10 Blind Dates, page 5
I smile back. “It is.”
Being DJ is more fun than I thought it would be, and I love seeing their expressions when I jump around from Beyoncé to Tom Petty to Nicki Minaj to Bon Jovi. Olivia and I sing at the top of our lungs. Judging by the boys’ muffled laughs, we must sound like drowning cats, but I don’t care.
I can’t help that Griffin pops into my head more times than I would like, but mostly I’m thinking this would have never happened in his truck. He only likes country music, and no one is allowed to mess with the dial.
By the time we get to Natchitoches, I’m actually looking forward to the rest of the date.
The festival takes place downtown, along the Cane River. Every building, light post, tree, and bush is covered in lights, and string after string hangs above the crowd, zigzagging down the street. There are also huge lighted pieces, like nutcracker soldiers and a Santa being pulled in a sleigh by a team of crawfish, lining the bank across the river.
“There are over three hundred thousand lights at the festival,” Seth murmurs in my ear. I believe it.
The streets are packed as we weave through the crowds, stopping at booths for candied pecans and hot meat pies. We pass under a banner showcasing the reigning Miss Merry Christmas, splendid in her bright red dress and crown. Christmas decorations cover every possible inch, and they are gaudy as hell but perfect at the same time.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket for the tenth time, so I take a quick peek at the screen while the guys play a basketball throw game.
I should have known it was Margot.
MARGOT: I’m dying to know how it’s going. I’m bored out of my mind. The moms are cleaning out every drawer in my house and I’m terrified my underwear is going to wind up in the silverware drawer.
ME: Maybe the moms think the thongs and the tongs belong together.
MARGOT: Ha. Ha. Seriously, how’s the date going???
I take a quick pic of Seth and send it to Margot. It’s a profile shot as he’s poised to shoot the basketball.
ME: It’s going good! He’s cute. And fun.
MARGOT: He’s hot! Have fun!
ME: Thanks!
When the boys are done with the game, Seth pulls me through the mass of human traffic. “We’ve got to do the Avalanche Slide!”
I look to where he’s pointing and do a double take. Off to the side is a huge structure covered in man-made snow. The temperature is chilly but nowhere near freezing, so I have no idea how the whole thing hasn’t turned into a pool of water. On top of the structure is a cartoon cutout of Frosty the Snowman.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I mumble, and Olivia gives me a horrified look. “What?” I ask her.
She looks up at the slide and back to me. “Are you seriously not going to try it?”
It’s Olivia’s face that gets me. It’s almost like she wants to throw in The Sophie I used to know wouldn’t think twice…
So why am I hesitant?
I grab Seth’s hand. “Let’s do this.”
We race up the steps with Olivia and Drew close behind us. At the top, the guy working the event gives us each a round plastic platter and simple instructions: Sit on the disc and let it fly.
I touch the snow and it feels slushy, like it’s only a few degrees from melting completely. I’ve never been to the mountains, and the only snow I’ve ever seen before is the small dusting we get every other year or so that somehow manages to shut the South down.
Seth lines his platter up with mine and holds them in place.
“Are you ready?” he asks. He’s grinning from ear to ear. It feels good, being around someone who’s this excited to be with me. I don’t think I realized how much I missed that feeling until now.
“Yes! Let’s do this!”
We both scream the entire way down. It’s not a long ride—just enough to get my heart pumping. We slide into the rubber stoppers and fall over laughing.
Olivia and Drew crash into us, giggling like crazy. An attendant takes our platters, but no one seems concerned about getting up out of the fake snow.
Olivia crawls over and we lie side by side. “So what do you think?” she whispers, nodding toward Seth and Drew, who are busy throwing watery snowballs at each other.
I smile. “He’s really nice.”
“You’ve had that smile plastered on your face for the last three hours,” she says, nudging me.
I grin even bigger. “Okay, okay, I’ll admit this is the most fun I’ve had in a while.”
“You know, we’ll never hear the end of it when Nonna hears you had a good date.”
