On waking up Saturday morning, I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. I mean, this was technically my first date. I really didn't trust myself not to do something stupid and embarrassing.

With Dami's help, my face was beat to perfection. She gave me a nude look and accentuated my lips with some gloss.

My hair was braided and then the turban was fixed on it.

I selected a pair of ripped jeans and a white top and put on one of the boots I'd gotten yesterday. Then I turned to Dami for the verdict.

"You look fabulous." She said, giving me two thumbs up while crunching on some cheese balls.

"Thanks!" I said enthusiastically.

We both went down to the living room to wait for Isaac since he said he'd pick me up. Apparently the movie was by 12, he said he would be at my house by 11 to drive me there.

Few minutes before eleven, I heard a car honk at the gate. Dami escorted me out.

When I saw him, my breath hitched for a second. He looked absolutely chill in a pair of black jeans and an Ankara top. He was leaning against his car, grinning at me with that mischievous look in his eyes. I bared my teeth awkwardly.

"Hey," I said, hating the shaky quality of my voice.

"Mavis. You look beautiful." He said, looking at me appreciatively. His eyes scanned behind me and landed on Dami. "Oh, hey."

Dami shuffled weirdly, seeming flustered. "Isaac, how far?"

I frowned. Something was off.

"I'm good. We'll be off now. Do you need a ride home?" Isaac asked.

She shook her head quickly. "No, I'll just catch a cab. You guys have fun, okay?" She said looking at me.

"Alright. Text me when you get home." I said.

She nodded and hailed and empty taxi. "Drop."

"Where?" The driver asked.

"Golf estate." She replied.

"Enter." He said.

Dami gave me one last glance before entering and the taxi sped off. Isaac held the door open for me, I entered and buckled in.

"Thanks," I said with a smile once he'd settled in.

"No problem." He replied. He seemed off.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Why not?" He replied curiously, eyeing me sideways while driving.

"Nothing you just seem a bit off." I said honestly.

"I'm good. So where are you from?" He asked.

"From my dad I inherited Canadian genes, from my mom Mexican genes. We lived in Canada all my life before moving here." I replied easily. "What about you?"

"Well both of my parents are from Lagos state. But due to work my family moved around a lot before settling here in Port Harcourt." He said, smiling fondly at the thought of his family.

"Do you have a big family?" I asked.

"Three younger brothers. We're four children. What about you?"

"Just me. I sometimes wonder what it feels like to have siblings." I admitted, biting my lip.

"Amazing but sometimes annoying. Brothers are cool. We play video games and talk about the most random things. But we get on each other's nerves a lot. That's family though." He replied.

"I never had any close friends that were like family. I used to be the weird kid in my previous school. The people were nice but I was just too awkward and shy." I admitted.

"That must've been hard. I guess it's quite a change here." He said.

"Yeah. The people here are so nice." I replied.

"We're here." He said, driving into a large complex.

"Whoa. This is really nice." I said, looking around.

"You get used to it after a while. Come on let's go in." Isaac said with a smile, getting out of the car.

I followed suit and he locked the car, grabbing my hand gently. I felt butterflies flutter about in my stomach.

We walked in hand-in-hand, and I drank in my surroundings.

"So this is Spar, we go here to watch movies and shop basically. The cinemas are on the last floor. Let's use the escalators." He said.

I followed him, intrigued.

I felt very nervous because I was meeting his friends and I had no idea if they would be as welcoming as he had been thus far. My inner clutz was threatening to reveal herself.

"Relax, M. They'll love you." Isaac said with a wink.

We finally reached the last floor and he guided me past different restaurants and towards the cinemas.

Once we got in, I immediately spotted his friends, a group of rowdy, attractive teenagers in Ankara.

Isaac held my hand tighter while we walked to them. They immediately spotted us and all of them smiled widely.

"Hey guys. This is Mavis." Isaac introduced.

There were four others besides us. Three guys and a girl. The girl didn't seem so happy to share the attention so she basically ignored my presence.

Ouch.

"Mavis, such a pretty name for a gorgeous girl." A guy with spiky hair dyed blond complimented, taking my hand and kissing it tenderly. "I'm Tolu."

The girl snorted, not looking up from her phone, "What an idiot."

"Mimi be nice." Another guy chided. "I'm Eric." He was cute, average height and muscular.

Mimi eyed me sceptically. Raising a delicate brow. She was hands down the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. Petite and curvy in all the right places, she wore black ripped jeans with a button up shirt which had half of it in Ankara and half in black.

The print on her shirt matched her purse, and one delicate sandal-clad foot rested against her other knee. "I'm Miracle, a miracle. Call me Mimi, though." She said. Even her voice was pretty.

"I'm Mavis." I said.

"Two M's. Cool." She said with a half smile.

The last guy half-waved at me. "I'm Samuel." He wore glasses and black on black. He was the only one not wearing Ankara.

"It feels good to have another girl here. These idiots were starting to drain my IQ." Mimi said, rolling her eyes at said idiots. It seemed I had misjudged her. I suddenly felt comfortable, she had a nice aura.

"Um, guys? I'm still standing here." Isaac said, looking unimpressed.

"Oh really? We hadn't noticed." Mimi said snarkily, rolling her eyes. I snickered and she gave me a mischievous wink.

"Have you guys gotten the tickets?" Isaac asked, ignoring her.

"Yeah but we weren't sure what Mavis would like to get so we didn't get you any snacks." Tolu answered.

"That's fine. M, let's get some snacks." He said to me, releasing his hand and placing it on my back, guiding me to the queue for snacks.

We kept discussing until it was our turn.

"What would you like?" The attendant asked, smiling politely.

"I'll have a large popcorn and a coke." Isaac said, then turned to me.

"Medium popcorn and Chi exotic." I said, twiddling my thumbs.

"You're so cute." Isaac said, looking at me with amusement and wonder while the attendant got our snacks ready.

I only smiled bashfully and looked at the floor. Isaac handed over his ATM card for payment.

I looked around, noticing that some girls were looking at him appreciatively. I couldn't blame them. He was quite attractive.

People here didn't really treat me differently. Well they did, in a good way. Everyone was so eager to help and give assistance. I felt so welcomed. I hadn't encountered any racist comments or such. I felt happy.

The attendant gave us our snacks and we went to join the others, sitting down.

After a few minutes, we were told that the movie was starting. Isaac took my hand once more and we went to the movie room we were directed to.

His friends kept chattering animatedly, and I joined them here or there. I felt really comfortable and welcomed. It was way different from my previous school.

While the advertisements rolled, Isaac and I added each other on social networks and took various selfies together. Since schooling in Nigeria, I'd had over 10 thousand followers from my school and other places. I guess you could say I'd become super popular.

Soon, the movie started. Isaac linked his hand in mine and I couldn't help but think-

It was a foreign country, yes. But it felt more like home.

--

A/N

So I felt the beginning of the chapter was a bit eh. I like the ending, though. The date will continue in the next chapter.

Picture attached is Mavis' outfit for the movie. Dope or Nah?

Lastly, sorry for mistakes. I'm currently suffering from malaria and college sucks. This chapter is unedited.

-Rhys