I did not think it was possible to have butterflies in my stomach for days, but every time I thought about Eli, which was a lot, my tummy would flutter.

Although I had not gotten the opportunity to be with him alone again, I sat closer to him every chance I got.

By the time Friday rolled around, I was exhausted from my anxiousness about Saturday night. My first date.

However, Friday was not a good day, and it successfully distracted me from my nervous thoughts. It wasn't just one thing that made it a bad day. Eli wasn't there, and neither was Taylor since she was sick. Kyle was in an uncharacteristically bad mood, and Jones was sleeping at the cafeteria table.

Even though my friends were in a bad mood, that wouldn't have made it classify as a bad day just on its own. Jackson was the one who put the cherry on top.

If I had decided to cut off my caffeine addiction like I was supposed to, I guess nothing would have gone wrong. But Jackson's asshole moves weren't exactly my fault.

Either way, I found myself at the vending machine, getting an iced coffee, when I was stopped by Jackson, who placed his hand on my forearm.

"So I see your boyfriend isn't here. Where is he?" He asked me. His face was contorted into some sort of smirk, and he looked like he was just trying to start trouble. His hand was uncomfortably warm on my arm as if my own body was warning me to stay away from him. I don't know what kind of beef Jackson and Eli had, but I wanted to be no part of it.

"Leave me alone, Jackson." I tried to shake his hand off of my arm, but he just held it tighter. My hair stood up on my body. I did not like being near this boy. They called Eli aggressive, but Jackson was by far much worse from what I had seen.

"No," he almost growled at me. "I have issues with that moron. Tell me where I can find him." I have no idea why he was bothering me about this, probably because he couldn't bully the rest of Eli's friends. Because that is what Jackson was. A bully.

I tried to pull my arm away a little bit more aggressively, which just made him squeeze tighter, Much tighter than comfortable. My hand started pulsing as I lost blood flow. "Ow," I said softly.

Kyle was there in seconds, "get the fuck off her, Jackson!" He growled.

Jackson took his palm off of me and put his hands up in surrender. I pulled my arm to my chest in reaction, and Jackson looked at it in shock, as if he had not realized how hard he had been holding me.

"We were just talking." He said.

"Ya right," scoffed Kyle. Jackson marched away, and after a moment, Kyle patted me on the shoulder and walked away as well.

I took a deep breath and tried to collect myself before walking back to the table, where Jones was still passed out and grabbed my stuff.

I still went to gym class, but I was very disengaged. Kyle wasn't there, and I did not see Owen either. I tried to speak with Vanessa and Claire in gym class, but we had been placed on teams for the day, and I was in a group with people I had not spoken with yet. By the end of the day, I was in a bad enough mood myself that I had no interest in making new friends.

My thoughts were consumed with Jackson. Why won't he leave me alone? Do I tell Eli? Do I tell my parents?

Eventually, the questions came to a halt, and I drove home, diving into homework to distract myself from my bad day.

Later that night, my problems came back when I looked down at my phone and saw a text from Eli.

How was your day?

It was fine; how was yours? I typed back because I did not want to talk about it.

Eli told me about how he got to see where he would be taking his first-year classes, and he met some of the other students. Two other students would be joining him that had also already been accepted into the program that took the tour with him. One of them he didn't think he would get along with, but the other also played soccer, and two of them had talked about joining an intramural soccer league once school starts next year.

I was genuinely happy for him that he was already making new friends. I now know how hard it can feel going somewhere and not knowing anyone. And according to Eli's family, he had some issues making friends.

We texted a bit longer about nothing in particular, and then it got late, and we said our goodnights.

---

The next night, I dressed comfy, in my usual Drive-In style. I put on soft leggings, a tight tank top and a big cozy zip-up hoodie. I also brought my drive-in blanket, the same one I always had with me at drive-ins and my purse. It is a bit funny because I am usually the fashionista; however, on some occasions, just call for comfort. My first date and I was dressing in pyjamas.

