Vic: I’m leaving my house right now. I’ll be there in 10.
Naira: I’ll try to be ready by then. We’ll have to see when Maya finally decides she’s ok with what I’m wearing.
Vic: Want me to come an hour later in that case?
Naira: Noooooo, please don’t make me endure this for longer!

Naira’s POV

“I’m pretty sure this is it.” Maya clapped her hands together and looked down at the outfit she had finally settled on, now lying down on my bed. She quickly looked over the other clothes thrown around my room one last time before deciding that she wasn’t going to change it anymore.

“Well, thank god,” I tightened to towel that I had wrapped around me since I had left the shower, which was a very long time ago, “Vic’s going to be here any moment now. You’re lucky I did my hair and makeup before I asked you for advice, or I’d have a serious problem now.”

She rolled her eyes at me and started leaving my room, “you put your clothes on, I’ll go downstairs and peek through the curtains until I see him.”

“Don’t be such a creep!” I shouted after her before I dropped my towel and started getting dressed.

It really seemed like she was more excited for this date than I was. Now, don’t get me wrong, I was really excited, because I honestly was. But Maya just managed to amplify it a tiny bit further. Ever since I told her Vic and I were going out, so kept going on and on about how she thought we’d have the perfect relationship, and she was basically already planning our future together. I wasn’t that crazy.

But, hey, at least I had a friend who was happy for me and made sure I wasn’t one big disaster.

Being around Maya in real life had already changed me a bit, but only for the better. She had a much better fashion sense than I did, and her directing my choices had made me more confident in clothes I didn’t normally wear. For example, I was wearing a crop top again and pretty short shorts. They were both things I owned, but never really wore. I always liked the comfort of my sweaters, but I wasn’t afraid to show a little skin now (except for when I was at work, that would just be a very stupid idea).

I put on the jewelry Maya had chosen to fit with my outfit and looked at myself in the mirror. Only one thing was still needed: a hat. Maya wasn’t the one who decided on it, and she hadn’t even touched the hat in the time she had been in my room, I just decided to make a spontaneous decision. So, I picked it up from the top shelf in my closet and carefully placed it on my head, being careful not to mess up the short messy braid that just barely touched my shoulder. I actually thought I looked good, now I just had to hope that Vic thought the same.

“Naira! Vic’s here!” I heard Maya shout from downstairs before the doorbell was even rung.

“Coming! I just gotta put my shoes on!” I yelled back, quickly trying to put my ankle boots on. Let me tell you that that is the worst idea ever. You should sit down and take your time, because I definitely faceplanted by loosing my balance and tripping over my own feet. My body loudly hit the floor, the sound echoing throughout the house.

“Everything ok up there?”

“Yeah, yeah, all good.” I got up and let out a quiet groan. At least I didn’t feel like I had broken a bone, or this would officially be the worst first date ever. Imagine it: spending the day at the ER instead of actually going to the aquarium where Vic was going to take me.

I grabbed my phone and wallet and quickly stuffed them into a small shoulderbag before rushing down the stairs. Vic was waiting just outside the open front door, smiling widely when he saw me emerge. As much as I really wanted to just go up to him and leave already, there was one more thing I had to do before I could even think about it. If I wouldn’t do it, then I’d never forgive myself and beat myself up for not trying to do something.

So, I grinned back at him, but held my hand up as well. “I’ll be right there.” And so, I turned to the kitchen instead, grabbing my keys from the counter. However, that wasn’t what I was planning on doing.

“Maya?” I called, needing to talk to her, “I can’t find my keys, can you help me?”

In no time, Maya came walking in, and to my relief Vic hadn’t followed her. “Where did you last leave them?”

I let the keys dangle off my finger, showing I already had them and obviously didn’t call her because of that. “Do you promise me you’ll eat something today? You were able to do it yesterday, so I know you can do it today as well. At least eat two pieces of toast.”

“The hat’s a nice touch.” She quickly changed the subject, pointing at the black sunhat I decided to wear last minute.

“Maya,” I warned, glaring at her so she’d know I was not playing around. The fact that she had anorexia wasn’t anything to joke about. When we found out about it, I wasn’t too surprised. I just felt disappointed in myself for not realising it much earlier on. Well, I had realised she was showing some symptoms, but I never wanted to believe it. Maybe if I had said something before, it wouldn’t have come this far.

