elliewriteslove

[elliewriteslove]

Your First Date

Josh Meyer

It was almost 7pm, Josh should be here to pick you up any minute now. You smoothed down the cute sundress you had on and adjusted the light cardigan you put on over it before you checked your makeup one more time. You were quite nervous, but you think you looked good. At least, your best friend Trinity assured you that you did when she helped you pick out your outfit earlier that day after you told her it was for a date. You remember how she freaked out when you first told her about Josh, “Are you telling me that you seriously just walked up to the Josh Meyer and lied about who you were to save him from some fangirls, then proceeded to just casually talk to him for a couple hours?! And then agreed to casually meet again at the beach the next day?!” She was still in shock over that, as well as the fact that you had been continuing to meet him at the beach over this past week. You chuckle to yourself as you remember how she freaked out all over again when you told her that he actually asked you out on a date. She told you she’d definitely help you get ready for the date, and insisted that you tell her all about it the next day. 

You suddenly heard your phone ding as you got a text message, and looked down to see that it was Josh telling you that he was here and coming up to meet you at your apartment door. You suddenly became twice as nervous, and took some deep breaths to calm yourself down before you heard a knock at your door. You walked over and took one last deep breath before you pulled the door open to greet him, “Josh, hey!” He smiled and greeted back with a compliment, “Hey Lily! You look great!” You looked him over quickly. He was wearing some knee-length jean shorts and a t-shirt with an unzipped jacket. It was simple, but he still looked good. You smiled back and returned the compliment, “Thanks! So do you! You ready to go?” He replied, “Yep! I just texted the guys hosting it, and they said everything’s already set up and some people have already shown up.” You smiled, “Great! I can’t wait.” He smiled back, “Me too.” You make it down to the parking lot, where he comes up to the passenger side of his car and opens the door for you with a dramatic bow and says, “My lady.” You giggled as you got in and replied, “Thank you, kind sir.” He gives you a cheeky grin as he shuts the door, then walks around the car to get in the driver’s side. You chatted comfortably the whole way to the beach. 

Once you get there, he grabs a couple of blankets from the back seat to sit on and you make your way to where a bunch of people were standing and sitting around an already raging bonfire. A couple of guys called out to greet Josh when they saw him, and Josh greeted them back before turning to you to tell you that they’re the guys who are hosting this party. Josh found a spot around the bonfire and spread out one of the blankets, “Well, here we are.” You both set down your bags on the blanket before he turns to you and asks, “So, do you want to go over to the little beach bar they set up for some drinks?” You smile and agree, “That sounds great.” He takes you over to the little bar, and introduces you to the two hosts before grabbing a couple of drinks and handing you one. You walk back over to your blanket and sit down together, where you soon find yourselves lost in conversation for a while as you finish up your drinks. 

After a little while, you notice that there’s a lot more people here now, and that a lot of them are dancing near where they set up the music. Josh sees you looking over at the dancing crowd and asks, “Do you want to go over and dance for a while?” You nod and say, “Yeah, sure. It looks like fun.” He stands and offers you his hand to help you up, and you smile gratefully and take his hand. After he pulls you up, he doesn’t let go of your hand, and you smile shyly as he leads you by hand over to the makeshift dance floor. They’re playing some loud EDM music that’s easy and fun to dance to, and the next thing you know, you and Josh have been having a blast dancing together for a while before they suddenly announce that they’re going to play a few slow songs while the sun sets. As the first slow song starts and you see people start pairing up around you, Josh smiles and offers his hand with a slight bow, “May I have this dance?” You giggle at his overly formal way of asking and take his hand, and he grins back and pulls you close, wrapping his arms around your waist. You wrap your arms around his neck in response, and the two of you slowly start swaying to the music. After one song, you set your head on his shoulder, and he pulls you a little closer in response. You really can’t believe how comfortable and safe you felt with him already, and are glad that he seems to feel the same way. 

After a few more slow songs, they announce that they’re going back to upbeat dance music, and you two pull apart. He smiles and asks, “So, do you want to sit back down and watch the sun finish setting?” You smile back and nod. He takes your hand again and leads you back to the blanket. Once settled, you scoot a little closer to him and rest your head on his shoulder as you both watch the sun disappear below the horizon. After the sun sets, he offers to get you more drinks, and when he returns he sits down with the comment, “Man, if it wasn’t so late I could go surfing for a bit.” You look over at him and ask, “So, where did you learn to surf?” He smiles and answers, “Growing up, my dad would take us all out to the beach whenever he could. He’s a pretty good surfer, so he decided to try to teach me and my siblings how to surf, and it turns out I really like it. What about you? You like coming to the beach just about as much as I do, but your parents never taught you how to surf?” You give him a sad smile and reply, “No, my… my parents used to like to come to the beach together all the time before I was born, but neither of them knew how to surf. Then… my mom died due to complications giving birth to me…” He puts his arm around your shoulders and pulls you closer saying, “Oh Lily, I’m sorry…” You send him another sad smile and say, “No, it’s okay. My dad made sure to tell me about her growing up, I feel like I know her. He also made sure to take me to the beach whenever he could, telling me that he used to go with my mom all the time.” He smiles softly at you, “Well I’m glad that your dad was able to keep your mom’s memory alive for you.” 

You rest your head on his shoulder as the two of you sit in somber silence for a bit, before he gently changes the subject, “Well, I hope you know that I’m definitely going to teach you how to surf some day.” You giggle softly, “I’m looking forward to it, though I wish you luck.” He chuckles at your response. The conversation picks up, and the two of you once again find yourselves lost in conversation. Some time goes by when you notice that it’s now dark, and mostly everyone is sitting on their blankets around the bonfire talking like you two were. A sea breeze blows by and you shiver; the cardigan you were wearing isn’t that warm. Josh notices and says, “Here, let me grab the other blanket.” He reaches over and grabs the spare blanket he brought and wraps one half around his shoulders while opening his arm up to you with the other side of the blanket. You smiled as you saw that he was offering to wrap you both up together, and scooted closer to allow him to wrap you up in his arms and the blanket. He smiled back as he closed the blanket around the two of you, and you rested your head on his shoulder again. 

You sat quietly together, having occasional quiet conversations between the comfortable silence. Again, you think to yourself that you can’t believe how safe and comfortable he makes you feel. And now that you’re sitting so close, wrapped up in his arms in the same blanket, you can’t help but feel like this silence between the two of you has gotten increasingly weighted. You could tell that he was looking at you, so you worked up the nerve to look up at him to find him looking intensely into your eyes. Your faces were already so close… You see him glance down at your lips and you can tell that he wants to kiss you. You realize that you want to kiss him too as you find yourself leaning slightly closer to him and glance down at his lips, too. He notices and moves in closer, looking into your eyes one last time to make sure that you’re okay with this before you both close your eyes and your lips connect. It’s… magical. You find your mind goes blank and you can’t really think of anything else. The kiss ends as you both pull apart and smile shyly at one another. It’s been awhile since you’ve kissed anyone, the last time being when you dated in college, but you could still tell that he was a good kisser. He chuckles quietly, “Wow…” You giggle shyly and reply, “Yeah, wow…” 

You both notice that it’s gotten pretty late. The party seems to be winding down and people start getting up to leave. He looks back down at you and smiles softly, “I’ve had a great time with you tonight. I already feel so connected to you, and that kiss was…” You smile back and agree, “I’ve had a great time tonight, too. I can’t believe how comfortable and safe I already feel with you. And yeah, that kiss… has anyone ever told you that you’re a good kisser?” He laughs and says, “Thanks. And no, you seem to be the first to say so. I can’t take all the credit though, I had a good partner.” He winks at you, causing you to laugh. Then, he looks a little reluctant as he says, “Well, it seems like the party’s over. I guess I should take you home now, though I admit I’m reluctant to see this night end already.” You nod, “Yeah, it is getting pretty late, but I have to say I’m pretty reluctant to see this night end, too.” He unwraps the two of you from the blanket and you both stand up to gather your stuff. He then takes your hand and says, “Well, I guess all good things must come to an end eventually. Come on, I’ll take you home.” 

You walk hand-in-hand to his car where he opens the passenger door with a flourish for you again, causing you to giggle. He gets in the car and drives quietly for a minute before he glances at you and back to the road, then says, “So... Lily. I’ve had a great time with you tonight and I really feel like this is the start of something special between us. I definitely want to take you out on another date again soon, and I hope you feel the same?” You smile at him and agree, “Yes, I do! Tonight’s been a great night, and I also feel like there’s something special between us. I’d love to go out with you again.” He shoots you a smile, and the two of you discuss further date ideas the rest of the ride back to your apartment. By the time he pulls up to your apartment, the two of you have already decided on the next date. He walks with you back up to your apartment door, and you turn around to face him once you get there, “Thank you for a great night. I look forward to our next date.” You lean over and give him a kiss on the cheek. He smiles at you and says, “And thank you for agreeing to go out with me. I’ll see you on our next date.” You exchange one last reluctant goodbye before he leaves and you enter your apartment. You can’t stop smiling the rest of the night, and it takes you a while to fall asleep that night as you keep replaying the date over and over in your head. You can’t wait to see him again.

Kai Slater

It’s a few minutes before 9am and you’ve just finished getting ready for your date with Kai. Since you’re going to an amusement park, you decided to dress comfortably but still cute, and so chose to wear jean shorts with a cute, loose-fitting blouse to help stay cool. You debated with yourself for a while on whether you wanted to wear your cute sandals or your sneakers, but you ultimately decided on your sneakers, both so you don’t have to worry about them flying off your feet during rides, and also so your feet won’t hurt too much by the end of the day, since you and Kai were planning on spending the whole day there. You’re also bringing along a small drawstring bag so you can store your phone, wallet, sunscreen, sunglasses, and the water bottle you’ll buy one you get there. While you’re checking yourself out in the mirror one last time, your mind drifts to when you first told Vanessa about Kai. You remember how she had freaked out the first time you told her that you had met Kai at the club, “Wait, are you telling me that not only did you meet Kai freaking Slater, but you went home and slept with him, too?! I am both impressed and hella jealous. You have to tell me all about him, now that you have… intimate knowledge.” She winked at you with that statement and you had rolled your eyes and slapped her shoulder before telling her about your night. She was all too happy to join you at the club again night after night when you told her it was because you and Kai had agreed to meet there again. You smile to yourself as you remember how excited she got when you told her that Kai had actually asked you out on a date. She had insisted that she help you pick out your outfit, and definitely wanted to hear all about the date when you got back. 

