Chapter 12: Date
That afternoon saw me at the hospital due to my internship. During a lull in activity, I sought out Layla to talk.
"Would you like to go out Friday night after our internship lets out?" (John)
"That came out of nowhere." (Layla)
"Did it? It seems like this is a long time coming." (John)
"That it does. That it does. But why now?" (Layla)
"Wait a moment, wait a minute, wait a lifetime. I wasted a lot of my life waiting and hoping. I don't want to miss even a single moment now." (John)
"You know what, I'm in. I'm tired of waiting and hoping as well. See you Friday." (Layla)
"Well, we're going to see each other tomorrow and every day till Friday, but I'm smelling what you're cooking." (John)
"Haha. I'm starting to regret going on a date with such a pedantic person." (Layla)
"You know you love it." (John)
"Yeah, arrogance looks great on you. Well as much as I love these chats, I gotta go clean some bed pans." (Layla)
"Sounds like fun." (John)
"Yep, highlight of my day." (Layla)
I hated to see her go but loved watching her walk away.
The next couple of days were a little awkward, we were both excited, nervous, and unsure where we stood.
Friday night saw us walking to Layla's car to go on our date. I know that it was not traditional, but she loved her car and loved driving it more.
When we arrived at her car, I could see why. It was a work of art, a royal purple 1965 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350.
Our first destination was one of the only places in the city where we could do my favorite activity, swimming. I had a lot of good memories at the Alee Lane Aquatic Center. While we could go to the beach, it was late in the day, and I hate sand. So, the aquatic center it was. It also had the benefit of almost no one being there at this time.
We got there and changed, black trunks for me and a frilly white and green bikini. The only downside to swimming was that it exposed the huge ugly scar on my side. The scar used to bother me a great deal, I saw it as one more imperfection on my record. Now I just see it as a part of me. It was just something that happened to me. A random accident, a thing outside my control, a car that came out of nowhere when my mother was driving.
After a few hours of swimming and just having fun together, without the pressure of a typical first date. It allowed us to enjoy our time together as we usually did as friends.
Our next destination was the boardwalk. While I hated sand, that was only when I was wet. When dry, I actually quite enjoy walking along it.
We spent the time until midnight, just walking around talking about our past, our future, and life in general. It turns out that she wanted to be an environmental lawyer in the future. She was only doing the internship because it looked good on a college application.
Her mother, Charlotte, was a single mother and an environmental lawyer as well. When I asked about her father, she clammed up and said she didn't want to talk about it. Someday she would probably tell me, but our first date it was not.
It also turns out she was one of those vegetarians that eat seafood. I think that's cheating, but everyone is entitled to their beliefs. Even if those beliefs that sea creatures don't have feeling, but somehow every other animal does. At the end of the day, people also think dogs and cats are special beings. So, to each their own.
Our night ended after she dropped me off back home in that beautiful car of hers. I have to say finally living my life out of my fantasies and in reality is working out great for me.
The next couple of weeks was mainly just going about my schedule with the addition of going on dates and texting all hours of the day and night with Layla. Our internships also ended in the meantime.
I was broken out of my new routine by our resident gang leader and monster, Lung.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone