First Date

I was surprised that I was able to sleep at all. I woke up to a noisy bedroom. Mark and Jason was in my room yelling at me to wake up. I looked at the clock and it was already 10:00 am. I put a pillow over my head and someone pulled it away from me. "Get up sleepyhead! I brought breakfast!" Mark yelled at my ear and laughed. I groaned and pulled the comforter over my head as I told them to get out.

"Come on Cassie!" Jason called out.

"Okay, okay! I'm up!" I conceded as I sat up on my bed. "Get out both of you. I'm gonna get dressed."

I was happy when they both went out the door. I laid down on my bed again but I knew I had to get up or they will be back. This was how comfortable Mark and I are now. I don't really care if he sees me in the morning with my bedhead and drool on my face.

I dragged myself to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. Then I got dressed and went down for breakfast. My mom, Jason and Mark are sitting on the table eating Taco bell. I sat in the empty seat beside Mark and he slid a plate with my crunchwrap on it. "You want me to heat it up for you?" He asked.

I saw my moms eyebrow twitch as she looked at me. "No, it's fine. It's still warm." I replied as I unwrapped it.

"So. where are you guys off to Jason?" My mom asked.

"I want to go to that new mall in Elk Grove or the outlets in Livermore."

"That's far Jase." I told him.

"Hmm. I think I want to go to the outlets too," my mom said. "Maybe I can drive you guys.

"I can drive Mrs. Jensen," offered Mark. "My mom let me borrow her car for today." He nodded towards the driveway. I looked out to see a red Explorer in the driveway.

"That would be nice! Thank you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will get ready. Thank you for the delicious breakfast Mark." She said as she rinsed her plate and coffee cup in the sink and placed them in the dishwasher. "Just put all your stuff in here and will you please run it when you guys are done Cas?"

"Okay, mom. Got it!"

"You going too?" asked Mark.

"I, uh..." I hesitated. "...I'm going to the movies with a friend." I managed to say. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks and I knew I was blushing.

"Patterson." He stated, nodding slightly, his lips drawn into a line as if stopping himself from saying anything more.

"Y..eah." I was unsure of what to say.

"Well, have fun!" He said sounding cheery. His previous grim reaction gone as if I had just imagined it.

I was glad Jason was in the table because he filled in the conversational gap. He could not stop talking about their trip. He told Mark what stores he wanted to go and it was quite funny because he said he has devised a game plan for this trip. He even has a list of his top 5 sneakers. He had been saving up for this for weeks now and my mom agreed to match his savings if he gets in the team. I also contributed to his sneaker fund.

They left a little before noon and I was left alone in the empty house. The peace and quiet did not help with my anxiety. I don't know why i'm so nervous, it's just a movie, I keep telling myself. I decided to video call Therese after lunch. She was at the mall with Brent, her flavor of the week so I told her I will just call her back later tonight. Arrgh! I wish there's someone else I can call to talk this over with!

Should I dress casually or should I get dolled up? Why am I so worried? I have never been concerned with what to wear before, not even with Jeremy. Why am I trying so hard with this guy? Why does it matter if he's gonna like the way I dress or not? By 1:30 pm I decided that I'm just gonna wear my usual jeans but I picked a dressier top with butterfly sleeves instead of my usual statement tees. Then I decided to wear some comfy flats and a tiny sling bag. I usually just bring my phone and tiny wallet in my pocket but I though I needed lipgloss, some pocket tissues, hand sanitizer and breath mints (not that I'm expecting anything but hey, anything can happen).

Raiden texted around quarter to 2 that he's on his way. He was at my front door before 2. I was surprised because he had a single purple rose in his hand and he gave it to me as soon as I opened the door.

"Oh, wow, Thanks!" I said taken by surprise. "This is pretty. Come in first. Let me put it in some water before we go." I said as I went to the kitchen and got a vase under the sink. Then I put the vase on the dining table.

"Ready?" he asked.

I nodded.

I didn't realize Rocklin was quite far. I should have looked it up first. I did not take into account the long car ride. We started with casual talk about the weather and somehow, the conversation turned into my life. He started asking about my life in New York and my family. It's weird that as I answered his questions, I felt more and more at ease with him. I learned that he's an only child and that they own one of the biggest wineries in town, which explains the car but also made me more skeptical as to why he's into me. He is turning out to be more perfect that I had imagined him to be - the prince charming every girl wants to be with, so why me?

