Chapter 2: Cafe Freya "That was amazing." Basil whisper-shouts in my ear as we skip down a dimly lit street. Her friends are walking ahead. "I'm ecstatic right now!" She's talking about something else now, but I can't concentrate. I think she maybe likes me? Of course, don't come to me if you're looking for dating advice, or advice on anything other than grammar, really. But she seems cool and pretty and potentially interested. I don't know. With a start, I realise she's still talking. She has been this whole time! Oh no. "So should we?" she simpers, showing her pearly white teeth. I'm in a tight spot now. Good luck getting out of this one, I think. "Yes!" I cry. "Totally, if you're up for it." "Cool! I know this twenty-four-seven cafe place round the corner. Let's go, I'm hungry." Then she grabs my hand and pulls me along behind her and I know I should be panicking about the fact that I've just agreed to go on a date with no warning. But. She's holding my hand! It feels like flowers are blooming in my palm and it's so warm and delightfully unexpected and I have this funny bubbly feeling in my chest- Oh. We're here. She's let go. I feel majorly disappointed, though I do love this place. The floor is covered in shiny wood and the tables are painted red in contrast to the beige walls. There's a little counter with cakes lined up in a glass case (Basil's staring at them, drooling.) and people's chatter plus the soft music of the radio mix to create the coziest atmosphere. It's perfect. "This table here!" Basil cries, charging through the quiet cafe as if someone's going to steal it from us. We chat for a minute, then a waiter comes over. I order a bagel. She orders mac 'n' cheese. But the whole time, I'm stressing about how my hair is or my conversational skills. They're nonexistent, by the way. "So," she says, tucking into her steaming bowl of mac 'n' cheese, "Pride this year was just something else. I mean, what?! The best ever, hands down." I grin. "What about it was so very good, then?" She starts counting things on her fingers. "Well, there was the music. All my friends were there. I finally remembered to bring my lesbian flag! The entertainment- oh, that comedian was amazing! Wasn't she amazing, Freya?! Yeah, she totally was." Her hands are whirling around. "And then- then there was that fantastic sandwich I had for lunch. And I met so many cool queer people there! And that brings me onto my final point- you were there. That was awesome." My face has officially reached dangerous levels of blushing. I'm a tomato. "Well, you know." I mumble. "I, um, I was happy you were there too. You're amazing. I mean! Not, like, amazing. That was full-on." Luckily, Basil is not a tomato with no conversational skills. She brushes over the incident like it was nothing and I make it through the rest of the conversation without embarrassing myself too much. I hope. But the night has to end eventually. "Can I see you soon?" she grins at me. "Whenever's cool." "Um, yeah, cool!" I stutter. "Bye, see you!" I rush out the cafe, squealing as I skip back home, hugging my arms tight around my chest and allowing myself to dream that this girl might like me someday.
Hi, welcome to chapter two! Got really excited so this is a long one lol.
