Another day of school passed by and surprisingly Lumi didn't run into either Ren or Freddy. It was quite peculiar.
"Dang girl who's blowing you up?" Jade asked, trying to take a peek at the messages appearing on Lumi's phone.
"Uhh..no one." Lumi hesitated. She didn't want to let Jade know that she had been texting Ren all day.
Lumi: 'What is your problem?'
Ren: 'Nothing'
Lumi: "Looks like something.'
Ren: 'Don't go on that date tonight'
Lumi: "I wasn't but now I think I will'
Ren: Annoyed Emoji Inserted
Lumi: 'UGH'
"I can't believe Ren just stopped by your place last night. And you aren't sure what he wanted?" Jade asked.
Lumi finally looked up at her friend and sighed exasperated while shaking her head.
"These guys are driving me insane." Lumi muttered.
"Well snap out of it. You have a date tonight. And with a really hot guy." Jade said, trying to boost Lumi's confidence.
"Yeah…" Lumi was still not really sure about going out with Freddy that night but shrugged it off.
"Do you want me to come over and help you get ready?" Jade asked with excitement.
Lumi pondered it for a moment and said, "Mmm no I think I got it tonight."
Jade nodded and confirmed, "You do."
The two best friends left school arm and arm to Jade's car and she dropped Lumi off at her house.
When Lumi got inside she rushed to her room to get ready since Freddy said he would pick her up after school. He wasn't too specific on the time so she rushed and panicked a bit. Wait, why am I so nervous? It's just a small date, we are just friends, but he did confess he had some feelings for me. Oh my god, does he think this is a date, date? Of course he does, why wouldn't he. He literally told me he liked me! Lumi shouted in her head. The first date anxiety was starting to set in.
"Chill," she said to herself looking into her hazel eyes in the vanity mirror in her room.
She started combing her wavy brown hair which caused it to poof up a little. She really wished she had a hair straightener by now but she kept forgetting to buy one when she had a chance. All she had was the hair curler so she decided to turn that on and wait for it to heat up. In the meanwhile she put on a light coverage of makeup and some mascara and topped her lips with a cherry red stain. It made her pale skin look even more pale she thought and debated wiping it away but she didn't.
Once the curling iron was hot enough she went ahead and started to do some quick curls throughout her hair not really caring to make sure it was perfect. She was in a crunch for time. Then when she was satisfied she turned off the device and got up to search her closet. She pulled out a pink blouse that was still kind of a project piece but decided to put it back for another time. Next she pulled out an old dress she never got to wear. It was a long black tank dress that went down to her knees. Mmm let me just try it on, I doubt it fits. She said to herself.
She slipped into the dress and to her surprise it fit. "Oh my God it fits! Am I losing weight?" She smiled while looking at herself in the mirror. She was losing a little weight with all the excitement in her life. Recently she had totally forgotten about the comfort of her dessert cravings. Her smile went away when she saw how big her arms looked exposed. It was really not that bad but sometimes the mind just tricked insecurities to come out. So she went back to the closet and pulled out an oversized cardigan to throw over the dress. She nodded with assertion that this was the fit she would be rocking for the night. It was totally out of the norm for her to wear a dress because she didn't like the discomfort she felt when she was in them.
There was a knock at her front door and she peeked out her front door. All she could see was a car parked out front that was unfamiliar. She assumed it was him. Her heart started to race as she rushed to slip out her black heels that she wore to his house party the last time and grabbed a small black bag. She quickly got her phone and texted her dad she would be out with a friend while walking to the living room and stood in front of the front door. She took a deep breath and opened the door. To her surprise it was not only Freddy waiting there with a huge excited smile but Ren glaring at her. Lumi went from smiling to almost a growl.
"Wow ha, you look amazing Lumi." Freddy said with true astonishment.
Ren looked Lumi up and down not caring that she could see. He looked unimpressed from her view. Lumi blushed slightly not only from Freddy's compliment but Ren's gaze.
"Thank you." She said, trying not to sound too nervous.
"Come on let's go, I got dinner reservations for us." Freddy said, reaching out for her hand. She looked at it and then up at Ren then back at the hand before placing her in his shutting the door behind her. She couldn't tell but when she walked past Ren she thought she saw his eyes roll upwards.
