Ugh! Why was Drew so hot as hell?

She really liked Ronan, and now she was interested in talking to another guy. What was wrong with her?

But she told Ronan she was not ready for a relationship, so it was not like he was her boyfriend. They were already two months into school, what was wrong with having another friend that was a guy?

"Girl Drew is a hottie," Tori said to her.

"I know!"

"So is Ronan."

"I know! And sweet. And a great kisser."

"Gone 'head girl, be a player. Ain't nothing wrong, ain't nothing wrong."

She was hanging out at the Kingdom Mall with Tori as they ate lunch on her break. She still was the only girlfriend she had. It was hard to make friends with girls when they looked at her and were instantly jealous. Of her? Little old Nola Kelly?

Tori was different. She had a good feeling about it.

"I'm trying to find at least one guy interested in me and you have hella."

Sure she did, especially if she thought of Brendan. She had not heard from him since finishing the case, just as she wanted. Hopefully, he would move on and see if he could make a relationship with Gina. He deserved to have someone in his life that cared for him...long as she was not going to continue to be a stalker.

If things worked with them, it would make a great book. I fell in love with my stalker.

"My last two relationships...my only two relationships, I think they messed me up from anyone else," Nola stated, tossing around her salad. "Perez was a cheater cheater pumpkin eater, Tone, fell for me and I could not return those feelings. I don't want to do any of that to the next guy."

"Tone fly as hell, girllll, whyyyy would you give that man up?"

Now she sounded like her sister Tennille.

"Looks aren't the only thing. I just never looked at him like that. He was there when I needed, him and gave me what I wanted at the time."

"Then just go out with the Drew guy and see how you feel. It's called dating. You go on dates."

That was true. So after she left Tori she went home and returned Drew's text that she ignored.

Are you free?

Sure what's up?

Want to go to a movie with me?

Sure. Send me the details and we can meet up

She found a movie she wanted to see and texted him the time and place. She changed into something cute and refreshed her makeup. She felt pretty today, so at least that would give her a confidence boost.

She drove to the movie plex and parked. As she was walking to the building, she received a text from Ronan.

Her heart fluttered seeing his text.

I miss you

Damn, while she was out on a date with another guy. What was wrong with her?

She convinced herself this was fine, going on a date with another guy was fine. This is what girls her age did. She went inside, having already ordered both their tickets online. Since she was the one asking for the date, she felt it was only right.

Drew showed up a bit late for her liking. She liked to see the previews and they were starting now, and they had not made it in yet.

"Want popcorn or something?" he asked her. "Since you bought the tickets, I will spend all my money on this high-end popcorn for you."

Why was she still upset over him being late? She decided to say nothing about it.

"No, I don't eat all that buttery junk food. We need to go find our seats, the movie will start soon."

She led him to their seats. They had missed a few previews, catching the tail end of one. Yeah, she was pissed.

Then he tried to hold her hand while they sat there. She snatched it away from him.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said, knowing she was overreacting. "Germs and such, I don't like touching hands."

"My bad."

Far as he was concerned, the date was over. She was just at the movies and some cute guy was sitting next to her. Once the movie started, he decided he did want popcorn so he left to go get some.

She looked down at her phone and texted Ronan back

What are you up to?

Studying

On a Friday night?

What else is there to do, unless you want to come over

Now she felt bad that she was on a date and he was somewhere buried in a book. She was a bad evil person. What was she supposed to text him back? That she was on a date with another guy?

All she could do was stare at the phone and not respond. Finally, he texted her back.

Sorry, you are probably on a date

Now how would he know that? She felt a chill and then looked around the barely full movie theater. How could he know she was on a date? She did not tell him she was seeing other people.

She still could not respond to that, so he answered back.

No worries. I will see you later. Have fun

She should have responded. She should have said something. Her silence was telling. She continued to stare at her phone, thinking of something to say when Drew came back with his popcorn.

