Jakoby

"Hey," I say to Ruby, as she pushes through the museum doorway, a few minutes after 4P.M.

I'm leaning on Johnny's red corvette. Thankfully, he was off today and planned to sleep and watch Netflix anyway. I sure got the threats about taking care of his car, though. Don't drive fast. No food in the car. Be back by ten.

I don't like having a curfew but at least he's letting me borrow it for my date with Ruby.

"Woah, nice car," she says with a smile, when she sees me.

    "Yeah, right? I feel fancy," I say.

"Me too."

As she gets close enough to me, I reach for her and pull her against my body. Since we kissed a few nights ago, I feel like I'm allowed to hug her now. She lets me and sighs into my chest before stepping back.

"How was your day?" she asks, looking up at me.

    "Good. I played down at the market for a bit. You?" I answer, as I open the door for her to get in.

"It was okay. Better now," she tells me.

Grinning, I push the door closed and go around to get into the driver's seat. When she's tucked in beside me, everything feels better, like my heart knows how to beat properly when she's close by. I already knew how I felt about her before that kiss, but everything changed between us that night. Because now she knows how she feels about me. I start the car and drive down the road, glancing at her, like I can't keep my eyes off her. She notices and smiles at me.

"Where are we going?" she wants to know, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

    "Surprise?" I say, but it sounds like a question. "Is that okay?"

"Sure."

But I change my mind in a second, for some reason. The innocent look on her face makes me want to tell her. "My mom grew up here," I say, without thinking. "She moved to Akron in college and met my dad... so I was born and raised there."

"Oh." Ruby looks surprised by what I'm telling her. We've spent hours together, talking in the coffee shop, but we haven't yet told each other much about our families or our pasts.

    "When I was younger, my mom would sometimes tell me stories about places she loved when she was a teenager, here in Youngstown. She always told me about this tiny movie theatre her dad would take her to."

"That's where we are going?" Ruby asks, looking excited.

I nod and look back at the road. "They play old movies, some aren't even in English. When I first got here a year ago, I'd go there sometimes and just sit through a few movies. It made me feel close to my Mom."

I don't know why I'm telling her this now. It's going to be our first real date after two weeks of coffee dates and one - amazing - kiss. I'm feeling like I can open up to her more, even if she's not as ready to do the same.

She looks like she's going to say something but then she just bites her bottom lip and nods. "That sounds really nice."

When I park the car in the back parking lot of the theatre and we get out, I walk around the car and immediately slip my hand into hers. There's not really any other cars in the lot and I know on a Tuesday it's not going to be busy. She lets me hold her hand as we walk towards the front of the building and go inside.

The lobby is exactly how I remember it, though I haven't been here in months. Small, with just one little ticket booth and a tiny concession stand. There's an older man behind it the booth, looking right at us.

"Welcome to the Crestview Theatre!" he shouts.

   "Thanks," I say right away, then look at Ruby. She's looking around, bewildered. "Um, so, it looks like it's either one of two movies. Both are pretty old. One's in Spanish."

She lets out a laugh and shrugs. "Either is fine with me."

I buy two tickets for Los tres Garcia and we head towards Theatre One. She's smiling as I buy a tub of popcorn and then we enter the theatre and climb to the back row and sit in the middle. The rest of the theatre is empty, like I expected.

"Confession?" she says once we're settled in our seats, almost whispering.

I nod, waiting.

"I've never been to a movie theatre."

    "What?" I yell, without even thinking.

She shrugs. "Uh, well, yeah. Never."

"How is that possible?" I want to know.

    "Just... circumstances," she says and looks at her hands. "I mean, I was in the foster system from nine to eighteen. Before that, my home life wasn't ideal, either. We didn't really do normal family things."

"Oh. Right. I'm sorry." I keep my eyes on her even though she's looking away.

She just gave me something, a little bit of herself, her past, and all I feel is grateful. I've been hoping for her to open up a bit for weeks, and now it's finally starting to happen.

