Just a Kiss Away

Lily

I walk to the table where he's sitting and- he chose a table with high chairs. Seriously? I see him turn to me and smile, motioning towards the chair as if he were escorting me somewhere. I set down our drinks and pulled out my chair. I step up on the beam between the 2 chair legs and hoist myself up onto the seat.

"Pfft," he starts to laugh for the 3rd or 4th time today. Douchebag. Although, he's quite cute when he laughs-

"You're unfunny," I tell him, even though I'm smiling to myself. I then realize that I don't even know the name of the person I'm eating dinner with right now. "What's your name," I ask, my mouth stuffed with french fries.

"I'll tell you after you swallow your food," he responds as if I'm a child he teaches manners to. I scowl at him and swallow my food. "Noah," he says.

"Noah?" That name sounds familiar. I repeat it over and over in my head. Oh! My uncle from back home, his name is Noah, so then this guy must be "Are you Ethiopian?" I ask him.

"Yeah," he responds. "Kinda confused on how you didn't realize immediately." What's with this guy's attitude? "Usually you can tell if someone is Ethiopian by the first glance."

"Okay, well my bad for not having x-ray vision," I say. I mutter under my breath- "douchebag."

"What was that?" he asks me.

"Nothing," I say, cough "douchebag" cough.

"Hilarious." I finish my burger and unwrap my second one. I look over to see that he still hasn't finished his first one.

"You're a slow eater," I say, pointing at him with a french fry.

"Nah," he replies, "you just eat a lot." I open my mouth in shock and grab a french fry, launching it in his face.

"Want some ketchup with that?" I ask. I stick my finger into the ketchup and touch his nose, making sure I get every last drop of ketchup on my finger. "You're welcome," I say, a smile slowly making its way onto my face.

"Thanks," he replies, wiping the ketchup off his face with a napkin, "that's so generous of you." He smiles back and butterflies flutter in my stomach.

**********

I lean back in my chair, taking long sips of my soda. In front of me lay all 3 wrappers labeled 'McChicken'. A red, medium fries box sits on the tray with napkins and other trash stuffed inside it. Noah has finally finished eating and continues to snack on the fries, taking a sip of his soda now and then. I'm full but I'm craving something sweet.

"Want a flurry?" I ask him after a few moments of silence. He looks at me with a confused face, as if I asked something unbelievable.

"You're still not full?" He asks me, stretching out the 'still'.

"I am," I respond, "but I want something sweet," I explain.

"Ok, but I'm paying," he says.

"If that's the case, I'm going all out," I say happily.

"Wha-"

**********

I walk out of the restaurant with a medium Oreo McFlurry, a soft-serve vanilla cone, and 4 chocolate chip cookies.

"Thanks for paying," I say, smiling up at him.

"Never again," he says, "I didn't know you were gonna buy the whole menu," he says in a playful tone.

"Hey, you offered to spend your money. I'm just... using my opportunities to the fullest." I explain. "Also, some of this is for you."

"Huh?" he asks. I open the car door and slide into the driver's seat. He slides into the passenger seat and repeats himself, "Huh?"

"Shush, you'll see," I say. I take his hand and lay it out flat. "Stay still," I instruct. I lay a cookie upside down on the palm of his hand. I take the spoon out of my McFlurry and stick it into the soft, vanilla, ice cream. I scoop out a huge chunk and smack it right into the center of the cookie. I swirl it around and sandwich the ice cream by adding another cookie on top, right side up. "Eat."

"Okay..." he says, skeptically. I make another ice cream sandwich and take a huge bite. "What the heck," he blurts out, "why is this so good?" he looks at the sandwich in his hands with a confused look on his face.

"I'm just an amazing genius," I say, shrugging my shoulders. I finish the rest of my sandwich and look at the Oreo McFlurry sitting in the cup holder next to me. Ughh...so full... I think he notices me staring at it and he somehow can tell what I'm thinking.

"Wanna split it?" he asks me. He pulls out a spoon from thin air and sticks it in the cup.

"Sure," I say, smiling at him. We both dig in, I take too big of a bite and end up choking on an Oreo chunk. The noises that I make are not exactly the prettiest thing I've heard, but he laughs and gently hits my back trying to get me to stop choking.

"So," he says.

"So," I repeat, mimicking him by making my voice deep. He smiles. Butterflies.

"Tell me about yourself. I feel like I've never spent this long with someone without knowing at least a little bit about them."

"What do you want to know?" I ask him, happy that he wants to get to know me.

"Mmm.." he thinks, "Everything."