I scoot in closer. “Then let’s not tell her. After what she did, we should make her sweat a little.”
We both laugh. Out of nowhere, a huge clump of snow hits me square in the face.
Once I brush the mess from my eyes, I see Seth backing away from me, guilt all over his face.
It feels like time is frozen. I let him squirm until I can’t hold the laugh in any longer. “Oh, you’re going to get it now!” I scoop up a handful of snow and start pelting him. Before long, we’re in a full-fledged snowball war—boys against girls.
It only ends once we’ve been shooed off by the attendant working the event. At this point, we’re all wet, a little cold, and tired from all the laughing.
Drew pulls Olivia inside a photo booth while Seth buys us two hot cocoas from a pushcart.
“Let’s sit here,” Seth says.
We plop down on a bench near the edge of the festival.
“I can’t believe I’ve never come to this before,” I say. I was worried we’d be fumbling around for conversation, but I’m surprised how easy the entire afternoon has been.
“We come every year. The whole thing’s sort of cheesy, but it’s fun getting out of town and doing something different.” He waits a second before continuing. “Olivia told me about your ex-boyfriend and your grandmother’s solution.”
I feel my cheeks turn red. I hope he thinks it’s from the cold. “Yeah, leave it to my grandmother to make things interesting.”
Seth chuckles. “Well, it sounded crazy at first, but I’m glad Olivia picked me for your first date.” He sits up a little taller. “I’m hoping to make everyone else look bad.”
I smile. “Yeah, it will be hard to compete with a snowball fight in Louisiana.”
“Let me give you my number,” he says. “Seriously, when this thing is over, maybe we can go out again. I’ve had a lot of fun today.”
When I take out my phone to add Seth’s number, I see a string of notifications from Griffin. Seth sees it, too.
“Is that your ex?” he asks.
I nod. “Yeah. We really haven’t talked since we, um, broke up.”
Seth takes my phone but instead of adding his contact, he opens the camera, and flips it so we’re in the frame.
“Okay, smile,” he says.
I smile but Seth crosses his eyes, and puckers his lips. He snaps a picture as soon as I start laughing, then adds his number to my phone, assigning the image to his contact. He sends a text from my phone to his.
“I’ll get us some more hot chocolate,” he says. I look at the picture, which is cuter than I thought. I feel my cheeks heat up. I really have had fun tonight.
But then Griffin’s face steamrolls over those warm and fuzzy thoughts. When I see another notification from him, it’s like a bucket of cold water was just poured over me. I can’t help but open the messages.
GRIFFIN: I guess you’re just going to keep ignoring me
GRIFFIN: I want to talk to you. I want to see you
GRIFFIN: Can I see you tomorrow? I’ll meet you anywhere
GRIFFIN: Sophie please
My heart is thumping by the time I finish reading his messages. I’m so confused. Does he miss me? Is he regretting what he said? Or does he just feel guilty about how it all went down?
I send back a quick message:
ME: Not ready to talk to you yet
Then I power the phone off before I can see his reply. There’s no reason I should feel guilty—we broke up—but it’s there, underneath everything else. I’ve had a great day and I hate that Griffin is making me feel bad about it.
I watch Seth as he balances two hot chocolates, a funnel cake, and a bag of cotton candy. He gets tangled up in a group of toddlers, then nearly drops everything when some kid who’s texting and walking bumps into him. A few steps later, he and an older woman start some awkward dance when he tries to step around her but she meets his every move. He finally gets in the clear and stops, looking at me in amazement.
“Did you see that?” he yells across the short distance.
I’m laughing when he closes the gap with a little dance in his step.
Griffin may make me feel guilty, but Seth makes me smile.
I take one of the drinks and pinch off a piece of the funnel cake. Olivia and Drew emerge from the photo booth, laughing at the strip of pictures, and that’s all it takes for Seth to drag me in for pictures of our own.
When we finally pull up in front of Nonna’s, Seth has just told us about when Drew was in kindergarten and gave his teacher a tampon as a gift because he thought there was candy inside. Olivia and I can’t stop cracking up.
