"What can I get you, sweetie?" Our middle-aged waitress looked down and smiled at me in an encouraging way, probably sensing we were on a. . whatever we were on, I opted for a club sandwich with fries and a soda. I hated salads, and I would never approve of someone who gave up their identity for a guy, even a guy who was just a friend. I wasn't going to pretend to be someone that I wasn't. Although I was hoping that Ryan would order something similar.
"And what about you?" the waitress looked Ryan up and down, clearly impressed. I knew most girls would probably be offended by another woman checking out her date, or in this case, pseudo date, but I thought it was a compliment. Plus, she was like twenty years older than us.
"I'd like the green salad," Ryan began. My head started pounding.
No: no, no for the love of all that is — pure, you can't be ordering a salad, you're a sixteen-year-old boy!". . with ranch dressing to start, then a double cheeseburger, fries, and a chocolate shake."
That's my boy.
Well, not technically my boy.
"So, Penny, I'm sort of surprised you agreed to come out with me" "Why would you say that?"
He shrugged. "I don't know — to be honest, I was a little frightened your group of girls were going to tie me down when they found out we were doing something together."
"You know, the things Todd, says about the Club aren't true." I felt my cheeks begin to burn.
"I know.. ," He started playing with his straw wrapper. "I guess I sometimes don't know what to believe. But none of that matters, because you're here with me now."
I stared at him in silence, not sure what to say next.
"Anyways, I've really been looking forward to this evening." He looked up and smiled at me.
Me, too, I thought to myself. Maybe too much.
A few moments of silence passed between us, I found it hard to break away from his gaze, "Ah, so, anyways." Ryan looked away and ran his hand through his hair. "Um, I hope you don't think less of me when I tell you this, but I don't know a lot about the Beatles. I probably only know a couple songs."
"What? You cannot be serious!" I practically screamed, forgetting that I was in a restaurant.
"Whoa, sorry! this is one of the reasons I wanted to come, to see what the big deal is about."
"What the big deal is about?" it was nice to know that Ryan had a flaw — and it was a major one. "the Beatles are the greatest band of all time. they.. they…" I put my head in my hands.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just started to remind myself of my parents, and it was very, very scary."
"Aw, come on!' Ryan took my chin and lifted it away from my hands. "I think it's cute."
"Yeah, cute in a demented way. Like a drunk puppy."
He shook his head, but kept his hand on my chin. "No, I mean cute in a completely irresistible way." the smile on his face diminished as he started to slowly lean forward..
"Which one of you ordered the salad?"
Ryan sat back up as our food was delivered. I looked down at the food and tried to collect myself. I could practically feel Ryan's eyes on me.
He wasn't going to..
Last Saturday night with Rosanna flashed in my head. if he. *. the Lonely Hearts Club would be ruined.
But I was being silly. Ryan was just leaning in. He was just being friendly. He had always been friendly. I was clearly misinterpreting him.
I started to pick at my fries, wishing that I could escape to call Rita on my cell phone.
This was a major emergency.
"You can't be serious!"
Ryan rolled his eyes at me. "Just drop it already."
He handed me my ticket as we went through the entrance of the Civic Center. I noticed that the envelope from the ticket agent was addressed to Ryan, not his mom or stepdad, although they were supposedly the ones who'd gotten the tickets.
A shiver rippled through me as Ryan put his hand on the small of my back to guide us to our seats.
"Okay, then, be difficult." I sat down and crossed my arms.
Ryan laughed. "Oh, I'm the one being difficult, huh? Seriously, Penny, I didn't know you were the stubborn type."
"Oh, yeah, I totally am." I tried to keep my face straight. "Besides, I'm not the one being completely unreasonable."
Ryan put his arm around the back of my chair and leaned in. "Oh, really?" His voice was filled with amusement. "I don't think there's a single person here who'd take your side in this argument."
I slouched down in my seat and sighed exaggeratedly.
"Okay, don't believe me." He smirked at me. He started surveying the crowd of older people in the audience. "Excuse me, miss?"
Ryan tapped the woman in front of us on her shoulder.
"What are you doing?" I asked in shock.
He turned back to me. "I'm proving a point," A woman in her fifties — with a Beatles T-shirt on, no less —
turned around and looked surprised to see someonelike Ryan here among the Baby Boomers.
"Sorry to bother you, ma'am." Ryan flashed his best smile to the woman, who didn't seem bothered by him one bit. "I'm hoping you could help me with a small disagreement I'm having with my date."
Did he just say date.?
He continued, "You see, I like to think that chivalry is indeed not dead, so I'm trying to do the gentlemanly thing this evening." the woman nodded excitedly at Ryan. I could already tell that he was going to win this one. "Now, I've seemed to upset this beautiful woman that I'm seated next to, who just happens to be named after a Beatles song." Ryan motioned toward me, and I did my best to smile and wave at the nice woman instead of hit my gentleman companion. "to be honest, I think she is being unfair. I invited her out this evening, so it's only fair that I pay, but she isn't cooperating."
Ryan looked back at me and winked. I moved my foot over so my heel could dig into his left foot.
"Owl" He moved his foot over and cleared his throat. "in your opinion, don't you think she should just say thank you instead of trying to throw money at me?" the woman patted Ryan's knee. "Of course, it's very sweet of you. I can tell that you're an excellent boyfriend."
I opened my mouth to protest, but Ryan looked up, beaming at the woman. "Why, thank you, miss!" the woman blushed slightly, enjoying the attention from Ryan. She leaned in. "First date?"