Chapter 13: The First Date

There was something I found interesting about Hayden. She shared similar qualities with Riley, yet she was also all her own person at the same time. They both had a certain attitude about them in the way they carried themselves. They were both outgoing and funny, although I felt that Riley probably had a kinder heart. Hayden had said some pretty terrible things about me in the past, which made me so surprised that she would have agreed to going out with me for a night. Hayden had dark eyes, which were captivating and seemed to be full of words without anything being spoken. Her face seemed more serious, with her defined jaw clenching her teeth together. Her hair was also dark brown and straight as a pin, which barely brushed upon her shoulder. So in another sense she was the complete opposite of Riley.

We drove for a few minutes of awkward silence. I had no idea what to say, but luckily Hayden spoke first. “You look… really nice tonight, Marcel.”

I slipped a gentle smile while still looking forward at the road. “I thought I’d uh- try something new.”

She nodded her head, “Well. It’s nice.” I really hoped this wasn’t how the entire evening was going to go. Some brief conversations about my new appearance weren’t exactly the sort of flow I was at least somewhat hoping for.

Feeling somewhat panicked about what to ask next I just said the first thing that came to mind. “Ugh- Thanks for coming out tonight with me Hayden. I’m not really sure if you wanted to or not.”

I looked over to her briefly, not sure what her reaction would be. Her face looked shocked as she probably didn’t expect me to be so blunt about the situation. “Oh… umm… I know that Riley set this all up for us, but you know I wouldn’t have agreed if I didn’t want to come at all, Marcel.”

Feeling slightly better I smiled at her and stated, “Well thanks, Hayden.”

We continued to drive as Hayden began to take in our surroundings as we got further away from the suburbs and our houses. It didn’t take long for our car to be surrounded in complete darkness on our drive into the city, as they sun was set completely behind the hills of the valley.

I turned the radio up a bit to fill any awkward silence that might come from the rest of the drive to the restaurant.

Surprisingly Hayden spoke again. “So…” she began. I glanced quickly in her direction. I noticed her cheeks were twisted into a smile. Her head rested in her palm as she placed her elbow on top of the console while looking over at me. “Where are we going?”

I laughed a little as it was her idea for the surprise. “You told me you wanted a surprise.”

She released a short giggle from her lips. “I suppose I did. A woman is allowed to change her mind though, right?”

I nodded my head, keeping my eyes on the road this time. “Well, yes… but I don’t think you’ll know the place. It’s not very well known.”

She almost sounded relieved by those words. “You’ve been there before then?”

“I have.” The city lights could be seen in the distance, and I even though the date had kind of already began, a new set of nerves flushed through me as we would soon be in public. I just wanted to do all the right things and get through the night without making a fool out of myself.

“Well I’m excited then.” I saw a cheeky smile escape her lips out of the corner of my eye and her hand slip from her hand from underneath her chin. I focused my eyes back on the road right as her hand gently brushed against my shoulder and then was placed back in her own lap. My body was briefly flooded with an odd sensation before quickly returning to normal. It was an odd feeling that I couldn’t really explain.

I smiled too. “Well that makes me feel better then.”

We were soon in the middle of the bright city. I turned a few corners, and I could tell Hayden was already lost. She looked around with furrowed eyebrows, “You know where we are?”

I nodded slightly with a closed mouth smile. “Indeed. I do.”

I turned another corner and we were on the street where Harley’s was located. She giggled a little to herself while I focused on finding a parking spot. “You’re cute when you smile like that.” She stated happily.

I’m sure my face grew a little pink, but I tried to play it cool. I kept my focus on slowly pulling inbetween cars for parking and asked, “Like what?”

“Your dimples.” She beamed while poking lightheartedly at my cheek, sending yet another odd sensation through my body. Not even Riley had ever really acted playfully like that towards me.

I shifted the car into park and turned the key off in the ignition. Only slightly nervously I pushed my glasses further onto my face before attempting to confidently state, “I like your smile too.” I proceeded to give her one last smile while I pushed my door open. I quickly walked around to her side of the car and saw her watching me as I opened her door for her as well. “Are you ready for some delicious food, Hayden?”

