Him

First Date

It's been a week since my two fights. Paige had come to school with a black eye. Everyone knew what had happened. And I mean everyone! They also knew exactly why it happened.

So Paige, Owen and I were the 'hot topic' of the school for a while. Not anymore though. Other drama and gossip has filled the school. Another 'Principal Renner' story has surfaced. But I don't care about it.

I still can't quit thinking about the night I went to the park and accidentally ran into Jake. After the whole Owen/Paige thing, I wanted to be alone. So I had went to the park. Well, Jake ended up being there.

I went over to him and just sat down. All he did was smile. We sat together in a comfortable silence for a while. The lake was sparkling.

"So, does you being here mean you made a decision?" he had asked.

"I actually have. And I'm pretty sure you'll like it."

He looked up at me, half grinning. "Really?"

I nodded. Instead of telling him that I chose him, I slid my arm around his and put my head on his shoulder. I felt him relax as he put his head on mine.

"Hello! Earth to Katie!" I hear Emma say.

I realize I've been just sitting here. My friends and I are supposed to be working on a project. They seem to be working.

Me though? Not so much.

"Huh? Oh right. Sorry," I say picking up the marker I had been using.

"You're really out it!" Fiona points out.

"And it's only second period! What are you so deep in thought about?" Hazel asks.

"Oh, um. Nothing," I respond a bit too quickly.

They all give me the 'we know you're lying' look. I avoid looking at them as I copy down more notes for our poster. I should really learn to answer less obviously next time.

"So, was it about Jake?" Fiona asks.

"Was what about Jake?" I ask.

"When you were zoned out. Were you thinking of Jake?" Emma asks.

I sigh. "Yes. I was thinking about when I saw him at the park.

"Aww!" the twins squeal.

"It's not that big of a--"

"Arielle! Wake up!" Mr. Mitchell yells.

All of my friends, along with the rest of the class, look up. We can see Mr. Mitchell standing over Arielle's desk. Arielle is one of the girls that comes in half caring. She is actually smart, but you'd never know.

Her head makes no motion. She always sleeps in class. No matter what is going on, she always sleeps.

"Arielle," Mr. Mitchell says poking Arielle's shoulder.

She moves slightly, her black hair flying up with her head. Her eyes narrow at Mr. Mitchell as she crosses her arms.

"Seriously man? Do you understand what the hell I go through trying to look this good? I need my rest. Don't bother me," Arielle says.

Immediately everyone starts to laugh. We try to be quiet, but it is too funny. She always says things like that.

"Go to the office," Mr. Mitchell booms.

Just then, the bell rings. Everyone gathers their stuff and leaves. I pick up our unfinished poster and set it in the back with the rest.

I haven't seen Jake yet. He wasn't in first period or second! I talked to him yesterday and he seemed fine. Hopefully he didn't get sick. That's always awful. I know I hate being sick.

I turn around to pick up my stuff and run into someone. I jump back to look and see Riley standing in front of me.

"Riley, jeez. Don't do that," I say.

He just laughs and helps me pick up my stuff. That's right, he's helping. It's his fault I dropped it in the first place.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Riley apologizes as we stand back up.

"No, no. It's okay."

He hands my book to me and I follow him out of the class. Wait. He's not even in this class. Why is he in here? Maybe it's about the date he's taking Fiona on.

Riley follows me to my locker.

"So. Why'd you come to my class? Is this about your date?" I ask.

"Actually no. I've been sent with a message."

My smile fades and I frown. A message? I wonder who from. I scrunch up my eyebrows as I try to think. No one needs to send someone to deliver a message. Anyone can come up to me.

"Who from?" I ask.

"Owen."

Owen? Oh, of course! I told him I never wanted to see him again. So he would send Riley. He knows I'll talk to him. Especially since he has always been a great friends to me.

"I don't want to hear anything from Owen. He can come talk to me if he has something to say," I say.

"You told him not to talk to you."

"Well. Okay so that might be true. But he could still try and make an effort."

I shut my locker and turn away. Riley agreed to tell Owen to 'make an effort.' We'll see though. He didn't come after me when I left. He only called me once. He texted me and I told him to leave me alone.

In class he avoids me. Sometimes he won't even make eye contact with me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't care. I do care.

But just like that, he gave up.

It really hurts but at least I know how he is now. He led me to a good guy and I'm glad.

--------

Study hall is awkward.

I'm serious when I say you can feel the tension in here. Tension between Owen and me, Paige and me, Owen and Jake, Hazel and Paige's group. It's just crazy.

The teacher monitors us. They even heard about the fight. If we even push one another, we get sent to the office. It's pretty ridiculous actually.

Jake finally showed up. He's here now and he doesn't really look good. He looks really tired. Maybe I should go talk to him.

Yeah, I will.

I get out of my seat and walk towards him. I pass Paige's group and somehow I end up on the floor.

She just tripped me.

"Seriously?" I yell.

"Watch your step," Ginger says.

In anger I knock her stuff on the ground and say, "Oops. Watch your stuff."

"Miss Holt! Go to the office," My teacher says sternly.

Instead of arguing, I just give the 'mean' girls a look. I wave to Jake and just walk out. The office is somewhat close. I'll just take my time.

Why was I the only one who got in trouble? Paige is the one who did it. And then Ginger just had to join in. Ugh! Why are they trying to ruin my life?

I guess I didn't walk slowly enough. Here I am. Right by the office door. Great. I open the office door and head inside.

"I was sent here from study hall," I say.

"Name?"

I roll my eyes. "Katie Holt."

She picks up the phone. As she types in numbers, she points to the seats. I go and sit down.

