You Remembered?

 Tara stood in the Quad, pulling out her hand mirror from her bag to fix her hair.

 A few strands were out of place but other than that, her hair remained neat.

 Ten minutes went by, and Nate was still nowhere to be found. She pulled out her mirror again, this time to fix her makeup.

 Another five minutes went by. Tara sat on one of the large concrete planters and looked around.

 She checked her phone for the time. He was 6 minutes late.

 Was this normal? Did he mean to be late? Did he get held up somewhere?

 As she looked around, a shadow came over her.

 She looked up, squinting her eyes, expecting to see Nate. However, she was met with the sandy brown-haired boy from the day before.

 Before she could say anything, a smirk came over his face.

 "Hey Farrah." He said with a teasing lilt to his voice.

 Tara pouted and stood up, forcing him to take a step back.

 "My name is not Farrah, it's Tara!" She stormed off towards the town, shoving past him.

 "See ya later Farrah!" He yelled with a wave.

 "HMPH!" She pouted, glaring back at him.

 Once she reached the town, she leaned against one of the cold, stone walls and pulled out her phone.

 "I had to leave the Quad. Do you want to still get lunch?"

 She tapped her nails against the sides of her phone, pursing her lips, as she waited for a reply.

 "Sorry. Got held up. Come to the Zen Café."

 It wasn't far from where she was.

 "Be there in a sec!"

 She headed towards the café, and in three minutes, she was walking through the door.

 Nate was sitting towards the back of the room, next to the window that looked out towards the street. She pulled out the chair next to him a sat down, placing her purse on the floor next to her.

 He glanced up and slid her a plate. On it was a ham sandwich with a small bowl of fruit next to it and a bag of chips. He then slid a cup of iced tea in front of her.

 Tara tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing.

 "You ordered for me?"

 Part of her felt a little disappointed. She hadn't been to this café yet and she thought they'd stand in line and discuss the menu, then order together. Then they'd have a cute play fight over who would pay for it.

 "This is what you got for lunch the first time we ate together. Isn't it what you like?"

 Her eyes widened as she looked between him and her plate, realizing that it was indeed what she had ordered.

 'He remembered? He...noticed?! No one has ever paid attention to me before, not like this…'

 Nate waited a few seconds for her to say something, but after she didn't, he grabbed her plate, switching it with his.

 He had a burrito cut in two. It looked like it was full of meat and vegetables on a wheat tortilla.

 Nate watched her face, searching for a reaction as he slid them back and forth a few times waiting to see if she wanted what he'd ordered her or if she'd prefer to switch with him.

 Her heart skipped a beat.

 'AND he's offering me HIS if I don't want it?'

 Tara smiled so wide she was sure the corners of her mouth were going to split open.

 She reached over and grabbed the plate with the sandwich on it, pulling it over to sit in front of her. She then placed his plate in front of him.

 "I want this one. Thank you~" Her voice went up a notch as she stared at the sandwich in front of her.

 'This is going to be the best meal of my life. I can't believe he's so thoughtful. I think I must be in a dream right now. I hope I never wake up!'

 Nate stared at her for a second before reaching his hand up and placing his fingers in her head, scratching/massaging her scalp for a second.

 Tara stiffened, her face feeling hot.

 She'd seen it in movies and t.v. shows but never thought she'd experience it for herself.

 This was…a display of affection?!

 'D-Does he like me?! DOES HE LIKE ME?!'

 For a moment, she was sure her heart was going to rip right out of her chest.

 Then, he did something, that made her turn bright red.

 He grabbed her bag of chips and opened the bag for her, placing it on her plate and turning towards her, fluffing the opening so she could easily reach inside.

 She wanted to run away. Run away and go scream to herself, but she wanted to stay on this date even more than that.

 It was getting hotter and hotter in the café and she felt like she was going to break out into sweats.

 All she could do was bite into her sandwich with that huge grin on her face, and try to use it to hide her expression.

 Nate didn't seem to notice so much. He grabbed his soda and took a sip of it as he slid her a ticket.

 Tara's eyebrow raised, "What is this?"

 She took it and began to look it over.

 "My band has a show this weekend. That's to the show."

 "That's so cool! Congratulations!"

 She placed the ticket back on the table and slid it back to him.

 Nate stared at her for a moment then slowly slid it back to her. "This one is yours."

 "Mine?"

 He nodded with a nonchalant look on his face.

 'No one's ever invited me to something like this before. Is this a second date?'

 "What should I wear? I've never been to something like this."

 She held the ticket in both of her hands, carefully examining it.

 "Wear something casual that's easy to move around in. It'll probably get pretty hot in there so something cool too."

 Tara clutched the ticket tightly to her chest as she shot him a dreamy smile.

 "I'll be there."