Fall For The Fangirl

35

*JOVANI*

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to decide what to wear. Nahla's family, and mine are going out together to eat downtown and there's some place that does the midnight count down to New Year's. I'm not nervous about Ms.Santiago coming, but Nahla's Aunt, her cousin, and Vanessa will be with us too and I've never met them.

"Jovani are you done in here?" Andrea asked. "I need to do my hair."

"Uh...yeah, but which shirt do you like better? The navy blue or the maroon?"

"I like the navy blue, but Nalah thinks you look nice in Maroon."

"What? How do you know that?" I laughed.

Andrea shrugged. "She may have accidentally told me that once."

"Haha ok."

I left the bathroom so Andrea could do her hair, and I finished getting dress. Julian and I had the same black dress pants, but his button up shirt is white, while mine is maroon. And his shoes are navy blue, mine are black. When it was time to go, I double checked my outfit in the mirror and then rushed out to the car.

Gosh I'm so nervous. Vanessa is the girl that "yelled" at me for calling Nalah weird on broadcast. She probably hates me already.

When we reached the downtown restaurant, my dad parked and we all got out of the car. Then we waited for Ryan, Andrea's boyfriend, to find a parking space.

"Sorry guys." Andrea said when they found us. "It's pretty packed."

We all walked inside and instantly spotted our table, Nalah and her family were just sitting down.

"We're here under Santiago." My dad said to the woman behind the podium.

"Oh yes, they've just arrived. Follow me to your table."

We followed the polite woman to a large booth in the corner of the restaurant.

"I'll be right back with menus."

"Hi everyone." Ms.Santiago smiled. "This is my sister Valentina, her daughter Mariana, and Nalah's best friend, Vanessa."

"Nice to meet you." My mom told them."I'm Mrs.Jara, these are my sons Julian and Jovani, my daughter Andrea, and her boyfriend, Ryan, then of course my husband."

We all awkwardly shook hands across the table and when we got our menus we talked about what we should get until everyone was decided. We made conversation while we ate, but it was mostly about introductions and not just that Nalah and I are dating. Thank God.

My parents, and Nalah's mom and Aunt all split the bill and now it was 11:00, only one hour till midnight.

"Alright lets get going." My dad suggested.

We all said goodbye to each other even though we'd be back together in about 10 minutes. When Nalah and I were about to walk to different sides of the parking lot she grabbed my hand.

"You look very handsome." She smiled.

I looked at her strapless black dress which was tighter on top and puffed out a bit starting at her waist. Her silver heels made us the same height.

"Thank you. You look beautiful." I leaned towards her for a quick kiss but she pulled back.

"Nope. Not till midnight." She laughed. "Bye."

The drive was about 15 minutes, but felt like 5 because traffic was so light. Nalah's Aunt Valentina told us we were going to a good spot that not many people know about, I guess she wasn't exaggerating.

Now that I know Nalah won't let me kiss her until midnight, I want to kiss her so much more. I'm not a very patient person. We parked our car in a grassy area, right beside Ms.Santiago's.

"Hi again." Nalah laughed, coming up to me.

"Hi." I smiled. She laced her fingers through mine and we walked together with our families until we found what her Aunt Valentina was looking for.

There was a huge projector screen in the middle of a field with a timer on it. Families had blankets and lawn chairs,and some just stood around. Now I understood why my parents grabbed huge blankets, and why Nalah's Aunt was holding one too.

My parents were sitting on a blanket with Ms.Santiago and Nalah's Aunt, talking to one another. Julian was laughing with Andrea and Ryan at something on his phone screen, and Vanessa and Mariana were on a blanket with Nalah and I.

"You guys are freaking goals." Mariana told me.

"Uh, thank you." I laughed.

"Seriously. If you could only see the way her eyes light up when she talks about you." Her cousin continued.

"Mariana! Shut up!" Nalah laughed. "She's lying."

"No." Vanessa interrupted. "She's not. In the car she kept talking about how cute you look."

Nalah pressed her face against my chest.

"Stop it!" She told them. I knew she was blushing. I wrapped my arms around her.

"Well I think she looks cute tonight too. But she looks cute every day."

"Awwww." Vanessa and Mariana said.

"Gosh you're perfect!" Mariana laughed.

"Nalah is more perfect." I replied. Now I just wanted to make her blush, since she was making me wait another 12 minutes for a kiss.

"Jovani shut up!" Nalah whined, sitting up straight. "You guys are the worst."

"Maybe. But you love us all."

Nalah nodded, making her curled hair bounce slightly. "Yeah. I do." She looked at Vanessa then Mariana, and then me. "I really do."