"Well, I'll see you around." I say, stepping out the door.

Cassy and I start walking towards the car.

"I can drive." I remind her.

She groans and tossed me the keys. "Thank you."

"Hey, wait up!" A voice yelled.

I turned around to see who it was.

"I'll be in the car." Cassy said.

Why did he follow us out here?
___

"What are you doing? You should be inside," I say.

"I need to talk to you," He answers, panting.
He must have ran out here.

"Well, start talking" I retort, crossing my arms.

"Well, um..." His large hand reached up to the back of his neck, rubbing it nervously.
"Let me take you out tonight."

"Why should I?" I question, crossing my arms.

He chuckled. "Because you'll have a nice time."

"Hmm, I'm kind of tired. I don't need to have any nice times."

"Quit being stubborn, just let me take you on a date."

"Oh, now it's a date?"

"Correction: it has been."

"Since when?" I scoff.

"Since the minute you entered the party last night."

_________

Stepping into our apartment, I let out an exasperated sigh. Cassy is still tired from last night, so we just ordered pizza to be delivered.
When it came, we dug in and talked about the events of last night.

Surprisingly, she was able to recall the majority of it. I was embarrassed to admit that I only remember being with Jay.

"I still can't believe that you agreed to go on a date with him!" She said, shaking her head slightly.

"It's just one date," I retort.
"After that, he'll probably leave me alone."

"Then you can focus your attention on Jackson," She suggests with a grin.

"Whatever you say, Cassy."

I got up from the couch, walking into my room. Originally, I wasn't going to dress up for this date. But Cassy insists that I go all out, making him
'see what he's going to miss'. Those were Cassy's words, not mine.

My hair was curled at the ends, along with my face being coated with a light layer of makeup.
I was wearing a skater skirt, paired with a casual top.

As much as I just want to rip these clothes off and put on some ripped jeans and a t-shirt, I guess I have to impress this guy.

I still don't understand why I'm impressing him, if Cassy so strongly thinks that I shouldn't get into a relationship with him.

A knock on the door pulls me from my thoughts, so I go to answer the door.

Too bad Cassy already beat me to it.

I found her harassing the poor guy.
"Oh, it's you" She spat.

"It's me. Why, did you expect someone else?" He responds, holding back his snappy tone.

"Raina told me that she had a date, but I was kind of hoping she meant with Jackson," I clear my throat, making the two heads turn my way.

If I wasn't so annoyed with the girl, I would be amused at the fact that she is toying so hard with this guy.

Jay flashed me one of his charming smiles, and I return the gesture.

"You look beautiful," He compliments.

"Whatever..." My voice trails off.
"You don't look too bad yourself." I say back in awe.

Jay cleans up well.
He was dressed in a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He paired it with skinny jeans, not failing to add the casual touch.

"It's because he's a playboy. He's had experience, so he knows how to dress on dates," She sneers.

"That's enough, Cassy" I warn.

We then bid her goodbye, leaving the apartment.

Jay lead me to his car, opening the passenger door so that I could get in. I stood in place, not moving.
My eyebrows raised and I stared at him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, examining me closely.

"Oh no, everything's fine" I state. "I was just wondering where those manners came from."

Jay's eyes rolled at my joke. "Just get in."
Giggling, I obeyed and got inside of the car.

I expected the car ride to be long and awkward, but it wasn't. It was pretty long, considering the fact that we are still in the car. But it was not awkward at all.
We talked about anything and everything, never running out of things to say.

One thing I grew to admire about Jay, is that he knows when to say things. His words are always appropriate, and at the right time.

He refused to tell me where we were going though. I'm not one for surprises, so I continued to ask.
But the bad boy wouldn't budge.

"If you are taking me to a fancy restaurant, you may as well let me out of the car now." I tease, watching for his reaction.

His face dropped, and he glanced at me.
"Should I cancel the reservations?"

I waited for a smirk to form in his lips, telling me that he was only kidding. But that smirk never came, and he was completely serious.

"W-well I d-don't know" I stammered out, not knowing how to respond. Fancy restaurants aren't my thing, as I always feel underdressed.

He gives me a knowing nod, fishing the cell phone out of the pocket of his pants. He dialed a number and pressed the phone to his ear, waiting to hear someone pick up.

"Yes, I would like to cancel the reservation for Park." He requested, watching the road closely.

My conscience told me to yell at him for being on the phone while driving, but I bit my tongue.

"No, a change of plans came up," He stated, taking another glance at me.

After a short silence, he thanked the person on the other line and hung up the phone.

"So tell me," he said. "What would you like to do?"

"I'm sorry that you cancelled the reservations," I apologize, slouching guiltily in my seat.

"Forget the reservations. I want you to have a good time," He assured, reaching for my hand. He held it lightly, but I placed it back on the wheel.
He then shot me a weird look.

"Both hands on the wheel, stupid." I inform, giving him a grin. He grinned back, laughing at my strict side.

Jay said that he was taking me on this date to impress me. But to be completely honest, I was already impressed.

Not by the dressing up or holding doors open for me. I'm impressed because he's already showing signs that he will go through the effort to catch my attention.

Maybe I don't give him enough credit, but I still think that he's no good.

I had mentioned to him earlier that I enjoy walking through parks or paths, so he decided to take me to a place where we could roam around.

While we were walking, there was numerous times where Jay tried holding my hand.
I objected every time, crossing my arms so that he would not have access.

"Why won't you let me hold your hand?" He asked, watching my face.

I shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "We don't know each other that well."

"I like to think we do" He said sweetly, turning my head towards him.

"Actually, now that I think about it..." I trail off filling him with curiosity. Jay scanned my eyes.
"I know more about you than I care to," I finish with a smirk.

He belted out a laugh, throwing his head back in the process. "You are so mean to me."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are, princess." He cooed.

After walking for awhile, we decided to fetch something to eat. Jay took us to a small place, not many people knew about it. I was surprised that he knew of such a place since he's all about showing his money.

Word has been going around about Jay being a hip hop artist, releasing songs and becoming big. His raps were about how amazing he is, and that he gets all the girls. This is why I was not surprised that he managed to slip it into the conversation.

"So, are you a fan of my music?" He asked sitting back cockily.

I sipped my drink, stalling for my answer.
"Nope," I said with a shrug.

Jay's eyes widened. "Serious?"

"I mean, you have talent. But that's just not my style," I admit. I was going to tell him that he is absolutely disgusting, but there's no denying that he has a gift.

He was very surprised that I don't listen to his music regularly, and he never mentioned again after that.
Maybe I humbled him a bit, heh.

Talking to Jay put a smile on my face. He didn't make small talk with me, asking my favorite color or something ridiculous like that. We talked about things that caught our interest. I am one to have deep conversations-- not shallow, meaningless ones.

It still shocks me that Jay is such a relatable person, I partially misjudged him. I thought that he would boast about himself the whole time, annoying me to no end.

But that is not the case. I enjoyed talking to him, and there was not one occasion that made me ready to go home.

_

After an enjoyable night, Jay took me home. He walked all of the way up to my door to make sure that I made it inside.

"Ugh, I'm glad that's over with," Cassy scoffed after I bid my farewells. I rolled my eyes subtly, turning to face her.

"He's not that bad," I state.
Cassy waited a second, making sure that I am not joking.

"Not that bad? He's awful!" She exclaimed, staring at me in awe.

"I actually had a nice time," I answer, walking over to hang up my coat.

"Psh, I don't believe that. But whatever, you agreed to only have one date with him," She said with a sigh. "We don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Yeah," I lied, walking into my room.
What she doesn't know is that I was secretly hoping that Jay would ask me out again.