31

❦𝓡𝓸𝓼𝓮❦

I stand in my room, well Blake's room that he's letting me use for the time being.

We leave for the date in an hour and I feel like my heart is about to run away from me. I never would have thought that he liked me. I just thought he was a good guy who couldn't leave a girl to live on the streets. But now I know he feels more than sympathy for me.

"Ha. ha... ha." A nervous laugh creeps out of me as my eyes stare at the wall. I've been zoning out for the last twenty minutes, half of me thinks this is fake. And the other half is yelling at me to get my butt on the move and start getting ready.

A date, I've never been on a real date before.

And with Blake, a guy who has shown me nothing but kindness. He's so freaking cool, like one of those biker guys that you feel terrified of, but can't help but imagine how safe you would feel if they watched over and protected you.

That's how I feel with him, safe. And his muscles, bet he could lift me with his pinky finger. I should ask.

When I realize there is only forty minutes until I'm supposed to be ready my legs jump into action and run me to the shower.

I keep it simple, after all it's a bowling date. And not like I could dress up if I wanted to, I'm still working with limited clothing since I denied Blake's offer to buy me more.

He did get me a couple outfits though when I first got here though. So I grab one of them and throw it on, a pair of ripped mom jeans and a light blue top.

He said he bought what the manikin was wearing when he walked into the store. Said if I didn't like it maybe I should stop being so stubborn and just go shopping with him.

But I loved it, I probably couldn't have picked a better outfit than this anyway. I keep my face bare, I was never a fan of makeup anyway, I never really spent any of my money on it.

Plus one time when I tried some mascara, I got pink eye. So I decided to never try that again.

It was probably because it was a used product, but I don't care to try it again. And I really like my face natural, I know some girls don't feel like themselves without makeup on, but I'm the opposite.

I dry my hair and scrunch it up to give it a bit more volume. I have thin hair, so if I don't scrunch it while it's damp the hair sticks close to my head and looks weird.

But if I scrunch it, sometimes I even get nice little waves, those are my favorite hair days.

By the time I'm done getting ready it's ten minutes before we need to leave and my gut sinks to the floor.

Holy crap I'm nervous.

Isaiah said to meet them at the bowling alley, said he'd reserve a section with couches so we can be fancy. I've never even been bowling before, I know what it is but I can't picture how couches have anything to do with it.

A light knock sounds at the bedroom door, "Hey, Rose. It's almost time to go, are you ready?" Blake's nervous voice is muffled by the wooden door. My feet padd across the floor to the door and open it slowly.

"Yeah, I'm ready." I smile, trying my best to not look like I'm about to pee my pants.

Blake stands close, hand on the back of his neck rubbing it nervously. He wears his typical black t-shirt, but instead of shorts like he usually wears he has a pair of light jeans on instead.

"You look nice." He says grinning at me. I sure hope I do, you picked the clothes out so if I didn't it would be your fault.

"Thanks. You do as well. I didn't even know you owned jeans." I say pointing to his jean covered legs.

"Oh, yeah. I don't usually wear them in the summer. I could if you like them though." His face tints to a light shade of pink. "I didn't mean to say that last part out loud." He groans, face tilted up to the ceiling.

"You look good either way, so wear whatever makes you most comfortable." My face turns pink as well.

I practically just told him I think he's attractive. And I do, but saying it outright like that is something that might take me a while to get used to.

"We should get going, Isaiah said we need to be there at six sharp." Blake's eyes connect with mine and I almost step back from how much excitement they hold. I don't think I've ever seen him this giddy before, it's absolutely adorable.

"Yeah, let's go." I nod, somehow I don't trip over my own feet when I start walking. I can feel his eyes on me and it's making me nervous. When I get nervous I can't do things properly.

Like eat, drink or walk. It's like my brain goes dead and I can't function like a regular human anymore.

So as my feet guide me to the door I'm very surprised that I can manage to walk. That is until I turn a corner and my hand flies out and smacks painfully on the pointy corner.

I keep it together though, I don't want Blake to see how much of a clutz I actually am.

Don't show any pain and he won't know that you can't keep your hands by your side like a normal person when you turn a corner.

⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿

We made it to the bowling alley with a minute to spare, Isaiah was waiting outside the entrance for us.