A ding from your phone interrupts your thoughts, and you look down to see it’s a text from Kai saying that he’s here and on his way up to your apartment to pick you up. Your heart rate picks up in excitement as you try to tell yourself to calm down. You hear a knock a few minutes later and open the door to greet him, “Hey Kai!” You quickly look him over and see that he decided to wear khaki cargo shorts and a t-shirt, and also brought his own drawstring bag to store his stuff in. It was more comfortable than overly stylish, but he still looked nice. He smiles and greets back, “Hey Maya! You look cute. You ready for a fun, scream-filled day?” You lightly laugh and say, “You bet I am! And thanks, you look good too. Let’s go!” You follow him to his car, and once you’re on the road he says, “So I got both of our tickets, and I also decided to get the Flash Pass for us, so now we won’t have to wait in line.” You excitedly reply, “Really? Oh man, this’ll be great! Standing in those long lines for hours sweltering in the sun was always the worst part. We’ll have time to get on so many rides now! Probably even ride some multiple times!” You chatted excitedly the whole way to the amusement park.

Once you got there and made your way inside, you both stopped by the shop to get sports water bottles to carry around in your bags all day. Then, he turned to you and excitedly said, “Alright, I am so ready for this! We already agreed on the way here that we’re gonna ride all the roller coasters at least once, so which one do you want to start with?” You reply just as excitedly, “You know we gotta ride the X2 first!” He laughs as you already start heading off in that direction, “Great choice, that’s my favorite!” You turn to smile at him, “Me too!” You make your way to the ride and bypass the line, and are seated close to the front. As the ride slowly starts ascending, you turn your head to Kai and say, “So, just to warn you, I’m totally gonna scream on all these coasters. Loudly. I hope you’re prepared to be deaf by the end of the day.” He laughs and says, “Oh I know, I’m ready for it. And don’t worry, I’ll probably yell sometimes, too. Especially on this one.” Then, the ride finally reaches the top and suddenly shoots downward, causing you to scream loudly, and you hear Kai laugh next to you. After the ride is over, you get off and turn to Kai to say, “Holy shit! That was awesome and scary as hell at the same time!” He replies, “I know! We’ll definitely have to stop by again later.” You excitedly talk about your favorite parts of the ride as you make your way to the next ride. 

After a couple hours, plenty of coasters, and lots of screaming, you both stop to take a sip of water and Kai turns to you to ask, “So, it’s been a couple hours now. Do you want to get something to eat?” You nod and say, “Yeah, sounds good. And later, we’ll definitely have to get some funnel cake.” He replies, “Yeah, totally. You can’t come to the amusement park without getting some funnel cake! That’s sacrilegious!” You laugh and agree, then decide where you want to eat and make your way there. Over lunch, the two of you find yourselves lost in conversation, at first talking about your favorite parts of the rides you’ve already been on and which ones you want to ride next, then eventually talking about each other and whatever else comes up. He asks you about your job and what inspired you to pursue that, so you spend a little time talking about how you were able to take your love of parties and make it into a career as a wedding and event planner. He then asks about your hobbies besides partying, so you tell him about your love of astronomy. You show him your tattoo of the crescent moon on the back of your neck and tell him about how you named your cat Nova after supernovas. You ask him about any other hobbies that he might have besides playing the guitar and cooking, so he tells you that when he and his brother were younger, his parents took them to Jiu-Jitsu classes. Kai eventually dropped out of classes in middle school when he discovered he’d rather learn more about playing the guitar with Josh, but he said that he still remembers a lot and could still be pretty good in a fight if need be. He says that his brother stayed in the classes though, and still trains and goes to competitions when he has the time. 

After talking for a little while longer about whatever else came up, you both get up and start to talk about which ride you want to get on next. You’re starting to sweat a little, so you fan yourself and say, “Hey, how about we get on some of those water rides now so we can cool off? I’m so hot!” Kai nods and says, “Yeah, good idea. I’m pretty hot, too. Plus, those types of rides don’t loop and jerk you around as much, so it’ll give our stomachs some time to settle after eating. Let’s head to the Roaring Rapids first.” You nod in agreement and make your way there. While on the ride, the side of the raft you two are on ends up directly under a waterfall at some point, drenching you both. Kai laughs at the high-pitched squeal you make when you first get drenched, and you stick your tongue out at him in response, which only makes him laugh harder. After the ride, you turn to Kai while wringing the water out your hair and say, “Wow, we’re soaked! But I feel much cooler now.” He nods while attempting to wring the water out of his shirt, “Yeah, we’re drenched now, but I feel so much better.” You make your way to the other water rides, chatting together in between each ride. After you get through all of those, he turns to you and says, “So, I’m ready to get on more roller coasters now, how about you?” You nod and say, “Yeah, me too. I don’t think we’ve got on the Tatsu yet.” He grabs your hand and starts heading off in that direction, “The Tatsu it is then.” You smile at the way he casually grabbed your hand, and you lace your fingers with his in response. He looks over at you with a smile at your action, and gives your hand a squeeze before starting another conversation as you walk. After riding the Tatsu, you both excitedly chat as you head to the next ride. You say, “Oh my god, that loop though! My stomach dropped.” He replies just as excitedly, “I know right? That loop is the best part of that ride. I still like the X2 better though.” You nod in agreement, “Yeah, I do too.” 

After a couple more hours, you’ve finally managed to ride all the roller coasters once. You both decide that it’s time for funnel cake and take a break on a bench to eat it together. You’re both still riding the adrenaline rush from all the coasters you were just on, and are chatting excitedly as you eat. As you pop another piece of funnel cake in your mouth, you think about how much fun you’ve had with Kai today. You feel like you can be yourself around him and always seem to have a good time with him. After chatting for a bit more, you look down at the plate to see that there is only one piece of funnel cake left and yell, “Dibs!” You grab it first with a triumphant laugh before Kai just leans over and snatches the piece right out of your hands. “Hey!” you shout and lean closer to try to take it back before he sends you an adorably impish grin and pops it right in his mouth. You gasp indignantly and he just laughs and leans a little closer to grin victoriously in your face. It’s at that moment that you both realize how close your faces are, and your smiles fade as you both get more serious. It gives you a slight shiver up your spine to see how he’s gazing at you with such an intense look. You notice that your faces have drifted even closer together and then catch him glancing down at your lips. You find yourself glancing down at his lips as well before he suddenly leans forward and connects your lips. You instantly react and kiss back, your hands finding their way into his hair as his hands rest along the back of your neck to pull you closer. You both pull apart after a moment when you need air and look into each other’s eyes and smile. “Wow, that’s just as good as I remember it,” he says with a soft chuckle. You grin back and say, “Yeah, I have to agree.” 

He then grabs your hand and pulls you up with him, “So, you ready to ride a few more of our favorite coasters again before we call it a day?” You squeeze his hand and reply, “You know it! We totally have to save the X2 for last!” He nods as you both start walking and says, “Sounds like a plan.” You once again make your way from ride to ride, chatting in between as usual, although this time you’re holding hands pretty much whenever you're not on a ride, and are walking more closely together than you had earlier in the day. You finally make it to the X2 again and ride it one last time before Kai turns to you and says, “Well, we’ve been here all day and it looks like the park’s going to close soon, so I guess we better get going.” You nod and say, “Yeah, I guess so. I’ve had such a great time today. The X2 is still totally my favorite.” He laughs and agrees, “Yeah, me too.” You both talk about your favorite parts of all the rides you went on today as you make your way back to his car. 

Once you’re back on the road, he’s quiet for a moment before he reaches over and holds your hand, holding the wheel steady with his other hand. He sends you a quick glance before he has to look back at the road and says, “Maya, I’ve had such an incredible time with you, and not just today, but every time we’ve been together. I really feel like there’s something special between us, and I know I definitely want to take you out on another date soon.” You smile and squeeze his hand, “Me too. I can’t believe how much fun I always have when we’re together, and I love that I always feel like I can be myself when I’m with you. I also feel like there’s something special between us, and I know I definitely can’t wait for our next date.” He sends you a quick smile, and the two of you discuss more date ideas the rest of the way back to your apartment. By the time you get there, you both have already decided on your next date. He takes your hand again as he walks you up to your apartment, and once you get to your door you lean over to kiss him on the cheek before saying, “Thank you for an amazing day. I’m looking forward to our next date.” He smiles and squeezes your hand once more before he lets you go and says, “I was just about to say the same thing. Thank you for agreeing to go out with me. I’ll see you soon.” You exchange one last reluctant goodbye before you enter your apartment. You go to sleep early that night, being pretty tired from walking around all day, but you can’t help the big smile you have as you fall asleep.

Roland Beck

It’s a few minutes before 5:30pm and you’re checking yourself out in the mirror one last time before Roland gets here for your date. You decided to wear a form-fitting blouse with some nice jeans and a cute pair of boots, and you think you look pretty good. Your best friend Nikki also told you that you look good when you sent her a selfie of your date outfit earlier. You think back to the day you ended up telling Nikki about Roland; it was the day Roland had asked you out. You had been avoiding telling her about him because of what happened with that drunk guy that Roland ended up saving you from. You remember what happened to Nikki in college and didn’t want her blaming herself for almost allowing the same thing to happen to you, so when she started getting suspicious that you kept wanting to come to so many parties with her all of a sudden, you denied that you were going to the parties to meet a guy. However, you think she started to realize that’s what you were doing when you caught her looking across the room at you and Roland sitting together talking at a party. You were dreading her questions, but she never asked you past the first time she questioned you. You figured she must suspect something but decided to just let you tell her on your own without pushing you for answers. You were grateful for that, as you needed time to figure out how you were going to tell her about how you met him without her freaking out and blaming herself. 