"I wish I was as healthy as you to resist." He munched on some. "Popcorn is my weakness."

The fact that he was still talking to her after she snatched her hand away so rudely was points for him. She cut off her phone, put it away, and tried to be a better date.

"Okay, maybe I will have a little." She grabbed some of his popcorn to munch on.

After the movie, she wanted to jet and go to her place ASAP, but Drew wanted to hang out some more. So they sat in his car and talked.

"Come on Nola, a movie is not a great date spot, we barely said two words to each other. I'm trying to get to know you."

"Pretty much my whole family is all over the news, what do you need to know?"

"I want to know the real Nola Kelly. I don't listen to any of that I hear about you or your sisters. I mean, I heard about it, but I'm not from around here. I don't even listen to rap so I didn't know who Ice...Iceman or Factory Hits were."

She laughed so loud at that. Where had this boy been he had not heard of the biggest rap crew from the last few years? Even if he did not listen to rap, their names and faces were everywhere. He was a junior in college at Missouri State Unive, that's all most of the students talked about. This boy was living in a cave or something.

"It's Icee and Fact Iz."

"Icee like the drink? The slushie."

She laughed again at him. Now she was enjoying herself again. He was funny.

"No! He calls himself Icee because of all the ice he wears. You know, diamonds. Also, it's his initials, I.C. for Isaac Curtis."

"Oh! I get it."

"If you don't listen to rap, what do you listen to?"

"Country."

"Country?" She looked him up and down. "It's giving...you white, huh? I thought you had some Black in you?"

"One race doesn't own any form of music, Nola. Open your ears. Besides, you grew up in Springfield, isn't it a hop, skip and jump away from Branson, one of country music's biggest cities?"

"Yeah but..." She had nothing for that. Sure, she heard lots of country music in her life, some that was pretty good, but that did not mean she was a fan. She was strictly hip hop and R&B, maybe some Pop if it had soul to it.

Drew fiddled with his phone and then Bluetooth played some music on the car. Something country. She groaned at it. Not her type of music at all.

"You don't like this?"

"No, it's just...not something I would listen to and relax to."

"And you'd relax to rap?"

"Yes! The right song." She thought of Tone and her brother's song. She really liked that song, partly because she was there when they wrote it. She picked up her phone to play it for him, "Now cut that off and let me play you something."

He turned his song off and she played "Don't Look Down" for him. Not the remix, that one blew chunks because it had Riyah on it.

Drew nodded his head a bit to it.

"Okay, I think this is different. At least I can understand what the guy is trying to say."

She wondered if she should tell him the guy was her ex. No, she would not, and she would not tell him that CJ was her brother.

"I think I will trust the taste of someone so smart as you." He grinned at her and she remembered how hot he was. She wanted to play in his curly hair but remembered this was only a first date.

"You're pretty smart too, Mr. Engineer. I'll at least give country music a shot."

"I like talking to you, Nola. I'm glad you did whatever voodoo you do and knew all those things about me. That's still wild."

"I'm not done. Now that I've gotten to know you...you were valedictorian right?"

"How did you-"

"Small town, small school, and you're pretty smart, not such a long shot. I was valedictorian too, a year ahead of the class I started with. High school was rough for me." Besides never fitting in, she felt so lonely even though Tennille was there for part of it. "My mom had passed away by then."

"Oh shit, sorry."

"No, it's cool."

"So, I guess you're a smarty pants like me."

"I do okay," she said with a smile.

"At least you have your sisters. I didn't even have that."

She felt sorry for all only children. That had to be rough. They continued to talk all night and she lost track of time. Finally, they said good night and he walked her to her car.

"Can I give you a hug?"

"Sure."

He put his arms around her, squeezed her slightly, and released. "Thanks for going out with me. I hope I can do it again."

"Me too." She was glad she gave him a shot. He was a cool dude.

A/N: This is just normal life for Noka. No trying to be a badass. No solving cases with Victor. Just having fun.

Now you know that won't let long 😈