The Blind Date

Now...

It's a new day and the first thing that I woke up to see was my phone screen shining bright because of the text that I just received from Luca.

Luca: Same theatre we always meet, by 12:30pm... Don't be late or we'll come and get you 💀

I texted him back so he'd know that I wasn't going to flake on them even though all I wanted was to sit at home and watch re-runs of Henry danger.

Me: I'll meet you there.

The time was exactly 10:15am when I texted him back and I start to wonder if I should fake an accident so that I wont have to meet up with them later but then that would only make them run to my aid and baby me back to health and I didn't need that, at least not right now. So the only option left is to get my depressed ass off the bed, take a shower and get ready to see my friends.

Took me 30mins of self convincing to do all that and now I'm finally up and about. I went into the bathroom and got under the shower, got out and dried myself off. I popped open a box of cereals and had a light breakfast before slipping into a red long sleeved shirt and black Jeans.

Before I stepped out from my house I took a long look at myself in the mirror, closed my eyes, took a deep breath

"Here goes nothing" I said to myself as I walked out of my house and into my car.

Apparently, I got to the plaza early cause I checked the time on my watch and it was 12:15pm. I didn't plan on being the first one here but here I am, standing like a loner looking for anywhere I can sit and just collect my thoughts.

After scoping the plaza for a little bit I found a spot by a cafe to could actually sit us all whenever the rest of the gang decide to show up. After about twenty more minutes they all walked in. Seems they had a meeting point and decided to come in together.

When we made eye contact I stood up to receive them as they all walked towards the cafe where I was sitting. "Well look who is here early, I thought you'd make up an excuse not to show up" Luca said the moment he got to where I was

"I told you he wasn't going to disappoint. Anyways how are you though?" Ariana said as she threw her arms around me giving me a hug "Feels like forever since I saw you last" She added

"I've been busy" I responded to Ariana as I broke away from her hug and looked over to Brian who had his arms open wide

"We thought you'd end up killing yourself or worse" Brian said as he grabbed me like a sack of potatoes

"Put him down before you damage what's left of him" Ariana screamed after Brian as the whole squad roared out laughing

"Aren't you going to hug me too" I heard jasmine say after I managed to escape from Brian's death grip

"I'd be crazy if I didn't" I said as I walked up to jaz and she ended up giving me a gentle but yet tight squeeze.

After everyone had hugged everyone (our little weird group hug) we all sat down at the table and talked for a while, all for the purpose of catching up and also killing time before the movie started which was another hour and half.

The conversation went on and some questions flew in (more towards me than the rest of the crew)

"How are you holding up though?" Jasmine asked me with a sad look on her face

"I'm managing" I said, giving her a reassuring smile as well

"For what it's worth though we missed you a lot" I heard Ariana say as she set her drink down on the table

"And you shouldn't hide indoors anymore" Brian said rubbing my hair down like I was a puppy

"You do realise it took me 15minutes to style my hair like this" I said as I punched Brian on the shoulder "And this whole town just reminds me of my life with her" I added as I looked around the cafe and the memories started to flood in.

Before...

I was awoken by the happy chirping birds and the blinding rays from the sun. I groaned from disappointment because I thought I'd be able to sleep in today but I guess the universe had other plans for me to spend my Saturday.

I struggled to get up from bed even though I didn't want to (I've never been a morning person). I got into the shower and I didn't plan on spending as much time as I usually do when I don't have anything to do.

I got out, dried off and slipped into a pair of black Jean and a white t-shirt. I just finished getting dressed when I heard someone knock on my door and by the way the person was banging on my door I knew exactly who it was.

I opened the door and I could see luca perched on the door frame looking at me like he was trying to seduce me.

"Why didn't you open up after the first five knocks" he asked as he slipped his hands into his blue Jean pockets "We live in the same building but we never get to see that much" he added

"Well unlike you I'm actually trying to study here" I said as I walked away from the door and sat on the chair by my bed"

"Alright Einstein" he said finally lifting his weight from my door frame and walked into the room. "Do you have any plans for later" he asked

"Yeah, I'm gonna hit the library later cause I still have a lot to cover before my exams kick off" I responded knowing what he was going to say next

I don't know what he found funny about what I said but he just ended up laughing "Listen, you can't live your whole life in front of your books. You gotta live a little" He said after he was finally able to catch his breathe.