The day he asked you out, you realized that you had to tell her, so you called her over to hang out the next day and told her you had to tell her something. You had said, “So Nikki… I’ve been meaning to tell you that I’ve been going to those parties with you to meet a guy that I met at Tom’s party.” She got a big smile on her face and said, “Ha! I knew it! I kept seeing you sitting with a guy, and I couldn’t really tell from a distance, but I thought it looked like you were meeting with the same guy. I figured you just didn’t want to tell me yet when you denied it, so I was waiting for you to want to tell me. What took you so long?” You give her a serious look and say, “Well, it’s due to the circumstances of our meeting. Now, when I tell you this, I don’t want you to freak out or start to blame yourself.” She started to look concerned, and you continued, “He actually saved me from a drunk guy that was bothering me. When I denied his advances, that creep grabbed my arm and tried to drag me off the barstool into the crowd. He happened to see what was happening and came over, made the guy let me go, intimidated him into leaving, and then sat down and talked with me the rest of the night to make sure I was okay and that no one else would bother me.” Nikki looked upset as she grabbed your hand and said, “Oh my god, Karina! Why didn’t you tell me right after it happened? I can’t believe that happened when I was supposed to be there with you. And after what almost happened to me… I’m so sorry.” You shook your head and said, “Hey, stop that. I told you not to freak out or blame yourself. If I’m not allowed to blame myself for what almost happened to you in college, then you’re not allowed to blame yourself for what almost happened to me at that party. Besides, I’m okay. More than okay. It allowed me to meet Roland when he saved me.” You got a little smile on your face when you thought of him. 

She saw the smile on your face and relaxed a little, “Well, okay. I guess you have a point. But you have to promise to let me know immediately if something like that happens again.” You nodded and agreed before she got a mischievous smile on her face and said, “So, who is this savior of yours? Roland you said? What’s he like? What’s he look like? Did he ask you out yet?” You smiled and shook your head at her enthusiasm, but you stopped suddenly as another thought occurred to you, “Oh, umm… I was so worried about you blaming yourself for what almost happened that I forgot that there’s something else I have to tell you about him. I would say that you have to promise not to freak out, but I know you will anyway.” She looked exasperated as she said, “Jeez, what now?” You said, “Well, first off, yes he did ask me out. We’ve been meeting at parties for the last week and a half and he asked me out yesterday. We both really hit it off, we have so much in common, and we both agreed we wanted to start meeting more often, outside of parties.” She squealed excitedly and said, “Oh my god, I’m so happy for you! It’s about time that you found someone. But what am I supposed to be freaking out about?” You took a deep breath and said, “Well, it’s because of who he really is. His full name is Roland Beck.” You noticed her eyes got wide and continued, “Yes, that Roland Beck, of Electrocandescence. I was kinda shocked when I realized that it was him, but I kept it to myself because I didn’t want to freak out on him or anything.” Her eyes were wide in shock as she said, “Are you shitting me?! Roland Beck of Electrocandescence, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome himself, swoops in and saves you heroically, then you spend the next week and a half meeting up, and now you’re telling me he’s asked you out? And you’re just now telling me this?!” You laughed at her reaction as she continued to press you for information about him, and you had spent quite some time that day answering a lot of her questions about him and your relationship so far. 

A ding from your phone brings you out of your memories and back to the present. You look down and see that it’s a text from Roland saying that he’s here and on his way up to meet you at your apartment door. You nervously start twirling the ends of your hair before you hear a knock at the door. You take a deep breath to calm down before you open the door with the greeting, “Hey!” You quickly look him over and see that he’s wearing some jeans and a black, fitted shirt that compliment his toned body nicely. He smiles and greets you back, “Hey Karina. You look great. You ready to go?” You smile and say, “Thanks, you look good, too. And yep, I’m ready.” You make your way down to his car and talk about which bands you’re both excited to see perform live and which songs are your favorites. When you get there, you notice that it’s already pretty busy. Roland gives the bouncer his invitation and leads you inside. Once inside, it’s so full already that trying to walk next to Roland to reach a table to sit at becomes increasingly difficult without getting bumped into. Roland, seeing you struggling to walk next to him without getting jostled around, wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer, making it much easier for you to reach your table. You blush a little at the close contact, but look up with a smile and thank him all the same. Once you’re both settled at your table, a server comes by to get your order for drinks and food. Roland explains that they will be serving for about 30 more minutes up until 7:00pm, when they’ll stop serving and the first band will play their set. Each band will be playing some of their most popular songs, and there will be small intermissions in between each band’s performance to let the next band set up and give time for the servers to go around the tables again for anyone who wants another round of drinks. 

You both spend the next 30 minutes talking excitedly in anticipation while finishing up your meals. Finally, the lights dim and the spotlights shine on stage. You scoot your chair around the table to sit next to Roland so that you’re both facing the stage, and make sure you’re close enough to be able to hear each other over the crowd and the loud music when you want to talk. He smiles and adjusts his chair to give you more room next to him on his side of the table. The first band starts hyping up the crowd, and everyone starts cheering in excitement and anticipation. You cheer along loudly with the crowd before you send Roland a sheepish smile at how loud you just were. Roland just laughs and looks at you fondly before giving his own whoop of excitement. During the intermission after the first band’s set, you turn to Roland excitedly and say, “Oh my god, that was awesome! They really know how to work a crowd. My favorite song was the second one.” Roland nods in agreement and says, “Yeah, they were great! The second one was good, but I think I like the third song they did better.” You nod and look down at the itinerary of bands performing tonight and say, “Yeah, I like that one, too. So yeah, they were great and all, and I’m still excited for the next two bands performing, but I really can’t wait for the fourth band performing tonight. They’re one of my favorite bands recently.” Roland smiles and says, “Really? They’re one of my favorites recently, too! It’s gonna be so awesome seeing them perform live from this close.” You nod excitedly, “I know!” You continue to chat excitedly until the lights dim again when the next band is ready to start. 

After lots of cheering and excited chatter between sets, it’s finally time for your favorite band of the night’s performance. You look over at Roland and just now notice how close you’re sitting; Roland’s arm is across the back of your chair to make it more comfortable to sit closer together, and your chairs are right up next to each other, with you leaning over the arm of your chair to be closer to him. It seems you’ve drifted closer over the course of the night through your mutual excitement and effort to hear each other over the music. You blush and start to lean back more into your own chair to give him more space, but he drops his arm from the back of your chair down onto your shoulders and tugs you back into place saying, “No, stay. I don’t mind.” You smile and blush again before nodding and settling down close to him again, with his arm still around your shoulders. The crowd starts cheering, pulling your attention back to the stage, and you both start cheering loudly with the rest of the crowd as the band starts playing. After quick snatches of excited conversation between songs, you and Roland once again cheer along with the rest of the crowd as the band announces that they’re starting their last song. Once it starts playing, you squeal excitedly and turn to Roland, “Oh my god, this is my favorite song from them! I was so hoping they’d perform it tonight!” He replies just as excitedly, “This is my favorite, too! I was hoping they were saving it for last!” 

As you and Roland’s favorite song comes to a close and the lights come back on for another intermission, you look over at Roland with a big smile and say, “That was just as awesome as I was hoping it was going to be!” He smiles back and says, “I know! Definitely their best song.” It’s then that you both notice just how close your faces are; your mutual excitement over that last song has caused you to end up sitting even closer together now. His arm is still around your shoulders and you’re now fully leaning into his side. When you turn to talk to each other, your faces are now a few inches apart. You both seem to notice how close you are at the same time, and the conversation dies as you find yourselves staring into each other’s eyes from up close. You quietly start, “I’m…” but trail off for a second when you get distracted by him glancing down at your lips. You swallow and start again, “I’m really glad you took me here. I’m having a great time…” You trail off again as his arm around your shoulders tightens, pulling you closer as he says, “Me too…” He trails off as he brings his face closer. Now so close that your noses were almost touching, Roland whispers to you, “Karina… can I kiss you?” You breathe back a quiet, “Yes…” 

Then suddenly, you were kissing, and it was like fireworks were going off in your heart. You got lost in the moment, and when you came back to yourself, your hands were gripping his shirt and his were in your hair. You pull back as the kiss ends and send him a shy smile, “Wow…” He nods and says, “Yeah, that was something else…” You suddenly feel too shy to keep looking him in the eyes and blush as you bury your head in his chest. You feel him chuckle as he wraps his arms around you and pulls you a little closer. You relax in his arms, turning your head to rest your cheek against his chest as he rests his chin against the top of your head. You’re both content to stay like that for the duration of the intermission, in your own quiet bubble of contentment despite the loudness of the crowd around you. The lights dim and the crowd cheers loudly as the next band gets ready to start, so you both pull apart a little to be able to turn in your seats to face the stage and watch the performance, but his arm never leaves your back, holding you close for the rest of the night. After the final band performs and the hosts finish talking about the charity this whole concert was planned for, everyone starts getting up to leave. You both reluctantly pull apart so you can get up to leave as well, but it’s so crowded as everyone tries to leave at once that you almost instantly get bumped into upon standing up. Roland immediately wraps an arm around your waist again, pulling you closer to steady you and protect you from the crowd. You smile up at him and thank him again as you both head out to his car. 

Once back on the road to your apartment, Roland reaches over to hold your hand as he drives with his other hand. He’s quiet for a moment before he says, “Karina, I’ve had a great time with you tonight. I feel like this is the start of something great, and I know I need to see you again. I’d love to take you on another date soon…” He trails off and squeezes your hand as he glances at you briefly before looking back at the road. You smile and squeeze his hand back as you reply, “Yes, I feel the same way. I also feel like this is the start of something great, and I know I want to see you again, too. I’d love to go on another date with you.” He smiles in relief and says, “Great! Maybe we can go somewhere quieter next time, so we’ll be able to talk more and hear each other better.” You both spend the rest of the drive back to your apartment discussing date ideas, and by the time you get there you’ve decided on your next date. He takes your hand as he walks you up to your apartment, and once you get to your door, you smile and squeeze his hand one last time before letting go and saying, “Thank you for a great night. I look forward to our next date.” He smiles back and says, “Me too. Thank you for agreeing to go out with me.” After one last reluctant goodbye, you enter your apartment. You find yourself only half paying attention to whatever you’re doing for the rest of the night, as you notice that you can’t help but keep thinking back to your night with Roland. You can’t wait to see him again.

