A Saint for Life

by Nicole Heck

  “Is he nice?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know that much about him.”

  “Do you in your heart truly want to go tonight?”

  I pondered on her question for a while. Christian Michaels asking me out on a date has been a fantasy of mine that I never thought would become real.

  “Yeah, I guess. I just—”

  Janice interrupted, “Don’t even think about it. Just go! Have a good time. I can’t wait to hear all about it. I’m sure it will go smoothly. Take your time coming home.”

  “Thanks, Janice. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “No need to thank me! Plus, think about how happy your parents would be for you.”

  I stopped in the middle of the walkway and took a deep breath.

  “You’re right.” I smiled. “They always wanted the best for me.”

  “They did, as all parents should for their children. I remember your mom used to tell me about those heels she bought you as a little girl because you wanted to look nice for a date.”

  I laughed while looking down at my feet and then realized I had nothing to wear for tonight. All of my sadness of wishing both of my parents were here to hear about my first date slid right out the window. What was I going to wear?

  “I did love those! But thanks again, Janice. I should go. I’m about to go into the library.”

  “Have a good time! I cannot wait to hear all about it. And remember, all you have to do is be yourself.”

  Hanging up the phone, I quickly dialed Emily’s number.

  “Emily, I need your help.”

  *

  After classes, I didn't even go home. Emily said she would help me get ready. She had a knack for fashion and getting ready at her dorm room made it even easier for Gabe to avoid seeing me all dressed up. He would wonder where I was going and start to ask questions. I wouldn't be able to lie to his face.

  My nerves were starting to kick in. I didn't know where Christian was taking me; the only detail he gave me was to be ready by seven. I couldn't stop thinking about what tonight might be like. The only dates I ever went on in high school were to the movies, and I’m pretty sure those don't even count. Everything was completely different now. We were older, standards were higher, more was expected, and I had more responsibilities—a lot more than most people my age.

  Emily lived in the suites in one of the underclassmen dorms. As a junior, she and her suitemates didn't have a high enough lottery number to get into the townhouses. I've never had the chance to live on campus. There have been a few weekends where I stayed with Emily and tried to pretend I knew what campus life was like. I envied Emily for that. It wasn't an option for me. It never was.

  When I arrived at her room, the door was propped open. Knocking slightly, I could hear her yell for me to come in. I walked in and I took a look around. Her entire side of the room had outfits laid out accordingly. The curling iron was on, and make-up was spread out across her desk.

  “Are you ready to get beautiful? I mean, you already are, but you know what I mean.” Emily could hardly talk. I could tell she was beaming with excitement. She was more thrilled about this than I was. Like me, she also thought Christian was incredibly gorgeous. Neither of us ever thought one of us would have the chance.

  “I guess so. It's so cold out, though. I don't know what I should wear.” I looked around at some of the options she had laid out.

  “You are such a baby when it comes to the cold weather!”

  “I can’t help it! I swear I belong in the south.”

  “Don’t we all? How do you want your hair? It’s so long. I can do curls. I can put it up? It’s completely up to you.”

  “Can I figure out what I’m wearing first? Then I’ll decide on my hair.”

  “Sure. I have a few things out, and, um, please don’t kill me.” She paused.

  “A few things? It looks like you could fill an entire closet with all of these clothes! But, um, what did you do?”

  “I may have sort of told my roommate about your date. But before you say anything, I really liked this one outfit of hers, and I knew she wouldn't let me borrow it unless I told her what it was for.” Emily was talking a mile a minute to get all the words out before I could interrupt her.

  I had a feeling this might happen because if Emily gets really excited about something, she had to tell everyone about it. It wasn't even on purpose; she just couldn't help it.

  “What outfit?” I said back with a slight attitude, and I placed my hands on my hips.

  Walking toward the far corner of the room, Emily stood with her back to me and picked up a dress from her bed. Turning around she held it up to the light.

  “Tell me this isn't perfect.” She grinned and watched for me to make a reaction.

  She was right. The dress was perfect. It was three-quarter sleeved, which would prevent me from getting too cold. The top layer was lace patterned with a solid green underneath, which made it classy but also casual.

  “It would go great with your green eyes, and I have black tights and tall boots that would match perfectly!” Her eyes were lit up with excitement. Grabbing it from her hands, I placed it down on the bed beside me and started to undress. Slipping it on, I stared at myself in the full body mirror. Emily sat there biting her lip, impatiently waiting to hear what I thought of the dress.

  “I think this might be it. I love it!”

  “Knew you would!” She jumped off of the bed and ran over to the bathroom. “Now the next question. What are we doing with your hair? Have you thought about it yet?” She asked.

  “Um, down? Maybe long curls? What do you think?”

  “Knew you would say that! I was thinking the same thing when I saw this dress. I already have my curling iron and wand turned on. You have to be ready by six forty-five-ish, right?”

  “Maybe a little earlier so I’m not rushing. He said to be ready by seven.”

  “Okay, well, that is manageable. Where do you think he is taking you?”

