Chapter 11

6:56. Rapid breath.

6:57. Heart beating fast.

6:58. Shaking hands.

6:59. A ring of the doorbell. I jump up and Sierra does too. She's grinning from ear to ear. I feel shaky with excitement. Sierra gestures to me to answer the door then gives me a thumbs up and rushes upstairs.

I try to calm myself as I walk to the front door. I do one last check of myself and take a deep breath.

I open the door to find a highly attractive guy smiling at me. He wears a nice blue button up shirt and dark denim jeans. I can't help but notice how good he looks, charming smile and all. No, Ray isn't a bulky football player. No, he isn't some jock who's overly popular. He's Ray, fun Ray, awesome Ray, nerdy Ray, and I love that about him. He's different than every other girl in America would think of their dream guy being. But he doesn't care, and I think he's perfect.

"You look... Beautiful," Ray says, reaching his hand out to guide me to his car.

"Thanks, Ray. You don't look half bad yourself," I say, throwing him a grin.

Ray chuckles a little before opening my door to let me in the passenger side of his silver Honda Civic. He gives me a huge heart stopping smile that seems to not be able to leave his face.

As soon as he's in the car beside me, he cranks up the heat, warming me immediately. I watch the houses pass by as we drive, relaxing more than I had been ten minutes ago. I have nothing to worry about. This is Ray.

"So, how has your day been?" Ray asks.

"Terrible," I state.

"I bet it has been, since I only just got here," Ray says, looking at me for a moment.

"Keep your eyes on the road, mister. I would rather not end up dead tonight," I say.

"Hey, I can't help myself from wanting to look at you," Ray says.

I feel heat flying to my face, and no, it is not from the car heater. Simple compliment, gentlemanly gesture, but that's something new to me.

I tuck my hair back behind my ears and find my gaze on Ray now. His focus is on the road. He has his regular small smile on his face, brown eyes bright in the streetlight shining into the car. He's humming a song.

His focus snaps to me and his smirk grows wider.

"What? Can't resist looking at me, eh?" Ray asks, laughing a little.

My face grows hotter, if that is possible. "Psshhh, what makes you think... Okay, fine. Maybe."

That makes both me and him burst out laughing, which may I add, might not be the best thing to happen while driving. I wipe a tear from my eye, trying to contain myself and get back in control.

"What have you been doing all day?" I ask Ray.

"You know, the usual."

"The usual, huh?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow.

"The usual," Ray confirms.

"And the usual happens to be...?" I ask, gesturing for him to continue with my hand.

"Oh, breathing. Living. Shipping your cat to Alaska in a container full of chips and guac," Ray says, flashing me a smile.

"Yeah, Penelope would love that."

"Yeah, that's why I did it, duh. C'mon, Jor, getcha head in the game," Ray says.

"Okay, one: Did you just call me Jor? And two: Do you want me to burst out singing High School Musical?" I ask, smirking at him.

"To answer one: Yes, I sure did, Jor. To answer two: That would be awesome," Ray says, with a laugh.

"You sure about that?" I ask with a sly grin.

Suddenly Ray pulls over to the side of the road. I can practically see the lightbulb blinking above his head. He climbs over to the back seat.

"What on earth are you doing?" I ask, twisting around to get a clearer view.

It looks like he is frantically searching for something. He pulls out a container full of discs.

"Aha!" He says, pulling a single disc out.

Ray climbs back over the seat and then shoves the disc, which reads 'High School Musical' into the car stereo thing.

"Oh, you just so happen to have a High School Musical CD in your car?" I ask with an amused grin.

"Always. Wouldn't leave without it." Typical.

And that's how our jamming out began.

************************************

"We're here," Ray exclaims before getting out of the car.

I push the door open and step out as well. Ray runs around to my side and frowns at me.

"No, get back in the car," Ray says. I give him a look before sitting back down. "Close the door too..." I close the door.

Just then, Ray opens the door back up again, grabbing my hand to help me out. I laugh and Ray smiles charmingly.

"What was that all about?" I ask.

"I want to be a gentleman."

"Well, mission accomplished," I say, kicking a rock out of my path.

I look up and see the place we are headed to. Olive Garden.

"How did you know this is my favorite?" I ask, grinning at him.

He laughs. "You told me that it was the day we went to the park. You were like, 'Ohhhh.... Wanna know what I want? Olive Garden. Man, I bet they serve that food in heaven.'"

I stop dead in my tracks. "You paid that much attention to what I was saying?"

Ray's face flushes and he begins to walk again, taking me with him. I laugh a little again before we step into the restaurant. It is surprisingly not too crowded.

I follow Ray up to the little front desk thing. When I was younger, I always thought that restaurants stole them from court houses so that the judge would have to come get it and eat there.

"Reservations for Pearson," Ray explains to the woman standing in front of us. Her name tag informs me that her name is Paula.

"Right this way," Paula says, leading us across the room to a table set up for two.

Ray pulls my chair out for me and I flatten my skirt before sitting. Ray sits across from me, smiling at me.

"Not giving up the whole 'being a gentleman' thing are you?" I ask, looking at the menu I was just given by Paula.

"Never. I actually quite enjoy it," Ray says, flipping through his own menu.

"What do you think you're getting?" I ask, scanning the pasta section.

"Ah, Fettuccine Alfredo. Oh, that stuff is heavenly!" Ray exclaims, causing the old ladies next to us to turn to us with irritated faces.

"Hey! I get that every single time I come here! It's great!" I say, only not as loud as Ray did, not wanting a bunch of grammas ganging up on us in the parking lot.

Paula returns to take our order for drinks. My answer slips out of my mouth without a thought. I get it every time, also.

