Why am I so nervous? I shouldn't stop being nervous! Those girls playing soccer, they aren't looking at me, i should calm down. Wiping off a ball of sweat from my back, I straightened my back as she arrived.
"Hi Takashi!"She stood behind me. I almost fell off the bench.
"H-hi. R-right on time." I said.
"Tomoko!", The girls playing soccer called out.
"Uh oh."
"Why? Are those your friends?"
"Yeah, it's embarrassing. They don't know that I work as a rental girlfriend!"
"Oh."
"Follow me, and don't act like my boyfriend, ok?"
"Ok.", I gulped. Meeting new people was not what I imagined on my first date.
"Tomoko!" They shouted again, embracing her.
"Midori, Yui, hi! Wanna play soccer with us?"
"Yeah." The two girls said.
"Who's that?" Their fingers pointed right at me. They started giggling childishly.
"No, it's not like that! He's just a friend, stop being so immature."
"Ha- yeah, hi, I'm Ta-Takashi."Holding my arms together, I prepared for the worst.
"Wanna play with us?" Tomoko offered. I rejected promptly.
"Not really… I'm not the sporty type."
I lied. I was a very sporty type back then. I was the captain of the soccer team in the past, alongside Makoto and Shou. It was how we met, back when we were little kids, meeting on this exact football field, and I was asked the exact same question. I said yes then, we got closer and closer. I even quitted football just to spend my time with friends back then. I lost my shape, but it doesn't matter, I finally had some actual friends. But now, i'm avoiding them all because of Ayane and her-
"Takashi, you spaced out!" Tomoko said.
"Oh, sorry… I'll join you after a game with them? Is that ok?"
"Yeah, sure.", A few seconds in and she already left my side. It was just like Ayane. The memory shot me like a bullet, remembering all the times she desperately wished to leave me, and dropping an insult whenever she did. At least Tomoko didn't insult me, which was a huge improvement.
I still remember the first date when I met her a couple years ago... Butterflies in my stomach when she sat down, I couldn't take my eyes off her; and then she giggled with a psychotic aura. "Oh my god! I really have to date a loser like you? Meh, money matters, I guess." Even though I didn't fully understand, the pain was still there. "At least your dad is paying me a fortune for it." And from then on the game of tolerance began, until now. Something tells me I can actually enjoy myself around Tomoko. I combed my hands through my hair, hoping to spontaneously improve myself for her, considering she was completely out of my league. What if she gets bored of me? Or worse, what if she hates me later on after she finds out who I really am? Would it be Ayane all over again? What if-
"Takashi! Hello?", She asked.
"Huh?"
"Are you okay? I just finished my game."
"Uh...yeah. Ok."
"Wanna take a walk?"
"Ok."
"Let's go!"
"Lighten up, you're always so nervous!"
"Sorry."
"No one's here now, how about we-", She whispered in my ear. My face burnt to a crisp.
"NOOO!"
Tomoko looked at me with a confused expression
"Why are you looking at me like that? I was about to say we can continue to our date."
"Ok. And I'm sorry for being so boring…"
"İt's fine! I don't find you boring!"
"You- you don't?"
"No. You're mysterious, hiding a bunch of secrets behind your nervous sweats. I like it."
"O-ok, thanks."
This might be the first painless date I ever experienced. And Tomoko might be the first rental girlfriend I might actually enjoy having. I went home with a stupid grin I can't get rid of. Laying in bed, fantasizing about her and all the potential dates we can go on. To the movies, to the amusement park, to a museum if she's into history; everything would go great.