The message said: 'Hey, I want to talk. Meet me in the alley behind the school during lunch?'
That sounded sorta bad. Although to be fair, the words "I want to talk" are immediately anxiety-inducing in any circumstance, so I replied with a quick 'sure!' and put it back. I checked the clock. It was four hours until lunch. I sighed. This was going to be a long day.
-:-:-:-
Finally, after powering through incredibly long incredibly boring Chemistry, Math, History and AP Lit periods, lunch came around, but instead of going to the cafeteria and getting lunch as I usually do, I went outside and towards the music building. In my school, the music and auditorium buildings are right at the back of the campus, and behind that is a little alley where students go to make out or smoke weed or whatever, which also was the meetup point Bryce had told me to go to.
I walked to the music building and then went around to the back into the little alley. I saw a couple making out and someone smoking weed, and after scooting past with a little 'excuse me', I finally saw Bryce. He was on the other end of the alley, leaning against the wall, looking around for me. His shirt was tight and you could see his muscles protrude against the sheer material. God he's so hot. But finally he saw me and waved me over.
"Good, you're here," he said nervously.
"Yeah, hi. Why did you want to talk?" I asked, slightly concerned.
"Um...okay. I don't really know how to say this."
He looked at me. I nodded, urging him to keep going.
He took a deep breath. "Isaac, I've been having a lot of fun with you lately. The, um, hookups," he said, lowering his voice on the last word, "have been really great. But I think that maybe I want to, um..." he trailed off.
"...yes?" I said encouragingly. This could go one of two ways: break up or date. I hoped for the latter.
"I think that I want to go on a real date with you. Look, I really like you. Honestly I just wanted to get my rocks off at first but, after yesterday, I've been feeling confused about my own feelings. Lately I've been thinking about guys a lot like that too, and I kind of want to explore that. So I want to get to know you better and maybe go on a date." he said quickly, blushing.
I giggled. "You're cute when you're nervous."
"Is that a yes?"
"Yes, Bryce. I would love to go on a date with you," I said, then whispered, "Especially after what we did yesterday. You were right, I almost couldn't sit down last night."
"Dude!" he silent-screamed and looked around nervously, "We're in public!"
"Whatever. So, Friday night?"
"Uh, sure! Pick you up at eight?"
"Okay! Bye Bryce!"
I walked away, not betraying my real feelings. I looked cool and confident, two words that would never describe me, but instead I was freaking out inside. A date! Finally! I thought this could never happen to me! I felt like a hundred confetti cannons were going off inside me! Or maybe that was the Starbucks I had this morning. Anyway, I was excited. It was Wednesday, which meant Friday was only two days away. I immediately began planning everything from what I was going to wear to what I was going to say. I couldn't wait!
Turns out, those two days could not go by slower. The classes dragged on, hour after hour, feeling like years had passed, then glancing at the clock and realizing there was still half an hour left of class. I sat anxiously in my seat until Friday, and when the final bell rang announcing the weekend I got up so fast I practically teleported to my locker, put my stuff in my bag and ran home. I hadn't told my parents I had a date (who does that?), so instead I told them I was gonna go out with some friends. They agreed to let me go on the condition that I would be home by eleven o'clock.
I got home and went straight to my room, trying to pick an appropriate outfit. To be fair, Bryce hadn't told me where he was going to take me, a movie, a restaurant, or anything else. I decided to go on the safe side. A slightly formal yet still fun button-up paired with some black jeans. Casual, but still semi-formal. I had no idea what to do with the time left, which was like three hours, so I just sat in my room for a while watching Youtube videos, anxiously glancing at the clock every now and then.
Finally, eight o'clock rolled around, and he was right on time. Just as I'd realized what time it was I got a text from him saying he was outside. I raced to the window and there he was, standing outside his car across the street from my house. Thankfully he hadn't worn anything super formal either, just some slacks and a (delightfully tight) button-up. I ran excitedly down the stairs and to the front door, but just before I opened the door I calmed myself down, trying to look cool and collected, something I definitely was not in that moment. He saw me walk outside and quickly skipped over to the passenger side, opening the door for me to get in.
"Hi Bryce," I greeted him nervously as I sat down in his car.
"Hey Isaac," he said as he started the car, sounding even more nervous than I was.
"So, where are you taking me?" I asked, because I really had no idea.
"You'll see," he said with a tad of smugness in his voice, "it's a surprise."
We drove off, heading through the suburbs and eventually getting to the city. Eventually, we slowed down and pulled into the parking lot of a familiar (and familial) restaurant.
"Olive Garden?" I asked, slightly incredulous.