  “No idea, to be honest.” I wondered.

  “Maybe he’s taking you to Saratoga or to an expensive restaurant. I mean, he can afford it.”

  “That would be nice, but I'm not sure. I'm trying not to think too much about it. I don't want to get my hopes up and be disappointed, you know? I mean, I know this probably won't work out anyway.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I mean, think about it, Emily. We won't have anything to talk about. He's from a rich family with a perfect life. Mine's far from perfect, and I'm far from rich.”

  “Yeah, but you never know. Maybe you have more in common than you think. You don't know unless you try. Give yourself a little more credit. He’s going to fall in love with you.“

  “Let’s slow it down.”

  Emily set the curling iron down for a moment. “Listen. I know you are going into this pessimistically, but you have to look at the bright side of things. What if this works out? What if you enjoy yourself? You could have an amazing time, and he could end up being the perfect guy. But you won't know if you go into this thinking negatively. You won't open yourself up to these opportunities because you're going to try and find something that will go wrong. So try to think positively about this.” Everything she was saying was true.

  “I know, I know, you’re right. But all I’m saying is that I don’t think it will go well, and I don’t think I can date anyone right now, especially because of Gabe.”

  “Zoe, oh Zoe, Gabe knows how much you care about him. Your dad wouldn’t want you to put your life on hold. You do so much for your brother already, and I’m sure if you were to date someone, Gabe would be really happy for you. Maybe this is what you need in your life anyway!”

  “And that’s just it, I can’t start dating someone and introduce them to Gabe. He would be so upset if it didn’t work out. Especially since it’s Christian!”

  “There you go thinking negative again. Who says it won’t work out? You never know! Maybe he�
�s the miracle you both need.”

  Emily was an overly optimistic person, but I can’t even deny that what she’s saying is true. Because she saw things with a positive eye, she always seemed to know exactly what I needed in my life to brighten up my days. Maybe she was right. Maybe Christian will end up being the light I need.

  “I didn’t tell Gabe about my date. I don’t want him knowing anything unless it gets more serious. And that’s a big if! It’s just one date, Emily. Just one. Let’s not make more out of this than what it actually is.”

  “And one turns into two, and two into three, and before you know it I’ll be the maid of honor at—”

  “Stop!” I laughed. Emily was finishing my hair and nearly burned my back when she dropped the wand.

  My hair was almost done. I loved it. Emily should have gone to school for cosmetology. I could never get my hair to look this good when I curled it myself, which was almost never. I never had any time to spend a lot of time on my hair. I looked down at my watch. It was six fifteen. I panicked, thinking that I wouldn’t be ready in time since my make-up still wasn’t done. My phone began to ring.

  “Hello?” I answered it quickly before seeing who was even calling.

  “Zoe, when will you be home?” It was Gabe. The sound of his voice worried me, and I second-guessed if I should go or not.

  “Not until later buddy. Everything okay? How’s your day?”

  “Yeah, everything’s great! Janice made me cookies, and we are going to watch a movie tonight.”

  “Oh, that’s good! Make sure you thank her before you go to sleep! If you start to not feel well, stop eating the cookies.”

  “She told me you’re going somewhere special tonight, so I just wanted to call and tell you to have a great time.” Those words broke my heart. He truly meant it. I wish I could tell him where I was headed. He sounded excited for me even though he had no idea what I was doing. A smile faintly appeared on my face.

  “Aw, thanks, bud. I’m sure I will! Don’t give Janice too much trouble, okay?”

  “Okay! Goodnight, Zoe. Love you!”

  “Love you too, buddy.”

  “Are you okay?” Emily asked as she stared at me through the mirror.

  “Yeah, it was Gabe.”

  “I could tell. Is everything okay?”

  “Yeah, he just wanted to tell me to have a good time.”

  “Aw, see! I told you. Everything is going to be okay! Just relax. Gabe is fine and you are going to have a great night!”

  “I sure hope so,” I replied with doubt.

  *

  Seven o'clock came too quickly. I wasn't ready for this. But where was Christian? It was now ten minutes after, and I was standing here thinking of the endless possibilities of how this could go wrong, starting with being ditched. Hopefully he was just late and not standing me up. Despite my request, Emily stood beside me to wait.

  “I don’t think he’s coming.” I sighed.

  “He’s just running late. Give it a few more minutes.”

  “It’s already been ten! Who is ten minutes late to pick up their date, on their first date?”

  “Relax, relax. Oh wait, isn’t that him?” Emily yelled with excitement in her voice.

  A black BMW pulled up into the horseshoe in front of the building. Emily and I couldn't see who it was because of the dark tinted windows. It had to be him. What other college student drives a brand new BMW?

  The car shut off, and the driver's door opened. Through the darkness I watched a tall and very attractive guy walk around to the passenger's side of the car. Leaning up against the door, the guy reached in his pocket and pulled his phone out. Seconds later my phone went off.

  {8}

  Christian

  I leaned against the passenger's side door, watching her walk with grace as she headed toward me. I knew by now that I was smiling like an idiot.