Her face was in awe. It was like she never had her door opened for her before. I thought maybe she hadn’t. Chivalry is an art form that is slowly dying. I was going to make it my quest to act like the perfect gentlemen through this whole date. I figured every woman deserved to go on a date where the guy treats her like a queen, even if it is only for a night. She quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car. “Well aren’t you… sweet.”

I didn’t say anything. I held out my arm which she looped her own arm with as I shut the car door and began walking us towards the restaurant. I pulled the front door of Harley’s open for her to lead us in. It was fairly busy, because it was a Saturday after all, luckily I had thought through part of this date.

A tall blonde in glasses stood in front of a wooden podium. “Hello. Welcome to Harley’s. Do you have a reservation with us tonight?”

I spoke coolly, “Yes. I should be under Sty.” I couldn’t help but remember the last time I was here with Riley where we had just sort of stumbled upon the place. As the blonde lady, whose name tag read, Lucy, looked up the reservation I shook my head of thoughts of Riley. I really wanted this night to be about a nice first date with Hayden.

Being caught up in my thoughts I had neglected to notice Hayden was still looking at me with sparkle in her big brown eyes. When my eyes briefly locked with hers she stated, “Seems like you’ve planned nicely, Marcel.”

I surprised myself by sending a confident wink her direction before looking back at the hostess who was holding a couple of menus and waiting for me to return my attention before she led us to a table. “Right this way.” She said kindly.

Hayden dropped her arm from mine as we weaved through dimmed room with low candles burning on each table. We finally arrived at a back booth, which was a bit secluded from the rest of the room. It was quaint and romantic, maybe not quite the setting for this particular date, but it would be nice none the less.

I allowed Hayden to choose the side she wanted as I placed myself opposite her. Our waiter soon arrived and he took our drink orders before taking off to give us time with the menus. Hayden and I were both focused on our menus when she suddenly dropped hers to the table surface. “Thanks for this Marcel. I’ve never been taken out like this.”

I was a bit taken back like this. I thought this was a regular thing for people our age to do. A bit innocently I asked, “It’s your first date too?”

She giggled happily while shaking her head. “Well… no. I’ve been on dates. Just never any this well planned out. Or with any thought put into it at all really.”

I furrowed my eyebrows beneath my glasses momentarily. “Well, I don’t think that’s right. I’m glad I can do something nice for you since you’re doing this for me.

Hayden quickly bit her lip before picking her menu back up, hiding her face. I copied her action and shook my head and giggled quietly to myself at how pleasant this was all turning out.

The waiter soon arrived again, passing us our beverages. He proceeded to take our orders. Hayden had frozen a bit before placing her order. I could tell she was a bit worried about the price, to which I just waved my hand, encouraging her to get whatever she wanted. We both ended up getting the prime rib special of the night. When the waiter took off with the menus, promising our meal to be out soon enough, we were left alone to chat.

We stared quietly for a moment. I could tell she was studying me with her eyes when she suddenly came to a sort of question to ask. “I know I mentioned it earlier, but why do you look different tonight, Marcel?”

I looked down at my new clothes which Riley had hand chosen for the night. Then I thought about how different my hair must have looked as well. “I dunno. I just wanted to…. Ah-impress you I suppose.”

A nice smile spread across her face. “Well it worked. I can barely tell you’re even you!”

I shook out my soft curls slightly. “Maybe that’s the point.”

Her hand reached across the table and her fingers quickly brushed through my bangs of curls. “I didn’t even know you had curly hair.”

After she returned her hand to her side of the table I mechanically swept my hair back over to the side. “I guess you wouldn’t would you?” We both laughed for a bit. “It gets kind of crazy sometimes.”

“I like it.” She beamed.

Our eyes locked, not for the first time of the evening, and were quickly broken by each of us looking away embarrassingly.

After only a few seconds Hayden stated, “I guess we don’t really know much about each other, do we?”

“That can always be changed.” I smiled at her. “What’s your favorite color?”

She giggled playfully before stating, “Turquoise! What’s yours?”

“Green… See I feel like I know you already!” I exclaimed.

We both laughed before Hayden said, “Our favorite colors look good together!”

“Wow! We are meant to be on this date!” We continued to giggle.

We started receiving odd looks from the people at tables around us, so we brought our voices down a little, trying to keep our composure.

