The Boy Who Wore Boat Shoes

28⎜The Date

28⎜The Date

I stared in the mirror, and quirked my head to the side. Damn, I was one attractive dude. Like, everything about my body was totally symmetrical in every way imaginable, and my jawline really looked good with the light tan my skin had embraced over the past few months. My biceps were bulging to perfection, and even my hair was looking amazing. It wasn’t a surprise, as I had always looked this good, but currently, I was starting to doubt my flawless exterior.

           Right now, it didn’t matter that my button-down complimented my eyes superbly. It didn’t matter that my Nantucket red chinos were epic beyond comparison. It didn’t matter that my boat shoes were the comfiest footwear that I owned. My outfit and everything else on my outside was currently irrelevant, for it was the stuff on the inside that was going to count. In this particular instance, looking good (well, “good” amplified by a trillion) didn’t matter.

           Taking one last glance at my reflection, I finally let out a sigh, and settled for an adequate version of perfection. I shouldn’t have been as nervous as I was. For once, though, my attractiveness wasn’t going to get me through this one. It wasn’t even that I was dreading it, per se, but rather anticipating the worst. I wanted everything to go right, and that wouldn’t be achieved just because I had nice calves. My intellect was what would be put to test. Everyone could see that I was practically a living Adonis—but what I would be facing in a mere ten minutes was what lay behind all that. For once, my mind was the only thing that would be scrutinized (only slightly tainted by my beauty and vanity).

           “Yo, Wilson! If I wanted to live with a girl, I’d move in with Noa. Stop checking yourself out in the mirror, loser!” Seth called from his desk, where he had been perched all afternoon. He had some sort of paper due tomorrow, and had procrastinated to the very last second, so was finally facing reality and writing it now. “You look like fine!”

           “Yeah, but what if ‘fine’ isn’t good enough?” I exhaled a stream of air, aware of how shallow I was being.

           “Your version of ‘fine’ is the rest of the world’s version of ‘super model.’ Chill the heck out,” commanded my roommate with his typical nonchalance. He was talking to me while simultaneously tapping away at his favorite electronic device, so I knew that the conversation we were having was only a halfhearted one on his end. Seth was great at multitasking, but when his fingers touched a keyboard, everything else he attempted to do was officially half-assed. “Don’t you have a date or something?”

           Right. The date. That was pretty much the reason behind all my built up anxiety. I was going with Ari Remon (aka the most amazing girl I had ever had the pleasure of meeting) on a date. Our first date. As “us.” I didn’t want anything to go wrong, because I felt so right when I was with Ari. Neither my past nor my last name mattered when I was around her, and I could be myself. I didn’t have to put up a front and act like the person everyone thought I was. For once, I could be just Eric.

           We had decided to meet on one of the main quads that was equidistance from both of our dorm rooms. After setting a time, we were all set. We hadn’t picked where we would be going or what we would be doing, but that didn’t matter. As long as we were together, even spontaneity could work out. Our lack of a solid plan bothered me a bit, for I secretly longed for structure, but if Ari was okay with it, then I would be, too.

           “Uh, yeah, I do,” I finally answered Seth, glancing up at the clock to see what time it was and how much time I had left. 11:53. We had decided to meet at noon. I had precisely seven minutes to leave my dormitory, get to the quad, and find Ari. Fun. I threw on the first sweater I could find (it was a cable knit quarter-zip thing in a nice navy color—Vineyard Vines, obviously). After making sure that I had cash and my phone on me, I sprinted over to the door, and bid Seth with a hurried, “See ya, dude!”