13 September 2012
12-James
~James' POV~
“James…it will be fine,” Mitch said as we drove on our way to meet the girls at the restaurant. He tried to put a comforting look on his face, but I just sighed. Even though Mitch was telling me that everything was going to be ok, I didn’t believe it. Now that we were actually on our way, my stomach spun uncontrollably. I was so not ready for tonight. The restaurant was only a few minutes down the road from us, since it was just in town, and somehow, that comforted me, slightly. Maybe if I really couldn’t handle the night, I could leave instantly. I noticed the corners of Mitch’s mouth turn up into an excited smile, out of the corner of my eye. We were pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant and I could see why he was excited. We found a spot easily, and as the car slowed to a stop, my stomach did a flip. Mitch glanced at me, and then frowned a little. “James…” was all he said. I cleared my throat a little and I quickly said, “Don’t worry, man. I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile to show him that I was telling the truth, and he smiled back. “Thanks. Come on, let’s go claim our table.” We hopped out, closed the doors, and Mitch locked the car. Then, we hurried inside. Even though we were both dressed up so fancily, as we walked in, I felt almost underdressed. It was very dark indoors, and mini-lanterns sat in the center of every table, lighting it up just enough. The theme of the entire restaurant seemed to be…red. Red cloth draped over every table. Red curtains…red carpet—I bet the purpose of this was to make everyone who walked in here to feel like a celebrity. “Do you have a reservation?” the host asked as we approached. Mitch nodded and replied, “Yeah. It’s under ‘Torres’? Party of four. We requested two tables, and we have two others joining us.” The host nodded. “Of course, Mr. Torres. Right this way, please.” He led the way to a very…red, booth. Mitch grinned at me wildly. “He called me ‘Mr. Torres’,” he whispered excitedly. I smiled back, and I realized that the unpleasant feeling in my stomach seemed to have left, somewhat. I had been distracted by how fancy everything was. As we made our way to our table, I wondered how the heck Mitch was going to be able to pay for the food and everything. This place had to be charging a lot for the food. That question was left unanswered, but I didn’t really care. We arrived at the table, and the host turned to us. “I apologize that the tables are so spread apart…but the other tables had been reserved already.” Mitch nodded quickly. “No problem. It’s perfect, actually. Thank you.” The host nodded, then left. Mitch looked at me. “Here, James, you can sit here, with me, until Alicia and Chloe get here.” I nodded and took a seat on the red booth. “Whoa,” I said as I slipped in. “The seats are really…slippery.” Mitch sat on the edge of the other side of the booth. “Yeah, they are. It’s probably just the polish.” It was very silent here, except for the quiet sound of someone playing classical piano in the corner, and the almost inaudible talking of people’s talking. Everyone here looked so…good. I wasn’t surprised, though. I mean, this was a fancy restaurant, and Mitch and I definitely weren’t the only ones dressed up. But I had never been to a place quite like this one. Mitch quickly hissed, “James! Don’t look now, but here they come!” Of course, I looked right in the direction he was talking about, and two gorgeous girls came striding toward us, being led by the host. I recognized the girls, because I had seen them before, obviously, even though they looked so different. For instance, the pretty girl with the usually extremely curly, brown hair now had long, straight brown hair that fell a few inches below her shoulders. She looked really good. Mitch and I stood up, instantly, and smiled when they had arrived. When I gave the girl a second glance, I couldn’t believe it. “Ally?” I thought, but not saying anything out loud. But I had obviously just been seeing things. I had only wished that that was Ally. “James,” Mitch suddenly said, not taking his eyes off of the girls. “I’d like you to meet Alicia and Chloe. Ladies…this is my best friend, James.” I shook my head quickly, and now, I saw the actual girls, and Ally wasn’t there. “It’s nice to meet you two,” I said. “You too,” they said, and Mitch clapped his hands together quietly. “Great! Now that we know each other, Alicia, you’re with me, and Chloe, you’re with James.” Chloe looked at me, happily. So far, she hadn’t stopped smiling. “Good,” she said so quietly that only I could hear. “I was hoping I’d be with you.” I smiled shyly and motioned for her to follow me to the table a few yards away. Here we go… I thought, and hoped greatly that time would pass….and quickly.
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