Rich's Pov

My hands were nearly shaking as I reached up to knock lightly on the door to Michael's dorm. At first I had considered canceling our little date, but then thought better of it. I was terrified, because it's been forever since my last date, but I didn't want to disappoint Michael. He's just too sweet.

I was brought back to reality by the door opening. And there stood Michael. He had a huge smile on his face, but he also looked nervous at the same time. It made me feel better to know that I wasn't the only one scared out of his mind.

I know it may seem stupid for me to be so worked up at something as stupid as a date, but ever since my squip left I've had a lot of trouble talking to people. Like I'll know exactly what I want to say, but then it'll come out completely different and I end up hurting somebody's feelings.

"Come on in, Rich," Michael said, motioning for me to step inside. I gave him a shaky smile as I walked past him and into their living room.

"Where's everybody else?" I asked after sitting down on the couch. Michael shrugged.

"I have no idea."

Michael sat down next to me and checked something on his phone. "Okay, so we have an hour until the movie starts, so we should probably get ready to head out soon."

I nodded and started to mess with the bottom of my shirt, something that I only do when I get nervous. Michael glanced over at me and seemed to notice that I wasn't meeting his eyes.

He reached over and gently placed his hand over mine. "Hey," he said quietly, "If you don't want to do this, you don't have to."

I shook my head. "No, it's not that I don't want to go."

Michael tilted his head in confusion. "Then what's wrong?"

I sighed. "I'm not very good at relationships and stuff like that without my squip. It always told me what to say and how to act to get people to like me, but now I'm just..me."

Michael gave me a sympathetic smile and squeezed my hand. "Aw, Rich. I like the real you. The person you were with the squip wasn't the real you. I mean, hey, I'm as awkward as they come," he told me.

I smiled. "Thanks, Michael."

"Of course. But if we want to make it on time, we should probably go now."

"Probably."

*************

We stepped out of the car and into the chilly night air, and I pulled my jacket tighter around myself. I could feel my hair blowing around in the wind and almost laughed when I saw Michael's hair. It was sticking up in every direction.

He caught me staring and flashed me a quick smile, and I just couldn't help but smile back.

We walked up to the theater and Michael held open the door for me. Walking into the building, we could see different posters for movies up on the walls, some of the movies that were just coming out and some of movies that have been out.

Michael nudged my arm as we stepped in line to buy confessions. "You wanna go get some seats while I buy snacks?"

I nodded and almost tripped over my feet as I walked away, towards the two swinging doors on my left.

It didn't take long for me to find two seats in the middle of the theater, so I sat down to watch the previews. There weren't many other people in the theater with me. I guess no one else wanted to watch Twilight.

There were a couple of people in the seats in front of me, and maybe one or two people behind me.

The previews were almost over when Michael finally got back. He was carrying two drinks and a bag of popcorn.

Michael carefully handed me my coke and sat down next to me, holding the popcorn in his lap.

We sat in silence until the movie started, but I couldn't bring myself to pay much attention to it. I sipped my coke as I stole glances over at the boy sitting next to me.

Michael's gaze was fixed on the screen in front of us, holding his drink in his lap. I wanted to reach over and grab his hand, but something kept me from doing so.

What if Michael took his hand away?

I turned my eyes back to the movie. Edward was acting like a stalker, sneaking into Bella's bedroom to watch her sleep.

I chuckled quietly. Twilight has never been one of my favorite movies, but one that I've always found funny.

Suddenly someone touched my hand. I held my breath as I looked over at Michael. He was still staring at the movie, but his hand on holding mine.

I couldn't help but smile, and I knew I was blushing.

About an hour and a half later and the movie was over. Michael and I were still holding hands, but he let go so we could stand up and throw away our empty drink cups and popcorn bag.

As we left the theater, Michael and I walked in a comfortable silence. We walked out into the parking lot and got into his car.

As Michael started the car, he reached over and grabbed my hand. "Is this okay?" he murmured.

"Yeah," I whispered back, leaning further into my seat. As we started driving, I noticed that Michael had a strand of hair across his forehead.

I slowly reached over and brushed it away, causing him to glance over at me.

"Thanks for doing this, Rich," Michael said. I smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Of course. I had a great time."

A few minutes later, and we were just pulling into the school parking lot. Both of us got out of the car and together, holding hands, Michael and I walked towards the dorm buildings.

"You know, you look really good tonight," he complimented me as we approached my dorm.

I blushed. "You too," I said.

Soon we were standing in front of my front door.

Michael gently held both of my hands and kissed me softly. I smiled into the kiss and moved closer to him.

When we finally broke away from each other, I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, said goodnight, and stepped into my dorm.

Once I was inside, I leaned against the door and couldn't stop smiling.