Hayden took a sip of her drink and then looked at me a bit more seriously. “So Marcel, you should tell me something about yourself that not many other people know?”
I nodded my head pondering what I should say. I didn’t want to seem shy and back away from the question, but I tried to think of something I did that wouldn’t be so obvious to her. I could only think of one thing. I decided to just let it out, “Well, I like to-uh…sing.”

Her brown eyes widened in disbelief. “You sing!?” A few more glares were received making her cover her mouth and shrug her shoulders in embarrassment. “I mean… I never would have guessed that? Are you any good?”

I curled my lips up thinking about what this was all for. The date. The new look. “Maybe.” I stated.

She shook her head slightly. “Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to offend you by asking that! I just never knew that about you before. Surely Riley would have told me…or does she not know?”

“Erm… she knows. I guess I just don’t like to tell people really. Not sure what’d they think of me.”

“Well I can keep a secret too if that’s what you want.” She smiled. “I’d love to hear you sometime if that’s okay?”

My twisted lips turned back into a smile. “Sure. I’d love to get another opinion befo-“ I cut myself off hoping I didn’t say too much.

“Before? Before what?” She questioned.

“Oh, nothing sorry.” I was glad she didn’t press me further on my slip up about the audition. She was distracted by the waiter arriving with our food.

Everything looked and tasted just as delicious as I remembered the last time I was at Harley’s. I could tell Hayden had never really been to a place like this before because she was struggling to cut into her prime rib politely. A glimpse of Riley’s gracefulness flashed through my head. It didn’t bother me, however. I found it endearing that I could be the first to bring Hayden to her first fancier restaurant. It was funny how she could be so different from Riley, a girl I’ve loved for so long, yet I could find this other girl who is the complete opposite quite lovely as well with knowing her hardly at all.

I passed her a roll and we shared different side dishes off each other’s plates. We chatted happily about school and what we planned on doing after we finished soon. I was intrigued to hear that she planned into going into business as well. I also told her I was the valedictorian to which she wasn’t exactly surprised, but act so all the same.

We had both cleaned off our plates of wonderful food. We both leaned back a bit in our seats, seemingly full. Hayden sat up a bit more after a few moments of silence. “That was amazing!”

“Quite good. I agree!”

We were interrupted once again by our waiter who collected our empty dishes. Once he rid himself of the plates he returned with his notepad in hand. “Can I get you lovely couple any dessert?”

Hayden looked a bit awkwardly to me before looking back to the man. “Erm.. no thank you?”

He nodded his head before I could cut in, “Actually could you get us a big slice of that chocolate cake we saw when we walked in?” I smiled and winked at Hayden who was sitting with her mouth slightly ajar.

Our waiter scribbled something down on his notepad and stated, “Yes. I’ll get that for you straight away.”

He walked away with haste as Hayden raised her eyebrow. “How’d you know chocolate cake was my favorite?”

I looked at the table before meeting her gaze once again. “Well. I saw you look at it briefly when we were walking through, so I just thought I’d order for you.”

Hayden sat there in silence with her head slightly cocked to the side when the waiter returned placing the cake and the receipt on the table. I left the check lay and handed Hayden a fork.

“Thanks.” She smiled as she immediately dug in. I laughed to myself at how impulsive she was. Covering her mouth as she spoke she said, “What?”

“Nothing.” I stated amused.

“Aren’t you going to have any? Can you reach? Do you—want to come sit over by me?”

My lips curled upwards and I slid my glasses back further onto my face. “Sure!”

I got up from my seat and slid in the booth next to Hayden. Feeling a bit confident I threw one arm on the top of the seat around her, and dipped my fork into the cake. She smiled happily at me and took another bite of the delightful and fluffy cake.

We finished the cake and cleaned our faces with napkins sitting on the table. I picked up the holder and read the check. “How much is it?” Hayden asked concerned. “Do you want me to pay some?”

I sat up higher in my seat. “You have no reason to know how much, and of course not!”

She didn’t say anything, but instead just smiled down at the table and tucked her brunette hair behind her ear.

I paid the bill, making sure to leave a healthy tip on our way out. Without me even offering, Hayden looped her arm with mine as we walked back to the car. I opened the door allowing her to climb back in. I got in myself, turned the car on, and pulled away from the curb. The theater wasn’t too far from the restaurant so it was going to be a fairly short drive.

