She fiddled with the food on her plate, pushing at it with her fork, the spaghetti smearing sauce across the white surface. Occasionally, she'd press too hard and make an obnoxious squeaking sound, attracting the attention of the other occupants of the restaurant. Each Time she would smile, embarrassed, and watch as the boy sitting across the table from her shook his head. Taking a bite, she slowly chewed, counting each movement of her jaw.
She looked up at the dark haired boy to see him taking a sip of whatever fizzy liquid he had ordered. She wondered how strange it must look, the two of them sitting in silence in some rinky-dink restaurant, surrounded by couples laughing and enjoying themselves.
Which made her think, why wasn't she?
Again, she took a bite of her now cold dinner. She swallowed, and lifted the glass of ice water she had ordered. Tacking a sip, she placed it back down, spilling some of its contents on the fake wooden table.
"Yumi, I was thinking we should," William began, seemingly reaching for his coat.
She attempted to finish his sentence, "Leave?" but as he picked up a desert menu, she blushed with humiliation.
"I was thinking dessert, but if you want to leave I guess we could," His voice was weighed down with disappointment. As he attempted to put the menu back, she grabbed his hand.
Forcing a smile, she shook her head. "No no, dessert sounds spectacular!" At this, William smiled, and placed the pamphlet in front of her, and grabbed one for himself.
Inside, she left out a heavy sigh, flipping through the laminated pages of the menu. As the waitress walked past, William waved her over, ordering for the both of them. About to protest, she calmed herself. It was just dessert, and he was paying after all.
A few more moments of awkward silence passed, before Sam, the waitress, returned with the mountains of chocolate he had ordered. Yumi's eyes became wide as the ice-cream was set on her place mat, eyeing it with desire. Looking up at William, she received the all too familiar "I told you so look", before he began devouring his on sundae.
Knowing very well she would regret eating the whole thing later, she took the first spoonful. Unsatisfied, she took another, and another.
Yet, she still came to the same conclusion. Although the first impression was wonderful, the appearance like a well mastered piece of art, it was just like every other ice cream she had ever had.
William was like every other guy she had ever dated. There was nothing special about him, a he had a pretty face, sure, but what else stood out?
The fact that he had gotten her roses on Valentines Day, because he knew "every girl loves roses", that he had ordered her a chocolate sundae, because most girls love chocolate, too.
Placing her spoon in the half eaten dessert, she waved Sam over, and asked for the check. Ignoring William's confusion, she proceeded to pay the bill, stand up and stretch, and walk away.
Being in walking distance of the school, she made her way to the front gates. Seeing the light in Ulrich and Odd's dorm on, she entered the school and made her way up the flights of stairs. Moments later, she knocked on the wooden door.
Seeing the blonde boy open the door, she smiled and welcomed herself in. She watched as Ulrich took his eyes off the video game he was playing to see who had come in, and hurriedly press pause.
"Hey Yumi! What's up?" the confusion in his voice went unnoticed, masked by the obvious smile on his face.
She waved hello, "You know how I had that date with William tonight?" Ulrich cringed. Why did she have to remind him?
Odd looked at Ulrich's face, and answered for him, "Yeah, why?"
"It was dreadful!" A look of shock lit up the brunettes face. "We barely talked at all, I ate less than half my dinner, and he ordered me a chocolate sundae," she was fuming.
Odd jumped in, "Why is the sundae so bad?" his mouth was beginning to water at the thought.
"She hates chocolate, Odd," His voice was matter-of-factly, yet caring at the same time. Yumi smiled and blushed, he knew her better than William could ever.
Odd made a quiet "Oh," and thought for a moment, "Hey, we've got some ice-cream in the mini-freezer…"
"You have a mini-freezer?" She was bewildered.
Ulrich Chuckled, "Yeah, his mom sent it to him on request." She laughed at this, and peeked under Odd's bed, where he was fishing through a dimly lit box. He pulled out two containers, one of Cookie-dough, and on of vanilla.
"The cookie-dough is mine," Ulrich stated, "but you can take your pick. Odd's might be low, though, he eats it every night before he goes to bed."
She smiled, "I like cookie-dough, anyway." Ulrich handed her a plastic spoon and the carton. As she ate, she began to wonder, how could she miss the one thing she loved, when it was right under her nose?