I hesitated before I went downstairs. Should I be dressing up a bit more for Eli? I had tried on a few different cuter sweaters before ultimately deciding that I loved having a giant hoodie at the drive-in, and if he didn't like me because of that, that would be quite silly.

I waited downstairs alone. My parents had decided to go on their date night when I told them that I would be going out tonight. I was happy for them. They both worked so much and so hard, they needed to spend a bit of time together.

I was nervous, though, sitting alone waiting for my date to arrive. I had such a bad day yesterday, but I didn't want that to ruin our time, and I was still excited to go to the movies. The longer I waited, the sweatier my palms became. Would he kiss me tonight? What movie was even playing?

I never looked up what was playing, but sometimes that was the fun of the drive-in.

However, that had failed my friends and me when we went once when we were thirteen (we used to just walk in with lawn chairs before we could drive), and it was a very gruesome horror movie that kept most of them up for nights. It worked out for me in the end, though, because that is how I learned that I like horror movies. Maybe my mom's constant talk of hospital procedures had numbed me to the gore. Or perhaps I was just a little weird.

I was scared I was going to sweat through my shirt by the time that Eli pulled up in my driveway.

However, once I saw him waving out the window, my anxiety was replaced with enthusiasm. I ran out, shutting my door behind me and grinning like a moron. I was terrible at hiding my emotions.

I was glad to see that Eli was also dressed comfy in a pair of sweats, so I felt less guilty about my outfit choice. I saw Eli had brought a lot of blankets too, and he had a radio sitting in the backseat so we wouldn't have to run the car if we didn't want to.

In my mind, this was the perfect first date. I licked my lips in anticipation and hopped in the convertible.

We drove off and talked happily about the movies we had seen previously at drive-ins. Eli told me a story about a particularly scary film that Brodie ended up crying halfway through, and they ended up having to leave the movie partway through.

But eventually, Eli asked me a question that I was less excited to answer than the fun ones about movies.

"Why didn't you tell me that Jackson confronted you yesterday?" He asked, his jaw tight.

I winced, seeing how his whole body stiffened. He was upset. If at Jackson or me, I am not sure. Maybe a little bit of both.

Still, I was a bit taken aback. With the excitement, I had almost forgotten about what had happened yesterday. I would have completely forgotten if not for the hand-sized bruise that covered my forearm.

"Kyle told you," realizing where this insider information was coming from.

He nodded, keeping his eyes on the road; his arms were tense too.

"I honestly don't know if you would want to know, Eli. Jackson is an asshole, and I just... I just didn't want to talk about it." I said, my voice tight.

"I'm not upset with you, Betty, but I just want you to know you can tell me, especially if he is bugging you because of me." He sighed, glancing over at me before resting his eyes back on the road.

I nodded, upset. "I'm sorry... I just didn't want to drag you into any of my problems," my voice dripping with honesty. I did not think that Eli had to know; he might just make the entire situation worse.

"No, no, don't apologize. I just wish he wouldn't go after you like that." He said. "I may have gotten him kicked off of the soccer team in Sophmore year, and I don't think he has forgiven me. He is hell-bent on getting me 'back.' What did he say to you, was it bad?"

"It wasn't that bad," I said, lying slightly. "Kyle just probably made it seem worse cause he was in such a bad mood on Friday."

Eli glanced at me again, probably trying to check if I was telling the truth. I was terrible at lying, and most people could tell just by looking at me. "Promise?"

I nodded and changed the subject. Hoping that Eli wouldn't overthink it, I didn't want this to put a damper on the rest of the night.

We arrived at the drive-in, and he paid as we drove in. I was happy because we got a perfect spot considering that it was a Saturday night, and it was starting to fill up.

Eli said he was going to put the top down, and I said I was going to get us some snacks. He tried to hand me his wallet, but I ran off before he could. If he paid for our entrance and drove us out here, I could at least get the food.

I went inside the concession, and I felt like I was in heaven. My senses filled up with a million marvellous smells. There were popcorn machines, ice cream machines and snow cone machines lining the wall.