  “You look beautiful.” I watched a small smile appear on her face as she approached.

  “Thank you.” She looked at me with an innocence in her eyes that drove me wild.

  “Sorry I’m late.” I held the door open for her she slowly got in the car. “I wanted to make sure the car was warm enough since it’s gotten colder out. I hope I didn’t worry you.”

  “That’s okay. You didn’t at all.”

  “Are you warm enough? I can turn the heat up more.”

  “No, this is perfect.”

  You’re right. This is perfect, I thought to myself as I looked over, noticing how beautiful she looked even in the darkness.

  *

  The table I had reserved for us was placed toward the back in a corner, which ensured us a little more privacy. Three candles were lit in the center, and the lights were dim, making the setting a bit more romantic. Staring at the menu, I didn't know what to say to her. Maybe this was a little bit too much pressure for a first date. Maybe I should have taken her for ice cream instead.

  I picked up my menu and pretended to read over it. I couldn’t think of a way to start a conversation. My eyes peered over the top of the menu. She had her menu placed out in front of her, and she moved around in her seat.

  I cleared my throat and reached to take a sip of water. We made eye contact this time. I continued to drink until I thought of something to say that could end the awkward silence. I placed my half empty glass down on the table.

  “So what do you do at the basketball games?”

  “I just do promotions stuff. You know, throwing t-shirts, getting chants going, all that good stuff.” Her eyes dropped down to the menu again.

  “Oh, that's cool. What were you doing at the last game when you were sitting at the scorer’s table?”

  “I had to administer the social media pages. You played really incredible that game!”

  “Thank you. I'm surprised I was able to play that well, but I haven't had a bad game yet. It’s really starting to hit me that the season's almost over, though.”

  “Yeah, I bet that can’t be easy for you.” She looked around the restaurant and back down at her menu again. Avoiding eye contact with me seemed to be a skill of hers. I could sense her frustration. I don’t think she wanted to talk about basketball.

  “So are you from around here?”

  “Yeah, I've lived here my entire life. I didn't really have a choice but to go to college around here. Not that Siena isn’t great, but I would have liked to have some options.”

  “Oh. Why's that?”

  “Family stuff. So what are you going to get?” The tone in her voice quickly changed, and she seemed sad, leaving me with the impression that I shouldn’t bring it up again. At least not tonight. Luckily the waitress came over and interrupted us.

  Looking up, I made eye contact with her, and her hands started to shake when she grabbed her pen from her pocket. I speculated it was because she knew who I was. She had a familiar face, but I don't think that I know her.

  Wait. Shit. I know exactly who she is, I thought to myself, trying to keep my head down and avoid eye contact.

  “Hello, my name is Katha, and I'll be your waitress for tonight. Can I get you something to drink?” she said. I could tell that she wasn’t even looking at me since her voice projected more toward Zoe.

  “I'll just have a water with a lemon.”

  “And for you, Chris?” She said in an underlying bitchy tone.

  “I'll do the same.” Even though I wanted to get a beer, I wasn’t sure how Zoe would feel about that. As it was, having Katha as our waitress tonight completely threw me for a loop. Hopefully this wouldn’t screw up anything.

  “You know her?” Zoe questioned when she walked away.

  “Sort of. She’s one of the girls I previously had a thing with.”

  Shit, why do I always have to tell the truth? It just comes out without warning. I should really start thinking before I speak.

  “Oh, one of the girls?” She didn’t look happy, but she also appeared to be interested. I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or serious
.

  “Yeah, after Lacey and I broke up I went through this phase.”

  “Oh, I see.” She wasn't amused.

  “It's over with now though; hence I'm out with you.”

  Hopefully she doesn't take that the wrong way. I immediately regretted saying that.

  “Well, I would hope so. Did you go out with her too?” She asked nodding her head over toward another waitress who was eyeing me.

  “No, no. I promise I’m not like that.”

  There was an awkward silence. I no longer knew what to say. Anything I was saying wasn’t helping me at all.

  “If you don't mind me asking, why me?” Zoe broke the silence.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why did you ask me out tonight?”

  “I want to get to know you.” I wasn’t expecting her to ask such a question. It caught me off guard.

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. You seem surprised?”

  “I am. Guys like you don't usually ask me out.”

  “Guys like me?” What is that supposed to mean?

  “Yeah, you know, the popular and attractive jocks that everyone wants to date.”

  “So you think I’m attractive?” I smiled confidently and my nerves disappeared a little.

  “You know what I mean. I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Zoe blushed.

  Katha was headed back over toward us. I didn't even know what to order for dinner. I've hardly looked at the menu, and it was quite extensive. Plus, right across from me at the table was the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.

  The green dress she wore brought out the emerald in her eyes. Much of her flawless skin was revealed when she pulled her dark brown hair over her right shoulder. From where I was sitting, I could see she had a tattoo on the side of her neck going down the back of her shoulder. Diamond earrings in her ears, she had a total of five piercings, one of which included a bar through the top of her ear, giving her a more edgy look.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.