"Glad you made it. Mary is inside saving our lane." He led us inside, and my mouth just about fell to the floor. This place is huge, there are colorful lights everywhere, an arcade and a place to get food. Music plays but not loud enough that you can't still hold a conversation without yelling.

Isaiah takes us to where you get your shoes then leads us to the far end of the building. All the other lanes had tables and chairs, but the ones on this end had huge couches and are a lot more roomy.

"Rose, Blake, this is Mary." Isaiah drapes his arm over her shoulder. She's gorgeous, long black curly hair cascades down her back. Her eyes are a deep brown and her skin is tan like she just returned from a trip to the Bahamas.

"Mary, this is Rose and Blake." Isaiah gestures to us. He's smiling bigger than I've ever seen him before, he must really like her.

"Nice to meet you." I squeak out, I'm not good with first meetings.

Especially if said person is someone who I need to make a good first impression on. When it's somebody I work for or something like that I don't get as nervous because I know that once I'm done with the job I probably won't ever see them again.

But Isaiah seems to really like her, so I'll probably be seeing a lot of her from now on.

"Nice to meet you too. I've heard alot about you, Isaiah told me you're a jack of all trades. Maybe I could get you to help with my apartment? I was wanting to put a fresh coat of paint up but didn't want to tackle the project all by myself." Her voice is soft and sweet, a nice change from all of the deep rumbly men I'm always around.

"Of course!" I can't help the small bubble of excitement that builds in my chest. I've never painted for someone as a friend.

Isaiah likes her so I'd help her with any project she needs. And she seems nice, so maybe she and I can become friends. It would be really nice to have a girl friend.

I love hanging out with the guys, but it would be nice to hang around a girl sometimes as well.

"Alright, pick a ball guys. Time to start bowling, loser buys Ice-cream." Isaiah says as he punches names into a tablet on the table.

The next hour is spent with a lot of chatter and me miserably failing at trying to bowl. Blake joked that we should have put the bumpers up for my turns.

But then he also showed me how to bowl, he's a nice guy at heart really. By the end I had improved tremendously, but I was too far behind to make a comeback.

Blake ordered and paid for the Ice-cream off the menu on the tablet even though I was the one that lost. It's not like I could pay anyway.

"I need to use the restroom, come with me?" Mary asked me.

Wait, I've heard of this before, girls go to bathrooms in groups. I've never had anyone to do this with before, is this some sort of right of passage? Am I finally going to be like all the other girls I see walking around in groups?

"Yeah, sure." I smile getting up off the couch. I really shouldn't be this excited about going to the restroom. Does this mean we're friends?

I hope so, I really like her. She's been so nice this whole time, clapping and encouraging me as I learned how to bowl.

When the bathroom door shuts behind us Mary goes straight to one of the sinks. She pulls a lip gloss out of her back pocket and starts applying it.

I thought we came here to use the restroom but maybe this is using the restroom in girl talk.

I don't know, how am I supposed to know these things when the only girls I've ever really hung out with are Lilly and Olivia. And I have never gone to the restroom with Olivia, and the only times I have with Lilly is when it was a portapotty and she was scared it was going to eat her.

So I'm really at a loss here.

"I like your hair, it's so pretty." I gleefully smile, standing a few feet beside her. I see her eyes roll in the reflection of the mirror as she smacks her lips distributing the lip gloss.

"You can knock it off now." She mumbles. The air around me suddenly feels cold.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Stop pretending like we're friends. The guys aren't here, so you can knock it off." She says, annoyed.

She shoves her lip gloss back in her pocket and turns around, her eyes have turned from friendly to looking like she wants to set my hair on fire.

"I-I wasn't pretending.. I thought we were getting along well." My brows crease together and my palms start to sweat.

Gosh, she hates me doesn't she?

"For crying out loud, you're so pathetic. I don't know why Isaiah likes you so much." Her face looks bored and it makes me uneasy.

"Look, let's get one thing straight. I don't like you, I won't like you, and I would prefer if we never saw each other again. But Isaiah is friends with your boyfriend so I have to put up with you for his sake."

Geese what did I do to her?

"Why did you ask me to come to the bathroom with you then?" I get that she might not like me, but why invite me to go with her.