“Fine,” she rolled her eyes, but I still raised my eyebrows up at her, wanting more than just that, “Ugh, I promise.”

“Thank you,” I smiled and gave her a hug before making my way to where Vic was waiting for me.

He was still standing in exactly the same position, still giving me that smile from before. While I had completely changed the way I dressed, he was wearing what he usually wore, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say he looked hot. He sported one of his familiar snapbacks, black vans, jeans, and a graphic tee. But I couldn’t deny, just like all the fan girls out there, that he really big have amazing arms. I just hoped people didn’t think he was way out of my league, because it wouldn’t have surprised me.

“Ready to go?” He asked, already taking hold of my hand.

I nodded and pecked him on the lips, ”as ready as I could possibly be.”

We walked out to the car and both got in. Unlike last time, when we sped off while trying to run away, Vic and I were able to smile the entire time. I swear to god, he just had one of those contagious laughs, because I always caught myself showing my teeth while he was as well. Whenever he took a quick glance at me, taking his eyes off the road, I felt butterflies, and it wasn’t because he wouldn’t be paying attention to traffic for that split second (trust me, I often felt that when I was in a car that Maya was driving). I just realised that I really really liked him and that, although this was the very beginning of our first date, I hoped for many more to come.

“I’m just going to warn you,” I giggled as we drove up to the parking lot, “I’ve never been to an aquarium before, so I might get a little overexcited.”

“That’s why I’m taking you,” Vic winked, looking over his shoulder as he reversed the car into an empty spot in between two other cars.

We both got out and made our way to the pretty short cue. It could obviously get a lot busier here, since we were able to walk past many empty rows before we actually had to wait. There was a small tank already out on display, showing off a couple of small fish, causing my excitement to skyrocket. I had always told my father as a kid that I really wanted to go, but he never took me until he suggested it when I was a moody teenager. Perfect timing, because I obviously wouldn’t want to go then. Seriously, her could have asked a year earlier or later and I would have loved to, but not when I was 13.

“It’s Friday, so everybody is-- wait, why aren’t you in school?” Vic was going to make a remark about how quiet it was, before realising what exactly was going on. It wasn’t like his suspicions were right, though, because they weren’t.

“It’s a study day,” I shrugged and took a step forward as the group in front of us did, “which normally means the kids get a day off because the teachers have meetings. I don’t get my they’re doing it at an elementary school, but they discuss the progress of all the students. There isn’t much for me to discuss because I teach the youngest kids and it’s not really fair to judge them that early on, except if something is obviously wrong. But why make one class go to school is the other’s get a day off?”

“At least you didn’t skip school,” he laughed, “it never even occurred to me before that I asked you to go out with me on a Friday. I’m going to have to plan this around your job more carefully. It’s either going to be the evenings or weekends from now on.”

“Are you implying there will be more dates to follow?” I blushed a light shade of pink which I really hoped he couldn’t see.

He held my hand. “Definitely.”

After that, Vic paid for my ticket, even though I was completely prepared to pay for my own. I was still at that age where people were broke more often than not, so it seemed completely normal for me to have to pay for myself, but Vic obviously wasn’t at that age anymore. He had a job that was doing pretty well for him, while I had a job that could only afford the lifestyle of one person. But then again, my income was always going to be like that. If I wanted money, then I should have never chosen the teacher route of life, but it wasn’t about that. I just loved being around younger kids and preparing them for their futures to come.

I, myself, was also still a lot like a little kid. As soon as we actually got inside the building, I was at awe. I had never seen anything other than a dead fish at the market or the usual goldfish people owned. This was absolutely amazing. The fish were from all over the world, each a different appearance and color, with a weird scientific name. I never knew it was possible to have so many different types! While I was excited by every single thing, Vic was just enjoying watching me freak out. I had told him I wanted at least one fish at every tank we stopped at. With how often I said it, Maya’s whole house would have to be turned into one large fish tank for me to fit them all in (if you don’t consider the high prices, possibility of the fish eating each other, and legal problems).

But then I saw something that managed to catch my eye. I grabbed Vic’s hand and dragged him with me as I ran towards the Clownfish and Blue Tangs. My eyes went wide as I let out an enthusiastic squeal, “oh my god! It’s my childhood in one tank! Look at it! It’s Nemo and Dory!”

