Chapter 3
I run some gel through my hair, trying to tame it into some kind of decent hairstyle. Though brown now, it’ll lighten up after I start working this summer. It always does, turning as light as the sun can make it before I go back to school and spend the winter indoors. I could probably use a haircut, but there’s no time before my date tonight. Surveying myself in the mirror, I figure I look good enough for my date to like me.
She’s only seen me in pictures, and I’ve been told I look better in real life than on camera. I am not photogenic at all. Pictures of me always end up looking like I feel sick or nauseous, or like maybe I’m trying too hard tonotlook like those things.
Until now, Jenny and I have only been chatting through the app and then texting as of last night. I pick up my phone and call her for the first time.
She doesn’t answer, and I frown, wondering if she maybe forgot about tonight. A few seconds later, I get a text.
Jenny:What’s up?
Josh:I just called you, did it not go through?
Jenny:It went through but ew, I’m not talking on the phone.
Uh,okay.
I give myself one last look in the mirror and then text her.
Josh:Are we still on for our date tonight?
Jenny:We better be. I’m all dressed for it.
Josh:Where should I pick you up?
Jenny:Meet me at the front of the apartments off Lakeside Dr
Josh:see you in fifteen minutes
A girl who doesn’t want to talk on the phone is kind of weird. Maybe it’s even a red flag. I can text just like everyone else, but I’d prefer to talk on the phone, especially in situations that can easily be solved with real life talking. This whole ten minute text exchange was really a waste of time. Anyhow, I shrug off any weird vibes still floating in my mind, and I head out to my truck. It’s an older model Ford, the black paint all scratched up in places, but it’s mine and I love it.
On the drive over to pick her up, I’m thinking about the few things I do know about my date tonight. Though her profile was vague, when we chatted online, I found out she likes dancing and going to the beach. She’s allergic to grass, which is kind of unique. That’s also why she loves the beach so much because there is no grass on the shore.
These aren’t enough facts to know if I’ll have a love connection with Jenny, but it’s not like facts alone can ever tell something like that. We would need a spark, the stupid magical thing that happens when two people meet each other and know they’ll work out as a romantic couple.
I absolutely cannot say these things in front of the guys, because they’d laugh their asses off at me. But the “spark” thing is real, and I had it with Elise, and if I don’t have it with Jenny, then I’ll be back to square one in my dating life.
Jenny is standing by a rosebush in the circle driveway of the apartments. They’re pretty nice, a newer building near the college, and I wonder if she lives on her own or with roommates, because most of the population in this part of town are college students, not parents.
She gives me a little wave, smiling wide as I pull my truck to a stop and climb out. Jenny looks just like her picture online, only she’s a little thinner than I realized. And, not to sound like a dick, but I kind of like my girls to have more meat on them. But my mother has raised me to give everyone a chance and to see what’s inside a person, so I won’t let a little thing like that stop me from giving this my all.
“Hi, I’m Josh,” I say, walking up to her with my arm out for a hug, or maybe a handshake if she chooses to go that way.
She hugs me back quickly, then tucks her hair behind her ears. “I know who you are, stupid. We’ve been talking for a week.”
“Right, okay,” I say, shoving my hands in my back pocket. This isn’t going very well, but I guess she’s joking, or maybe she thinks she’s funny?
“Ready to go?” I ask, pulling open the passenger door for her.
“Yes, but I’m not a helpless invalid, Josh.” She narrows her eyes at me, a thick layer of black eyeliner so sharp it makes her look like a witch. “I can open my own doors, thanks.”
With that, she grabs the inside handle and yanks the door closed. I take a deep breath. Shit. Are guys not supposed to open doors now? I thought that was like, Gentleman 101 stuff. I walk around the truck, run a hand through my hair and realize too late that there’s gel in it.Okay, I tell myself.Don’t be a gentleman because she doesn’t like that.Don’t state the obvious because she also doesn’t like that.
I climb into my truck and snap my seatbelt into place. “So there’s this great Italian place down near the water,” I say, shifting into drive. “I thought we could go there?”
She leans forward and messes with my radio, changing stations and frowning at every one. “I guess, if you want.”
“If you’re not feeling that, we could go somewhere else,” I say, pulling onto the highway. “I’m open to anything. We could do fancy food or Taco Bell, I don’t care.” I grin, but she just curls her lip at me in reply.