"Aye Ren catch you later man!" Freddy shouted as he ushered Lumi to the passenger side of his car. Ren didn't reply. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets as he looked at Lumi and she tried not to look back at him through the car window. They two drove off and left Ren behind. He grew aggravated as she walked back to his house for the night.
Things were going well during dinner. Freddy had taken them to a really nice seafood restaurant in town that Lumi had never been to before. It was dimmed and the tables were spread out so it almost seemed like they were in a secluded area all to themselves.
"How's the food?" Freddy asked while digging into his lobster dish.
Lumi picked through her salmon and rice and nodded as she said back, "Really good."
"Right? I love this place, my mom used to take me here when I was little." He hesitated after confessing.
"Oh do you guys not come here anymore?" Lumi asked.
Freddy's fork stopped and he looked up at her with a smile. "No, after my parents got divorced when I was 8 I didn't see her anymore so I never came back until now. I'm glad the food is still just as good."
Lumi looked into his blue eyes and could see past his smile because she knew what it was like to not have a mother in her life. However it was easier for her, since she never met her mother it was easy to never miss them. For Freddy though she could tell they had some dear memories and she bet he missed her a lot.
"You know I never met my mom. Sometimes I wish I got the chance to." Lumi said, trying to sympathize with Freddy.
Freddy looked surprised at Lumi's statement and then softened to a genuine smile. He realized then that they had something kind of in common that was deep. He really did like Lumi but not in a romantic way and he began to feel bad for what he was doing to her.
"At times I miss her but she has a new family now. She's ok."
"If I had a chance to meet my mom I would jump at the opportunity. So if you miss her maybe you should meet with her" Lumi hoped she wasn't overstepping her boundaries.
Freddy smiled at Lumi and nodded. "Maybe I will."
Lumi smiled back, causing her cheeks to push up into her eyes making them squinty. She could tell her and Freddy had made a big step in their friendship that night. Before either could speak again the waiter appeared with the dessert menu. Lumi instantly grabbed it and looked through the menu with eyes glowing.
"See anything you like?" Freddy asked.
Lumi put down the menu and nodded. "Yes there's a tiramisu cake that sounds delicious."
Freddy turned to the waiter and ordered two slices of the tiramisu cake and Lumi smiled up at the waiter to thank him and then smiled brightly at Freddy. After their desserts arrived they ate and talked a little more before calling it a night. They both had a wonderful time and Lumi had a successful first date.
It was dark out now. When they got to her door she stepped up on the doorstep and turned to look at Freddy. They were almost at eye level now. She smiled and he smiled his usual charming smile back.
"Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed it." Lumi said.
"You're welcome. I hope we can do it again sometime." He meant it. He really adored their conversation and being able to be himself with her unlike the school's hottie.
Lumi nodded and before she turned around he leaned over to kiss her on the cheek. Lumi blushed red from her first kiss. At that moment the front door flew open and Freddy took a step back with a slight blush running across his face from getting caught. He laughed when he saw it was not her father. It was Ren. Then he made his way to his car and waved goodbye to Lumi as he sped off. His last thought was that his friend Ren had a thing for Lumi. Maybe.
Lumi looked back hoping it wasn't her father catching her getting a kiss from a guy. Instead it was much worse, Ren. He looked at her as if he was quite annoyed.
"What are you doing here?" Lumi asked, just as annoyed.
"I had dinner with your dad." He said as he stepped in front of her also on the concrete doorstep while shutting the door behind him. He was really waiting for her return to make sure she was ok and Freddy didn't do anything to her.
The doorstep wasn't too wide but it wasn't small enough that he had to stand right in front of her, almost causing her breast to graze him. It made her nervous. He stood close to her intentionally since he wanted to shake her but fought the urge. Did she really let Freddy kiss her on the cheek? Was that her first kiss? He asked himself. A little part of him was jealous. Before she could question him some more he sighed thinking how beautiful she looked and it wasn't for him. It really bugged him. He walked away, hands in his pockets back to his house.
She glared at his back as he crossed the street before going inside to her home.