Three Brothers (Completed)

The Incident I will Refer to as the Almost First Date

Chapter 3

The Incident I will Refer to as the Almost first Date

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Lily had been going on and on about this new movie that was coming out. She had been so excited for it and so was I, but not nearly as excited as she was. I was looking forward to sneaking my arm around her shoulder, our hands meeting as we both went for a handful of popcorn. I was looking forward to running my hands up and down her arms when she got cold—which was all the time by the way—and the ride home where I would make my first move.

Now, needless to say I was a little nervous when I picked her up at her house that evening. It wasn’t like I hadn’t been on a date before—because I had been on plenty thank you very much—but this was my first date with the future Mrs. Royce Soran. I wanted everything to be perfect. Wow, I really do sound like a chick.

Naturally, I got myself into my fancy casual outfit—you know the designer jeans the tight fitting tee-shirt and the fancy looking coat—oh yeah I have style. I had all my best lines, borrowed from James who had always been a real player, and I was groomed and ready to go. So you can imagine my surprise when she slid into the passenger seat of my car and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, “You have pretty hair.”

Of course I was horrified. Come on, I had more game than that. If James had been there to witness that he would have pulled me aside and slapped me. But it wasn’t my fault, she came out in a pair of tight bedazzled leggings and that cute little jacket that made her look like a Japanese pop star. Her hair had been super pretty that night too, she had straightened it just for me.

You see when you’re in the water as much as Lily and I had been during the year, you tend not to do certain things all the time. Like straighten your hair, put on makeup or dress up. You end up doing more things instead like showering more then you should, moisturizing constantly and wearing sweat pants—or in Lily’s case plain black leggings—everywhere because you were going to work anyway, so who cares right?

The point is Lily had straightened her hair, wore fancy leggings and had put make up on. My brain immediately shut down, blinded by her radiance and out came the stupid. However, Lily just laughed at me, thanked me for the compliment and I pulled out of her driveway and drove to the movie theater as fast as I possibly could.

My dream date quickly spiraled down the drain. She ordered nachos instead of popcorn, less romantic, and she had worn a large sweater that day so she wouldn’t get cold. But I was not disheartened, we were still our charming sarcastic selves and I could still find an excuse to put my arm around her. Maybe I could protect her from the bad guys instead.

Lily also took it upon herself to warn me about certain things, like how much of a chatterbox she was—something I already knew—and that she would most likely talk through the movie, and then the second bombshell. She had completely forgotten that she promised her cousin she’d see the movie with her too, and they had gone two nights before. She already knew everything that was going to happen, but I wasn’t too worried. She wouldn’t spoil the ending for me if she could help it.

We picked our seats; we got comfortable and Lily talked a mile a minute. I was drinking my drink and eyeing her shoulder as the trailers came on. She turned that big bright smile to me, the lights from the big screen making her blue eyes glimmer. I was ready, this was where I’d put my arm around her; maybe slide in for a kiss. Lily had other ideas, instead she said, “This is great Royce, thanks for being there for me. You’re so important to me; you’re like a little brother to me.”

Now is probably the time to mention that Lily was a bit older than me. Five years older. That’s right, when I met Lily I was 18 and she was 23.

Yeah. Brother zoned on the first date! I was so surprised that I spit out a mouthful of my drink on the person below us. I stared at her wide eyed and shocked before putting on a fake smile. “Yeah, I’m glad you...feel that way.” I say instead.

I sat through that movie in bitter silence, unable to believe what had just happened to me. The girl I loved had basically rejected me without me even making a move. One just doesn’t recover from that, you know. That’s where things should have ended but they didn’t.