Hiroki stood by the front door of the café and looked at his watch. He made it a point not to be late and arrived at the restaurant ten minutes early. His date, however, was ten minutes late. Hiroki sighed nervously and looked up when he saw her walking down the street. Her red hair was tied back into a pony tail instead of two pig tails. She wore a long red dress with black stockings. She wore flat black shoes on her feet and carried a small red purse with a thin strap that hung from her right shoulder.
"Sorry I'm late," she said. "I was a bit too caught up getting ready. How do I look?"
Hiroki blinked a few times to regain his composure. "You… look… amazing," he stammered.
Milly giggled a bit. "You look good yourself. C'mon, let's go get something to eat."
The couple went inside the café and took a table next to the store window. She ordered a cappuccino while he took a cup of tea. They split a light chicken sandwich. Throughout the meal they could not stop talking to each other. Everything from their teachers to the possible relationships going on in the school became topics of their conversation. Even the possible relationships between Yumi's friends was discussed. Once the bill was paid and the tip left on the table, the two of them walked across the street to the movie theater.
"So, what movie did you have in mind?" Milly asked.
"Actually," he said, "I was hoping you could choose it. I didn't want to choose everything on our first date."
"Who said anything about future dates?" she asked. She watched as Hiroki had a look of worry on his face before she began to giggle. "That one looks good," she said as she pointed to one of the movie titles on the board.
Hiroki looked at the title of the movie and had no idea what kind of movie it was going to be. Still, he left the choice of film up to her and it would be somewhat rude of him to protest on their first date. As he reached into his pocket to grab his wallet, he felt a hand stop him.
"I got this one," Milly said as she took her hand away from Hiroki's arm.
"But…" he tried to protest.
"Look, you paid for dinner," she said. "It's only fair that I pay for the movie." Convinced by her logic, he took his hand out of his pocket while he accompanied Milly to go buy the tickets for the movie.
"You want any popcorn?" Hiroki asked once both of them entered the theater.
Milly shook her head. "I don't normally eat or drink anything when I go see a movie."
"I know what you mean," he said. "One time, I went to the movies with my friend Jimmy and I got some popcorn and a soda. I drank so much that I went to the restroom and missed half of the movie." Hiroki realized what he had just said and turned red from embarrassment. Milly, however, found the story to be amusing and giggled.
"C'mon," she said, "let's go inside and find a seat."
The couple went into the theater and found a pair of seats in the middle of the room. The theater darkened as they sat down and watched the movie previews. A few trailers and random commercials later, the movie had begun. The film that MIlly chose turned out to be a romantic comedy. While the movie had all the romantic elements present, it was anything but funny. Throughout the movie, both Hiroki and MIly exchanged glances with each other at different times. Every time one of them looked at the other, they wondered if they should be making some type of move. Once the other party looked at their companion, both persons would look straight ahead and pretend that nothing had happened. When the movie ended, they waited until the credits finished playing and the crowd had thinned out before they left the theater.
An artificial light from the street lamps filled the night sky. Ever since leaving the theater, both Hiroki and Milly said nothing, a sharp contrast to how they acted earlier. Halfway to the campus, Hiroki decided to break the silence.
"So…" he said before pausing for a bit, "what did you think?"
Milly thought about the question for a bit. "It was… interesting," she replied.
"Really?" Hiroki asked.
MIlly shook her head. "No," she said. "It was pretty bad."
"Like the time he thought she was cheating on him?" he asked.
The budding reporter nodded. "Anyone could see that mistake happening. It's such a cliché." Both of them began to laugh as they spent the rest of the journey criticizing the movie and pointing out all of it's faults. Their conversation ended once they reached the gates of Kadic Academy.
Hiroki began to get nervous as he turned to Milly. "So, did you have fun?" he asked.
"I did," Milly answered, "even if the movie sucked." Both of them began to laugh.
Hiroki scratched his head and grew even more nervous. "Well… good night."
"Night," she replied. Both of them stood still, looking at each other, wondering what to do next. They remained motionless for a few more moments, still unsure of what to do. Suddenly, both Hiroki and Milly turned around and made their way to their respective homes.