Oli Jones

It’s a few minutes before 11:30am, so you check yourself out in the mirror one last time before Oli gets here for your date. You decided to wear a patterned, flowy, boho-chic style dress that reaches just past your knees that you paired with a cute pair of sandals. You think you look nice, and you texted your step-sister Reagan, who is also your best friend, earlier with a selfie and she said you look nice, too. You smile as you remember when you first told her about Oli; it was the day you met him. As soon as you got home from the park, you texted her, “Oh my god Reagan, you’ll never believe what just happened to me. Can you come over? I want to tell you in person.” She immediately replied, “Yes, I’ll be right there.” Once she got there, she said, “Okay, I’m dying here. What happened?” You smiled and said, “So, I was at the park walking Bailey as usual, right? Then, Bailey got over excited again and leapt up onto a guy on a bench. I noticed that he was drawing the park, and we got to talking about art together. The whole time I kept thinking to myself that I thought I recognized him from somewhere, when it hits me.” You paused for emphasis and she waved her hand at you impatiently and said, “Yeah, who was it? Come on, you’re killing me here.” You smiled again and said, “Well, it was Oli Jones, of Electrocandescence.” She freaked out, just like you thought she would, and said, “Oh my god, you’re kidding me! Really? Holy crap Saige, that’s awesome! So then what? You just talked about art for a bit, then left?” You gave her a sly smile, “Well, not exactly. We actually talked for more than an hour about anything and everything. We really hit it off. When Bailey was starting to look tired and it was time for me to go, he looked just as reluctant as me to leave, so I asked him if he’d like to meet again at the park tomorrow and he agreed! And we exchanged numbers!” She squealed excitedly and asked you all sorts of questions about him and what you talked about. You spent quite some time together after that excitedly recounting your day.

A ding from your phone brings you back to the present. It’s a text from Oli saying that he’s here and on his way up. You nervously fidget with your fingers a bit before you hear a knock at the door. You open the door with the greeting, “Oli, hey!” You quickly look him over and see that he’s wearing some jeans and a nice short sleeve, button-up shirt. He smiles and says, “Hey Saige! You look great! You ready to go?” You nod and reply, “Yep! And thanks, you look good, too!” You make your way down to his car, and on the drive over to the LACMA you both talk about which exhibitions are there right now and what you want to see. You both decided to make sure to visit the exhibitions that are only here for the next few months so you don’t miss out on getting to see them before they’re gone. Once you get there and make your way inside one of the buildings, Oli turns to you and says, “Well, here we are. What do you want to see first?” You reply, “How about we just go around each building clockwise, and when we see something we want to look at closer, we can spend a little more time at those exhibitions?” He nods and says, “Sounds good.” You start walking around, discussing art pieces and your impressions on them as you go. After walking for a bit, Oli reaches over and grabs your hand with a bit of a nervous smile. You smile back and lace your fingers together. 

The next thing you know, it’s been hours. You’ve been having a great time, and you both have been making each other laugh all day. When visiting one of the collections earlier, you both saw a painting with a man making a rather funny-looking face, so Oli had turned to you and copied the face he was making, which made you burst out laughing at how ridiculous he looked. Then, the rest of the day had become a contest to see who, upon finding funny-looking and ridiculous paintings and statues, could copy the faces or poses they were making the closest. This usually meant that the two of you would burst out into stifled giggles at each other’s antics. You were trying to make each other laugh while still trying to be quiet enough to not disturb the other museum guests, but the need to be relatively quiet only served to make it harder for the two of you to stop laughing once you started. Whenever you come across the more serious art pieces, you both take the time to appreciate the artists' work and tell each other your impressions and opinions on the pieces. 

Nearing the end of your visit, after the two of you have been around to all the buildings and have seen all you plan on seeing, Oli turns to you and says, “So, before we leave today, I’ve heard good things about the restaurant here, Ray’s and Stark Bar. Do you want to get dinner there?” You nod and say, “Yeah, that sounds good.” You make your way there and find a table, and after your food comes, you look up at Oli and say, “So after looking at all this art today, I feel totally inspired to finish that piece I was working on back home.” He replies, “Yeah, me too actually. I’ll have to show it to you when I’m finished.” You nod again and say, “Yeah, I’ll have to show you mine, too.” You both spend some time continuing to tell each other about the pieces you’re working on back home, and what you were planning on doing to them next. The conversation then turned to the pieces you saw today in the museum, the ones you like the most and which ones made you laugh the most, and then eventually you both just talked about whatever else came up. 

After you both finished dinner, Oli looked at you and said a little reluctantly, “Well, we’ve been here for hours now and we’ve seen all that we wanted to see. It’s starting to get pretty late now, so I guess it’s time for me to take you home.” You nod reluctantly and say, “Yeah, I guess it’s time to head home. I’ve had such a fun time with you today.” He smiles and agrees, “Me too. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed that much.” You both start walking to his car, and this time, you’re the one to reach over and grab his hand. He looks over and smiles at you as he laces his fingers with yours. He has to let go of your hand once you get to his car, but as soon as he starts driving, he leaves one hand on the wheel and reaches over to take your hand again while sending you a quick, cute smile. There’s just something so endearing about that action that you can’t help but smile and squeeze his hand. He’s quiet for a moment before he says, “So Saige… I’ve had such a fun day with you today. I’m definitely sad to see it ending already, and I can’t help but want to see you again. I really feel like there’s something special between us, and I hope you feel the same way. I’d like to ask you out on another date.” You send him a big smile as you say, “Oh Oli, I feel the same way. I’ve had such a good time today, and I also feel like there’s something special between us. Of course I’ll go out on another date with you, I can’t wait for it.” He sends you a quick smile and squeezes your hand as he says, “Great!” The two of you spend the rest of the way back to your apartment discussing date ideas, and by the time you get there, you’ve both decided on your next date. 

As he pulls up to your apartment building and puts the car in park, you put on a teasing tone and say, “But are you sure you’re not dating me just so you can see Bailey again?” He laughs and says, “You caught me. I’m just in it for your dog.” You laugh, and then he says, “But seriously though, thank you for saying yes.” He looks at you with such a sincere look, that you can’t help yourself; you find yourself staring into his pretty green eyes and think back to all the cute things he did today. The way he nervously grabbed your hand when you first got to the LACMA, the funny faces he made as he tried to make you laugh, the way he looked at you when you were laughing and how cute he looked when he was laughing, how endearing it was when he immediately grabbed your hand again and sent you that cute smile after you got back in the car. All these things quickly ran through your mind as you gazed into his eyes and you suddenly knew what you wanted to do. You squeeze his hand again and softly say, “Oli…” By the look in his eyes, you can tell he was having similar thoughts to yours as you were gazing into each other’s eyes, but it looks like he was going to let you make the first move when it came to taking it a step further. 

Well, after everything that happened today, you can’t help it. You know what you want, and the moment feels right. You start to lean closer as you drop your gaze from his eyes to his lips, and he reciprocates by leaning closer and glancing down at your lips, too. You both lean forward the rest of the way and your lips connect. It feels really special, and you can’t help but get a little lost in the moment. Your hands are in his hair and his are cupping your face when the kiss ends as you both pull apart. He gives you that cute smile again, and you smile back and say, “Now I really don’t want to get out of the car.” He chuckles and says, “Yeah, that’s not making this goodbye any easier.” You take his hand again and give it one more squeeze before you let go and both get out of the car to start making your way up to your apartment. When you get to your door, you turn to Oli with a smile and say, “Thank you for taking me on such a great date. I’m looking forward to the next one.” He smiles back and says, “I am, too. Thank you for agreeing to go out with me.” You exchange one last reluctant goodbye before he leaves and you enter your apartment. You spend the rest of the night in a haze of giddy absent-mindedness as you keep thinking back to your day with Oli, and you fall asleep that night with a smile still on your face.

Finn O’Donnell

It’s a few minutes before 3:30pm, and you’re fussing over your outfit again in the mirror before Finn gets here for your date. You decided on a knee-length floral skirt and a cute pastel blouse with some nice sandals. Your best friend Maddie had helped you pick it out earlier and insisted you looked great in it, despite your nervous worries. The two of you have known each other forever, as your parents had been friends since before they had kids. Although you two were sharing this apartment while you were both working on your degrees, Maddie had decided to go over and stay at her boyfriend’s place for the night, as she wanted to give you some space to be alone when Finn got here to pick you up. She said it was still too early to subject him to meeting your best friend already, and didn’t want to give you another reason to be nervous. You told her that her being gone might actually make you even more nervous, but she insisted that it would be better this way. She has been helping to keep you calm and not get too nervous or overwhelmed about all this since she first found out about you meeting Finn. 

You remember back to when you first told her about him; it was the day you met him. She had known something happened the moment you got back to the apartment after your shift was over. Jonas had helped calm you down a little after you started to freak out when he told you who Finn really is, but you were still quite shaken and really nervous about seeing him again the next day. She took one look at you when you walked into your shared apartment and said, “What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” She led you over to the couch to talk, and you looked at her with wide eyes and said, “I… I met someone today. A guy… and I really like him.” She immediately looked excited, “Really?! Oh my god, it’s about time! So, how did it go?” You told her about how he came into the coffee shop and immediately started to talk and flirt with you, and despite how nervous and shy you were acting, he still wanted to talk with you during your break. Then, despite your shyness, you two really seemed to hit it off during your break, and he asked if it would be cool if he came back the next day to talk to you again. Maddie squealed excitedly and said, “Oh my god, that’s so cute! You said yes, right?” You nodded, “Yeah, I did, but…” She sees the look on your face and says, “But what? Is this why you’re acting weird?” You nod and say, “Well, when I went back inside to get back to work, Jonas was acting weird about it. That’s when he told me… who he really was. I was talking to him the whole time and I didn’t even recognize him! And he’s going to come back tomorrow to talk to me again! How am I going to talk to him?!” You start to freak out a little again just thinking about it. Maddie takes your hand and says, “Hey, calm down. It’s going to be okay. Also, you still haven’t told me who he is.” You take a deep breath to calm down and say, “Well… he’s Finn O’Donnell, from Electrocandescence…” Maddie immediately gasps and says, “Holy crap, no way! You actually not only met, but hit it off with Finn from Electrocandescence?!” Her starstruck reaction started to make you freak out a little again. If even Maddie was freaking out about him, how were you supposed to talk with him normally? She saw how you were freaking out again and proceeded to spend the rest of the night helping you keep calm and boosting your courage and confidence so that you would be able to act mostly normally around him, despite knowing who he is now. She continued to encourage and support you over the next two weeks, and when he asked you out, she was so happy for you and helped you prepare for the date.

