Chapter 7: Sophomore Year Part 1

"For someone that lives next door, he sure is late," dad says in a stern voice.

"Dad," I say to him for the hundredth time. When I told him I was going out with Sam, he locked up, struggling to say the word date. I'm excited, scared, and sweaty. Why am I sweating so much? Even in my armpits. I wipe my hands on my skirt and shake my hands. Mom, of course, was excited, so we went shopping. I settled for blue pants since we'll be outside. It shocked me when he asked me out after rehearsal, shocked that he was even interested. I tap my foot against our footstool, checking the time. "He said 8, it's 7:57."

"I'm just saying he should be prompt." He tugs the end of his sleeves and rolled them up like he was getting ready for a fight. "Where's he taking you?"

"The movies." I took out my lip gloss to retouch.

"Movies, huh?"

"Yes dad. The movies. You know, with the big screen and we eat popcorn and candy. Didn't you have that back in the day? It Costs like 50 cents for the drive in films," I smile tightly.

"Hahaha," he chuckles sarcastically.

"Don't worry, we're going in a group. They'll meet us there."

"Good." I roll my eyes and scoff to myself. The doorbell rings. He's here. I stand up, brushing my dress down. Dad reached for the door before I could.

"Dad!" I whine. I walk up when he opens the door.

"Good evening sir," Sam says in a gentle tone.

"Young man, I expect my daughter home at a reasonable time," he says bluntly.

"Honey, stop." Mom pushes him away with her hips. "Hello Sam."

"Good evening, ma'am. Sir, I'll have her home by 11." I wipe off excess lip gloss from my bottom lip with my fingernail.

"Forgive Maya's father. He's the same way with our son."

"Excuse me for not wanting unwanted pregnancies." He holds his hands up in defense.

"That's not gonna happen," I chime in, pushing my way in. "Hi." I fix the ends of my hair.

"Hi. You look great." He smiles.

"Thanks. You too. I like your jacket." Sam is dressed appropriately. Not too fancy or too casual. The black jacket compliments his frame. His trousers are fitted and he wore jordans. I rock back and forth on my heels.

"Thanks. I pull it off, huh?" He adjusts his collar.

"Yeah."

"We should be going. Jessica and Evan are waiting for us."

"Ok." I grab my purse, give mom a hug as she tells me to have fun.

"Remember, your body, your rules. Not your body, his rules," dad says in my ear when we hug.

"Yes, father. Bye."I shut the door, growling to myself,"sorry about that." I wear the strap of my purse over my chest.

"I get it. Are you ready?" He gestures to his car.

"Yes." We walk side by side to the driveway, he unlocks the doors with his car remote. He climbs in first. I walk over. He winds down the window.

"It's open," he tells me. I enter, wearing my seatbelt, waiting for him to get inside. He's texting on his phone before we leave. I look around the car, noticing the hanging scented tree over the rearview mirror. We drive in silence, I breathe out a sigh. It's fine, I can open my own door.

He turns on the radio. I smile, "thanks." the song by halsey plays, I bob my head to the beat.

I open my mouth and then close it. What can I say? I tap against the door, looking everywhere else. Should I tell him he has a nice car?

"Are you ok?" He asks, turning a corner.

"Uh-huh. It's my first date. I'm kind of nervous." I admit.

"I'm aware." he chuckles.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't see you out with anyone from school. Or out for dates. If you have a double life I don't know about, you can tell me."

I laugh, "like I'm Hannah Montana."

"Right." He chuckles.

"My dad's not a retired rockstar. He works in an office. No one has asked me out before." I've had crushes. One sided crushes.

"I'm honored."

"Honored?"I smile when he turns to me.

"I mean, you're lucky. You're with me." The light from the moon hits his face when he grins. My gut did flips.

"Mmmm." I have no idea what to say after that. The rest of the drive is quiet until we arrive. He parks in front of the AMC theater. Jessica is in front waiting for us. Tapping her foot, she opens and closes her jeans jacket. Her hair down to her shoulders, she tugs on the ends. I get out of the car, he locks it back when I close it. I pull down the hem of my shirt when it hikes up. She waves to us, gesturing to us to come on.

"Hey," I wave.

"Hi. What's your name again?" Jessica asks with a squint.

"Um, Maya." I grin, looking back and forth to her and Sam.

"Oh, ok. And you go to our school?"She raises one of her eyebrows.

"Yes, we have the same English class." How did she not know this? We were in the same group project for Moby Dick. In English."

"Oh. Ok. Nice. Sam, hi!" She jumps up, staring right into his face. She's enthusiastic.

"Hey. let's head on in." He points with his thumb.

"Wait, I got to call Evan again. He was supposed to meet up with us." She holds up one finger and taps on her phone. I look around, wrapping my arms around my waist. Jessica begins to talk frantically on her phone. I swish my mouth side to side as we wait. Sam scratches his forehead.

"Ugh!" Jessica throws her arms up. "He's not coming. He has the flu." her tone is down, rolling her eyes.

"That sucks," I say, pouting my bottom lip, "so do we postpone?"

"What? No. The seats are filling up. The next showing is in a month," Sam explains. That's true. The movie is highly anticipated and I didn't want to wait too long to see it. Three people for a date?

"We can still see it," I say with a shrug. "Let's go in."

"I can go home," Jessica says.

"We can all go. No one gets left behind. Besides Evan. We can visit him tomorrow," Sam suggests.

"Yes. I can bring him soup!" Jessica says, clapping her hands four times.

"Yeah." My tone is flat and low. Sounds like a plan. He takes a hold of my hand, making me feel an electric shock. In a good way. We stand in line for the showing of Dr. Strange. After purchasing our tickets, we went to the snack bar. I went for popcorn and coke. We find seats in the back. The theater was filling up with others.

"There are some behind them," Sam says quickly. I follow his lead, tiptoeing to not fall. I scoot and place my treats on my lap when I sit. "Oof."

"Are you ok?" He asks in a whisper.

"Yeah," I nod. Thank God I didn't spill my stuff, I sip my drip, taking my eyes off the screen. Jessica on the other side and Sam in the middle. She offers him some skittles, he takes some. The words display 'PLEASE TURN OFF DEVICES BEFORE THE SHOW.' Our view of the screen isn't so bad. He nibbles on one of his nachos. The crunch is loud enough since the chatter quieted down.

The previews begin to play. As the movie begins, I'm already invested. I've been waiting for this movie all year. As the first scene comes on, I see my phone light up from a text notification.

It's Quinn. Hey, how's it going?

Ok i guess

Snuggling? 😏😏

I look over, his eyes on the screen.

No. The double date has become a tricycle. Evan couldn't make it.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing," I shake my head.

😏

Not in that way😑

Movie starting, talk later.

Tell me everything! 😛

I put my phone back in my pocket, taking a handful of popcorn and stuffing it in my mouth.

Sam whispers in her ear and she giggles like it's the funniest thing ever. Huh? I frown. He looks over to me. I give him a smile. He smirks and turns back. My smile wilts. Jessica curls her upper lip like a snarl, aimed at me before she faces the screen. The hell? Let me ignore that.

He reaches over, lacing my fingers with his. A chill runs in my spine. The lights dim, good thing so he doesn't see my blush.