Okay, now I’m confused. “Uh…if you don’t date, then what is this?” My index finger points back and forth between both our bodies of its own accord as I lazily suck through the straw of my drink. It falls out of my mouth as lift my head to wait for her response.
“I…I… It’s just…noodles?”
“So?” I watch as her face gets bright red, and in a gesture I’ve never seen her execute, she reaches up and twirls the end of her ponytail around her finger and bites down on her lip before looking me directly in the eyes. “Didn’t you hear? Noodles are the key to my heart.”
Molly only hesitates for a second before groaning. “You did not just say that.”
“I did. In fact, I was hoping for a more enthusiastic response, so unfortunately for you, I will not be making out with you at the end of this date—or non-date. Whatever.” I know I’m stupidly grinning, but the look on her face is priceless. Her green eyes have gotten huge, and now she’s gaping at me with her mouth hanging open.
I eat a few forkfuls of vegetables before slowly speaking the next few words.
“You know, Molly, you’re not at all like I was expecting you to be that day I was checking you out in the library.” Still no sound comes out of her, so I continue. “You looked so ridiculously cute.” And sexy in that skirt. “Uh, why are you looking at me like that?”
She shakes her head like she’s shaking feathers out. “I’m sorry, I just… I’m surprised, that’s all. It’s not a bad thing.” A smile tugs at the corner of her mouth, but she’s totally fighting it.
“Can I ask you something?” I push the noodles around in my bowl and watch her from the corner of my eye. She nods as she takes a sip of her water. “What were you thinking about when you looked up?”
She thinks about it before answering. “Do you want me to be honest with you, or should I lie?”
“Well, if you’re about to say you wanted to get naked, then say whatever you want.” I waggle my eyebrows to punctuate my sentence and shoot her one of my toothy, megawatt grins that girls go crazy for.
“Well, not exactly. I was a little…freaked out. I mean, it’s not like you have this sterling reputation. I thought you were a jerk—or I mean, that’s what I’d heard.”
I consider this information. “Huh. Well that sucks. I like my version better.”
Finally she throws her head back and laughs. “The naked Molly version? Figures.”
“Uh, I bet naked Molly looks incredible. Let’s see, if I close my eyes I can almost picture it…” I squint my eyes closed and pretend to be searching for a visual. “Yup. Oh yeah, there it is. Nice…”
Molly’s laugh is airy and light as she hits my arm. “Knock it off, Weston. Stop trying to picture me with no clothes on.”
“Fine, but only because there’s something I need to ask you. Well, more like tell you—” I’m interrupted by the sound of a feminine voice calling out, “Hey, Wes, what’s up?” It causes both Molly and me to crane our necks to see two girls from school—I think their names might be Mary and Olivia, but that’s just a guess—approaching our table. They’re both wearing backpacks and have their cell phones out, so one can assume they’re at Kyoto to study. The blonde (Olivia?) has ear buds in and is slightly bobbing her head as she walks toward us.
Now, I’m not sure what possesses people who hardly know me to greet me with such familiarity, but they do, and I’m irritated. So, by the time they’re done dodging and weaving through the sparsely attended dining room and arrive at our booth, my leg is bouncing under the table. Maybe you’ve already noticed, but this is a habit of mine when I’m annoyed or nervous.
The girls bounce up to the table—yeah, bounce—with the one called Mary (I think) taking the lead. I notice—only because her shirt is too small—that she’s got big boobs and she’s sticking them out. Dear God, how obvious can you be?
I shift in my chair, knowing this is going to be awkward.
“Hi, Wes. How’s it going?” Big Boobs Small Shirt is now standing at the corner of our table, eyes trained on me with a huge smile on her face. It’s creepy, and I shift my gaze to Molly, who is eating noodles with a smirk on her face. Her eyes are crinkled at the corners, and I get the feeling that she’s secretly laughing at me.
She is going to be no help at all in getting these two away from me.
“It’s going fine.” I give the girl a vague answer, hoping if I’m curt enough she’ll leave.
“Gosh, do you eat here a lot?” Like I’m going to walk into that trap by answering that question. Instead, I grunt and say nothing.