"Pink lemonade, please!"

"I'll get water, thanks," Ray says.

"Water? Boring," I say, frowning at him.

"Hey, gotta stay hydrated."

"Point taken."

Once Paula returns, she hands us our drinks and a basket of breadsticks. Those things are without a doubt the most amazing breadsticks ever to be created on the planet.

"Excuse me, can I please get a side of Alfredo sauce to go with these?" Ray asks Paula.

"Of course," Paula says with a smile before heading to the kitchen area.

"No way! I dip my breadsticks in Alfredo sauce too!" I exclaim, before smiling brightly.

"That's amazing, Jor. Already know new things about you," Ray says, drinking some water.

"You have a great taste in foods!" I say.

"I'm glad! I haven't ever been told that before, but thank you!" Ray matches my voice level.

"You're welcome, sir!"

Gran number one at the table beside us stands up and walks in our direction. I nervously glance over to Ray who shares a confused look with me.

"Excuse me, children. My girlfriends and I are trying to have a peaceful dinner. It would be much appreciated if you could keep your squawking to a minimum," the lady says. She's short and not exactly in shape, with curly gray hair and square glasses. The ultimate old lady attire.

"We are sorry ma'am. Enjoy your food," Ray says.

As the lady walks away, Ray squawks in her direction. I put a hand over my mouth to keep my loud laughter from bursting out.

I hear one of the old ladies sitting across from the one that approached (whom I gave the name of Gertrude since it seemed fitting) tell Gertrude: "I think that young man over there just squawked at you." The woman points in our direction.

Gertrude turns her head to look at Ray and I and we immediately flip our heads to face each other and casually take sips of our drinks.

Just as I think Gertrude is going to come crush our skulls with her pruny hands, Paula returns with our Alfredo sauce. I sigh with relief.

"Thanks, Paula," I say. I don't think she knows the depth of my thankfulness.

"Anytime, girly. Now, what would you like to order for your meal?"

"Fettuccine Alfredo for the both of us, please," Ray says, smirking at me.

"Two Fettuccine Alfredos coming right up soon," Paula says, walking off.

Ray and I take a breadstick and dip it into the sauce. We count on our fingers, and on three we shove the breadsticks into our mouths. The creamy deliciousness mixed with the bread is amazing! Hallelujah to the breadsticks.

I go for another breadstick once the first is gone. Ray sits back and watches me eat it. Now that I'm feeling all self conscious with him watching me eating, I try to go slower instead of just scarfing the thing down whole. Trust me, that's hard for me.

"Here is your Alfredo," Paula breaks me from my thought. She hands us both our plates of food and warns us about the heat before rushing off to help other customers.

And with that, Ray and I dig into our food. (Of course I attempt to be more lady like than usual.)

************************************

Ray and I both end up basically sprinting away from Olive Garden. Gertrude and Ezmirelda (the other lady's name we gave her) decided to leave at the exact same time as us. They followed us out the door.

Once we are safely in the car, we burst out laughing. I can't believe that just happened. Corniest thing to happen on a first date, right?

And here I go, drawing the possibly unrealistic conclusion that there will be another. For all I know, Ray could still only think if me as a friend.

Did that thought count as me admitting to thinking of him as more than a friend? I'm going with no.

"That was great, Jor," Ray says, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Yes, indeed. Gertrude was gettin' feisty at the dinner table," I add with a laugh.

"Gertrude?" Ray cocks an eyebrow.

"Oh, the name I gave the one old lady. You know which one I'm talking about."

Ray snorts. "Fitting name."

"Told you."

Ray starts the car and we're driving again. We begin going in the opposite direction of our houses. I flip my head to focus on Ray.

"What are you-"

The smirk on Ray's face gives me the answer. We aren't finished with this date quite yet. And I won't lie to myself in saying I'm upset when really I feel ecstatic.

We pass through the town silently, peacefully. The houses begin to die down. The outskirts of town are basically a bunch of really spread out houses and fields. I quietly ponder the reasoning behind this late night visit to this place.

The cars slows to a stop at one field with a tall hill. Ray and I exit the vehicle and I walk to his side of the car. He looks down at our hands and connects them. My eyes widen, watching our fingers intertwine.

Ray smiles up at me and we begin to walk up the hill. Now is the time when I am overly thankful that I didn't choose heels for this evening.

Once we've reached the top of the hill, I find a blanket laid out on the grass and a basket of other blankets next to it. I follow him to it and sit down next to him, brushing off my dress.

"What's this about?" I ask, unable to keep my curiosity within me.

"Look up," Ray says. I follow his instructions.

The stars are all shining superiorly brighter tonight than usual. They each glow and stand out against the black night sky. The sight is breathtaking.

"Wow," I whisper.

Ray leans back, laying down. I follow, leaning back as well. Our shoulders touch just like they did when we were at the park a while back. I smile at the thought.

The stars shining more prominently makes me want to connect them into pictures. So I create constellations in my mind, only ones that make sense. Constellations that are really constellations don't look like anything. But when I connect the stars to create a smiley face, it looks like a smiley face.

"What are you thinking about?" Ray asks, as I see him looking at my in the corner of my eye.

"Just connecting the dots," I answer, pointing to the stars. "There's a mouse. There's a cactus. And there's Scooby Doo."

Ray chuckles. "I think you'll have to be more clear on which stars are connecting."

"Use your imagination, Ray. It's a great tool."

The peaceful silence of the night falls into effect and the entire time I think about how strangely empty my life would be if I hadn't stopped Ray in the hallway the first day we met. Thank you Jack, for deciding to be a crap on a stick and hide from me. It really turned my life around.