"GOOD EVENING, I'm Diane, your waitress for tonight. Can I start you off with any drinks?" She asked while looking between me and James, placing our menus in front of us. Diane looked like she was in her mid-forties with a dirty blonde bob and intense sapphire eyes. A checkered apron with pockets was tied around her waist, housing a pen and notepad.
"I'll have a water," James spoke.
"Make that two," I chimed.
"Alright, I'll be right back." Diane flashed us a smile before sauntering back to the kitchen.
I glanced around Dulcet Diner and observed that the diner was quite empty tonight. Besides James and I, only two other booths were occupied and a low hum of chatter lingered in the air. Dim lights hanging from above paired with the dark maroon booths gave the diner an intimate setting.
A few minutes later, Diane came back with our drinks and I quickly took a huge gulp of water, feeling refreshed. I scoured the menu before settling on what I was going to order, Alfredo linguine with chicken.
"What are you going to order?" I asked James who sat across from me, peering up at him after closing my menu and resting it on the table.
"Mmm, the Mushroom-stuffed Burger sounds good." James stacked his menu on top of mine and pushed it off to the side. "You look pretty tonight," complimented James, leaning in slightly.
"You don't look too bad yourself," I mused, feeling my cheeks heat up. Even though it was a small, meaningless compliment, it still made my heart beat a tad bit quicker.
Thirty minutes passed, and James's roommate and their girlfriend still hadn't shown up yet.
But I didn't really mind.
I constantly wore a smile on my face as James told me numerous embarrassing stories of when he first came to Berkeley. By the end of the night, I was sure that I had a six-pack from all the fits of laughter.
"When's your roommate coming?" I asked curiously, crossing my arms as I leaned on the table.
James pulled out his phone and looked down at the screen, a frown etched on his face.
"Aw, crap. He texted me saying that they can't make it. He forgot that they had already made dinner plans with his girlfriend's parents."
I was about to make a joke about how he probably didn't have a roommate, but decided to suppress my remark in fear of hearing a response that would make me blush. So instead, I settled with an "Oh."
"But since we're here, we might as well order something anyway," said James before flagging down our waitress.
Diane swiftly came over and took down our order. Not long after, she brought out our food and to say that it was delicious was an understatement. It was the bomb dot com.
"I think I've just met my soulmate," I sighed, closing my eyes as I savored the linguine.
"And who may that be?" James asked with a smile, eyebrow quirked.
"This linguine." I twirled the noodles around my fork and took another blissful bite.
"I did not just get outdone by pasta," James gasped melodramatically.
"It looks like you did," I shrugged.
I began to dig through my purse, looking for my wallet after we finished when James spoke, "I got it, Hadley."
"No, I'll pay," I insisted.
Just as I was about to slap down some cash, I saw Diane walk away with the check and James's money.
"Beat you to it," he said with a sly smile.
I handed money towards James anyways but he refused to take it.
"James," I chided.
"Hadley," he responded with a playful smirk.
After arguing back and forth, I finally gave in and put the money back into my wallet.
"Still have some room for some ice cream?" James suggested as we slid out of the booth.
"Yeah." I stopped dead in my tracks right in front of the diner door, narrowing my eyes and pointing at him, "But only if I pay."
James simply chuckled, feigning surrender, "Fine, as you wish."
I smiled triumphantly and strutted out of the diner, James following. Conveniently, an ice cream parlor, Minnie's, was located right next to Dulcet.
"Welcome, what can I get for you tonight?" The girl working behind the counter offered, her eyes solely trained on James. She wore a pink hat and a simple white shirt underneath her pink and white striped apron with a name tag pinned on that said "Emily".
James cleared his throat and pointed to a specific flavor, "I'll have a scoop of the Chocolate Monkey in a cone please."
"Sure thing," winked Emily and grabbed a waffle cone before scooping a hefty amount of chocolate and banana ice cream. She handed the cone to James and continued gawking at him. I suppressed a laugh as James shifted uncomfortably beside me.
"And I'll have a scoop of the Triple Fudge in a cup please," I chimed in.
"Oh, sure." The smile on her face faltered and she covertly gave me the eye before sloppily slapping my ice cream into a small cup. I was tempted to say, Bitch, you got a problem? but decided that I'd keep it to myself.
James and I walked over to the cash register with my wallet in hand. I set down my ice cream on the counter and quickly got out the amount Emily blurted when James bumped me to the side and handed over a twenty, which Emily graciously took, purposefully gliding across James's hand.
"You seriously did not just booty-bump me out of paying for our ice cream," I chided, shooting him a playful glare.
James merely shrugged with a playful smirk, "Mm, looks like I did."
"Here, let me pay you back." I dug into my wallet once again but stopped when James placed his hand on my arm. His simple touch caused subtle goosebumps to form on my body.
"Seriously, it's fine, Hads," he assured calmly.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive," he smiled.
"Well, thank you." I stopped struggling and he removed his hand, shoving his wallet into his back pocket while I grabbed my ice cream cup.
We casually strolled through the park that separated the ice cream parlor from campus, savoring our ice cream. A comfortable silence lingered between us as I gazed at the beautiful stars that decided to make an appearance tonight.
"The sky is so beautiful tonight," I sighed, eating the last spoonful of my ice cream.