A ding from your phone breaks you out of your thoughts, and you look down to see that it was a text from Finn saying that he’s here and on his way up to your apartment to pick you up. Your shoulders tense and you have to stop yourself from clenching your hands from nervousness. A minute later, you hear a knock on your door and nervously bite your lip as you go to open it. You open your door with a shy smile and the soft greeting, “Hi…” He smiles at you and greets back, “Hey Anna! You look cute! Ready to go?” You nod as you quickly look him over to see that he’s wearing some jeans and a nice, bright blue shirt. You reply, “Yes. And thank you, you look nice, too.” He smiles in response as you make your way to his car. On the drive over to the theater, you’re a little too nervous to start a conversation so he takes the lead and starts up a conversation about the movie, “So, this movie is the third one in the series now. You said you saw the other ones, right? What do you think of the series so far?” You relax a little at the natural way he brings you into a conversation and the fact that he noticed you were nervous and is trying to make you more comfortable and reply, “Yes, I did see the first two. The first one was excellent, but the second one wasn’t as good unfortunately. I’m hoping that this one will be better. Everyone’s been saying it probably will be…” He nods and says, “Yeah, I feel the same. That seems to be the general consensus among the fans, too. Everyone has high hopes for this one, I hope it won’t disappoint!” You both chat comfortably about the other two movies in the series, what parts you liked about it so far, and your predictions for this next movie for the rest of the drive to the theater. 

Once you arrive, you continue your conversation as you both wait in the long line for the tickets, and then wait in line again for the drinks and popcorn. Once you both get to the front of the line, he turns to you and asks, “So, do you want just a small popcorn? Since we’re going to dinner after this?” You lightly blush at his casual mention of the dinner he’s taking you to later, but you nod and agree. You finally make your way into the theater and see that it’s already quite full. It is opening day after all. You’re both looking for a couple of available seats when he spots some near the top, “Ah, there! Let’s go!” He grabs your hand as he tugs you excitedly up the stairs to claim the seats before anyone else can, causing you to blush again, before he lets go so you both can squeeze past the other people already seated in the row and finally make your way to your seats. Finally seated, he says, “Whew! I was worried that we wouldn’t find seats for a moment there!” You’re not sure if he’s aware that he grabbed your hand as you both rushed up the stairs or if he’s just not acknowledging it, but you hope he doesn’t notice in the dim lighting of the theater that you’re still blushing because of it. ‘Come on Anna,’ you think to yourself, ‘you’re not in high school anymore! Stop blushing every time he just grabs your hand! This is a date after all!’ You’re trying to psych yourself up to get braver and stop blushing at every little thing he does when you see him push the popcorn bag closer to you and ask, “So, do you want to hold the bag, or should I?” He must have noticed that you went quiet again and is trying to bring you back into a conversation. You smile shyly and say, “Oh, I probably won’t eat as much as you, so you should hold the bag.” You quickly berate yourself in your head, ‘Come on Anna, stop getting flustered at everything and pay attention to your date!’ 

You talk quietly together for a few more minutes before the lights fully dim and the trailers start. He quietly whispers to you, “I’m so excited for this!” You smile and nod, “Me too. I’ve been looking forward to this movie.” One of the trailers is for the next movie in another series you’ve been keeping up with that you’re excited about seeing, but before you can say anything, he turns and whispers to you, “Oh man, that movie looks awesome! I’ve seen all the other ones and I’ve been looking forward to the next one!” You smile and agree, “Yeah, me too! I can’t wait until it comes out.” He turns his head to look more fully at you and says, “Well, maybe we can go see that one together too when it comes out.” You can’t help but blush at what he said, but you push past your shyness and say, “I-I would like that…” He sends you a cute smile and says, “Great! It’s another date then. We’ll have to work out the details closer to its release date.” You can’t help but blush deeper after what he said, and he notices and chuckles quietly at your reaction. Soon, the trailers end and the movie starts. You’re both excitedly watching the movie, occasionally whispering your thoughts and reactions to each other when certain things happen in the movie. Then, a scene where the main character has to sneak into the enemy base to rescue his friends starts and the movie theater becomes deathly quiet as he tries not to make any noise to alert the enemies. Your attention is fully captured by the scene and you find yourself holding your breath as the suspense mounts. Suddenly, the main character gets caught unaware by the enemies and the movie makes a loud jarring noise to go with the sudden surprise. You let out a surprised squeak and jump in your chair, causing Finn to laugh next to you at your reaction and making you blush furiously. You bring up one hand over your rapidly beating heart to try to calm down, all the while still blushing at Finn still quietly chuckling next to you. Suddenly, you feel Finn take your other hand and lace your fingers together. You freeze and look down at your hands before looking up at Finn. He has a small smile on his face as he quietly asks you, “You okay? And… is this okay?” He squeezes your hand at his last question. You blush again and have trouble keeping eye contact, so you look down at your entwined hands again, but still nod all the same while giving his hand a light squeeze. You can see him smile at your response out of the corner of your eye as you both direct your attention back to the movie. 

The movie ends and the credits roll as the lights come back on and people start to leave. Finn lets go of your hand as you both get up, gather your stuff, and make your way out of the theater, but he takes your hand again as you both walk to his car, making you blush yet again. He excitedly starts up a conversation about the movie, “So that was awesome! Definitely better than  the second movie, maybe even better than the first!” You nod excitedly, “Yeah, I definitely agree! And they set up the ending for the next movie, I can’t wait for that one to come out now!” You both keep up the excited chatter all the way to the restaurant. You get seated and make your orders, and then continue talking about the movie and how it fits into the series. You both point out the foreshadowing that you missed in the previous movies now that you’ve seen this one, and spend some time talking about what you think might be foreshadowing for the next movie from the one you just watched, and where you think the story is going. Eventually your conversation drifts from that movie series into other movies, and then just anything else that comes up. You feel comfortable in the conversation, and appreciate that Finn always tries to pay attention to how you’re feeling and tries to make you feel relaxed and at ease when you’re with him. You have a lively, fun date at the restaurant, and after Finn pays the bill, he takes your hand again as he leads you from the restaurant back to his car. He looks over at you and says, “Well, as much as I don’t want it to, it seems that our date has come to an end.” You blush and shyly reply, “Yeah, I guess it has… I had a great time.” He smiles and squeezes your hand and says, “Me too,” before he lets go so you can both get in his car.

Now on the way back to your apartment, you find yourself unsure of what to say again, but this time Finn is also quiet for a few minutes before he reaches over and takes your hand, leaving one hand on the wheel. You find yourself blushing at his action yet again, even though you told yourself earlier that you needed to stop blushing and getting all flustered every time he so much as grabbed your hand. He sends you a quick glance to check your reaction before he looks back at the road and says, “Anna… I’ve had so much fun with you tonight. I really feel like we have something special and I really want to take you out on another date soon. What do you think?” You’re blushing furiously, but despite that, you’re so happy he asked you and you want him to know, so you nod quickly and say, “Y-Yes! I had a great time tonight, and would love to go out with you again…” Your voice gets quieter and trails off at the end as you lose your burst of courage and the shyness takes over at the realization of what you both just said. He squeezes your hand and sends you a quick, bright smile, which makes you smile shyly in return. You both discuss date ideas for the rest of the ride back to your apartment, and by the time you get there you’ve both decided on your next date. 

He pulls up in front of your apartment and puts the car in park, but doesn’t let go of your hand right away. You look up at him and see him looking intently at you as he says, “Anna, I just want to thank you for choosing to go out with me again. I can’t help but feel so lucky that I happened to meet you…” He’s looking at you so intensely that you find yourself lost in his eyes for a moment. You quietly reply, “I feel lucky, too. Thank you for asking me out…” However, whatever else you were planning on saying dies in your throat as you suddenly notice the mood in the car, how much heavier the air feels, how close he is to you… You suddenly understand what’s happening and freak out to yourself, ‘Oh my gosh, is he about to kiss me? Am I ready for this? What do I do?’ Suddenly finding it impossible to keep looking at him, you quickly look down at your hand that is still entwined with his. He must have been able to read all the emotions that just passed over your face, because the mood in the car changes as he squeezes your hand one last time before he lets go and goes to open his door with the statement, “Well, let’s get you back up to your apartment, yeah?” You look back up at him quickly, stunned at the sudden shift in mood, but he is already leaving the car. ‘What did I just do?’ you think to yourself, ‘He was about to kiss me, but then I acted shy and unsure about myself as usual, and ruined it.’ He started walking around the car to your side, so you quickly scrambled out of the car, and then you both started walking quietly up to your apartment. Of course he would pick up on how you were feeling. He’s always, from the moment he met you, been so attuned to your mood and what you were thinking and feeling. This was something that you loved about him. But this time, when you acted unsure, he must have figured that you weren’t ready and backed off, respecting your space. Maybe you were scared and unsure at first, but the moment he left the car, and your heart clenched at seeing him turn away, you knew that you had made a mistake. You were ready. But now it was too late. The moment is gone. Now, you’ve ruined a good thing with your shyness, just like you were afraid you would do. 

You make it back up to your apartment door while you’re lost in your spiraling thoughts, and that’s when you notice that not only did he not take your hand again on the way back up, he didn’t say anything either. Your heart clenches again as you think to yourself, ‘Did I ruin everything? What do I do? What if he thinks I don’t want to go on another date now? Or worse, what if he doesn’t want to anymore?’ Afraid of what he might say, you will yourself to quickly say something before he does, “U-Um… so… I-I’ll see you on our next date?” You can’t keep the tremor out of your voice. He notices. He sends you a smile that looks like he’s trying to reassure you, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, “Yep, sounds good.” His eyes look clouded by something, something that looks a little like sadness. You think to yourself again, ‘I made him sad, didn’t I? My shyness ruins everything. Why do I always do this?’ At your silence as your thoughts spiraled further downward, he simply says, “Well, good night Anna,” and turns to start walking away. This snaps you out of your downward spiral and makes you look up at him as he walks away. You quickly think to yourself, ‘I can’t let the date end like this. I can’t let him think I wasn’t happy. That I didn’t want…’ your thoughts freeze for a moment. That you didn’t want what? No, you know what. No matter how nervous and scared the thought of what you’re about to do makes you, you know what you have to do. You ruined it the first time, so now it was up to you to fix it, to make him understand. You immediately started running after him before he got too far away and called out to him, “Ah, Finn! Wait…!” He turns around, and looks surprised to see you running after him. It looks like he’s about to say something when you finally reach him. It was now or never… You reached up, grabbed his shirt, tugged him down to you, and kissed him before you could chicken out and change your mind. 

