13
The car ride with Scott resurfaces in my mind, and this time, instead of anger, I’m overcome by a bout of nerves and butterflies.
He asked me to be his girlfriend!
Wait a second… that means I have a boyfriend now. My first boyfriend.
What is a girlfriend even supposed to do!?
Do I text him more often? I don’t want to seem too clingy. And how often are we supposed to get together? Am I supposed to ask him on dates now too? Or do I still leave that to him? Is it okay to tell people? Or are we not supposed to talk about it yet?
In the midst of me absolutely losing my mind, the treadmill beeps and begins to slow. I’ve hit the fifty-five minute mark. The speed continues to decrease over the course of five minutes until I’m hardly even walking. Once it stops, I chug my water, then glance at the glowing green digits on the screen. About six miles in sixty minutes.
I smile, satisfied. Despite having missed a few days last week, I’m still relatively in shape. I may not have much going for me, but at least I could outrun the masses in a zombie apocalypse.
I lift my phone and snap a picture of the time to send to Jeremiah. He runs too, and for the last year we’ve had a competition to see who—
Oh.
I stop before sending the text, staring at our most recent messages for a while. An unpleasant feeling of grief builds in my chest, and I frown as I shove my phone in my gym bag. I have to be more guarded around Jeremiah, more careful of how I interact with him from now on.
It’s fine. I’m fine. It’s just going to take some getting used to.
I head for the exit, waving to the friendly employees on my way out, then hop in my car and put on the latest Jonas Brothers’ album at a volume I’m sure isn’t legal. A chilly autumn breeze blows through the rolled down windows of my car, cooling me off and drying the salty sweat sticking all over me. Seriously, I sweat like a popsicle in the oven. I’m disgusting.
After several minutes spent circling my apartment complex looking for a parking spot, I finally find one my car can just squeeze into, then make the trek home. The smell of fresh coffee greets me as I open the door to the apartment.
“Hey, Stephanie.”
“Hey, Luce. Want coffee?”
I give her a tired smile, dropping my gym bag just inside. “Thank you, but I need to shower and figure out dinner first.” I glance around. “Jessie home?”
“No, I think she’s out with her friends again.” Stephanie fills her mug, then puts the coffee pot back. “You got home late today.”
“Yeah, I had a late meeting, then I went to the gym to let off some steam.”
“Something happen?”
I grimace. “Mmm… sort of.”
“Need to talk?”
“I’m okay. Thanks, though.”
“Alright. I’ll put your coffee in a thermos for you.”
“You’re the best.” I turn to head to my room, then stop. “Want a hug?”
Stephanie wrinkles her nose. “No thank you, sweaty Betty. You’re gross.”
I grin, then pull out my phone to shoot Scott a text and let him know I made it home safe. His response comes quick.
“Did you eat dinner yet?”
“Not yet. Why?”
I wait for a few moments, watching my phone for a response. When nothing comes, I shrug and grab a change of clothes for the shower.
I emerge completely refreshed, with wet hair, my favorite oversized hoodie, baggy pajama pants, and slippers. Truly, I have reached my final form.
Stephanie is still busy in the kitchen washing dishes as I search the fridge and cupboards for something to cook.
I have this terrible habit of never going grocery shopping when I need to. I always forget, so when dinner time rolls around I end up running to the store and only picking up ingredients for a quick dinner instead, eating out (my restaurant of choice is usually Chipotle), or eating a random assortment of snacks. However, this last option has recently become socially acceptable under the term “girl dinner.”
Stephanie glances over at me. “Out of groceries again?”
“Yeah. Guess I’ll DoorDash something.”
Just as I say it, someone knocks at the door. Stephanie and I share a curious look, then she dries her hands and goes to see who’s there. I consider eating my fill of trail mix for dinner rather than pay the extra arm and leg it costs for DoorDash delivery.
“Hey, Stephanie. Is Lucy here?”
My eyes widen at Scott’s voice. What is he doing here?
“Yeah, she’s in the kitchen.” Stephanie turns around. “Lucy, it’s for you.”
I shoot Stephanie an incredulous look. She furrows her brows, and I gesture down to my horrendous outfit. She takes it in, then rolls her eyes.
“You look fine. Come say hi to your boyfriend.”
I look like a hobo!
Scott leans to the side to peek in, smiling brightly when he sees me. I offer a nervous smile in return and trade places with Stephanie at the door.
“Hi,” I say shyly.
“Hey,” his smile widens, and his eyes seem to sparkle. “I hope it’s okay I stopped by.”
