the date

3

HOLLIS

These past three days, I have had multiple phone calls reminding me about the "big date" from Mystery Girl. I slump myself down on the couch and stuff my face with the chips on the table.
     "Hey!" Hunter says and I shrug. The doorbell rings, and Hunter looks at me. I roll my eyes. I haul myself off the couch and walk over to the door, and it's a girl. She has gorgeous dark skin and hair and bulging eyes, and she's wearing a cute pink bouncy dress with a smart collar at the top. Baby pink heels and a white bag to match. Not much makeup from what I can see, but she's beaming up at me like she just saw God.
     Her smile quickly fades.
     "Mike! You'd better be joking," she says. Her voice is familiar, but I can't quite place it.
     "Upstairs! Now!" She grabs my arm and hauls me up the stairs. I shoot a panicked look at Hunter, but he's just laughing. Same with Summer and Brenna, but I feel like they had something to do with this.
     She turns to me. "Which room is yours?" My cheek heat up a bit. "The next one over," I say. She takes me into my room and sits me down on my bed.
     "Why?" I ask, as she walks over to my wardrobe and starts pulling out clothes.
     "Jeez, Mike, do you not own fancy clothes?" She asks me, trying to pull out anything that looks like I belong in a conference room.
     "There's a suit with a tie on the hanger at the back," I help. She rummages around for it and pulls it out. "A-ha!" She says, and puts it on my desk chair.
     She turns to look at me. "For our date," she says. "Why, did you forget?" She asks, and a look of hurt flashes through her balloon-sized eyes. And then it clicks.
     Mystery Girl.
     I don't want to hurt her feelings by saying I thought it was a joke, so I simply say, "Forget? Of course not! Why, is it seven? Already?" I ask. She nods. "Sorry," I apologise and she nods.
     She begins to walk out of my room so I can change, but I stop her. "Hey, what's your name?" I ask.
     "Did Summer and Brenna not tell you?" She asks. I knew it. "No, why?" I ask. "Oh," she says, "I came to them asking for an introduction. They must've forgotten to tell you my name, it's Rupi. Miller," she says with a smile, and I nod. She closes the door.
     I guess I'm going on a date with Rupi.

__________

When I walk downstairs, Brenna and Summer whoop and yell, and Hunter whistles. "Shut up," I say. Rupi stands up, she's been talking to the three of them by the looks. "Okay, bye!" She waves, and we leave. I can hear Hunter laughing from outside.
     While I was in my bedroom, I made last-minute reservations at this restaurant. I also stole Hunter's car keys from his room. I would've stolen Summer's, she deserves it, but she hides them in this locked up box and nobody knows where the key is.
     I open the door for her, and she giggles softly. "So, where are we going?" She asks, and I put my seatbelt on. "It's a surprise," I say.
     Even though I only met this girl around ten minutes ago, I do quite like her. She's bold, very bold, and very pretty.