The Fine Line Between Love and Hate

Lunch Date

As we get into Hero's car I wonder where he's going to take me. He said we were going out for lunch but he never told me where and lunch is definitely not going to take all day, so what are we going to do after? I can't help but look over at him and smile, he's nothing like the Hero I bumped into at the frat party. "What kind of music do you like?" He asks me. "I mainly listen to Rock and a little bit of alternative music." I say and he stares at me. "What?" I ask and he looks back at the road. "Nothing I just wasn't expecting you to say that I figured you were the type of girl who listened to Adele and Taylor Swift." He says and I laugh. "Well it's not like their music is bad, i'll listen to that type of stuff every once in a while. Also never act like Taylor Swift isn't one of the best lyricist ever." I say and he smiles at me. " I knew it.... anyways, what kind of Rock music do you listen to? Like what bands?" He asks me and I think for a minute. "Well we have the obvious bands like Dave Matthews Band, Blink-182,  AC/DC, Nirvana, Green Day, and I absolutely love the Rolling Stones." I say and he laughs at me. "The Rolling Stones huh?" He says. "What? You asked me what music I listened to." I say and he smiles. "There we're a lot of 90's bands in there." He says. "Yeah well  I grew up listening to that music since it's what my dad loved listening to." I say and smile to myself. I miss him. "Your dad huh." He says and I nod but he doesn't see me since he's staring at the road. "Why don't you ever talk about your mum?" He asks me and I immediately shut the question down. "I don't want to talk about her." I say and he looks over at me. He's silent for a minute, probably trying to find something to say. "Hey I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. I was just curious." He says. "Yeah well she's not really a topic I like to dive into." I say and look out the window. "Ok I won't bring her up again." He says and puts his hand on my thigh and caresses it. His calming affect is working, maybe a little too well. I can't help but revel in the feeling of his touch, it brings me back to the night on my couch. The way his hands slid up my body. The way his lips felt on mine. If I could only.... "Jo?" Hero says breaking me out of my trance, and probably for the best. We're friends. Only friends. Hopefully one day we'll be good friends. "What?" I say. "Where did you just go." He asks and im painfully aware that his hand is still on me. "What do you mean?" I ask. "You just zoned out. If I really upset you with that question then-" He starts to say. "No, no you didn't I was just thinking about homework. I don't want to fall behind." I say and he nods and looks back at the road. "Oh." He says and then it's silence throughout the car. Nothing but the radio on low, the sound of the AC and the tingling feeling in my stomach that just won't seem to go away. Hero pulls into the parking lot of an Olive Garden and parks the car. "Olivia Garden?" I say questioning him. "Yeah I know it's not a mall pretzel but Olive Garden is really good." He says and we get out of the car. "I wouldn't know." I say and he looks at me. "Wait have you never been here?" He asks me shocked. "Um no, I mean i've heard of it but i've never actually gone." I say and he shakes his head in fake disappointment. "How long have you lived here?" He asks me. "I moved when I was about 14." I say earning another shake of the head. "Disappointing." He says as we reach the front door of the restaurant. I'm honestly really excited about this and i'm excited to have this first time experience with Hero...even if it is just Olive Garden. He opens the door for me and I politely thank him, we walk up to the counter and wait behind an elderly couple. They are holding hands and when I look down I see their wedding rings. "Omg that's so beautiful." I say to myself. "What is." Hero asks me leaning down to whisper. "Her wedding ring." I say and smile at it. It really is beautiful. One waiter takes the elderly couple to their table and then they ask us how many people we will have, Hero held up two fingers and the waiter grabs two menus and takes us to our table. We're seated across from the couple that was in front of us and it makes me smile. "So what sounds good?" Hero asks me as I look through the menu. "Honestly everything." I say and he smiles at me. "I knew this was a good pick." He says and looks back down at his menu. I like this...us. As friends of course, it's nice. Another waiter comes over to our table. "Hi my names Claire and i'll be taking your orders today. Can I start you off with anything to drink?" She asks and stares at Hero. He nods at me. "I'll take a water please." I say. "And I think i'll do the same." He says looking at me. "Oh you're British! What a fun surprise." She says and I raise an eyebrow at her. She's looking Hero up and down but he doesn't acknowledge her comment. "You know I was actually born in England before I moved to here." She says clearly trying to impress him. Hero just nods and she looks embarrassed. Good. "Uh so are you guys ready to order?" She asks. "Jo." Hero says allowing me to order first. "Can I get the Ravioli Carbonara please." I say and close my menu. "Yeah and can I get the Chicken Fettuccine." He says grabbing my menu and handing it to the waitress along with his own. "Great choice that's my personal favorite." She says and Hero slightly nods his head. "Would you like soup or salad with that." She asks. "Jo?" Hero says. "Um I think i'll get the salad." I say. I've heard good things about their salad. "I'll do the same." Hero