“Um…” I try to think of something clever to say, but give up, sighing. “I’m just going to state the obvious, here: I look like a hobo right now, and as a girlfriend, I really feel like I’m not making the best impression. We’re officially together for one day and you’ve already seen me go out to lunch with another guy, cry multiple times, and now I look like I got into a fight with a pile of laundry and lost.” I stop, my heart dropping as I realize another unfortunate detail. I put a hand on the side of my head, confirming my hair is not dry. The final nail in my coffin of mortification locks in. “Oh my gosh, my hair is wet, too.”
Scott laughs softly, then shakes his head. “You look really cute.”
“There’s no way you mean that,” I say, even as my cheeks heat from the compliment.
“I really do.”
My lips part slightly as I search for the right words to say, his eyes locked on mine.
How is he so perfect?
“Uh, so, I brought you these,” he says, pulling a bouquet of flowers from behind his back. I reach out and take them, a small gasp of surprise escaping me.
“You found peonies?”
“Macy helped me,” he says. “You like them?”
“Are you kidding?” I tear my eyes from the soft, pink petals and smile warmly at Scott. “I love them!”
“Great,” his smile widens, making him even more handsome, even though that seems like it should be impossible. “I also got you dinner.”
“Dinner?”
He steps to the side of the doorway, bending down to retrieve something, then presents a massive bag of Kentucky Fried Chicken to me.
My eyes widen. “You got all this for me?”
“Mhm.”
“Scott, I…” My stomach rumbles, and Scott grins as I let out a weird cough sound. “Um, thank you so much.”
“No problem. I just wanted to make your day better.”
I look up at him and let out a breath; a warm, soft feeling overflowing my insides. “It definitely worked.”
We stare at each other for a few silent moments. The almost-kiss from our movie night replays in my mind, making my cheeks heat.
“Well, I’ll let you eat your dinner then,” Scott says, tugging his coat a little tighter around himself. Even so, he makes no move to leave, and more than anything, I want him to stay.
“Wait,” I say, shifting the bag of KFC and bouquet of flowers in my arms. “If you have time, you can stay. You know, to hang out. If you want,” I add nervously.
Scott immediately perks up like a puppy dog, his smile so wide it almost reaches his ears.
“You’re sure?”
“Mhm,” I nod, smiling back. “Besides, look at all this KFC. You seriously think I can eat this all by myself?”
“I did get you the sixteen piece family meal.” As he steps inside, he takes the bag and the bouquet from my arms and carries them to the table.
“Sixteen?” I give him a bewildered look. “How much do you think I eat?”
He laughs. “No, I didn’t think you’d eat it all now. Although, that would be awesome,” he grins. “I just thought it’d be helpful if you had leftovers. You’re really busy, so I figured it would be nice if you didn’t have to cook dinner the next couple nights. Or, you know, you could pack the leftovers for lunch or something.”
I blink up at him as he unpacks the food and arranges it on the table. Everything he says consistently surprises me. How is it possible for one person to be so thoughtful?
After emptying the bag, he looks over at me and freezes, noticing me staring.
“What? Everything okay?”
Without thinking, I stand up on my tiptoes and kiss him lightly on the cheek.
“Thank you. For being so sweet and thoughtful.”
Scott stares back at me in surprise. My heart feels like it’s going to beat out of my chest, and my whole body feels warm.
I can’t believe I just did that.
“It’s easy to be that way for you.”
My lips part in surprise as Scott cups the side of my face in his hand. He leans forward, closing the distance between us. He’s so close I can feel his breath, but I want him even closer. My eyelids fall as a weighty feeling drops over me, and I tilt my head upward.
Just as his lips brush mine, Jessie bursts through the front door.
Once again, I jump back, cursing her terrible timing.
Scott leans close to my ear, his breath tickling me as he whispers. “At least she didn’t injure anyone this time.”
I snort and turn my head to smile up at him. His eyes flick back to my lips for a few seconds before Jessie commands our attention.
“Hi Lucy! Hi Scott!” She waves and practically hops over. She glances at the food and the flowers, and her eyes shine. “Are you guys having a date?”
“We’re just hanging out,” I say. “Scott surprised me with all this because he’s basically an angel.”
Jessie’s voice comes out as a high pitched squeak. “Oh my gosh, that’s so cute!”
Scott blinks a couple times. I don’t think he knows how to handle Jessie.
“I was just gonna grab something to eat, and I was gonna ask if you wanted me to pick something up for you too, but I guess you don’t need anything,” Jessie says, eyeing the sides of mashed potatoes. She’s always offering to pick up food for me when she goes out to eat. I really should return the favor sometime.
“Do you want some KFC?” I ask, pointing at the massive bucket of chicken.
“Really? I don’t want to ruin your guys’ dinner or anything.”
I shake my head. “You’re not ruining anything. Do you see how much food there is? Apparently, Scott thinks I eat like a pig.”