“I can see,” Vic laughed at my very child-like manners, but still looked at all the fish I was pointing at, “I was 20 when that movie came out, so no childhood memories for me.”

“I was ten, so shut up!”

“I never said Finding Nemo wasn’t a good movie,” he contradicted, wrapping his arms around my waist and looking over my shoulder to observe the animals swimming around the real and fake coral. It definitely was a spectacular sight.

I leaned into him. “I want to stay and watch these little guys forever.”

“I actually wanted to show you the turtles…”

I turned around as quickly as possible, letting out a really weird laugh, “I want to see turtles! Show me the turtles! Please, please, please, please. I’ve always wanted to see a turtle in real life! You don’t even understand how much I adore them!”

He proceeded to allow me to jump on his back so he could give me a piggyback ride all the way to the outside enclosure for the most amazing animals ever. People looked at us weirdly as we ran through the crowds. Of course I sometimes made Vic stop so I could look at something that seemed very awesome. For example, the countless of jellyfish, I was fascinated by the way they elegantly danced around in the dark water. But when we arrived at the turtles, I was completely over the moon.

They were a lot cuter than I had expected. I didn’t know how it was possible, but everything about them was majestic. The way they walked slowly on land, but managed to swim like it was nobody’s business. And the patterns on their shells all looked so similar, yet were all so unique at the same time. They were definitely my favourite animal.

“Even though I’m not allowed to have pets in the apartment I’m moving too, I’m going to get a turtle or maybe a tortoise. I mean, they probably mean that dogs and cats aren’t allowed since they can be destructive. But what harm can these guys do?” I told Vic as I watched two turtles fight about a tomato.

“Are you being serious right now? Because if you are, I will get you one,” he stated with a very genuine voice.

“I am being serious, but there’s no way I’m letting you get me one. I need to take responsibility. Don’t be that guy, the one who gifts pets.”

Well, it turned out that Vic did buy me a turtle just before we left the aquarium. No, it wasn’t a real turtle, because I made pretty clear to him that I didn’t want him doing that, but he got me the cutest stuffed-toy turtle ever. He mixed my love for the fish from the Finding Nemo and my love for turtles and bought me Squirt from Finding Nemo. It definitely made me very happy, and I kept thanking him. Now I would always have something to remind me of our first date.

---

I invited Vic back inside when he drove me back home. Not for what most girls invited guys inside for, but just because it wasn’t late yet, and it wouldn’t hurt to hang out for a bit longer. I immediately took my shoes off when we got inside. He mentioned something about going to the bathroom, leaving me to go to the kitchen by myself. I was met with Maya sitting at the counter, staring at an empty plate in front of her. It was obvious that nothing had ever been on that plate, since it was too clean; there were no crumbs nor any other evidence of food.

“Maya,” I sighed, standing at the opposite side of the counter, resting my arms on the top of it, “did you eat anything? You promised you would.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and shook her head, “I couldn’t do it.”

“Alright, I’m making you something to eat now.”

I turned around and got two eggs out of the fridge. Instead of getting mad at her, I was going to try and help her by still making her catch up on what she missed. Even if she didn’t want to eat anything, I was going to somehow make her eat this whole omelette I was making her. It was not just going to consist of eggs, but also of onions, tomatoes, and a tiny bit of cheese that I was going to disguise.

“Wait, what are you doing?” She asked me as I got out a bowl and a whisk.

“Making you food,” I repeated, cracking both the eggs and throwing the shells away. Vic came walking in, not even bothering to ask me what I was doing. He just stood a couple of feet away, leaning against a cupboard, as he watched what I was doing.

“Oh, Vic, you’re here as well!” Maya exclaimed in surprise, not knowing he hadn’t gone straight home. “How was everything?”

“I got to show this one here some turtles,” he grinned, remembering how such a small thing managed to make my whole day. After looking around, searching for something, he frowned at turned to me, “where’s your turtle?”

“Shit. I left it in the car,” I groaned as I put the pan on the stove and turned on the gas.

“I’ll go get it for you, don’t worry,” he replied and started making his journey back to his car just to grab the gift he had gotten me.

Maya was grinning like a fool behind me, already noticing how well everything went between me and Vic, “he got you a turtle?”