“What would you like to see Hayden?” I asked

“Hmmm.” She pondered. “Will you let us see anything?” She playfully asked.

“Whatever you want.” I stated keeping focused on the road.

“Really… what about… About Time?”
“I’d love to see that with you.” I stated quickly flashing a smile in her direction.

“There are those dimples again.” She poked happily at my face.

I shook my head and giggled at her excitement over probably the smallest thing I could have done for her.

We soon arrived at the theater and entered through the glass double doors. It was extremely busy. It would seem every theater would be practically full with people. We walked up to the front desk and I stated that we would be seeing “About Time.” Hayden attempted to pay, but I told her that she didn’t have a need to pay for a thing that night. I still wanted to be the perfect gentlemen for her.

We proceeded to walk up towards the snack counter laughing about something random when I caught sight of a blonde haired girl I would notice anywhere. My heart, which had been beating happily enjoying itself, froze still. I did a double take a saw a gorgeous Riley with popcorn in hand standing next to none other than Kyle.

Our eyes locked and a big smile spread across her face. She practically shouted from across the cinema lobby while waving excitedly. “Marcel! Hayden! Hey!”

Kyle gave her a strange look before looking up and seeing me and Hayden standing across from them. I eyed Hayden carefully. She was smiling. “Let’s go say hi.”

I nodded and we began to meet Riley and Kyle in the middle of the room. My heart felt like it started again, but this time was pounding painfully and hard against my chest.

When we finally all stood in front of each other Kyle was looking at me questioningly, most likely because of my different appearance. I brushed him off, but I was hardly able to ask, “What brings you guys here?”

Riley smiled up at Kyle and back to Hayden and me. “We just thought we’d see a movie.”

“Which?” Hayden asked pressingly.

“Ahh… some superhero movie Kyle wanted to see. What about you guys?” Kyle gave Riley a frown after this statement, but placed his arm around her waist, clearly marking his territory. My heart began to beat harder.

However, I suddenly felt a strange comfort when I felt Hayden slip her hand in mine and lace our fingers together. She confidently stated, “We are going to About Time.”

My comfort was short lived as I saw the look about Riley’s face as she looked at us. Her blue eyes wandered to Hayden and my laced hands before quickly shooting back up to meet my gaze. “Oh. How lovely. I-uh wanted to see that, but Kyle chose this time.”

“Sure did babe!” Kyle stated hardly paying attention to the conversation. I wanted to roll my eyes and tell him how ungrateful he is to have Riley, but I held my composure.

Riley looked up to Kyle and back to me with wide and definitely hurt eyes. “Well our movies should be starting soon. See you guys later. Have…fun”

“See you.” I stated with a smile trying to make her feel better.

Riley nodded with a slight frown and began to lead Kyle towards their theater.

I so badly wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t know how. However, another look at Hayden and I realized who I was here with…a girl who actually wanted to come to the theater with me, and not someone else. I needed to keep in mind the lovely evening I had been having before running into Riley.

I shook of the awkward encounter and tried to focus on being a perfect gentleman again for Hayden. As we walked towards the snack counter once again, Hayden kept her hand in mine. It was warm and was almost too small to fit in mine, but it was still different and nice, however.

I bought us some popcorn and a soda to share. It was Hayden’s idea of saving me some money. We headed into our theater, which was already quite full. We found a couple of open seats towards the middle and got settled in. We ate popcorn and I tried my best to act as normal as I had in the restaurant before seeing Riley and Kyle. Riley’s face when she walked away kept flashing in my head. I slightly shook my head to the side to try and rid myself of feeling terrible as the opening credits of our movie began to play. Hayden caught my movement of my head, which made her giggle. At least she didn’t feel weird after that whole situation. With that in mind I settled a bit more into my seat, getting relaxed and focused on the movie.

The popcorn originally rested on my lap, and it didn’t take long for it to begin to run low. I placed it on the ground to save some more for later. Hayden and I both reached for the soda placed in the holder between us, and our hands touched slightly. I pulled away waving for her to take it. We both awkwardly giggled and looked back at the screen, trying not to show our slightly red faces.