“Well,” Jessie says, already grabbing a paper plate, “you kind of do, though.”
“Hey!”
“What? You do! Remember that one time, like, a week after I moved in, I ordered a pizza, and you ate—”
“Okay! I get it! No need for story time.”
I shoot her a look, but she’s so focused on the food that she doesn’t even notice. Scott snickers beside me. I elbow him in the ribs as my lips quirk into a smile.
As we’re filling our plates, I notice a drawstring bag sitting behind all the food.
“What’s that?”
Scott looks at what I’m pointing at, a sheepish look on his face. “Well, I didn’t know if you’d want me to stay or not, but in case you did, I brought Mario Kart.”
Jessie, who’s now sitting on the couch digging into her food, lights up like a Christmas tree. “Mario Kart? Oh my gosh, can we play? I used to play with my brothers all the time!”
Scott looks to me for an answer. “We don’t have to if it doesn’t sound fun. I’m just happy to be here with you.”
There go those butterflies again.
“That sounds like a blast,” I smile.
He grins. “Cool. I’ll set up my Switch.”
Scott quickly gets everything plugged into the TV while Jessie and I finish our KFC. He brings over several controllers, including the regular joy cons for the Switch, and even some GameCube controllers.
“You get first pick,” he says, holding them out. “Which one do you want?”
“I’ll take one of the GameCube controllers,” I say.
“A woman of culture, I see,” he grins, then lets Jessie pick next.
He chooses the other GameCube controller and settles next to me on the couch, sitting close.
“I’m gonna win,” Jessie declares.
“Really?” Scott’s eyebrows rise. “Is that a challenge?”
“Duh.”
I blink at Jessie, surprised to see she has a competitive side. Scott grins and leans forward, elbows resting on his knees. “You’re on.”
Once we reach the character select screen, I go with my favorite option: Larry. Partially because I love the Koopalings, but mostly because I think it’s hilarious that with all the wacky names these characters have, one of them is just named Larry.
“Larry, huh?” Scott asks.
“Mhm. I feel he’s an accurate representation of my inner state.”
Scott laughs, and I look at his choice.
“Shy guy. You know, for some reason, that weirdly makes sense for you,” I say, scrutinizing him.
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment,” he says.
“I honestly don’t either.”
Jessie frowns at us. “Will you two stop flirting and start the race?”
Scott and I share a look, holding back surprised chuckles as he picks the course. We go through three races, and Scott wins each one easily. Jessie and I don’t do so well, both of us crossing the finish line between the fifth to the seventh place each time.
“Ugh!” Jessie lets out a cry of frustration. “You suck, Scott!”
“Actually,” Scott says with an air of superiority, “you suck. That’s why you keep losing.”
I press my lips together to keep from laughing. Jessie sticks her tongue out at Scott, who turns to me.
“You suck, too,” he says.
I bristle, glaring at him, then stop to think about it for a second.
“I can’t even get mad, because you’re right,” I sigh.
He grins, then pecks me on the cheek, leaving me red as a tomato.
“Let’s go again,” Jessie grumbles, holding her controller much too tightly.
“You sure?” Scott asks in a mischievous tone. “I’d hate to embarrass you. I mean, you’re probably already pretty embarrassed, so I don’t want to make it worse.”
I snort. Scott’s playful goading is infuriating Jessie, and it’s completely hilarious to watch.
Jessie looks like she wants to murder him. “Will you just shut up and start the race?”
“What’s with all the noise?”
We all turn to see Stephanie standing just inside the room with her arms crossed.
“Sorry,” I say, holding up my controller. “We’re playing Mario Kart, and Scott’s bullying Jessie.”
“Hey, I’m not bullying her.”
“Yes you are, you jerk,” Jessie says.
Stephanie sighs. “Jessie, could you quit shouting?”
“Maybe I could if Scott would quit being so annoying,” she says, sticking her tongue out at him for the second time.
Stephanie rolls her eyes.
“Wanna play?” I ask.
“No, thanks.”
Scott issues a challenge. “What? You afraid to lose?”
Her eyebrows rise, then her lips twitch upward into a terrifying smile. She passes by the coffee table, grabbing a controller and plopping down next to Jessie. I lean over to Scott, speaking in a low tone. “You’ve really done it, now.”
“Why is she smiling like that?” He asks.
I shrug. “I have no idea, but don’t look her in the eyes. She might steal your soul.”
“I can hear you, you know,” Stephanie says.
Scott grins, then glances over at her. “You wanna pick the course?”
“Rainbow Road,” she says coolly.
Scott whistles. “You’re pretty confident, huh?”
“Yep. I doubt you are, with how much you talk. Start the race.”
A few minutes later, the race is over, and we’re all speechless.