Finn freezes for a moment, thoroughly caught by surprise, before he quickly comes to his senses and kisses you back, wrapping both hands around your waist and pulling you closer. You pull apart after a few moments, faces still only a few inches apart, and he looks at you and quietly says, still stunned, “Anna…” Your nerves and adrenaline are through the roof, but you need him to know, so the words quickly tumble out of you in a panicked rush, “I’m sorry! I couldn’t let it end like that! I couldn’t let you think that I didn’t like you, or that I didn’t want to! I was just really shy and unsure for a moment, but then the moment you left the car, my heart hurt and I knew that I made a mistake. But I didn’t know what to say to fix it! And then I just made you more sad, and I couldn’t stand it and I knew I had to do something before you walked away, so I—” 

“Anna.” Finn interrupts you, and puts one of his hands on your cheek to gently make you look up at him. He has a happy smile on his face, one that fully reaches his eyes. He leans down and, this time, he kisses you. In this kiss, he seems to be trying to convey to you that he understands, that your feelings reached him and he feels the same. Your panicked heart calms down and you lean into him, relieved. He holds you a little tighter, and pulls away from the kiss. He gives you a relieved smile before he says, “Thank you. I’m so glad… I was surprised when you apologized… I thought that it was all my fault. I was afraid that I moved too fast, and ruined everything. I kept thinking that I knew how shy you were, but I went too far anyway and scared you. What if I scared you off for good?” His arms around you tightened, what seems to be unconsciously, at his last question. You smiled a little sadly at him, and said, “No, I’m sorry. All this drama is my fault because I let my shyness get in the way and ruin everything again.” He shakes his head and says, “Hey, no, no. It’s not your fault either. Don’t be so hard on yourself. It was just a misunderstanding, and I can tell that you’re always trying hard to push past your shyness to make sure I know how you feel. And you just did that again. In quite a bold way, too.” He smirks at you at this, which makes you blush furiously as what you just did and what just happened and the fact that you’re still in his arms hits you all at once. You weakly try to pull away in your embarrassment, but when he doesn’t let you go, you just bury your face in his chest instead, too embarrassed to keep looking into his eyes. You feel him chuckle as he rubs small circles on your back to try to comfort you. He then says, “I’m glad everything seems to be back to normal now.” Still blushing, you look back up at him to see his cheeky grin and, realizing what he means, reply with a slight pout, “Oh yeah, you making me blush like crazy and then giving me that self-satisfied grin when I do.” He laughs outright at that. 

You pull away, and this time he lets you. He takes your hand and walks you back down the hall to your apartment door. He says, “Okay, well I think that’s quite enough excitement for one day, don’t you?” You giggle softly and say, “Yeah, I’m kind of exhausted now.” You look up at him with a smile, and he smiles back and says, “Seriously, I’m glad we got that cleared up. I really like you, and I’m really looking forward to our next date.” You smile back and reply, “Me too. Thank you for asking me out again, despite my shyness almost ruining everything. I-I really like you, too.” He shakes his head and says, “Hey hey, none of that. I already told you it wasn’t your fault and that it was just a misunderstanding. And besides, I told you once before that I find your shyness cute, didn’t I?” He winks at you at that last statement, causing you to blush once again, which makes him chuckle when he sees it. He gives your hand one last squeeze before he lets you go. Then, you two exchange one last reluctant goodbye before he leaves and you finally enter your apartment. Now that you’ve come down from that adrenaline high caused by that misunderstanding with Finn, you find yourself mindlessly puttering around your apartment for the rest of the night as you think about your night with Finn and how glad you are that you got everything cleared up. You go to bed that night mentally exhausted, but happy. 

[elliewriteslove]

How He Asks You Out

Josh Meyer

Since you and Josh met about a week ago, the two of you have been coming down to the beach almost everyday to meet and hang out together. You then usually stop at the beach bar for drinks before you both part to head home with the promise of meeting again the next day. Today, you’ve once again set up your umbrella and beach chair in your usual spot to read while you wait for Josh to get there. You glance at your phone for the time and notice he’s a little late today. You hear someone call out to you from behind and turn around to see Josh finally coming up to set up his umbrella and chair next to yours. He smiles at you as he gets settled, “Hey Lily! How’ve you been today?” 

“Good! How about you? You’re a little late today, huh?” You smile back as you tease him lightly, since he’s about an hour later than he usually is. He smiles sheepishly, “Ah, yeah, sorry. I tried to get here as soon as I could, but my manager called me this morning before I left and delayed me for a bit.” You shake your head and smile good-naturedly, “No, don’t worry about it. You know I’m just teasing you. It’s not like we explicitly agreed to meet at the same time every day or something; we’re just going with the flow here.”

“Yeah… um…” he trails off awkwardly like he was about to say something but decided against it at the last moment before he changed the subject, “So, do you want to get in the ocean with me today?” You hesitate; you don’t usually get in the ocean. It’s not that you were scared, you just never really learned how to surf, and you didn’t really want to go boogie boarding alone. “Um, no, I’m fine here. You can go ahead and surf. You know I don’t mind watching that!” you say with a wink. He laughs and blushes slightly as he responds, “Well alright, but I’m definitely teaching you how to surf sometime!” You laugh and call out as he heads off toward the ocean, “Yeah, good luck with that!” 

You love watching him surf. He’s already very good looking, but somehow he looks even better when surfing, with the water rolling down his body and the look of deep concentration on his face. He surfs for a while before coming back up to rest with you. You both find yourselves lost in conversation for a while as usual, and eventually when he notices the time he asks if you’d like to pack up and head down to the beach bar for a drink as usual before you both leave. You agree and make your way there, finding a table for the two of you while he gets your drinks. 

You both talk for a little while longer at the beach bar. You’ve noticed that he seemed kind of off today, pausing at different times where he looks like he’s about to say something before he changes his mind, and looking kind of nervous the whole day. There’s a lull in the conversation and you notice he looks even more nervous, and looks as though he’s about to ask you something. You ask, “Hey, you okay?” He looks a little surprised at the question for a moment before he gets a determined look on his face and looks you in the eyes, “Yes. I’ve just been trying to work up the nerve…” he trails off as he lightly grabs your hands across the table, making you blush. “Lily. I’ve had a great time with you this week, hanging out at the beach with you and getting to know you. Before I knew it, the time we spend together on the beach has started to become my favorite part of the day. I find myself looking forward to the next time I can see you everyday, and I…” he swallows nervously before continuing, “I realized that I want more. More time with you, getting to know more of you, and in a more serious capacity. I… I’d like to ask you out on a date. A proper one. Not just a vague agreement to meet on the beach.” 

You’re speechless for a moment, almost in disbelief that he likes you enough to actually ask you out. He’s part of a famous rock band after all, and you’re just some elementary school teacher. He’s starting to look worried at your silence, so you rush to reply, “R-Really? But… but I’m just an elementary school teacher! And you’re…!” You trail off as he squeezes your hands tighter and gets a sincere look in his eyes, “I don’t care about that. You’re you, and I like who you are. That’s all that matters to me.” 

“I… wow. I’m still a little… I just…” you clear your throat and start over. “I’m very happy you asked me! I really like you, too. Meeting with you every day has been the highlight of my days this week and I’m always looking forward to seeing you again. I’ve been wanting to spend more time with you, too… I’d love to go out with you,” you finish with a shy smile. His face lights up in relief and happiness, “Really? That’s great! I’ve actually already got an idea. There’s this big bonfire party being hosted on this beach this Saturday night by a couple friends of mine. It’s gonna be pretty lowkey, not too wild. Would you like to go with me as my date?” You smile, “I’d love to.” He smiles back, “Great! I can pick you up at 7pm?” You nod and reply, “Sounds good. I’ll text you my address.”

He walks you back to your car, hand-in-hand. You turn around to face him once you reach your car and lean over to kiss his cheek. He blushes and smiles, and gives your hand one more squeeze before he lets you go with a promise to see you at your door on Saturday. You’re so excited that you can hardly wait.

Kai Slater

Ever since you and Kai met at the club about a week ago, you’ve been agreeing to meet at the club almost every night. Kai shows up with his friends and you show up with Vanessa, but you and Kai always end up leaving your friends behind to dance and talk with each other all night. You just can’t get enough of him, his energy and charisma and fun attitude, and are glad it seems like he feels the same way about you. Tonight, you’ve once again arrived at the club with Vanessa. She goes off to find someone to dance with while you look around for him for a bit before you take out your phone to send him a text asking where he is, but then you hear someone shout your name. You look up and see him coming toward you with a big smile on his face, “Maya! You’re here!” Once he reaches you, he pulls you into a big hug, then grabs your hand and pulls you over to a spot on the dance floor. He looks over at you and asks, “So, how’s your day been? You ready to make it into a great night?” He winks at you, making you laugh as you reply, “It’s been pretty good, but it’s even better now that I get to see your handsome face.” You wink back at him, causing him to laugh with you. 

You dance together for a while before you both go up to the bar for drinks, as per usual. However, you two haven’t gotten drunk since the first night. It seems like you have an unspoken agreement that you both want to hang out together sober, to be able to really get to know each other better. You look up at him once you get there, “I’m buying the drinks this time mister, and you can’t stop me.” You’ve been alternating paying for each other’s drinks due to your insistence. Free drinks are nice and all, but you don’t like feeling like you’re taking advantage of his generosity by always letting him buy drinks for you, even though Kai insisted he was fine with it. He laughs and puts his hands up in defeat, “Okay, okay, you got me. I told you I don’t mind buying the drinks every night, but I won’t stop you if you want to.” You stick your tongue out at him and say, “Damn straight. I’m gonna buy you a drink and you’re going to like it.” He just bursts into laughter, and you start laughing with him as you wait for your drinks. 

You spend some time at the bar with your drinks talking about anything and everything that comes up. You’ve really gotten to know a lot about each other over this past week and you can’t help but want to know more. You’re hoping he feels the same, since you both have ended up spending more time sitting at the bar talking than out on the dance floor dancing this past week. You talk for a while longer before it starts getting late. At this point, you’d usually both call an Uber and head back to your own places. You haven’t slept together since that first drunk night. There’s kind of been an unspoken agreement between the two of you regarding intimacy. It’s like you’ve both come to the same silent agreement that you’re waiting for the relationship to reach the next level before you go that far again. 

