Summary: When Claire's date stands her up, a certain boy she has never seen before shows up and saves her from embarrassment, and ends up giving her the best first date of her life.
Once again, nothing supernatural in this one-shot.
Claire had been so excited when Douxie, the guy she has been crushing on for a while now, finally asked her out on a date. They met during a Battle of the Bands event in their school and Claire was immediately compelled by his alluring personalities. No to mention they share the same love for her favorite band Papa Skull. She even learned that Douxie once played for Papa Skull as an opening act with his band, which made her all the more awestruck.
She has been in a lot of stress lately. She's been doing a lot of extra credit work for school, rehearsing hours after school on a play she auditioned for. And now that the SAT's are coming up soon, Claire needed this break. She wanted a day to relieve herself from all her responsibilities. So when that Douxie boy asked her out, she didn't hesitate to say yes. They agreed to have dinner at a local Mexican restaurant in town to give their first date a romantic vibe. It was her first date in a while so she felt a little giddy, but she wanted to make this night as special and relaxing as possible.
Then the night came. She told her parent that she'll be sleeping over at Darci's to which they reluctantly agreed to. After she made her way to her friend's house, she did a quick change with the help from Mary and Darci. She donned her best date outfit, an opulent lace cocktail dress with a sheer chiffon ruffle hem and modest v-neckline. It has a fitted bodice with a flowy skirt that ended just above her knees. Mary did her make up, while Darci let her borrow a few jewelries and accessories. After saying goodbye, she called an Uber to drive her to the restaurant and arrived at 7 on the dot. Exactly when she and Douxie planned to meet, though he didn't seem to have arrived yet.
After 10 minutes she decided to just grab a table and wait for him inside. She checked her phone, she was sure she sent a well-researched directions of the restaurant to Douxie. Ten times to be exact, and yet, he hasn't texted or called why he was late. Claire decided to wait a little more, thinking of various possible scenarios of why he's late. "Maybe he got stuck in traffic ... and the battery in his phone died... yeah, that's it. He'll be here soon." Claire thought to herself, to try and calm her growing anxiety.
To pass the time, she would look out the window and count the cars that were passing to and fro on the streets. She was on her 164th sedan when a voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to the waitress giving her a hesitant smile.
"Are you ready to order yet?" The waitress asked patiently.
Claire winced. This was the third time she had asked that and Claire was no more ready than she had been twenty five minutes ago. "Oh, um, could I just have a few more minutes, please?"
The waitress sent her a forlorn look and nodded in understanding before turning away and walking off to wait on another table. Claire's heart plunged into her stomach. She could tell that a lot of eyes in the restaurant were on her and it seemed like they were aware that her date stood her up. The apologetic and fleeting glances only served to make her feel worse and Claire was beginning to think that Douxie was never to arrive.
She looked up at the clock above the maître d's stand. 7:30, it read. Which was actually normal for any other date, anybody can come late when they are expected to meet at a specific time, only this one one wasn't explaining the reason of his tardiness.
"Five more minutes." Claire made a decision. She had enough of the other customers in the restaurant eyeing her like a lost puppy. Claire was one who doesn't like feeling weak so she made up her mind that if Douxie doesn't turn up in five minutes, she will leave with her head held high and not look back.
She waited then. The lingering stares on her had only gotten worse. Every now and then, she'd hear someone whispering "poor girl" and other pitying sentiments. Claire wanted nothing more than to stand up and declare that she didn't want their sympathy, but she couldn't do that. No, the last thing she wanted was to cause an even bigger scene than the one already unfolding at the very moment. She counted down the seconds in her head, trying to keep the tears that were welling up in her eyes from falling. 30 seconds left.
Just as she reached 1. Someone new entered the restaurant. Claire wouldn't have paid any attention to it, but this guy was heading towards her. His hair was damp and swept to one side like he'd just taken a shower. He looked her age, a year older maybe, with dark hair and light blue eyes. He strode to her table with confidence, a bouquet of flowers in hand. She had never seen him before in her life, much less know him. But that didn't stop him from walking over to her and sitting on the chair opposite from her.
As if his entrance didn't catch enough attention, he suddenly announces his presence in a loud voice. "Hey, babe! So sorry I'm late. Traffic was killer. I did bought you these flowers, just to show you how much I'm sorry." He hands her the bouquet and smiles earnestly. Her only response was confusion as she slowly hesitantly takes the flowers he was offering. She glanced around and saw that some of the people that were watching her earlier have backed off from their eavesdropping. Some of them looked relieved for her while others threw glares at the boy in front of her, maybe wondering why he kept his date waiting for a very long time.
