𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐱 𝐨𝐜

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐭𝐰𝐨!

she knew it was him the moment his car pulled into her driveway. she walked with him down her patio, hearing crickets chirping in the dark grass. a sharp noise made her jump, and when she swiveled around, he was running around the car. he opened the passenger door for her and her heart practically soared. she climbed in, murmuring, "what a gentleman," for only him to hear. his car smelled nice, like pine and citrus and sage. it was crisp, clean, and she ran her gingers across the leather smoothly. it was nice.

he started driving, nervously chewing his lip and tapping his fingers on his steering wheel. his playlist was hooked up to the aux, and when a familiar voice came on, she looked up at him.

"you like alec benjamin?"

for a second, she thought he looked at the phone screen in horror before plastering a sheepish look on his face. "i do. you?"

"not to be that person," she drawled, "but i was a fan long before he got big."

he scoffed, but was grinning nonetheless. "what's your favorite song?"

"water fountain was the first one i heard, so it's a classic. but i also like..." she began listing them off, rambling about his songs and how long she'd known them. clay—ice cream boy—was a newer fan, but together they bonded over their shared music taste. by the time they got to the restaurant, they were arguing about which album was better.

"i might have to cancel this date right here and now if you truly believe that narrated for you is better than these two windows," he said as he held the door open for her.

"good," she teased. "wouldn't want to know someone who mixed up outrunning karma with jesus in LA."

clay sauntered over to the hostess at the front, politely telling her they had a reservation while iris looked around. it wasn't high-class luxurious, but it also wasn't just a plan old olive garden. they were seated in a booth along-side the middle of the wall. the waitress set down menus, asked them if they wanted to start off with drinks, and walked away when they both ordered wine and waters. iris scanned the menu, eyes nearly bulging out of her skull when she saw the prices. of course she wanted the steak and wine — and of course she knew clay wouldn't have picked this place if he didn't expect money to be spent. but still....

as she looked at the numbers, her mind reeled with their first conversation.

she set her menu down so hard the wine glasses shook. "how did you know what answers to give?"

he blinked at her. "what?"

"the first time i texted you, i asked you for math answers, but somehow you know the right type of answers."

"oh." he drummed his fingers on the laminated menu. "i texted every possible variation of my phone number asking for your friend. one person replied, and your friend gave me the page number and the textbook, but they told me to send a picture of the work you already did, so i looked it up instead and just...guessed."

the food arrived. he graciously thanked the waitress, saying they didn't need anything else. when he turned to her, taking a bite of his food, he arched a brow at the look on her face.

she stared at him. he chewed his lip, a small smile tugging up the corners of his mouth. he cocked his head to the side. "what's wrong?"

"i just... i just can't believe— i can't believe you have actual braincells up there."

his jaw dropped in mock offense. "how cruel!"

"okay, okay, okay." she crossed one leg over the other. "so...classic question: what do you do?"