“This story is going to haunt me for the rest of my life,” Drew says, then pulls Olivia in for a good-bye kiss. I look at Seth so I’m not staring at them, and he shrugs, clearly feeling as awkward as I do.
Olivia gets out of the backseat and I give Seth a quick wave before opening the door. “I had a great time,” I say.
He smiles and says, “We’ll have to do it again.”
Nonna is waiting up for us when we get back, ready to gloat.
“So…how was it? You can’t hide that smile from me forever, Sophie,” Nonna says.
I lean against the kitchen sink, where she’s washing the last of the supper dishes. “You got me. We had a good time,” I reply. “But it doesn’t make this any less weird! And there’s still nine more dates to go, so, you know, there’s still the potential that this is going to be a disaster.”
Nonna hands me a tied-up garbage bag. “I think you’re going to surprise yourself. Add this to the can at the curb for me, please.”
I run down the front porch steps and drop the bag in the trash. On my way back to the house I see Wes pull into his driveway next door. I wave and wait for him to get out.
“Hey,” he says. “How was your first date?”
“Not bad, actually.”
We walk toward each other, meeting right at the property line. “Where’d y’all go?” he asks.
“That festival in Natchitoches. Ate funnel cake, had a snowball fight—you know, typical Sunday night,” I say, laughing.
He nods, then cocks his head to the side. “I think Nonna was right.”
My face scrunches up. “Right about what?”
“This dating thing. You look good.”
I can feel my cheeks warm. “Well, I must have really looked like crap earlier.”
Wes laughs. “I didn’t say that. I’m just glad you’re smiling.”
He heads toward his house and I walk back into Nonna’s, each of us waving to the other when we go through our front doors. Just as I enter the kitchen, I hear Olivia say, “Uh-oh.” She’s staring at the date board.
Aunt Patrice has filled in the details for my next date:
I’m terrified.
Beyond terrified. Living Nativity? At a middle school?
“The date is supposed to be with someone my age, Nonna! If she set me up with a middle schooler, that’s an automatic forfeit for her.”
Nonna is wiping down the counter on the other side of the kitchen. “Oh, I’m sure he’s old enough, Soph. Patrice understands the rules.”
Olivia disappeared inside the laundry room as soon as she finished reading Aunt Patrice’s note, and her squeals of laughter make me want to run and hide. Finally, she comes back to the kitchen carrying what looks like a wadded-up piece of fabric.
“Are you ready for this?” she asks.
“No.”
She holds the hanger up high, letting the fabric unfurl.
“What in the world is that?” Nonna asks as she moves closer to it.
“It’s a robe. I think Sophie is going to be a part of the Living Nativity,” she says, pointing to the note pinned to the top that says: Mary, mother of Jesus. “And it looks like she’s got a starring role!”
The sun is barely up when Olivia and I get to the shop. With only four more shopping days until Christmas, today is going to be a nightmare.
Since Olivia has worked here for a while, she handles helping customers looking for a last-minute gift while I’m stuck at the register. Nonna has put together quite a few gift baskets that include small potted flowers, plants or herbs, books on gardening, small tools like shears and spades, and other cute gardening things. She can’t make them fast enough.
During my midmorning break, I hide in the kitchen just to get away from all of the people. I kick back on the small couch that is older than me and text Margot.
ME: I’ve only got 10 mins before Nonna chains me back to the register at the shop so if you’re going to send me any gross pictures, do it now.
Margot sends me a close-up of her face. I haven’t seen her in a while and I’m surprised by how different she looks.
MARGOT: My face is swollen. Especially my nose. My nose is huge. Like, it’s the biggest nose I’ve ever seen
ME: You’re better than birth control. If there was even a chance I was going to be having sex anytime soon you’ve completely scared me off.
MARGOT: Good! Mom keeps saying I’ll forget how bad this part is but I’m telling you—I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS NOSE
ME: So what does your doctor say? Is this normal?