She turned back to the boy in question. He must've sensed her confusion, he leaned closer to the table and whispered to her, "Hi, I'm Jim. Just go with it, okay? Whoever you were expecting is an ass for not showing up." Hearing him say that, Claire felt instantly better. This stranger just prevented the tears welling in her eyes to spill. The tears that were already threatening to fall didn't happen, and she was grateful to him for saving her from the humiliation she would've felt had he not shown up.
Before Claire can even introduce herself to Jim, the waitress returned. "Are you ready to order now?" She asked with a warm smile on her face.
"Uh-huh," Jim nodded. "I'll have the Chicken Enchiladas and a diet coke please." He ordered, even though he didn't look through the menu. The waitress wrote it down then turned to Claire, "And you, miss?"
"I'll have the nachos... with extra guacamole please. And a cherry soda." Claire said easily. She's been re-reading the menu a dozen times while for that jerk Douxie, she could probably recite it from memory by now.
"Okay, I'll be back with your orders in a short while." The waitress said then left.
"Hey, thanks for the save back there," Claire finally spoke as soon as the waitress was out of earshot. "I'm Claire." She introduces herself.
"No problem," He grinned. "I went for a jog earlier and I happen to notice you sitting here for long time. I had to do something."
"Well," Claire gushes, "Aren't you a hero."
Jim rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, but I did have to shower first. I didn't want to smell bad on our first date."
Claire giggled at that. She found it funny that he was adamant on continuing their fake date. "So, tell me about yourself Jim. Let's make this 'date' memorable. What do you say?"
He chuckled in response. "Sounds good to me. My full name is James Lake Jr. Just turned seventeen about three months ago. I'm in high school. Sophomore year.
"You don't say?" Claire said. "I'm in my sophomore year too."
"Cool! So you must be my age."
Claire smiles. "I'm turning seventeen too in September. Won't be long now."
She falters after her last word. She didn't really know what to say next. The silence continued on for a few more moments and the air between them only seemed to get more awkward. Trying to break the ice, Claire asked. "Do you come here often? You seem to know the place fairly well."
"Uh... yeah, I've eaten here more times than I can count." Jim grins sheepishly, "Darci Scott, my friend's girlfriend, her family owns the place. So I hang out here when I can."
"Oh really? Darci's my best friend! That's so cool.
"Oh wow! Well, what do you know, we already have common peers. How awesome is that." Jim smiled, flashing his pearly whites at her.
Just then their food arrived. Claire didn't notice until now that she was starving and the Nachos and Guacamole she ordered looked tasty. As they ate their food, they continued to exchange stories. Laughing every so often and smiling at some of the other things they had in common. Soon, the clock ticked ( o'clock and Claire knew she had to head back home. Her dad had said that she was only allowed to stay out until 9:30 because it was a school night and she had her play rehearsals early in the morning tomorrow.
Claire excused herself after clearing her plate. "I had a wonderful time, Jim, but I really should head home. It's getting late." She says.
"Same here." Jim agreed. "If I miss my curfew one more time, no doubt my mom will think I've gotten myself in trouble once again. She's paranoid that way, but that's because she always says I'm her baby boy." He chuckled awkwardly at his last statement. "Uhh... Claire?" He suddenly sounded serious.
"Yeah?" Claire furrowed her brows in concern.
"I had a great night with you, and I was kind of wondering if you'd like to go out with me again." He swallowed deeply, "For real this time."
"I'd love that." Claire blushed despite herself. She felt butterflies in her stomach.
Jim's face lit up because of her answer. "Great! How does next Saturday sound?"
"I'm okay with that." Claire answers, then holds out her hand. "Give me you phone."
The boy digs into his pocket and brought out his cellphone before handing it to Claire. She typed something quickly before returning it. "That's my number." She said. "Call me."
Jim smiles gratefully. "I will." He escorts her out of the restaurant before offering his hand for handshake. "It was very nice meeting you, Miss Nuñez."
The girl giggles and shakes his hand softly, "Likewise, Jim Lake Jr."
She hailed a cab that was passing by. Waving Jim goodbye before entering the vehicle. Claire watched him go from the car window. Maybe, despite the disaster that was Douxie not showing up, it wasn't all bad luck that followed. It had brought Jim into her life, hadn't it? The thought made her smile, she couldn't wait to see him next week."
Douxie is not an OC. For those who don't know him, he's a canon character in Trollhunters Season 3 (spoilers if you haven't watch it). He appeared on episode one as a new student and also helped fight the Gumm-Gumms in episode 13 "The Eternal Knight".