All of them were also full of unsolicited advice.
"You can split the cost of dinner or the play," said Julia. "Not both. He needs to pick up the whole bill on one of them."
"Better if he pays for everything, though," said Kristin.
"Still order something, even if you don't want to eat it," added Jill. "If he's buying dinner, you don't want to let him off cheap. He's gotta work for you."
"Where are you guys getting all of this?" I asked. "What does it matter if I - oh, come on." We'd reached the lobby and found Eddie and Micah sitting on a bench together. They at least had the decency to look embarrassed.
"Not you guys too," I said.
"I was just here to see Jill," said Micah unconvincingly.
"And I was here to, um..." Eddie faltered, and I held up a hand to stop him.
"Don't bother. Honestly, I'm surprised Trey isn't here with a camera or something. I figured he'd want to immortalize every moment of this debacle of a - oh. Hey, over here." I put on a smile as Brayden stepped into the lobby. Apparently I wasn't the only one who liked to be early.
Brayden seemed a little surprised that I had an entourage. I couldn't blame him since I was kind of surprised I had one too.
"It's nice to meet all of you," said Brayden, friendly, even if a little bewildered.
Eddie, while uncomfortable with Angeline's advances, could be perfectly outgoing in less bizarre social situations. He played up the brotherly role and shook Brayden's hand. "I hear you guys are seeing a play tonight."
"Yes," said Brayden. "Although, I prefer the term drama. I've actually already seen this production, but I'd like to watch it again with an eye toward alternative forms of dramatic analysis.
The standard Freytag method can get a little cliched after a while." This left everyone speechless. Or maybe they were just trying to figure out what he'd said.
Eddie glanced at me then back to Brayden. "Well. Something tells me you guys are going to have a great time together."
Once we were able to extract ourselves from my well-wishers Brayden said, "You have very... devoted family and friends."
"Oh," I said. "That. They just, uh, happened to all be going out together at the same time we were. To study."
Brayden glanced at his watch. "Not too late for that, I suppose. If I can, I always do my homework right after school because - "
"If you put it off, you never know if something unexpected might happen?"
"Exactly," he said.
He smiled at me. I smiled back.
I followed him to visitor parking, over to a shiny, silver Ford Mustang. I nearly swooned.
Immediately, I reached out and ran my hand along the car's smooth surface. "Nice," I said.
"Brand new, next model year. These new ones will never quite have the character of the classics, but they certainly make up for it in fuel economy and safety." Brayden looked pleasantly surprised. "You know your cars."
"It's a hobby," I admitted. "My mom is really into them." When I'd first met Rose Hathaway, I'd had the incredible experience of driving a 1972 Citroen. Now I owned a Subaru named Latte. I loved it, but it wasn't exactly glamorous. "They're works of art and engineering." I noticed then that Brayden had come with me to the passenger side. For half a second, I thought he expected me to drive. Maybe because I liked cars so much? But then, he opened the door and I realized he was waiting for me to get in. I did, trying to remember the last time a guy had opened a car door for me. My conclusion: never.
Dinner wasn't fast food, but it wasn't anything fancy either. I wondered what Julia and Kristin's opinion would be on that. We ate at a very California type of cafe, that served all organic sandwiches and salads. Every menu item seemed to feature avocado.
"I would've taken you somewhere nicer," he told me. "But I didn't want to risk being late.
The park's a few blocks away, so we should be able to get a good spot. I... I hope that's okay?" He suddenly looked nervous. It was such a contrast to the confidence he had shown when talking about Shakespeare. I had to admit, it was kind of reassuring. I found myself relaxing a little bit. "If it's not, I'll find a better place - "
"No, this is great," I told him, glancing around the cafe's brightly lit dining room. It was one of those places where we ordered at a counter and then brought a number to our table. "I'd rather be early, anyway." He'd paid for all of our food. I tried to make sense of the dating rules my friends had bombarded me with. "What do I owe you for my ticket?" I asked tentatively.
Brayden looked surprised. "Nothing. It's on me." He smiled tentatively back.
"Thank you," I said. So, he was paying. That would make Kristin happy, although it made me a little uneasy - through no fault of his. With the Alchemists, I was always the one picking up the bills and handling the paperwork. I wasn't used to someone else doing it. I guess I just had trouble shaking that feeling that I had to take care of everything because no one else could do it right.
Academics had always been a breeze for me. But at Amberwood, learning how to hang out with people my own age in a normal way had been a much more difficult task. I'd gotten better, but it was still a struggle trying to figure out the proper things to say to my peers. With Brayden, there were no such problems. We had an endless supply of topics, both of us eager to put forth all we knew on anything and everything. Most of the meal was spent discussing the intricacies of the organic certification process. It was pretty awesome.
Trouble came when, as we were finishing up, Brayden asked if I wanted to get dessert before we left. I froze, suddenly in a dilemma. Jill had said to make sure I ordered enough to not come across as a cheap date. Without even thinking about it, I'd ordered an inexpensive salad - simply because it sounded good. Was I now on the hook to order more so I'd seem like someone Brayden had to work for? Was this worth breaking all my own rules about sugar and dessert? And honestly, what did Jill know about dating etiquette anyway? Her last boyfriend had been homicidal, and her current one was oblivious to the fact that she was a vampire.
"Uh, no thank you," I said at last. "I'd rather make sure we get to the park on time." He nodded as he rose from the table and gave me another smile. "I was thinking the same thing. Most people don't seem to think punctuality is that important."