I didn't even realize that we have reached our destination already. he turned out to be pretty easy to talk to and I found myself warming up to him. We killed time going around the mall. We went to this cute Japanese store with lots of novelty items and they had so much cute stuff in there. I gushed when I saw this whole section full of panda stuff. Raiden looked at me with an amused look on his face. I tried on these fluffy panda slippers and neck pillow, squished the cute squishy keychain and hugged the big panda bear. In the end, I just bought a cute panda pen and notebook and a pair of inflatable boxing glove for Jason and a set of cute makeup brushes for my mom. I liked how Raiden waited patiently for me as we browsed the store. "Is there anywhere you want to go?" I asked

"Not really, I just want to drop by the bookstore and check out something.

"Sure! Do you like to read?"

"Kind of. I like a variety of stuff." He said as we walked towards the bookstore.

"Who is your favorite author?" I'm suddenly curious about stuff this guy likes.

"Fredrik Backman. You know him?"

"A Man Called Ove?"

"You read it too? A new book of his came out and I want to get it. "My Grandmother something something." He said excitedly

"Asked me to Tell you She's Sorry." I finished for him.

When we got to the bookstore, the book was on display. He picked it up and read the summary. I told him I'm going to browse. "What's your favorite book?" He asked.

"The Little Prince."

He nodded but did not say anything.

I took that as a cue that I can go off on my own. I turned around when he took my hand and took the bag I was holding with the stuff I bought from the Japanese store. "I can put this in the car for you so you don't have to bring it around."

"Thank you. That would be nice."

I went off to find something and left him to browse on his own. A little over thirty minutes later, he texted to say he'll meet me by the front of the store by the cashier. It was almost time for the movie.

I was glad that the book I got him is small enough to fit in my bag. It was one of the books that really touched me and somewhat changed my perspective in life and for some reason, I want to share it with him. When I saw him, he didn't have the bag anymore. Maybe he did take the stuff to his car already as well as the book he bought.

When we got to the theater, I was surprised that he got the tickets online already so I offered to buy the popcorn but he said we'll order inside. It's my first time to be in such a theater and it is kind of amusing. There are movable tables in front of the chairs and on the tables were menus. There were buttons on each seat that you press to order your food. "Jason will love this!" I didn't realize I said it out loud until I heard Raiden said, ���We can take him next time." Riden picked "Cooties" a zombie movie. He is definitely getting points for picking stuff I like: the purple rose, the Backman book, and this movie. It seems that we have more in common than I think.

The food arrived just as the trailers ended and I found it funny because I ordered some chicken fingers and the movie started with kids getting infected by eating chicken nuggets. I giggled and Raiden looked at me questioningly. He laughed too when I pointed at my food and he got what I meant. The people around us gave us dirty looks and we tried to keep it down. Halfway through the movie, after the staff took my empty platter and I was settled in my seat, Raiden took my hand in his (thank God I had hand sanitizer and my hand is not greasy with chicken oil). It made my insides tingle like a small jolt of electricity. I looked at him and he smiled. I smiled back and enjoyed the rest of the movie.

I got home a little before 9 pm. he asked if I wanted to have dinner or coffee but I said I was still full from the movie meal. The ride home was very different from the one going there. It was more relaxed, no more awkward silences. The ice was broken I guess. We had so much stuff to talk about now, from the movie, to books and music. Before I knew it, we were pulling up in my driveway which kind of made me sad. Now I felt like I didn't want the day to end.

" I had a great time Cassie." He said as he turned off the engine. "I'd love to go out with you again." He looked straight into my eyes. OMG, what if he tries to kiss me? He leaned over and I braced myself. Then I found out that I need not worry because he just got a bag from behind my seat. It was a large gift bag. "Here, this is for you. Open it when you get inside."

I took the bag which was quite heavy. Before I could say thank you, he was out of the car. I gathered my things and before I can open the door he had already opened it for me as he extended a hand to help me out. I had some trouble getting out so he took the big gift bag from me first before helping me get out of the car. Then he walked me to the front door. The kiss I was dreading did not happen, he just held my hand and looked into my eyes and said goodnight.