Truth is I could do with a little Rest and Relaxation but my smarts don't come as naturally as Luca's. Me and him go way back and he's more or less like family to me. We grew up together and when my parents started to have issues with their marriage, Luca's folks took me in at least so that I wouldn't be around to watch the fights and all the violence. But there really isn't any way to save a child when his parents are about to have a divorce.

And I have his dad's influence to thank for being considered to taking the scholarship exam. For some reason Luca didn't take the scholarship exam with me, and he still doesn't want to tell me why but I'm sure with time he'll open up to me.

He chose to do engineering so he's in a totally different faculty from me so we don't see each other that much even though we live in the same building.

"Unlike you Luca, I actually need to study to pass" I said getting up from the chair to fix myself a box of cereal. " I don't have the natural genius cells in my body" I added

"Well I'm just lucky I guess " he said "when you're done studying there's someone I'd like you to meet. I think you'd like her" he added with half a smile as he made his way to the door.

"And who might that be if I might ask" I half shouted from the kitchen

"She's a friend" he responded

"And where are you heading to?" I asked walking back into the room

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you" he said as he burst out laughing "I'll catch you later Olly" he added as he shut the door behind him.

I spent the rest of the afternoon flipping through pages while listening to songs as the played on shuffle. I got up at about 6:30pm and made my way to the library.

The last week before the exams went by quietly and it was time for the exams I spent so much time preparing for. I got up early and rushed into the bathroom to freshen up, got out and put on some casual clothes and made my way to the door.

The bus I usually took down to the school campus was late for some reason today and I was starting to get worried.

"Its 7:30am, my exam starts at 9:30am. If I start running now I'd probably make it to campus by 8:30" I said to myself.

The plan was fixed and I was about to execute. Still a bit focused on the road I turned about to start running when I bumped into someone causing the person to lose balance and fall

"Ouch, can you watch where you are going" I heard the voice cry out

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there" I said as I turned to see the person I just knocked over "Its you" I said a bit surprised I'd run into her again, literally this

"You again" She said a little bit annoyed "for someone who cant take his eyes off someone you sure don't look at where you're going" she added.

"I'm sorry, are you okay" I said as I stretched my hand to her to try and help her up

"I don't need your help, you've done enough already" she said as slapped my hand away.

While I was checking to see if she had any scars on her or hurt herself I guess she misunderstood and thought I was checking her out

"Are you seriously still staring at me right now?" She asked and this time a bit more annoyed

"No, no that's not it, I was just trying to see if you had any bruises" I replied trying to sound as convincing as I could possibly sound

"You are seriously unbelievable" She said to me as she stood up from the ground

While I was still trying to defend myself the bus pulled up and the doors opened up.

"Good morning, Sorry I'm late" the bus driver said as soon as the doors opened up.

"If you're not getting in at least get out of the way" She said to me as she tried to get on the bus

I stepped aside and waited for her to enter the bus before I made my way in as well. "Is everything okay?" The bus driver asked noticing the tension in the air. I just gave him a look and walked down the aisle down to the end of the bus. She sat on the second row on the left side of the bus and I walked past she gave me a really nasty look before she turned away. Could she possibly hate me even more

Today is not going well for me.

We made two more stops to pick up more people before he eventually made his way down to the campus park. Luckily even after everything that happened I was still 15minutes early and I was happy about that. I got off and made my way down to examination hall, while doing that I was on high alert for her so that I could avoid her if she was coming my way.

The exam for that day lasted for an hour and a half but I was done within the first 45minutes. I came out of the hall and made my way to park without looking back or trying to talking to anyone. I certainly didn't want to run into her again and cause her any kind of stress or discomfort.

I got home soon after that and I just went straight to bed. Today was a really bad day and I want to just sleep it off.

The rest of the exam week went rather smoothly and even since the incident that happened on the morning of the first exam I haven't seen or run into her around campus despite the fact that we were in the same department.

After the last paper on Friday It was officially the end of the exams and I couldn't have been happier. I went back home to take a cool bath and just relax. While resting on my bed I got a text from Luca.

Luca: Well you're done with your exams so how bout you come meet this girl that I told you I wanted you to meet last week?

This guy and always wanting to fix me up with a girl. I shot him back a text accepting his offer because I really didn't have any obligations at the moment and like he said I should just try and live a little

Me: Fine. Where are you?