I’ve been trying to keep things light with Margot ever since she got put on bed rest, but I can’t stop the lick of fear that blindsides me every time she sends me a picture.
MARGOT: It’s not abnormal. And they’re watching me closely. I have another appointment this afternoon. Don’t worry about me. Worry about who Aunt Patrice is going to set you up with.
ME: Did you hear what I have to wear?????
MARGOT: Haha. Yes. Mom talked to Nonna this morning. I definitely need a picture of that. And the date. Instead of Mary they may have to call you Mrs. Robinson.
ME: Who’s Mrs. Robinson?
MARGOT: Ugh. Now I feel old. Google it.
ME: Ok whatever gotta get back to work. Text me after the doctor’s appt.
Charlie and Wes come into the kitchen carrying snacks and drinks to refill the old refrigerator. Nonna has them doing odd jobs—or as she likes to put it, “doing all the crap no one else wants to do.” Next on their agenda is changing lightbulbs and air filters, so I really can’t complain about being stuck behind the register.
“Are you researching hairstyles of the early Bethlehem period?” Charlie asks. I throw a magazine at him.
“You’re hilarious,” I say, and snag a Coke Zero from the box.
Wes tosses me a package of Nutter Butters, which happen to be my favorite cookie. “You know we’re going to have to be there when you get picked up for your hot date. There’s no way we’re missing this.”
“If y’all really loved me, you’d feel sorry for me and offer to work my shift for the rest of the day.” I give what I hope are really pathetic puppy-dog eyes.
Charlie and Wes look at each other a few seconds like they’re considering it. Then they both say, “Nah!”
Charlie drops down beside me. “Hey, while you’re on break…” He whips his phone out of his back pocket, pulls up something on the screen, then shoves it at me. “I need you to take this quiz.”
Wes groans. “Seriously? We’re doing this again?”
I stare at the screen, which reads, “Which Character from The Office Are You?” then look to Wes for clarification. He drags a chair away from the small table and sets it next to the couch, then takes a seat. “You know Charlie is obsessed with The Office. He’s watched the whole series like twice by now.”
“Three times, actually,” Olivia says when she comes into the room. “Is he making her take the quiz?”
Wes nods, and I look back at Charlie’s phone. I sort of remember Charlie liking this show, but I definitely wasn’t aware it had moved to this level.
“So why am I taking this quiz?” I ask.
Wes opens his mouth to speak, but Charlie throws a hand up and shushes him. “Let her take it first.”
So I get busy. The multiple-choice questions are kind of weird. What kind of paper do I like? What’s my favorite condiment? And on and on.
“Okay, I’m done. It’s calculating my results.”
“You probably got Erin. Or Kelly,” Wes says. “Or maybe even Pam.”
“Would that be good?” I ask.
Wes smiles and nods. “Yeah, they’re cool.”
“Who’d you get?” I ask Charlie.
Wes’s mouth twists, and he looks at Olivia. They both bust out laughing.
“It’s not funny,” Charlie says.
I don’t get it. And I can’t believe how much I hate that I don’t get it. But then I remember this is what it was like the last several times we were together—always some inside joke from school or a club that I wasn’t in on.
Olivia finally explains. “Charlie has taken every quiz ever made with the sole hope of getting Jim because Jim is the coolest guy on the show. Everyone loves Jim.”
She’s giggling so hard she can’t speak, so Wes finishes for her. “But he gets Dwight. Every time.”
“I’ve even answered every question purposefully wrong and I still get him!” Charlie yells. He points to Wes. “He’s rigged it somehow!”
I look at Wes. “And let me guess. You get Jim?”
He nods. “Yep.”
I look down at the phone, where the results have loaded, and say, “I got Carol Stills, the real estate agent.”
Now all three of them are staring at me.
“What? Is that bad?” I ask.
Olivia finally looks away from me to Charlie. “Who’s Carol?”
Charlie looks surprised. “She was the woman who Michael dated a little while. She wasn’t on many episodes. Maybe five?”
