerous. We speed all the way to the finish line, her coming in first though I kind of let her. I don’t want our first kiss to be based off of a bet.
“Who’s the best now?” she asks as I climb out.
“Still me,” I reply and she playfully smacks my arm.
“You’re a butt,” she tells me as we walk to return our helmets. I’m smiling like a goofball the whole time and so is she.
“Hey. My butt is a nice one,” I say sassily and she just laughs her head off.
“C’mon. You told Zayn we’d meet him in half an hour fifteen minutes ago,” she says as we walk towards the exit. We’re kind of walking extremely close to each other and our hands brush a few times. Eventually, I just grab her hand to keep it from brushing mine, entwining our fingers together.
“You want to know something?” I tell her.
“What?” she replies.
“I’m really excited for our next date,” I tell her. It’s not a lie either. This was probably the most fun I’ve had in a long while and I wouldn’t mind actually having female company around.
“I am too,” she smiles, kissing me on the cheek before we walk outside. I can tell she’s a bit cold still so I pull her closer to me as we walk just down the street. The go-kart arena is only two blocks away from my place meaning the restaurant is roughly just a block away. It’s not too bad.
Soon enough, we enter the warm building of the restaurant that Zayn was talking about. I see him sitting down at a table, but to my surprise he’s not alone. I let my hand fall from Hazel’s as I walk towards his table. My head nearly explodes when I see that the girl he’s sitting with is Dakota. Why did he bring the skank?
“Asshole,” Dakota recognizes me.
“Bitch,” I recognize back as I take a seat. I can tell that Hazel is shocked at our greeting and so is Zayn.
“Well it seems like you two know each other,” Hazel says as she stares at me. I know she’s probably curious as to of why we act with such hatred towards each other and wants to know about our past, but that’s the thing, we don’t have one. Dakota and I have just never gotten along. Nobody knows why, but our personalities just clash.
“I guess you could say that,” I tell her.
“Is this your friend you’re always talking about?” Dakota smirks at me and my heart nearly stops. Why would she bring that up now? I’ve avoided this so well all the way up until now. She can’t just waltz in and ruin things when they’ve just barely begun. It’s not fair and I won’t have it.
“No,” is my short response. Tension is kind of running high and I know that I’ll question Zayn later. Conversation is short throughout the whole meal and I’m kind of wishing for it to end. And soon enough, it does. Thankfully.
“You ready to go home?” I ask Hazel. She just nods and I know that she probably inquires to ask me questions, some that I have no responses and will surely anger her.
“Oh I can take her,” Dakota says, my eyes widening at her response. I kind of want to take her…I don’t want our time to end yet even if it does end in her interrogating me.
“Are you okay with that? If not we can take the bus or something-“ I tell Hazel who just shrugs me off.
“No. Dakota can take me. I think we need to bond a little more if she’s going to be spending more time with Zayn,” Hazel says, Dakota blushing a bit as Zayn smirks at her. What have I missed?
“Something I plan do plan on,” Zayn responds causing me to glance at my friend. Is he serious right now?
“Alright then. We better get going. I had an amazing time tonight Liam,” Hazel says to me, smiling big. I know that she’s a little upset with my behavior near the end, but at least she had a good time.
“I did too. I can’t wait for our next date,” I smirk at her causing her cheeks to flush up a bit. She leans up and kisses me on the cheek, smiling at me.
“Until next time,” she whispers before rushing off after Dakota who has already left. Once they’re out of sit, I slap Zayn’s arm.
“What the hell was that?” I question frantically.
“I don’t know. She was alone and hot, practically a damsel in distress,” Zayn shrugs.
“So?” I ask him. Who cares if she was alone? Who goes out to eat alone?
“This guy stood her up or something and she was about to cry and stuff. Like I couldn’t leave her alone. That’d be cruel,” Zayn explains. I just shake my head, not wanting to argue. He did a good thing for a mean person, well Dakota isn’t so bad, but she’s definitely not my favorite.
“I’m gonna go get the kid,” I sigh, leaving the restaurant by my lonesome. Zayn’s paying the bill, but I don’t wait up for him as I jump in the first available taxi to go and receive Benjamin from Harry and Shawny. I’ve missed him a lot today.
~~
A/N: tbh I hate this chapter, but I hope you guys like it somewhat J
Alex xx