I honestly don't know why I was nervous. I've hung out with Troy twice this week for a long period of time and I was fine. We were fine.
But now I'm sitting across from him at dinner on our first official date and I just feel the need to impress him. HARD.
"We're sort of doing this backwards, huh?" Troy laughs as he opens the menu.
"Something like that," I agree.
We are, but I kind of don't want him to think of it like that. He doesn't completely have me yet. I don't know if I'll like him in a week, if he'll like me in a week and I'm gonna try my hardest since I've made it my new life goal to give people more of a chance, but he could very well dump me after tonight and that's so nerve wracking. What if he only likes kissing me? What if he just enjoys small talk here and there? This is a full on date. I'm going to ask him questions now since we're in this environment. I don't want him to think that he can just take it easy and chill and not try to impress me because we've already kissed.
At the same time, though, I know I like him so I'm going into this date with a completely different mind frame than I have all my other ones.
I don't know, we'll see. "What are you thinking of getting?"
"I don't know," Troy scans the menu, "have you been here? What's good, what do you like?"
"Well, you can never go wrong with the steak and mashed potatoes," I scan the menu too, even though I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with the grilled chicken and steamed vegetables. And a side of french fries of course, "honestly, though, everything on the menu is so good, whatever you'll get, you'll love."
"I'll go with the steak," he decides and closes his menu before he grabs the complimentary water and takes a sip.
Yeah, and I'm gonna go with the grilled chicken. Cool.
I pushed my menu off to the side and also took a sip of my water. This restaurant isn't exactly fancy, but you can't come in sweats and a shirt here. I didn't want to wear a dress and heels, though. No, that's reserved for parties and parties only. So I went with some black pants, some booties and a blouse. Very casual, but a little dressy at the same time. And Troy, well he could literally wearing anything and I'm sure no one would bat an eyelid if what he was wearing was appropriate or not. But it was. Black pants and a button up. He looked soooo good.
The waitress came and asked for our drink order, but we told her we were ready so she took our order as well. Troy went with the steak and I got the grilled chicken and I asked for a side of fries as well.
She told us she'd be right back with our drinks and then it was just the two of us. Alone. Ready for conversation.
And I was still nervous.
"Oh, I forgot to ask you, how was your test in math?"
"I got an A," I smile at him, "surprisingly. I honestly thought I was gonna get a C or something. It doesn't come naturally to me like it does to you."
Troy shrugged, trying not to take the compliment, "I just like math, maybe that's why."
Excuses, excuses. He's pretty smart. Like, really smart. And you honestly wouldn't expect it because let's be honest, most people judge books by their covers and he's HOT. Anyone would think he's a typical guy, sliding by because he's too busy with partying, girls, being the head of some team. But no, he seems to be the complete opposite of all of that.
And it's nice, because half of the guys are Dalton got in because they have money. Not because they're super smart and they passed the test to get in, so.
"Why'd you parents move to Chicago?" I start a real conversation going, "you lived here until you were like seven, right?"
"Eight," he corrected me, "and my dad got a job offer over there and he couldn't really refuse it. Also, it's less busy and have more suburbs so they thought it'd be a good idea to move and raise me and the next child they're planning to have. They just needed a more quiet environment since they were newly married and it'd be good on their relationship, you know?"
Yeah, especially since they had broken up once before. "And now your sister's going to be raised in the city?"
He chuckled a bit, "yeah, she is. Unless somehow they decide to move back, but I doubt it. This is their home. This is where they met so I think they're happy about moving back. They're more secure now."
"Yeah, that's good," I smile at him, "New York isn't all that bad, especially Manhattan."
"Definitely not," he smiles back at me.
And I couldn't help but think that he was talking about me. I could be going absolutely crazy, though.
Our waitress brought out our drinks. A coke for him and a raspberry lemonade for me. So good. Now, all we were waiting on was the food and it better come fast because I'm starving. I was so nervous earlier that I barely ate and now that I'm sitting across from him and we're talking, I don't even remember why. Conversation came easy, I've had so many with him, and I'm not typically a shy person. But he just changes everything for me.
And I think it's a good thing.
"No, it's definitely your turn," I laughed as I licked my ice cream before it dripped everywhere on the sidewalk.
"It's not, but I'll go," Troy tells me as he bites into his ice cream.
We finished dinner about 30 minutes ago and walked around aimlessly instead of hailing a cab and we ended up at Emack & Bolio's, one of the best ice cream places in the Upper East Side. Seriously, it's so good and I was craving ice cream so this is perfect.
