Feeling The End Of The World.

Chapter 1

“I have to buy a dress today!” I excitedly say to my best friend Maya.

“Oh yeah, you have a date with Nathan tonight!” She giggles while covering her mouth with her hand.

My cheeks burn bright red and I feel my ears get hot. My date with Nathan tonight is my first authentic date. I’ve dated guys in high school but none of them ever took me out to dinner or to watch a movie, so this is new to me. My nerves are through the roof. He said, ‘I’ll pick you up at 8:00pm, dress up.’ He had winked at me as he climbed into the driver seat of his bright red Dodge Charger. My face flushing from the memory.

“Are you excited?” Maya asked me, sensing my anxiety.

“I think I’ll be okay. Besides we’ve known each other since we were 17 years old.” I recall our last two years of high school together.

Nathan was out going in high school, very much a social butterfly. The kind of guy who would jump down onto the football field and cheer with the cheer leaders during a football game. He was in drama class, performed in the leading roles, participated in the talent show. While I was quiet, sat in the back of the class with my head down to avoid being called on by the teacher. We were cut from different cloths, he needed attention on him while I despised it. During lunch our junior year we had assigned lunch seating, fate thought the funniest joke would be to make sure he was one of the 5 people who sat at my lunch table. We’d gotten to know each other very well during that year and our friendship stayed strong our senior year. Once you became Nathan’s friend he never forgot about you. I smile to myself as flash backs of us in high school cross my mind.

“I think I’ll run to TJ Maxx, for a dress. They’ll have something cute but not too dressy.” I think out loud to Maya.

“Can I come with? I love looking at the coffee cups!” Maya whines.

“Of course, you boob. Who else is going to tell me what looks good on me.” I laugh and roll my eyes.

I grab my car keys and wallet on my way out the front door. It only took 10 minutes to get to TJ Maxx, but with the way my heart was fluttering it felt longer. As we walk in the front doors I make my way towards the women’s section while Maya straight shots for the back of the store to look at the cups. I rummage through a couple dresses picking out a couple before heading to Maya to drag her to the dressing rooms. The first dress I try on made me look like a box. The second dress was dark cherry red, shirt above the knee in the front with a long flowing train in the back, it had gold glitter embedded in it. While it was cute I dodn’t want to seem like I was trying too hard. The last dress; solid black, floor length, and hugged my body in all the right places. I didn’t want things to move too quickly but I did want to show off the goods a bit.

“Oh my gosh Lila! That’s the one, your boobs and butt look so good.” Maya basically screams for all of TJ Maxx to hear. Maya is always this excited and loud, how we became best friends, I’m not sure. It’s almost like she knew how introverted I was and thought she could change me.

“Maya! Shhh. Geez.” My face burns bright.

“No, you look so good. You have to buy it!” She screams again.

“I’ll buy it, but please stop screaming. They might think I’m murdering you in here.” I laugh.

We head to the check out, purchase our items and make our way back home. By the time we get back it’s 7:00pm, I’ve got just enough time to get ready. I shower, blow dry my hair and apply some make up. I check the time on my phone, 7:55pm my heart skips a beat. I’m adding the finishing touches and jewelry when I hear his car turn onto my road. I look at myself in the mirror before rushing downstairs to Maya.

“How do I look?” I nervously ask.

“You look so pretty, I’m going to cry.” She exaggerates, fanning her eyes to keep the fake tears from

spilling.

“Phew. Okay. I’ve got this. Is it too late to cancel?” I say to myself out loud.

“Stop you’ll be okay.” Maya rubs my back trying to comfort my nerves.

There’s a knock on the door. My heart slams, like a truck hitting me full force. Time stood still, Maya looked like she was walking in slow motion as she ran for the restroom to hide. I slowly turn and walk towards the door, my senses fading, I’m on autopilot. I reach for the door knob and swing it open. I look up my eyes meeting the most bright beautiful blue eyes. Everything goes back to normal in an instant. Nathan is standing there in a black v neck shirt, ironed Khakis and a pair of black shoes to match his shirt. His black curly hair styled over to the right side, his beard perfect trimmed. He smiles wide and holds out his hand, he’s holding a bundle of sunflowers and roses. I look at them and back at him.

“How did you know these are my favorite flowers?” I ask him shocked that he’d brought them for me.

“You mentioned it our senior year.” he smirked.

“Thank you so much!” I say while grabbing the flowers.

“Of course. Are you ready to go?” He asked holding his arm out for me to grab hold. My cheeks burn immediately.

“Yes.” I manage to squeeze out before grabbing hold of his arm.

He leads me to the passenger side of his car and opens the door for me. I smile and slide inside. I’m still super nervous but I can feel myself calming down slowly. Nathan opens his door and gets in, he quickly starts the car and starts to pull away.

“You look really beautiful Lila.” He says after a moment of silence, his voice catching a bit. I couldn’t tell if he was as nervous as me, I will say I’ve never seen Nathan so quiet.

“Thank you, you look really handsome as well.” I’m tomatoe red…I can feel it.

“Thank you.” He smiles at me. He’s super hot and he knows it. All the girls in our high school had crushes on him. He was a ladies man, between his bright blue eyes, muscles and bread, he was beating the girls off of him everyday. Nathan reached over and turned on the radio, probably to flush out the awkward silence. I can’t think of anything to say, and when I finally do my brain goes silent. I keep glancing over at him out of the corner of my eye, he’s gotten hotter since we graduated. I catch him looking over at me a couple of times and can’t help myself but smile. We arrive at a nice sushi restaurant downtown, Nathan parks the car and gets out. I go to open my door but before I can Nathan is already at my door. He holds his arm out for me to hold and we walk towards the restaurant.