Dan laughed. “Look, I get it – you’re nervous,” he said. “But really, Molly, calm down. There’s no reason to be upset about anything.”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said. “Thanks for that.”
Dan led the way across the campus to Port City Java, a hip little coffee shop frequented by students and townies alike. Immediately, it occurred to me how much Alex would hate some place like this.
Get him out of your head, you’re with someone else , I thought as Dan led me towards the counter.
“So, what are you having?”
I looked up and scanned the board. “Um, I don’t know,” I said. “What’s good?”
The girl behind the counter laughed. “Everything,” she said. “What do you like?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I hate bitter things,” I said.
Dan nodded. “Let’s get her a buttercrunch toffee java freeze, and I’ll have a chai tea latte with soy milk.”
When I reached for my wallet, Dan laughed and shook his head.
“No, Molly, this is my treat,” he said. “Don’t even worry about it.”
We stood awkwardly by the counter and I listened to the whirr and buzz of the various fancy coffee machines.
“What are you liking most about the program so far?”
I shrugged. “Just being in it, honestly. It was always my dream to go to library school. Well, my dream and my friend Rebecca’s dream, too. She’s in the program but her schedule is totally different, we had to sign up for different sections because she works part time.”
Dan whistled. “Working and going to school is tough,” he said. “What about you?”
“I’m not working right now.” I blushed. “I actually got a scholarship, which is like, super rare for a terminal master’s program.”
“Good for you,” Dan said.
The barista slid our drinks to Dan and I smiled when I saw the chocolate-laden confection topped with whipped cream.
“This looks amazing,” I said as I wrapped my hands around the chill plastic cup. “How did you know what I wanted?”
Dan shrugged. “You look like a girl who likes her desserts.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What does that mean?”
“Hey, I didn’t mean anything bad by it,” Dan said. “Really, it’s cool. I have a sweet tooth, too.”
I flushed.
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“Molly, if I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t, okay?”
I nodded. “Okay,” I said.
Dan led the way to a table and I followed behind. Now that my initial anxiety had worn off, I was starting to wonder just why I’d asked him out in the first place. Because Rebecca had told me to? Or because I’d actually wanted to?
I felt like a jerk thinking of the truth, but I didn’t really want to date Dan. And now, if things went well, would I be stuck in some kind of awkward relationship that lasted way too long?
Or what? Would we break up, and I wouldn’t even be able to go to class without thinking of him and how dumb I’d been?
“What’s wrong? You’re frowning,” Dan said. “Everything okay?”