As the sweet movie progressed, I noticed Hayden gradually scooting closer to me in her seat. It was a not so subtle hint that I was surprisingly able to pick up on. I lifted my arm and placed it around her shoulder. I was surprised at how smooth I was able to act even though my insides felt like they were going to beat out of my chest. Hayden snuggled into my arm and smiled gleefully at me, so I knew I had done the proper thing.

The movie passed quickly, and before it was over before I knew it. Everyone in the crowd stood up and I grabbed our trash to throw out. As we exited into the bright lobby Hayden beamed, “That movie was adorable! Thanks for letting me choose, Marcel!” She quickly wrapped both arms around my side as we walked. She dropped her hand as we reached the trash and I threw away the remains of our food.

“Anytime, Hayden. I actually enjoyed that movie.”

“Really?” She raised her eyebrows jokingly.

“Really.” I stated calmly.

We exited the theater and returned to the car, I did only a quick scan for Riley. I didn’t see her, so I figured their movie ended early or was still playing. During the ride back home, we chatted about the movie and other various topics. It ended up being a very lovely evening, with only a few setbacks.

When I pulled in front of Hayden’s house, she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to me. “Walk me to the door?”

“Sure.”

I left the car running as I got out of the car and followed her back up her cement path towards her front door. The front light was left on, but all the house lights were off. It was late, so I assumed everyone in her family was already asleep. When we stepped up onto the porch, Hayden turned to face me and my heart skipped in its chest and my hands instantly grew clammy, just from the way she was looking at me. Her brown eyes somehow sparkled in the moonlight and her smirk struck some kind of a chord inside me.

She bit at her lip for a split second before stating, “I really enjoyed myself, Marcel. Thanks so much for tonight. You were absolutely perfect.”

I could feel my cheeks burn a few shades redder. I brushed my hand through my curly hair, swiping it to the side. It felt odd because I never usually nervously played at my hair, but instead pushed my glasses up my face. “I really enjoyed tonight too. Thanks for making my first date one to remember.”

“You’re welcome, Marcel.” She crossed her arms and looked down at the ground. “…but you know it’s not quite over yet.”

I brushed my hand through my hair for the second time. “Erm…what do you mean? Sorry…”

I noticed her face blush as her brunette hair fell somewhat over her face as she continued to look at the ground. “Well…” she looked up with her eyes locked on mine. She tucked her hair behind her hair and took a step towards me, causing me to automatically take a step back. She reacted by wrapping her gentle arms around my waist, which I let her do. “It’s typical. Umm… Well. I always kiss on a first date.”

“Oh!” My eyebrows rose. However, she didn’t give me much other time to react. Her eyelids closed over her dark eyes and she began leaning in towards me on her tiptoes. It was happening quickly, but I don’t know how to explain how in that moment I really wanted to kiss her as well. I closed my eyes and leaned in the rest of the way, briefly meeting my lips to her soft lips. They only touched and brushed together for a few seconds before we parted. It was sweet, tender, and everything I imagined a first kiss to be.

She let her arms drop to her side and walked to the door. She turned the knob and cracked it slightly before turning to face me again, “Goodnight, Marcel.”

“Night Hayden.”

With that she stepped inside and slowly closed the door behind her. I walked back to my car with so many thoughts back in my head. I felt like I was on a cloud driving back to mine. Before I knew it, I was parked in my driveway without knowing how I had really gotten there.

I entered my house and climbed the steps to my room. I found some sweatpants in my drawer and slipped off the clothes from my body and stepped into my comfortable sleepwear. I plucked my glasses from my face and placed them on my bedside table before sliding into the warm sheets of my bed. I lied on my back letting out a large sigh as I replayed the wonderful and smooth evening in my head. I thought about the night from the beginning. It felt funny to think about how nervous I had been to have a date with Hayden. She was so much different than I expected. I thought about the car ride, the dinner, and then the movies. The movies… My heart sank thinking about Riley again. She looked so upset and broken. I suddenly felt guilty, yet also… conflicted.

Notes

Phew... This chapter... I hope you guys like the new update! It took me forever to get ready, I am so sorry for the probably grammar errors in this. I really wanted to get it updated tonight for you guys. Thanks again for being so patient! You guys are such lovelies! :)

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P.S - you guys are about 2 weeks away from more continuous updates because that's when I go on break! Bear with me here! :)