A few minutes later, the movie starts up. Ruby looks right up at me and then slips her hands back into mine, leaving it resting on my leg. A jolting sensation whips through my body.

"It's okay," she finally says. "I don't talk about it, really. It's just... this is really cool for a first date."

   "Yeah?" I ask, wanting her to confirm.

She nods and then blushes a bit. "It's my first real date, too."

"Okay, that can't be true."

She shrugs again. "I wouldn't lie about that."

I'm trying to recover from the shock of this all. She's never been to a movie theatre? Okay. But she's never been on a real date? She's twenty-one, beautiful and amazing, and funny. How is this possible?

"I'm glad it's with me, then," I tell her, squeezing her hand a bit tighter.

    "Me, too."

Neither of us understands the movie but there are subtitles. I only know half of what's going on because I spend so much time looking at Ruby. She's wearing her "work clothes" which are jeans a blue cardigan today, but she's so simply beautiful that it doesn't matter what she wears. Her hair is down. She's got lip gloss on, and mascara. Her hand fits perfectly in mine and I feel like pinching myself to see if this is real.

The movie is pretty close to the end when she turns to me and brings her mouth so close to my ear. "Thank you for this, Jakoby."

"You like the movie?" I tease her. I know what she means.

    "Yeah," she says anyway.

I turn my head and bring my mouth to hers, connecting us once again. Her lips are sweet and soft and wet and I push my tongue into her mouth after she opens for me. She might not have been expecting the kiss but she's happy to have it. I'm feeling greedy but I remind myself to go slow. She wants this as bad as I do, a realize pretty quickly, and she's in my lap, facing me, a moment later. I can't thinking straight as her hands go through my hair and my hands go to her hips.

She's not holding back and it surprises me this time, because she's been fairly uncertain about us until a few days ago, when she kissed me after my gig. When she pulls back and opens her eyes, it's like we're transported back to earth.

She's panting and her cheeks are flushed and then she looks half embarrassed and half in shock. "Oh my god."

"What?" I ask, but I can't help but laugh. She said that last time we kissed, too.

    "I don't know what just came over me."

"Well, I liked it," I say with a laugh.

She slides back into her seat. "Yeah. Me too."

She's quiet for the last ten minutes of the movie, but I don't mind at all. I can't stop thinking about this. Us. How fucking lucky I am to be here with her. She's opening up to me, slowly. She's showing me pieces of herself and I'll take everything she gives me.

It's a little after 10P.M. when I pull up to her apartment building. I want to keep her here with me a little longer, so I text Johnny, I'll be home soon. She's not in a hurry to get out of the car, which I'm thankful for.

I'm so ready to ask her what we are. I'd love to know that she's feeling the same way I am about us, although after that kiss in the theatre, I assume it's yes. I just don't want to push her now.

She reaches over and grabs my hand and laces her fingers through mine. A sweet smile forms on her lips. "Tonight was so... perfect."

"I was worried you'd think a creepy old movie theatre would be lame for a date," I admit.

She laughs and then covers her mouth. "No. I didn't think that."

"Good. And I have an idea for our next date."

   "You do? Do you think I'm going to agree to a second date?"

I grunt. "You said it was perfect."

"True." She grins as she rubs small circles with her thumb on my hand. It's the best thing I've ever felt.

   "There's these trails that run through the forest on the outside of town. They go on forever and it feels like you could just get lost out there."

"You want get lost with me?" she asks, wonder in her expression.

    "I would love that."

She nods and I know she's agreeing to this next date. "As long as there will be hot coffee at the end, if we make it out alive."

"Deal." I grin at her and she takes in a deep breath.

   "Okay, see you soon?" It's not really a question but it sounds like one.

"You know it."

A moment later she leans in quickly and kisses my cheek and then pushes the door open and hops out. She doesn't look back as she shuts the door and wanders off towards the building, but I feel like I can't breathe for the entire drive back to my apartment.