"It's called acting. That way they think we're best friends right off the start. I was hoping you'd decline but of course you can't take a hint." Take a hint? She was telling me how cool the drawings are that I made for Isaiah just minutes before she asked me to go to the restroom... oh, well how was I supposed to know that that meant she doesn't like me...

"You're a good actor." I gasp as pieces start to fit together. She's been hinting at me this whole time how she doesn't like how close Isaiah and I are. I'm just to dence to figure it out myself.

"Don't hang around Isaiah anymore. He has me now so he doesn't need you." Her words sting, is that really true?

Now that she's here will Isaiah not want me to finish the collage, or have food eating contest with me? He always won but it was still fun. I'm I really just replaceable like that?

Of course I am, why wouldn't I be.

I'm just me, they got along fine without me, they would all be fine if I just disappeared.

She walks out of the restroom, me following behind her. As soon as we come in hearing distance of the boys she starts laughing.

"No way? That's so funny! I wish I was there." It took me a minute to figure out she was talking to me. Or pretending to talk to me anyway. I throw a smile on my face and nod, playing into the fake scenario that we're friends.

I sit next to Blake, pretend laughing along to the things she says to Isaiah. Self doubt is crushing down on me, the words she said keep repeating in my head. He doesn't need you.

"Are you ok?" Blake leans closer to me, eyes scanning my face. Guess I'm not as good of an actor as Mary is.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking about how I should have got chocolate Ice-cream instead." His lips press up into a smile that takes my breath away.

What am I doing worrying about this? Even if what she said was true, it's not anything that I can control. Besides, Isaiah was thrilled to get the drawing I made today, so nothing has changed except for her being involved.

It would make sense that if he started dating that we might not spend as much time together, but that doesn't mean he'll want nothing to do with me. And even if he does that's his choice and I should respect it when and if that happens.

No need to wallow in pity for something that might not even happen.

"Well lucky for you I got chocolate, so we can switch." Blake's eyes crinkle from the huge smile he's sporting.

"Thanks." I smile up at him breathless.

⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿♡⇿

The rest of the date went by smoothly once I decided to make the best out of it. Even though I knew whenever Mary talked to me she was lying through her perfect teeth, it was still fun.

After we finished the Ice-cream we played some games in the arcade. I beat Blake in air hockey, and between the two of us we got enough tickets to trade for a stuffed panda.

Isaiah and Mary suck at arcade games, they only had enough tickets to get a couple pieces of candy.

I thought I'd feel happy about it because Mary hates me and all. But I'm actually kinda sad that they didn't get a cool prize like we did.

But then again, Isaiah seemed happy with the candy so maybe it's a good thing.

Blake and I were now back at his apartment, it was late and I was running out of energy to stay awake. I took my shoes off as Blake does the same.

A long yawn escapes my mouth, I try to cover it with my hand but Blake takes notice anyway. He smiles, "long day, huh." I nod in response.

He doesn't even know half of it. Girls can be crazy sometimes, I didn't know if Mary was going to try something on me so I was slightly on edge most of the night.

"I'm wiped. I think I'm just going to head to bed." I yawn again. "Thank you for tonight, it was really fun." I add.

"Of course, but I should be the one thanking you." He's constantly smiling tonight, it makes me really happy that he's happy.

"We can share custody of the panda. You can have this week, I'll take next." He holds out the panda we won to me.

"Ok." I laugh as I take the panda from his hands. Shared custody of a stuffed animal was not something I thought I would ever be a part of.

We say goodnight and I head to the bedroom, but before I make it past the door Blake calls my name.

"Yeah?" I question turning around, surprised to find him so close. His hand reaches up, caressing the back of my head and pulling me forward gently.

His head leans down and I feel warm lips on my forehead. Sparks ignite, and my toes curl.

It's just my forehead, but it feels so intimate, powerful and sweet.

"Goodnight. Sleep well, I'll see you in the morning." He whispers.

He walks away before I can say anything back. Leaving me in shock, standing outside the bedroom with a panda in my arms.

My feet stumbled back until my back hits the door.

He kissed my forehead.... My lips raise into a dazed smile as I stare at nothing in particular.

This might just be the best day of my life.