You Again | Editing

Chapter 19

I groggily stumble into the kitchen, my lids half open as I rub them with my knuckles and make my way over to the fridge to grab a gallon of milk then to the cupboard for a bowl. I pour myself out some milk then Reese's Puff cereal. On my way out of the kitchen, I pull the utensil drawer open and grab a spoon. Just as I'm shoveling a spoonful of cereal into my mouth and entering the dining room, Nan enters the house, Pop trailing behind her. "Good morning," she says.

Her steps are slow toward the dining room table. She pulls a chair out and takes a seat beside me, wearing a wide smile that deepens the wrinkles around her mouth and cheeks. "Why are you so happy?" I question, stretching my arms out behind my head before I take another bite of cereal.

"I set up your blind date with Kasey. So if you've made plans, cancel them right now."

I choke on my cereal, blinking hard and fast. She did that way faster than I anticipated. "When?"

She gives me a cheeky grin, reaching out a hand to play with my hair. "That's for me to know and for you to find out." Oh, hell no.

"Nuh-uh. I agreed to a blind date, not a blind day," I argue, keeping my voice at a respectable decibel. "I want to know when it is so I can put some effort into my appearance."

Nan recoils with a gasp. Turning to Pop, she says, "Henry, did you hear that? He wants to put some effort into his appearance for a girl he didn't even want to meet."

"I sure did," Pop says, grinning at Nan's teasing.

Ignoring them, I shift uncomfortably in my seat, resting my hands on either side of my bowl of cereal. "Why can't I know when the date is?"

"Because I don't want you to stress." I let out a sarcastic chuckle, finding humor in the fact that she doesn't want to cause me stress but, at the same time, she's made plans for me without letting me know when exactly they are planned so I can plan around her plans.

What a fucking mess.

"Tell that to my heart palpitations."

Nan screws up her face, giving me a playful shove in the shoulder. "Leon, calm the fuck down. Kasey is a sweet girl. I wouldn't set you up with some snobby bitch."

"I'm not worried about who you set me up with, I'm worried about when you set up the date so I can—" I was about to say plan my outfit and get a haircut, but Nan interrupts me by placing a hand on my forearm and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sure you'll do fine and look great," she says. "And if it's any consolation, she's nervous too."

"She is?" I ask, my voice sounding like a quizzical child.

Nan nods. "Yes. She was a bit skeptical of the blind date herself." She removes her hand from my forearm long enough to push my unruly curls off my forehead. "It's this Saturday. So get your shit together and prepare for your date and try not to give her a reason to regret coming."

"No pressure." I bite back with sarcasm and a chuckle. Curiosity getting the best of me, I ask, "What does she look like?"

"Nope!" Nan shakes an authoritative finger at me, her features set in a stern glare. "I'm not telling you what she looks like! It's a blind date for a reason!" I should've expected as much.

For the rest of the day, I wonder who this mystery girl that I'm going on a date with is, and if she can even measure up Kat's level of beauty or make me feel the way she did so effortlessly and unknowingly.

I know it's fucked up of me to compare one girl to another, and I'm sure that whoever my grandparents set me up with is a beautiful person inside and out, but I can't escape from my thoughts of Kat.

Maybe, just maybe, if I'd been myself around her from the start, she would've given me a shot.

But the past is the past. There's no point in dwelling over something I can't change. I have more important things to focus on now, like my date with Kasey.

I just hope that my mind allows me to.