"Look Steve, she still doesn't seem one for much talking." His smile was paired by a light chuckle.

"Don't mind Bucky, he doesn't mean any harm, he is just really loud." Toothpick gave a small smile. "Come on, let's just get our fruit and leave her alone Bucky." Yes, listen to toothpick and scram.

"You boys finding everything OK?" Good, Molly to the rescue. She likes people. Hopefuly toothpicks friend would start talking to her instead and forget me.

"No, not at all. This one seems to have lost her name." He pointed at me and threw a staged look of alarm on his face.

"Aw, our very own Miss Jane Smith. A rare creature, highly allergic to people, fun, and it has been rumored to smiling. All these things cause glaring, extreme irritation, and on occasion; blushing. As we can now observe." She pointed to my face which had gone red from her teasing.

"Molly, I hate you right now." And I meant it. That got a big laugh from toothpick's friend. So he got a big glare from me.

"Don't mind Jane, she just takes time to warm up to people. It was a month of me working here before I think she really accepted me." At that point I started walking to the back, refusing to be the point of every joke.

"Wait, wait, I'm sorry Miss. Don't hate me. Let me make it up to you." Toothpick's friend turned to Molly, "How about me and Steve treat you two girls to some dancing this Friday?" I gave Molly a nothing on earth is going to get me to go look.

"Sure, we'd love that. You make it worth our time and I'll make sure dark and gloomy over there shows up." I rolled my eyes and just left into the storage room to plan on how to give Molly the slip on Friday. Luckily I'd have the rest of the week to plan this. Molly can be really determined once she sets her mind on something.

It turned out it only took about five minutes for Molly to completely plan someone's demise.

"It's all set. The boys are going to come here quarter to eight on Friday and wait for us to finish up here; then we are all going to go to that big charity dance downtown and finishing up with icecream. And you are not ruining this Jane."

"How can I ruin it if I'm not there?"

"Jane, you are going. Did you see how cute the taller one was? If you blow this off, I'll make the next week here miserable!"

"Why can't you grab someone else?"

"Because Bucky seems to have taken a liking to you."

"Oh great, just what I want. A boy chasing me." I rolled my eyes to show how thrilled I was.

"Don't worry Jane, one date with you and I'm sure he'll bug off."

"Thaaanks."

"Well, isn't that what you've been trying to build up? A wall that can stop anyone after one shot at it?"

"You make me sound so gloomy, I just want people to leave me alone."

"Well that's what you're going to get one of these days, at this rate; you'll become an old maid who couldn't get a date even if she wanted one!"

"Wow, wouldn't that be neat."

"Come on Jane, you don't really want that, do you?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is what I want out of life."

"Fine, how's this, you come to this one date, if you don't like it I'll stop bugging you about your horrible social goals. And if you back out of this I'll make this next week a living nightmare for you."

Sigh "Fine, you win this battle, but mark it, I'll win the war."

It's funny how nervous you can get for an event you didn't want to go to. When Friday came, it suddenly occurred to me that this was the first date a boy had asked me on. I had had a few blind dates when I was younger that people had dragged me on, but this was somehow different. It was still sort of a blind date, but he'd at least meet me before, even if it had only been once. It was really strange, for one I cared if I looked nice that day and I had a bad case of the butterflies all day. It was bad enough Molly even noticed it.

"I thought you were saying just yesterday that the date today was no big deal."

"Well, it's going to happen, so it's not a big deal."

"You did something different with your hair and you're pacing around the shop, that says it's a big deal."

"I'm just concerned for my own safety, I'm preparing to meet my doom."

"You can be so dramatical."

As much as I hate to admit it, Molly was right. My nerves where showing bright and clear all day, until 7:30, then they exploded.

"Molly, I'm going to be sick, I can't do this date thing."

"Jane, they're just two boys. There's nothing to be afraid of, don't give me that look."

"Then don't make me do this."

"No chance."

Ding, the bell. I looked and saw them. Toothpick and his friend came in casually, as if they weren't here to drag us off to our doom. As much as I hate to admit it, part of me couldn't help but notice that toothpick's friend seemed to have had put some thought into his appearance that night. It wasn't big, but from his well styled hair and his fresh pressed cloths, you could tell he put some effort into how he looked. Even toothpick looked like he had tried.

They hung out at the door politely and waited for us to finish up. I took a few deep breaths during that brief time and tried to convince myself that this was all a good idea. Well, one can try anyway. It seemed just a few seconds later me and everyone was out the door and heading down town.

"You ready for this?" Toothpick's friend offered me his arm as we started walking.

"No, but Molly's not giving me a choice."

"Well, let's see if I can make you feel differently by the end of the night, shall we?"

"Good luck." I said as I looked him in the eyes properly for the first time, all I could really think was how nice a blue they were up close.