says and the waitress smiles at him before walking away. "Well that was completely unprofessional." I say when she's finally gone. "What was?" Hero asks but I can tell he knows exactly what i'm referring to. "The waitress she was totally hitting on you not to mention the bragging about her time spent in England." I say and Hero smiles. "Are you jealous?" He asks and seems genuinely curious. "Of course not, like I said, I just think it's unprofessional." I said and he slowly shakes his head. "What?" I ask and he looks at me in the eyes. "Kinda like how that guy wrote his number on your coffee cup this morning." He says. "No that's completely different." I say in defense. "How is it different? Because you were the one getting hit on that time and now it's me? Just admit it Jo you're jealous." He says and leans back while crossing his arms over his chest. I can see his muscles very clearly and I have to say I wasn't hiding my little staring problem very well. "No. I'm not jealous. We're just friends, remember?" I say and he just looks at me. "Ok but what if I don't want that anymore?" He says smiling but before I can even collect myself the waitress brings out our salad. "Would you like cheese?" She asks still only looking at Hero but he's looking at me waiting for me to answer. I nod my head unable to speak. "Yes." he says still never breaking eye contact with me. "Ok tell me when to stop." The waitress says and starts grading the cheese. I nod my head when it's enough and Hero tells her to stop. She walks away without a flirtatious remark much to my surprise, although there were a couple one sided glances...possibly even a smirk. Gross. Hero dishes up and motions for me to do the same. I grab the tongs and put some salad on my plate. We're silent as we eat our salad but I can feel his eyes on me. Didn't we agree on being friends? I thought he hated me. Then we agreed to try the friends thing for our own benefit. But now he wants to be more than that? I don't even know what Hero considers as "more than" what we already are. He doesn't seem like the relationship type, in fact I think he's even told me he isn't so I doubt that's what he has in mind. "How's the salad?" He asks me completely changing the topic. "Good." I say. It's actually really good but i'm too focused on the other thing to elaborate too much on the food. How is he acting so normal after what he just said to me? He probably says that to a lot of girls actually. Again, gross. "How's yours?" I ask him as he's loading up him plate for more. "Delicious." He responds with a little gleam in his eyes. "I really need to take Cassie here." I say trying to keep the conversation going without bringing up his little confession. "You really should, although i'm surprised she hasn't brought you here before." He says. "We mainly eat at home. You know the usual stuff sandwiches, hot pockets, cup of noodle the college essentials." I say and he laughs. His dimples.... "I know that lifestyle all too well, but it's a little different then the dorm. Lots of pizza." He says and I smile. "We get pizza every once in a while, we just don't indulge ourselves with junk food." I reply while taking the last bite of my salad. "Oh yeah because hot pockets are so much better for you." He says while raising his eyebrows at me and I laugh. "Good point." I say and the waitress comes out again but this time with our food. She sets it down and tells Hero that if he needs anything to just call her over which I find completely unacceptable. Hello i'm right here. "How's the food?" He asks me and I nod my head unable to talk with a complete mouthful. "Well that's good to hear. I bet you're glad I brought you here." He says and takes a bite. "It was a great decision on your part. Possibly the best decision you've ever made." I say. "What about becoming friends with you." He says. "Well I suppose that was a decent decision too." I say. "I meant what I said you know." He very calmly says. "What are you referring to?" I ask. I know exactly what he's talking about but I was hoping he wouldn't bring it up again or maybe forget he ever said it. "You know Jo." He reply's. "Ok maybe I do but what do you want me to do about that?" I ask. This is weird. "Oh I don't know maybe tell me what you think." He says. "I don't know what I think." I say and the waitress comes over again although this time i'm relieved she interrupted. "Are you guys doing ok over here? Do you need the check maybe a box for the rest of your food?" She asks. "Two boxes and the check." Hero says and she walks off. It's silent. I don't like the silence. I look up at Hero and find him staring at the older couple across from us but I cant quite make out his expression. "Here you go." The waitress says while setting the check down Hero pays and we leave. We've been in the car for 10 minutes now and neither of us have said anything. "Here you are." He says as he parks outside my apartment. "Thanks, for the ride and lunch." I say and he nods as he takes his keys out of the ignition. "What are you doing?" I ask. "What? You think our fun filled day would be over that fast? Silly mistake Josephine." He says and gets out of the car leaving me sitting here with an uneasy feeling that this might be a bad idea.

Authors Note
Uhhhhh yeah guys....long time no see I KNOW but please bear with me my life has been extremely hectic and work is honestly kicking my ass right now. But besides that i'm really happy to give you guys this next chapter and im hoping i'll be able to update a little more frequently!

ps for those of you that message me and literally asked if i was still alive...yes i am.
Your friend Makena