What If

Chapter 10

"MOM! Have you seen my dress?"

"You'll need to be a little more specific – have you seen your closet?"

"Yes, I've seen my closet...and currently my closet is all over my floor and I STILL CAN'T FIND MY DRESS"

"Ladies, is this what you're looking for?" Mom and I stop digging through the piles of clothes to see my dad holding up the missing dress. "You put it on the couch an hour ago – when you were running around, freaking out about something else."

"Gee. Thanks for the help, Dad. Maybe saying something, I don't know, 30 minutes ago would have helped?"

"Yep, but I was watching my program and I thought one of you would notice it." I look at my mom, who is mirroring my same, exasperated expression. Taking a look at the shamble of my room and the two of us ankle deep in piles of clothes, "Look! See? I helped with mother daughter bonding."

I walk over and quickly take the dress from my dad, whose grin could give the Cheshire cat a run for his money. It's obvious to both of my parents that I am taking this date with Jacob more seriously than the first one. They've watched me run around the house like my hair's on fire all day and they'd help out more, if they weren't afraid I will misdirect my anxiety at them.

My mom whispers, "I hope she calms down before Jacob gets here. I wouldn't want him to see this side of her – she'll scare him away."

"You know I can hear you, right? This house is far too small for you to make passive aggressive comments about my pre-date anxiety, knowing that I'm too stressed out to stop and discuss. We'll just have to save it for another day...I'll remember this."

"Oh! I know you will, you're just like your mother."

"DAD!" and "Honey!" were shouted in unison while dad tiptoed back to his chair to finish watching his programs in peace.

They're not wrong. I am definitely more stressed out about this date than my first, whatever-that-was, with Jacob. I've made plans for the evening because I figured it would give me some sense of control, since so much is unknown at this point. Thanks to Sebastian, I have a little checklist running through my head; dinner – don't order salad, check teeth periodically, keep the conversation light, don't dominate the conversation, bring breath mints, and don't panic. Sure, that last one is so simple...and I hear a voice in my head, 'you got this, Em' and suddenly, I'm calmer. One last look in the mirror and take a deep breath, I got this.

"I'm glad to see you put a little more effort into it this time. Do I see a little bit of make-up?"

"Yes mom. I'm wearing make-up. Happy now?"

My mom, usually quick to make a snarky comment, stops herself, looks at me and says, "Yes Emma. You look great." She has to know what's going on in my head and maybe she realizes they've done nothing but drive me nuts the entire day...so, she's letting me off the hook from the jokes so I can calm down before Jacob gets here.

I give her a reassuring look and a half smile – a teenager's thank you without any words. My phone buzzes and I instantly worry my plans for the evening will be thwarted by a message from Jacob.

Today's the big day, right? Are you ready?

I think so?

Yeah...you're freaking out. Stop it. Just remember - you got this.