Who am I going to talk to? This is probably an assistant principal job. I don't like our assistant principal. She's a grumpy woman that smells like grapes.

Her door opens and I see her coming towards me. Principal Renner opens his door and stops her. He whispers something to her and she goes back to her office.

Principal Renner makes his way towards me.

Oh great.

"Come with me Miss Holt," He says.

I slowly stand up. A flashback of me running into him comes to my mind. I follow him into his office. It's weird here. I've never gotten in trouble before. So this is my first time being here for this.

He motions towards a seat and I sit down in it. He moves to the other side of the desk.

"So Katie. Tell me what happened," Principal Renner says.

Hesitantly I speak up. "Um, well. I got up to say hi to my friend because he just got to school. And he didn't look well. I wanted to make sure he was o-"

Principal Renner clears his throat. "Get to the point."

"Paige Jenkins tripped me. Ginger made a comment and I knocked her stuff down," I rattle off quickly.

He leans back in his seat, putting his hands behind his head. I wait for him to give me a detention or something. Instead, he starts laughing.

Literally laughing at me.

"That's all? Well I see no reason for punishment," He says.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You can go back to class now."

"Thank you so much Principal Renner."

I get up and walk to the door. Right as I reach for the doorknob Principal Renner stops me.

"Next time you want to come visit me, make sure it's for something real. That way you can stay in here longer," He says with a wink.

"I'll think of something better next time," I say and walk out.

Oh my gosh. What's wrong with me? I just flirted with my principal. But he did start it. So I guess it's not a big deal. I don't feel bad for doing it. As long as I'm not in trouble, I'm happy.

I smile at the front desk lady and walk out. She seemed confused but smiles anyway. I'm guessing it has to do with my sudden attitude change.

I walk out of the office. Class is over soon, so instead of going back I just head to my locker.

When I get there I put my combination in and open it. I get my stuff and close the door. I jump when I turn around.

Jake is behind me, leaning against the lockers. He wasn't there a minute ago.

"Jeez Jake! Way to pull a Peter Pan," I say.

"A what?" he laughs.

"You know, a Peter Pan? From Once Upon A Time."

"What are you talking about?" he asks looking very confused.

"You've never watched Once Upon A Time."

He shakes his head.

Wow. That's my favorite show and he's never seen it! That's so sad. Everyone should watch it. And now my reference is pointless.

"Anyway. I came to ask you something," Jake says.

"What is it?"

"Would you like to go out tonight?"

"Like on a date?"

"Yeah. A date," He smiles.

-------------

I'm in Jake's car right now. He came and picked me up at six. I'm really nervous. I've never actually been on a date before. The guys at my school rarely ask you to go on dates. They usually just invite you to parties.

But not Jake.

He's different. He asked me. Now there is a butterfly field in my stomach. Jake looks pretty calm. Which makes me mad because I'm over here about to explode.

The car slowly pulls to a stop and I sit up. We are, I don't know actually. All I can see are trees and grass.

"Where are we?" I ask.

Without answering, Jake gets out of the car and comes to my door. He opens it for me.

Okay. I guess he's not going to tell me. Maybe it's a surprise! Aw! That'd be so sweet! I can't wait.

"Come on," Jake smiles.

He takes my hand and we start walking. He walks towards the trees. Are we really walking through this? I did not dress for this.

He points to a path. Holding a branch back, he motions me to go. I go through and wait for him to follow.

We walk silently for a while. I begin to get nervous again. I don't know where we are going. What if I trip? That'd be so embarrassing.

"Are you okay?" Jake asks.

"Huh? Yeah, fine."

He chuckles. "You're nervous."

"Me? N-no. Of course... Okay. Maybe a little."

He doesn’t say anything else. He just laughs quietly and leads me through the woods.

I see something. It looks like a light. Maybe it's my surprise! Oh I hope it is. I'm sure it's going to be awesome.

"We're almost there," Jake says.

The butterflies in my stomach flutter rapidly as we walk off the path.

I gasp. “Oh my gosh."

There is a small hill in front of me at a distant. On the hill is a blanket with a few candles around it. There looks to be food on there also.

A picnic? Aww! How sweet.

We walk to the blanket and sit down. He picks up a bottle and fills two cups. He hands one to me and we clink our glasses.

"Wow. I didn't think you were the romantic type," I say taking a sip of my drink.

"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me."

"True."

We eat what he brought in silence. He had brought sandwiches and some chips. It wasn't the most romantic meal but I loved it. The whole picnic scene is amazing.

I am really glad Owen ruined everything. I wouldn't have gotten to know Jake.

"The Big Dipper should be, um. Somewhere," Jake says looking around.

We are laying side by side looking at the stars. I grab his hand and point with my finger at a few stars.

"It's right there." I say.

"Oh." He chuckles.

I move to my side and look at him. I place my hand on my temple to keep my head up. Jake looks so peaceful just looking up at the stars. He turns his head towards me and smiles.

"Thank you," I says.

"For what?"

"Not being a jerk," I smile.

"Not all guys are like Owen."

"Good."

I lean closer to him, expecting him to pull away like last time. Okay no. It was me who pulled away but whatever. Those are just minor details. I'm not going to this time.

I notice him slowly moving towards me. As I close my eyes I feel his lips on mine. Tingles shoot through my body. I know that sounds like something from a movie, but it's true. It feels amazing and I couldn't be happier.

Walking back with Jake hand in hand really makes me happy. I'm glad Owen messed up. I know I already said that but I'm serious. He pushed me away. He pushed me right to Jake.

Jake is seriously so sweet! He asked me on a date. A real date. Something I've never on. And it was literally perfect.