After paying for the food, I wandered back to the car with multiple trays balanced on top of each other. I may have gone a bit overboard, but I haven't eaten dinner, and I was assuming Eli hadn't either. I brought back hotdogs, french fries, pops, candy and a huge bucket of popcorn.

As soon as Eli saw me, his eyes bugged out of his head. It was a lot of food, but I was thrilled about it. Our conversation earlier almost completely was forgotten at the sight of all the food they had for me.

"Look, they had so much stuff!" I said happily, grinning. He laughed, helping me put most of the food in the backseat.

"Oh my god, Betty! How in the world do you expect us to eat this much food?" He asked me. I poked him in his belly, which was harder than I expected it to be. I almost shivered. How can this boy be so perfect?

"I'm sure you can figure it out, you giant."

He fake gasped, "mean."

I giggled.

---

The movie was good. We talked through it and ate lots of goods, wrapped up in blankets. Nothing happened as we were in two separate seats, but I was happy with how the night had turned out. I looked over at him once the movie ended. "Thank you for this, Eli. This is... this is really special."

"I know it was a thing you did with your old friends, so I didn't want you to think I was intruding on your thing, but I'm glad I asked. This was fun, and I would love to do it again."

I grinned, "I would love to do it again too."

I guess this means my first date was a success.

I was so glad he had asked me. Even though this was something I loved to do with my friends, I wasn't in Arizona anymore, so I had to make new traditions with new people. Just like my mom had said. If this could be a tradition with Eli, I would be overjoyed.

Eli put down the top, and we started the drive home.

The drive home always seemed shorter than the drive there, especially when you don't want the night to end. We turned on some music and sang along. I was still partially wrapped in a blanket when Eli turned the heat up, so I ended up shrugging off my hoodie at some point.

Eli pulled up in front of my house, parking on the street since my driveway was full. I was happy about that because it means my parents would have a harder time trying to spy on us through the windows, which is something I am sure that they were doing.

"Thanks again for tonight, Eli. I had a lot of fun." I said, turning to him instead of getting out of the car. It should come to no surprise that I wanted him to kiss me. I had no idea if he felt the same way, but maybe if I leaned in, I could find out.

I never got the chance, though, because Eli had grabbed my arm, pulling it towards him. I was confused until I remembered the slight hand-shaped bruise on my forearm, courtesy of Jackson.

"He... he hurt you," said Eli, quietly. His voice was full of pain as if he had been the one who had done it.

I pulled my arm away, and he let it go quickly. "Eli, it's not that bad. I promise. I bruise really easily." I was panicked, thinking he would be mad at me or do something he would regret.

He looked forward, slumping back in his seat. "I'm going to kill him."

I panicked, "Eli, please no. I'm fine."

He was looking out of the car window and his face tense. His jaw was moving back and forth. I could tell he meant what he had said. He was so angry.

I unbuckled myself and got onto my knees, leaning over to his seat so I could easily look him in the eye. I grabbed his face with my hands. "Eli. Look at me. I'm fine. Please don't make this a bigger deal than it is. He didn't mean to hurt me; he's just an idiot."

Eli sighed and moved his fingers to my arm, brushing them over the bruise.

I shivered at his light touch, and he looked me in the eyes. I pleaded with him silently until I was sure he was going to listen to me.

"Fine, but next time I'm going to kill him."

"Fine." I agreed, my nerves calming down. I don't think that Jackson would do it again. I just wanted this to be over.

He grabbed my arm and lightly kissed the bruise, my heart thumping. That wasn't exactly the kiss I had wanted, but now the moment was gone.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked me.

"Oh, actually, I am going to your soccer game," I smiled, "Taylor invited me."

"Really?" He grinned.

I nodded, "Yeah, so I guess I will see you there. I'll be the one cheering for Owen."

He laughed, "That sounds perfect; see you then." He still seemed a bit tense, but he was calmer.

He helped me fold up my blanket, and he handed me my sweater and small purse. I got out of the car.

"See ya then."

---

2715

"Someday soon, your whole life's gonna change
You'll miss the magic of these good old days" - Macklemore

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