“So… it’s getting late, huh?” he says, looking reluctant. You sigh, “Yeah, I guess it is…” It’s obvious neither of you want to leave, but you know you have to. You pull out your phone to order an Uber, but he reaches out to stop you. You look up at him and he suddenly looks rather nervous. You think that’s odd for him, as you didn’t picture him as the type to get nervous that easily from what you know of him so far. You look confused as you ask, “What’s up?” 

“Um…” he falters and breaks eye contact for a second before he quickly shakes his head and looks back up at you with a determined, sincere look on his face, “Maya. This past week meeting you here at the club and getting to know you has been a blast. Every day, I can’t wait to come back here so I can see you again, and every night we meet here, I find myself wanting to spend more and more time with you. I never want you to leave at the end of the night, and I want to know more about you. I’ve realized that I’m starting to want more than this; I want to spend more time with you, and in a different setting where I can actually hear what you’re saying without having to strain to hear over the music. So, I’ve been wanting to ask you… will you go out with me? Like, on an official date, not just an agreement to meet at a club?” 

You stare back in shock for a second. He really wants to go out with you, even though you're just some event and wedding planner and he’s Kai Slater of Electrocandescence. Despite that, you can’t deny that you really want to go out with him too, so you excitedly reply, “Yes! I’ve also had such a great time this week hanging out with you every night. I do like going out to clubs and stuff, but I usually don’t go out every night like this. I just kept agreeing to meet you here every night because I couldn’t wait to see you again. I want to get to know more about you and spend more time with you, too. I’d love to go out with you.” He looks relieved and smiles widely, “Really? That’s great!” He seems to be too excited to form more words than that at the moment. 

You’re silent for a second before you blurt out your niggling doubts, “I can’t believe this is happening. I mean, I’m just a…” You trail off as he shakes his head and grabs your hands, “No, I don’t even want to hear any of that from you. Don’t put me on a pedestal or make yourself out to be less than you truly are. Where’s all that confidence you have? I’m not that special; I’m just some loud, overly-energetic guy who really likes a beautiful, fun, and confident girl that he was lucky enough to meet at a club last week and wants to take her out.” You smile at him, “Thank you. That really means a lot to me. But I hope you know you’re more than just some loud, overly-energetic guy. You’re really fun, bold, and charismatic, and also quite handsome, too.” You wink at him and he laughs and squeezed your hands, “Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. So, I actually already had something in mind for our date. I thought about what’s something fun that we could do that’s more special than just going to clubs or parties, and then I got an idea. What about going to an amusement park? We could go to the Six Flags Magic Mountain here in LA? I could get us tickets and we could go this Saturday?”

“That sounds great! I love Magic Mountain, I haven’t been in years!” you reply excitedly. “Great! Don’t worry about the ticket, I’ll buy yours. I think they open at 10am on Saturdays in the summer, so maybe I can pick you up at 9am to give us time to get there around when they open? The earlier we get there the more time we can spend there together before they close!” he says just as excitedly. You smile, “Sure, sounds good. I’ll text you my address.” 

You both talk for a little longer as you wait for your Ubers, then he escorts you out to meet the Uber when it gets there. Before you get in, you turn to him and kiss him on the cheek, and he smiles and leaves you with a promise that he’ll see you Saturday morning. 

Roland Beck

You and Roland have been inviting each other to parties at the club almost every day for the past week and a half since you met at Tom’s party. The first time, he invited you to Tom’s cousin Andy’s party. The next time, you invited him to one of Nikki’s friend’s parties. Then, you both just kept looking out for friends parties to invite each other to, which is what led to tonight. Roland had told you that one of Kai’s other friends was hosting a party at this club tonight and invited you, so you agreed to meet here again. When you get there, Roland notices you right away and comes over to greet you with a smile, “Hey! It’s good to see you.” You smile back, “Hey! Same here. I’m glad you found another party to invite me to.” 

He looks like he wants to say something about that, but then seems to change his mind and says, “Let’s go sit at the bar so we can hear each other a little better, and I can buy you a drink.” You smile and agree, following him to the bar. You sit down and turn to him to say with a small chuckle, “Nikki’s been wondering about why I’m constantly asking her about parties I can go to. She’s like, ‘You never want to go to this many parties!’” He smiles and says, “Yeah, Kai and the rest of the guys have been wondering the same. When I asked Kai about this one he was like, ‘You actually want to go to another party already?’” He pauses and again looks like he’s about to say something else about that, but then seems to change his mind and instead says, “So… did you finish reading that book you were reading the day we met yet? You were telling me about it and the other books in that series, and I was wondering if I should read the series sometime? I read some other stuff by that author and thought they were pretty good.” 

“Oh yeah, I said I’d see if I would recommend it to you after I finished it. Well, yes I did finish, and wow that ending! There was a twist I never saw coming, and it ended on a cliffhanger! Now I can’t wait for the next book; I totally recommend the series,” you reply excitedly. The two of you spend the rest of the night sitting at the bar talking. You started off discussing the book you recently finished, and the conversation eventually morphed into just about anything that came up. You were having a great time talking with him, and when you noticed how late it had gotten, you got a little sad as you said, “Oh man, it’s that late already? Tonight seemed to fly by talking with you. I guess it’s true what they say; time flies when you’re having fun.” You chuckle and give him a small smile, and he smiles back before he gets that look on his face again like he’s debating with himself on whether to say something or not. 

He finally seems to come to a decision and looks you in the eyes with an intense gaze, “Karina. This past week and a half I’ve spent with you have made me the happiest I’ve been in a while. Every day I can’t wait to see you again, and I find myself immediately looking for the next party I could invite you to after every time we meet. Even the guys have noticed; like I said earlier, Kai’s starting to wonder why I want to go to so many parties lately. I’ve realized that I’m starting to want to spend more time with you, outside of what these parties can give us. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I want to ask you out on a proper date. So Karina… will you go out on a date with me?” He finishes and looks at you nervously as he waits for your response. 

You’re both surprised and really happy. You can’t believe that he likes you that much. You were hoping he did, as you both seemed to be having fun at these parties, but you couldn’t help but doubt yourself when you think about who he is compared to you. Nevertheless, you are very happy he asked you, so you answer, “Yes! I’m glad you asked me. I’ve also been having a great time this week and a half talking with you. The moment we leave I can’t wait to see you again, and as I already said earlier, Nikki is also starting to ask me about why I suddenly want to go to so many parties. I’ve been thinking that I wanted to meet you more often, and in a different setting, too.” You smile at him, and he smiles back in relief and happiness. “Great! I…” he cut himself off as he saw your smile drop. You couldn’t help the small doubts, and frowned a little as you asked, “But… are you sure? About me? I mean… I’m just some small-time writer who hasn’t even finished or published any of her books yet, and you’re…” You trail off as he shakes his head and grabs your hand with an intense gaze, “Hey. None of that. I don’t want to hear any of that. You know I don’t care about stuff like that. Regardless of what we both do for a living, I like who you are and want to get to know you more and spend more time with you. That’s all that matters to me.” He smiles at you, and you smile back, “Yeah, you’re right. I like who you are and want to spend more time with you, too. The other details shouldn’t matter.” 

“I’m glad you feel the same way. I actually already have an idea for the date. There’s this semi-exclusive concert at a small venue where a few popular indie rock bands are playing. It’s for charity; all the profits they make will be donated to the charity they’re hosting it for. I know you said you liked a lot of them when we talked about the music we liked. Here, I have a list of those performing on my phone…” he trails off as he takes out his phone and pulls up a list for you to look at as he continues, “For this performance, they’ve limited it to relatively popular celebrities and influencers, and other famous bands. They invited me and the other members of Electrocandescence, and we can all bring a plus one if we want. So, what do you think?” 

You look up at him from the list of bands performing and excitedly say, “This sounds great! I’ve always wanted to see some of these bands live!” He smiles and says, “Great! The concert is next Saturday at 6:30pm. I can pick you up at 5:30pm to give us time to get there through traffic and find our seat?” You smile back and say, “Sounds good. I’ll text you my address.” 

You both stick around talking for a little longer before you decide it’s getting too late. He walks you back to your car, and you look up at him with a smile, “I can’t wait for Saturday.” He smiles back, “Me too. I’ll see you at your door at 5:30pm.” He waits until you’re safely in your car with the doors locked before he leaves to walk back to his car, both of you driving with smiles on your faces all the way back home. 

Oli Jones

You and Oli have been meeting at the park almost every day since you met about a week and a half ago. You always bring Bailey for a walk around the same time in the afternoon, and Oli is always there to meet up and walk around the park with you. Today, you arrive at the park again and look around for Oli; he’s usually sitting on the same bench drawing while he’s waiting for you to get there. You spot him on the bench as usual and call out to him, “Oli! Hey!” He looks up and smiles as you approach, and gets up to greet you and Bailey when you get closer. Bailey seems to really look forward to seeing him everyday now, as she’ll start barking and wagging her tail like crazy when she sees him. Getting pets from Oli is one of her favorite things now. You smile as you watch him bend down and pet Bailey while he talks to her, “Hey Bailey! How’s my favorite pretty girl? Have you been a good girl?” He then looks up at you with a cheeky smile and says, “Sorry Saige, it’s true. She’s my favorite girl. Sorry to break it to you like this.” You just laugh and shake your head, “Man, I think she likes you more than she likes me now!” He laughs with you as he stands up to start walking with you and asks, “So, how has my other favorite girl been?” 

You shoot him a glance at his wording and decide to pay the flirty compliment right back, “I’ve been good. How has my favorite boy been?” The past couple of days, Oli’s been occasionally working in some flirty comments into your conversations, and you’ve been returning them right back. He chuckles as he replies, “I’ve been good, too. I actually finished the drawing of the park I’ve been working on! I brought my drawing pad to show it to you, as well as some of my other ones like I promised I would yesterday.” You excitedly reply, “Oh cool! I can’t wait to see it. I brought my drawing pad, too,” you gesture to it in your arms before continuing, “You first though!” 