And we decided to play a little game. Just ask each other as many random questions as we could think of, each taking turns.
But we stopped to order our ice cream and lost track of whose turn it was. Well, I didn't, but he did. It was definitely his turn to ask me something.
"Okay, if you knew the world was ending tomorrow, who would you spend your last day with?" he asked, and the quickly added, "you can only pick one."
One person? Holy fuck. There are so many important people in my life. My mom, dad, brother, my best friends, my grandmas and grandpa, Lupe! My aunts and cousins. How does he expect me to pick?
But I guess that's the reason for this game. It makes you think. They're random for a reason.
Ummm. Fuck. "That's a really hard and unfair question," I preface it, "but um, probably my brother. Yeah, I'll go with my brother."
"Yeah?" Troy looked surprised.
"We're only a year apart and he's seriously been by my side since I was little," I nod as I lick some more of my ice cream, "sure, I have my best friends and if you would have given me a chance to pick two more people, it'd be my parents, but my brother and I just have this bond I can't really put into words. We're closer than most people on the outside would think. So yeah, I'll have to go with him."
"I don't know why I didn't expect that," he tells me as he continues eating his ice cream, "maybe because I haven't seen you two interact much."
No, yeah, he hasn't and that's why I'm not offended. "We literally spent the whole summer together with friends and family in The Hamptons so I'm sure he's sick of me, but we have different groups of friends. We'll all hang here and there, but yeah, we don't really hang out at school."
Mainly at home or after school we'll grab a bit to eat.
Oh, is it my turn now?
Fuck, what do I ask? Hmmm. "If money was not an object, where would you live if you could... right now?"
He thought about it, looking up for dramatic effect, I'm sure and then turned to me as we continued walking back to my place, "I honestly don't know why I'm picking this place since I've never been but I'm thinking some suburb in LA."
"You've never been to LA?"
"Nope," he chuckles a bit as he takes another bite of his ice cream, "so I don't know why I picked it, but it looks nice and relaxing and I love the beach."
"Have you at least been to California?"
He laughs some more and then shakes his head. "Nope."
Oh my goodness. Well, I guess it's not uncommon. 90% of people in the US haven't left their state, let alone their city. I'm talking from a rich person's point of view which isn't good. "You have to go if you can. It's seriously so pretty. I think I'd live there if I didn't love New York so much."
"That's what I heard, which is why I picked it, I guess. I've always wanted to go, just haven't had the chance to. When my parents went, I already had a trip planned with my friends so I wasn't able to tag along," he tells me.
Okay, so they can go. I honestly don't know if his family has money or not an it doesn't matter at all to me, but he's been paying for me so maybe?
It's his turn.
He thought about it for a few seconds and then turned to me once we came to a crosswalk, "On a scale of one to ten, how much are you enjoying our first official date together?"
Oh my gosh. I'm blushing. Okay, not really. But I didn't expect that question.
And of course I don't want to say ten because I don't want to come off to strong, but it pretty much is a ten. Seriously, it's just a simple date. But the person I'm with is making it feel like the best date. Dinner and ice cream. It's so simple and so outplayed, but if we did this every night, it'd be completely fine.
"Ten," I decided to go the honest route. I didn't care about coming off too strong. "maybe a nine since you almost did hit me with the door earlier."
"Complete accident," he laughed, finishing his ice cream, "but I'm glad you're having a good time."
"Me, too," I tell him also taking the final bite of my ice cream cone.
We wiped our hands on some napkins and then threw them away as we passed the nearest trash can. Troy then looked over at me and gave me a small smile before he intertwined our hands together.
And we walked back to my place, hand in hand, barely saying a word. Just taking in this beautiful New York night.
Together.
But we had to break apart once we got back to my place.
"Thanks again for dinner," I tell him, turning towards him and facing him head on, "and for the ice cream. It was all perfect."
"And thank you for letting me take you out on a date," he says as if it was such a hard thing for him to accomplish. Yeah, right. I'd go to a freaking brothel with him. Okay, no I'm pushing it. But honestly, I really like him, so of course I want to go out on a date with him. I wanna go on more.
"Lets do it again sometime."
He smiled at me and then leaned down and captured my lips with his in the most perfect first post date kiss.
It was cold, though, so we didn't stand outside for too long. A few kisses and then I told him goodnight and I went inside my building as he turned around and hailed himself a cab. And I couldn't stop smiling once I stepped foot inside the elevator.
Most perfect first date, ever. Eeeek.