Beastly • H.S

~Ten~

Not edited

I had agreed to going on the date with Justin just for his sake and also for a bit of mine as well. I held off my work time (editing a manuscript by Alice Leopold, a woman who loves to write about life-altering situations dealt with love in the endings) for the date and I guess you could say that it was worth skipping what I get paid for for just one day.

When he came to pick me up at my apartment- at precisely 7:30 pm- he told me that the location was a 'surprise' and that I was 'going to love it'.

For someone like Justin, I guess taking a girl to the movies is a big deal. Honestly, I thought when he said that the place was a surprise and that I was gonna love it, that it was somewhere unique, you know? Like a lake or somewhere you usually don't bring a girl on a date. Don't start thinking that I didn't love it, because I did. The movie was a bit cheesy but watching him being a klutz the whole time was funny.

"...he was just standing there while his girlfriend got eaten by an alien-like creature." Justin brought me back from my thoughts. We're walking the sidewalk outside the movie theater. People are exiting the building with unimpressed expressions and Justin's over here smiling like a happy six-year-old on his birthday.

I look at him and his eyes are wide while he talks.

"I swear I didn't know that the movie was going to turn into some syfy catastrophe." He shakes his head in total innocence and shock. I laugh at him and nudge his arm playfully.

"You know, before you watch a movie you're supposed to see what's it about." I tell him with a giggle and he rolls his eyes at me. "But I liked it." I tell him.

"Well, the cover looked like the right movie to pick here, but I guess you're right." He smiles, the skin around his eyes crinkling up.

"I thought so," I muttered with a laugh.

"You want to get something to eat before I bring you home?" He asks and I shake my head.

"We ate popcorn and candy in the theater." I point out but he shakes his head at me as well.

"So?" He shrugs.

"I'm not hungry, Justin." I tell him.

"Well I am, popcorn and gooey nerd rope doesn't fill me up." He rubs his stomach and makes a hissing sound through his teeth. I raise a brow at him. "C'mon," he holds out his hand for me and I stare at it before slowly putting mine into it.

Just as friends, I remind myself surely.

His hands are warm against my palm, his skin oddly smooth as I bring our hands together. I peek at look at him and his smile seems to have gotten bigger by the second. I know that he knows I don't like him, but why he wants to hold my hand is kinda awkward. I just hope my hands aren't as sweaty as I think they are made out to be by me.

"Pizza or burgers?" He asks once we were outside two conjoined buildings. One a pizzeria and one a burger place called Burger Grill, which is weird, because you don't grill burgers, you grill the patties.

"Burgers." I say confidently and we walk into the building. The smell of burgers and a hint of bacon fills my nostrils and my stomach makes a gurgling sound. I didn't think anyone heard it until Justin looks at me with a bushy raised brow and I stare at him.

"Thought you weren't hungry," he mimics me with a sneer and then laughs at the end. I roll my eyes and cast them to the floor naturally, and then they lead upwards until I realize I'm still holding Justin's hand.

"So what are you getting?" I ask as I pull my hand out of his and scratch my neck for an excuse to break the contact of our skins. Here you go with the excuses again...