Girls With Luv

TWENTY-THREE Liya

I can literally feel the creepy gazes of my beloved looney best friends as I slowly walk towards a very charming Julian Johansson. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a sucker for an all-black outfit? Plus, a relevant extra information is the fact that the model wearing the outfit is the main vocalist of EuphoNia who I happen to have a terrible, devastating and unbreakable crush on. Another supremely relevant information is the fact that I am going out with him (on a date?). It is safe to say that I am internally losing my shit and externally acting as cool as a freaking cucumber. The duality is real, I am not exaggerating.

Julian walks towards me with a huge smile on his face, his strides longer than my current mental stability. I feel my face split into an equally giant smile, but this is where things become weirdly funny. As I reach out for a friendly handshake, his arms position themselves in the form of a potential hug. So, we just end up crashing into each other in a way that I can't really explain without sounding like a lunatic. It looks like I'm trying to stab him with my pointy fingers and he is just embracing that possibility very happily. What follows is us taking a small step back as awkwardly as possible. Huh, the sun looks great. I wonder how the clouds look, maybe Julian noticed them better.

"This was memorable." Julian comments and I chuckle.

"Yeah, good to know we're on the same page about that."

"Look, we can just -"

"Shush." I stop him because I know what he'll say and there's no point in going down that road. And I will kill myself before walking away from a potential date with the possible love of my life. "Shall we?" I offer him my elbow, trying to act all cool and whatever. He looks at me and laughs, but luckily doesn't say anything. He just loops his arm around the elbow hook and we start walking together. Where to? I have no idea.

"So, we can take Vil's car to the main town, park it somewhere and just walk around, doing lame simple stuff. Sounds okay?"

"Lame simple stuff sounds awesome."

"Really?" He does look surprised for some reason.

"Yeah, of course. Trust me, I've been on a lot of non-simple dates and all of them were a combination of disappointing and overrated."

"Ah, I see." He hums. "Is there some guy I should have a talk with?" He waggles his eyebrows for some unknown reason.

"Calm down, we haven't even kissed yet."

Did I really just say that?

Where are the butterflies, I want to study the patterns on their wings before embarrassment knocks me out for good. I'm so grateful that Julian chooses to stop the conversation right there. I am lucky that way, he isn't Spencer 2.0.

We reach the car, which is a red hatchback, and settle inside without any unnecessary drama of him holding open the door for me or taking his seat once I have sat down. I really liked that, to be honest. It's sadly unconventional when it should be the norm. Imma just write it on my forehead: women don't need men to do things for them, thank you very much.

Julian reverses out of the parking lot and I pull down the window. Since the road is almost empty, it doesn't take us much time to reach the town. We talk about missing the other three Js and Julian mentions how he hasn't ever gone out without worrying about someone spotting him. I genuinely feel bad because I understand what it feels like to have eyes follow you everywhere.

"Vil loses his calm when people invade his privacy." He comments. "He'll go all snarky on social media and call it a day."

"Yes, I know." I chuckle.

"Right. I forget that you're a fan too."

"Wae? Never forget that. Do you want me to write it somewhere for you to remember?"