“A stuffed one, yes,” I nodded and chopped up an onion and a tomato, adding them both into the mixture before I sneakily put in some grated cheese as well. If Maya knew I put that in there, she for sure would not come near it at all.

“That’s so cute!”

Seconds later, Vic came back and put the turtle in a safe place so I wouldn’t get any raw egg on it. I offered him an omelette too, but he turned it down since we had quite a lot to eat already. He stayed until he got a call from the record label wanting to discuss something with him. Although I didn’t want him leaving yet, I also wasn’t sure how well Maya did with eating around other people, so it was only for the best. It wasn’t like this was going to be the last time we saw each other.

“I’m full,” Maya pouted and pushed her plate away.

I looked at it and shook my head, sliding it back in front of her. She had only eaten two small bites out of it, and I was determined to make sure she ate the whole thing. When I told her she had to eat it, she looked at me sadly, begging me not to do this to her. But I had to stay strong. If I wanted my best friend to get better, I was going to have to work for it as well.

“But I want to know how your date went!” She whined, trying to find a way to convince me to not do this to her, trying to manipulate me. But I was smarter than that, I worked with kids who wanted their way and their way only on a daily basis.

“Tell you what,” I took one of the barstools and sat down on it so we were facing each other without me having to stand, “for every bite you take you get to ask me a question about today; if you take two bites, you get to ask me about what happened during that time Vic and I both ran out.”

“Fine,” she grumbled, but still took one mouthful straight away, “umm… I’ll start easy for you... did you guys hold hands?”

“Yes,” I nodded and giggled, “especially since I was pulling him with me everywhere, because I was so excited and kept finding new things to look at.

“Did you guys kiss?”

“Yes to that too.”

“Oh my god! That’s so amazing! How was it! I need to know!” She gushed, wanting me to tell everything about what she thought was our first kiss.

“I would force you to take a bite for that question, but I feel like it’s a bit unfair,” I looked at her giddy face, feeling a bit guilty about not telling her what had happened between me and Vic before, “today wasn’t our first kiss, but they were all still very amazing.”

“What!” She screamed out, dropping her fork, “When did this happen?”

I raised my eyebrows at her, suggesting that she first needed to eat before I would answer that. After getting a moan from her, she begrudgingly cut off another piece and ate it before looking right back at me so I would answer.

“It happened last time before you came home with Mike.”

“No fucking way! And you didn’t tell me? What a good friend you are. You have to tell me everything now! Every. Single. Detail.”

“For that you’re going to have to finish the whole omelette.” I pointed at her, thinking it would be very fair to do that, especially with what exactly I was going to tell her.

“Naira! No, please not!” She cried.

“You already ate more than half of it, you can finish this as well.”

“No.” She shoved the plate towards me again, refusing to look in it’s direction.

I sighed and picked it up, acting like I was ready to throw it out, “fine, I guess you’re ok with not knowing then. Seriously, this is your one chance, don’t screw it up. Right now I’m still able to remember it clearly, later on I won’t be. Maybe I’ll never even get the chance to tell you again.

“Wait… I’ll-- I’ll eat it.”

“Good.” I gave it back to her and waited patiently as she slowly started munching on the weird creation I had made. I wasn’t going to make her go faster, and decided to let her take her own speed while she knew she wouldn’t hear a word until it was all gone.

When she finally gulped down the last spoonful, I put the dish in the sink and sat back down, taking a deep breath to tell her my whole story. “What I told you and Mike wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the complete story. After the burnt popcorn and watching a movie, Vic and I went back up to my room. It was like normal friends hang out. I brought new popcorn back upstairs with me, but managed to somehow fall over. Vic caught me and then it suddenly happened. We both initiated it at the same time, and neither of us pulled away. I honestly didn’t know I felt about him that way, nor did I know he felt about me that way. But one thing led to another, and just as things were actually getting started, you and Mike came home. Hence why Vic was shirtless, and his belt was unbuckled and zipper was down. It was how far we got before we heard you and we freaked out. So, yeah, you guys were right.”

“Oh my fucking god! I knew it!” Maya slammed her fist against the table before starting to ask me more and more questions.

Notes

heyyyy guys

Aweirdkindofyellow is not able to update so I will :)

It will probably take a while before I'll update again...I'm going on camp.


xxxxxx

Nicky