"Just like you."
I glanced up at James as he smiled down at me, his eyes sparkling with something I couldn't quite put my finger on. For a moment, my pulse sped up and tingles pricked my skin all over my body. I laughed it off as I felt my cheeks begin to burn up.
"What? It's true," James insisted, joining in with my shallow laughter.
"Okay," I mocked in a low voice, chuckling as I shoved his shoulder.
He didn't respond but shook his head, a wide grin plastered across his face.
As we neared my dorm, I threw away my trash and turned back to James. But because of my luck, I somehow tripped over my own foot and fell forward, shutting my eyes as I waited for impact.
But nothing happened. Again.
I slowly opened my eyes and found that I was pressed against James. His arms were snaked around my waist, catching me mid-fall.
"I've got you," James chuckled. I felt my cheeks burning up even more as I pushed myself off of him.
"I swear, I was born with two left feet." I smoothed out my romper. "Thanks for tonight, James. It was kind of a bummer that the two people I was saving you from didn't show up, but it was fun nonetheless."
"Yeah, I had fun too. Guess we'll have to reschedule though." He stuck his hands into his pockets, smiling as he kicked a pebble.
"Goodnight, James," I smiled.
"Night, Hads."
I slowly turned away and entered the lobby of the dorm, James watching me all the way to make sure I didn't trip on anything else again.
As soon as I entered my dorm, I saw Nicole sitting on the couch with Milo next to her, her foot propped up on the coffee table with a pillow underneath. I winced as all of the guilt came rushing back to me, feeling my throat begin to close up.
Their heads snapped towards the door when it closed shut. Nicole gave me a bright smile while Milo offered me a sympathetic one.
"God, I know I've apologized already, but I feel awful. I'm so sorry again that I did this to you."
"Hadley, it's fine. We're cool, it was an accident," Nicole calmly stated with a reassuring smile. How was she so calm about this?
As if on cue, Ava burst into the room, marching up to me and grasped firmly on my wrist.
"Sorry for interrupting, but I need to talk to Hadley." And with that, Ava dragged me away, leaving with a final word, "As you were."
She shut the door and immediately jumped on my bed.
"So, how did it go?" Ava inquired even though it seemed like she already knew what my answer was going to be.
"Actually, his roommate and their girlfriend didn't show up. It was just me and James tonight," I responded.
A huge grin curled up her lips and Ava looked me straight in the eye. "Spill."
And so, I told Ava about tonight, which made her squeal various times. At the end, she sprang up from my bed and began running around the room like a maniac while screaming "Oh my god" over and over again with a colossal grin on her face.
"Ava, relax. Why are you making this such a big deal? All we did was go out and eat dinner together," I chuckled.
"Because it is a big deal. And it was not just going out and eating dinner together," she mocked crazily using air quotes. I gave her an are you okay look, and she calmly sat down at the edge of my bed.
"Before I tell you this, promise me you won't freak out?" Ava asked, a worried smile on her face.
I narrowed my eyes, "I don't know, I can't promise anything when you have that look on your face." Pleading with her eyes, I finally gave in, rolling my eyes briefly, "Fine."
"Okay," she inhaled a deep breath, "I didn't want to mention this to you earlier, but...James doesn't have a new roommate."
My eyebrows scrunched together, waiting for Ava to continue, "He lives in a dorm with one bedroom."
I was slowly trying to put the pieces together in my head. Ava looked at me expectantly, bracing for my response, "What?"
Ava sighed, "James doesn't have a roommate. He never did."
"And how do you know that?" I asked her incredulously.
"Because James told me earlier that he doesn't have a roommate when I asked him about it. He lives in a dorm by himself."
"How do you know he's not lying?"
"Are you freaking blind?" Ava exclaimed, flailing her arms in the air. "He likes you, Hads! Can't you see it?"
I was at a loss for words at her sudden outburst. Sure, I suspected something, but I thought it was nothing. James was always like that, flirty and playful.
"He's always flirting with you, constantly trying to be around you. How oblivious could you possibly be?" She continued.
"I thought it was just mindless flirting," I shrugged. "That's how he's always been whenever we hang out."
Ava gave me a look and I sighed, "So you're saying..."
"He inadvertently asked you out on a date," said Ava, finishing off my sentence as the color left my face.
I sighed and stood up, pacing back and forth before realizing the sudden gravity of the situation. Ava simply shook her head in disappointment.
"Oh God, what have I done?" I exclaimed, the panic level beginning to rise, realizing that I was mindlessly leading James on.
"You promised me that you wouldn't freak out." She clutched my shoulders, trying to calm me down.
"Well, how can I not?" I looked away.
"But what's the big deal? You like him though, right?" She asked softly.
"I-I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? It's not like he's the only one flirting. You two are constantly at it with each other. I'm surprised your tongues aren't down each other's throats already."
I gave her a horrified look. Ava gently guided me backwards to my bed, her hands remaining on my shoulders.
"Well, try to figure it out, okay? It's better to tell him now if you don't like him like that than to lead him on."
I nodded. I hope this doesn't end in a disaster.
_______________
A/N: hey everyone! thank you again for reading and please vote if you enjoyed! â¡
Also, please read till the end in the next chapter. It's crucial!
-Karlee ð