Luca: Come down to Pete's plaza

Me: okay I'll be there in a bit

I got up from my bed, put on a white long sleeved shirt, folded the sleeves up to my elbow, put on a black trouser and black lace shoe, applied a little cologne and fixed my hair up a bit and I was off. I had no idea who I was going to meet but I at least wanted to make a good impression.

I got to Pete's plaza at exactly 9:45pm. When I got there I shot Luca a text

Me: I'm here, where are you

Luca: Oh I wont be joining you, but don't forget to have fun

Me: You're joking right

Luca: No jokes bro. Just relax okay? She's nice. Her name is Chloe.

Lord knows I might kill the guy the next time I see him. But I'm already here so let's just see how it goes.

Me: Where is she?

Luca: She's sitting at the cafe by the fountain. She's on a white flower dress

With that little information I took in a deep breath and went into the plaza to look for my mystery girl. I walked for a bit before I got to the cafe and from the distance I could see a girl on a white flower and my heart was pounding with anticipation.

When I got to the table she seemed to be looking elsewhere or maybe she was looking for me

"Hi you must be Chloe, I'm Oliver. Luca's friend" I said as I stretched my hand to greet her

"Oh hi, you're lat...." She stopped mid sentence "You've gotta be kidding me" She added as she dropped her hand and shook her head in disappointment

"You're the one Luca wanted me to meet" she said as she got up from her sit and picked up her things "Why can't you just leave me alone" she added as she turned to look at me

"I had no idea you were the one Luca set me up with" I responded trying not to say something that might piss her off even more

"I wonder how Luca even got to know someone like you" She said with a scoff

"Someone like me?" I asked feeling a bit confused "what do you mean by that" I added

"I'm not even going to do this with you right now" She said as she turned around to leave

At this point people around started to stare at us like we we're staring in a new telenovela that was being filmed in the plaza

"I'm sorry" I said to her trying to ease the anger in her

"What did you say?" She asked me as she turned around to look at me

"I'm sorry about what happened at the Library and at the bus stop. It wasn't intentional" I said to her cause I truly was sorry about what happened "sorry for wasting your time as well" I added

"Keep your apologies to yourself" She responded as she stormed off

I could do nothing more than to just watch her walk away cause me trying to stop would only spark a new world war and I don't think I even have the right to want to stop her.

I plopped into the seat next to me and just rested my head into my arms.

With nothing more to do than to go back home I brought out my phone and sent Luca a situation report

Me: Well this has been the worst blind date in the history of blind dates.

After sending the text I got up from the chair and I went back to my apartment feeling a bit hopeless.

Now....

"Hey bro, you still with us" Luca said as he snapped me back to reality

"Huh what? Did you say something?" I asked trying to grasp what was happening

"Well I've been calling out to you but you've been spaced out" Luca said as he stood up from his seat

"Oh sorry, my mind was elsewhere" I said as I got up too

"Well the movie is about to start, you coming?" Jasmine asked as she walked towards me and grabbed my hand

"Yeah, let's go" I responded "lead the way" I said as I turned around to look at the table where me and Chloe were supposed to have our blind date

Two hours later and the movie was finally over. We all made our way out of the theatre to the entrance of the plaza.

"Today was actually nice" I said as I turned to see the gang laughing and reliving the movie

"Yeah it definitely was" Luca said as he turned his attention towards me "Thank you for not flaking on us" He added

"It would have been like the old days if Chloe was here though" jasmine added

"Yeah I hope she's okay and safe wherever she is" Ariana said trying to sound hopeful

"Well no point having negative thoughts" Brain said when the silence was starting to build

"So when next are you gonna come out and play with us?" Luca asked smiling end to end

"Soon" I responded "well good night guys" I said and we all did our awkward group hug and they went towards their car and drove off after the fifth goodbye wave.

I got inside my car and drove back home. The drive back from Pete's plaza back to my apartment was a thirty minute drive but it felt like an hour.

I finally got home and tossed my keys on the tray on top the drawer by the side of the door, slipped off my shoes and headed to the kitchen.

Didn't know what to make so I settled with making a serving of spaghetti. When the food was finally ready I dished it onto a plate, grabbed a drink from the fridge and made my way to the basement. I still had a letter to write.

Turning the key on the door to unlock it, I opened the door and climbed down the fifteen step staircase leading down to the basement and switched on the lights at the foot of the steps.

I was greeted by a figure tied up at the end of the room that suddenly jerked to the sudden brightness that enveloped the room.

"Hello Chloe, did you miss me?" I said with a grin on my face.