He chuckles at your enthusiasm while he opens his drawing pad to his recently finished drawing of the park and shows it to you. You’re amazed at how good it is, especially for someone self-trained who hasn’t had any schooling or classes in art, besides what he received in high school art class. You look up at him to compliment him, “Wow Oli, this is really good! I love how you captured the light filtering through the leaves.” He blushed and thanked you for the compliment. You both spent a little longer talking about that piece before you moved on to look at some of his other works. You loved asking him questions about them and finding out his inspiration behind them, and he seemed happy to talk about his art with you. After a while he turned to you and said, “Okay, now it’s my turn. I want to see some of your work! Let’s take a break on that bench while we look through yours.” You agreed and took out your drawing pad as you sat down. You both went through the same process that you did while looking at his, with him complimenting your work and asking questions about inspiration and you being happy to explain it to him while thanking him for the compliments. Eventually, after the two of you looked though both drawing pads, your conversation turned to whatever else came up, and you spent a while longer talking while Bailey happily played around you. 

Just as it was starting to get around the time that you usually say goodbye and leave the park for the day, Oli suddenly looks a little nervous as he turns to you and clears his throat, “Saige, before you go today… I’ve been wanting to tell you how much fun I’ve had getting to know you this past week and a half. I not only love being able to talk about art with you, but I also love talking about just about anything with you. You’re so cheerful and fun, I find myself looking forward to this time at the park with you more than anything else in the day. And I’ve noticed the past couple of days that I keep wanting to spend more and more time with you, to the point where now I feel like just meeting in this park doesn’t feel like enough anymore, and I hope you feel the same. So I’ve been wanting to ask you… will you go out on a date with me?” He looks to you nervously for a reaction. 

You’re very happy he asked you, if not a little surprised. You’ve been noticing he’s been flirtier the past couple of days and the both of you seem to have more and more difficulty saying goodbye each day. You’ve been wondering if this meant he was going to ask you out soon, but are still a little surprised that he did it today. You smile happily and reply, “Yes! I would love to go out with you. I’ve really had a great time talking with you this past week and a half, too. You’re so cheerful and fun to talk to. I feel like we’ve really gotten closer, and I keep finding it increasingly harder to say goodbye every day.” He smiles in relief and happiness and says, “That’s great! I’m glad we feel the same way.” But before he could say anything else, you feel like you have to address one of your small doubts about this and say, “But are you sure about taking me out? I know it shouldn’t matter but I mean… you are a part of a famous rock band and I’m just some interior decorator who likes to paint in her spare time…” He gently takes your hand as you trail off and says, “You’re right, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care about things like status or fame, I just care about who you are as a person, and I like who you are. I like who I’ve gotten to know over this past week and a half, and I want to get to know more about her. That’s all there is to it.” 

“Oh Oli… thank you. That means a lot to me. I’m happy to go out with you. Did you have something in mind?” you ask. He smiles happily and replies, “Yes, actually. I know how much we both like art, so I was wondering if you’d like to go to the LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, with me this Saturday? I looked it up to see what new exhibits they have there right now and a lot of them sound really interesting. I think you’d like to see some of them too, based on our previous discussions about art. I was thinking we could get there around noon and spend a few hours there, then I could maybe take you out for dinner after?” You excitedly nod and say, “That sounds great! I haven’t been to the LACMA in a while. I’d love to see the new exhibits they have there!” He smiles at your excitement and says, “Great! So how about I pick you up at 11:30am? I’ll pay for any parking or admission, so don’t worry about that.” You smile back and say, “Thank you, that sounds good. I’ll text you my address.” 

You both agree that it’s time to go for today, and he walks with you back to the parking lot. You stop in front of your car and say with a smile, “I’m really excited for this.” He smiles back and says, “Me too. I’ll see you on Saturday.” He gives you one last smile and gives Bailey one last goodbye pat before he walks over to his car to leave. You can’t wait for Saturday. 

Finn O’Donnell

You’re at work again today, and are once again trying to read one of your college textbooks for another assignment in between serving the occasional customer. The problem was, you weren’t getting much reading done because you kept glancing at the door every few minutes. You were too shy to admit it out loud, but you were waiting for Finn to come in. Ever since that first day about two weeks ago, he’s been coming in almost every day to get a coffee around the same time so you both can talk when you take your break, since you take your break around the same time every day. You have a feeling though that as long as it wasn’t busy, Jonas would probably let you take a break no matter what time he came in, as Jonas was almost as excited about this as you were. You’re happy he’s happy for you but… he also has a mischievous side to him that often embarrasses you, and he knows it. You glance up at the door again and Jonas comes up next to you and teasingly says, “I see you keep glancing at the door. Are you perhaps waiting for someone Anna?” You blush and say, “Ugh, Jonas, stop teasing me.” He just laughs and gets back to his duties. 

A few more minutes go by before you hear the door jingle and look up to see Finn. He smiles at you as he comes up to the counter and says, “Hey Anna! It’s good to see you. How’ve you been?” You smile back and say, “Hi! I’ve been doing good. How about you? And as for your order, do you want another flat white?” He smiles a little wider as he replies, “I’ve been doing good, too. Better, now that I’ve had a chance to see you. And yes, a flat while sounds good. You know me so well already!” He chuckles as you blush and start to work on his order. You both chat a little as you make and finish up his order, before Jonas winks at you and tells you that you can go ahead and take your break. You blush again as you thank him and walk around the counter to Finn, where Finn then says, “So it’s break time? You ready to head outside to a table?” You nod shyly and head out with him to sit at a table. 

He takes another sip of his coffee before he asks, “So, have you watched that movie that I told you about yet? What did you think?” Yesterday, Finn had told you about one of his favorite older movies from the 90’s, and was surprised that you haven't seen it yet. He told you that it was on Netflix and insisted that you watch it soon when you had the time. You nod and reply, “Oh yeah, I watched it last night. It was good! I’m glad I watched it.” You both spend a little time talking about the movie and what you thought of it, before the conversation flowed into just whatever else came up. 

About halfway through your break, the conversation tapers off and Finn suddenly looks nervous. You’re a little surprised to see him acting nervous, as he didn’t look like the type to get nervous that often. His being nervous makes you even more nervous, and you start to worry about what he’s about to say. He then looks at you seriously and says, “Anna, I’d like to ask you a question, but before that, I need to ask you something else, and I want you to be completely honest about it.” You nod nervously, and he continues, “Are you okay with me visiting you every day and talking with you on your break like this?” You look a little dumbfounded and he clarifies, “Because I know how shy you are, and I know this is your workplace. I don’t want you to think you have to talk to me every day just because I want to, or because I’m the customer you have to keep me happy. Or worse, because you know that I’m part of a famous rock band now.” You blush as you remember how nervous you were when talking to him the second day after Jonas had told you who he really was on the first day; it had taken you a while to calm your nerves and act mostly normally around him again that second day. He continues, “I’d like to think our time talking together these past two weeks has been just as fun for you as it was for me, but if I’m actually bothering you, I want you to tell me.” 

He looks at you tensely as he waits for your response. You’re honestly kind of shocked. You had no idea that he was worried if he was bothering you! You know you’re a little shy and so sometimes act more reserved instead of openly happy, but you hope you weren’t looking unhappy talking to him! You need to be brave and clear this up. You want him to know how excited you’ve been to see him every day. You look determinedly at him and say, “Oh Finn, I didn’t know you were worried about whether you were bothering me or not. Our time talking together these past two weeks has honestly been my favorite part of the day. And I’m not just saying that because you’re a customer of the shop or because you’re famous, I mean it. I know I’m a little shy, and so I sometimes have trouble outwardly expressing my emotions when I get shy or nervous, but I hope I haven’t been acting like I’m not enjoying myself, because I am! I’m sorry if I wasn’t expressing myself clearly, but I really do look forward to seeing you every day.” 

He visibly relaxes and smiles at you, “Really? I’m glad! And don’t worry, you didn’t look like you weren’t having fun, I was just worried that you were forcing it to make me happy. I’m glad that’s not the case, and that you’ve had just as much fun talking to me these past two weeks as I’ve had talking to you.” You smile at each other before he continues, “So, um… about that other thing I wanted to ask you…” he trails off, looking nervous again. “Yes…?” you urge on, giving him a shy smile. That seems to give him the boost of courage he needs to continue, “As I’ve already said, I’ve had a great time talking with you these past two weeks. Getting to talk to you every day has been the best part of my day, and I can’t help but be so thankful that I decided to stop by this coffee shop instead of that other coffee chain two weeks ago so that I had the opportunity to meet you. You’re so cute and shy and friendly, I find myself being drawn to you more and more every time I talk to you. Now, I can’t help but feel like I want to see more of you more often, outside of this coffee shop. So, I’d like to ask you if you would like to go out on a date with me.” He looks nervous again as he waits for your response. 

You are once again kind of shocked. Well, you sort of had a suspicion after the first thing he asked you that the second thing was going to be him asking you out, but still… you think you’re still reeling from any of this even happening at all. This has made you very nervous and shy, but you don’t want there to be any more misunderstandings about this, so you push past your shyness and say, “Y-Yes, I would! I’m so happy you asked me. As I told you earlier, I really do enjoy talking to you every day. Jonas has even been teasing me about how often I glance at the door waiting for you to come in every day.” You giggle shyly and he laughs, before you continue, “And I’ve also been starting to want to be able to talk to you outside of my break in a different setting. These 30 minutes always seem to go by too fast…” You trail off nervously, then he smiles happily and says, “Great! I’m so glad you said yes!” 

Before he can say anything else, you nervously speak up about one of your doubts. You really do like him, but you’re kind of nervous about this and need his reassurance, so you quickly say, “Um, but are you sure about taking me out? I mean, I’m just some student trying to become a librarian, while you’re part of a famous rock band. And I’m so shy, but you’re so…” You trail off as he lightly grabs your hand and gives you a determined, serious look, “Anna. I don’t care about status or fame or any of that. And I find your shyness cute. I like you for who you are, and I want to spend more time with you. That’s all that I care about.” He then sends you a smile to try to reassure you, and you relax and smile back, “Okay. Thank you. I want to spend more time with you, too.”

He smiles and says, “I’m glad. And I have an idea for the date. I know you like movies, and so do I, so I was thinking how about I take you to the movie theater and then to dinner after? As for the movie, remember the other day we were talking about how excited we were to see that one action movie that’s coming out soon? Well I looked it up, it’s coming out this Saturday! I could take you to opening day? What do you think?” You smile back and say, “I think that sounds great! I’ve been really excited to see that movie. It’ll be fun to see it with you, then be able to talk about it with you over dinner.” He smiles wider and replies, “Great! They have a showing at 4:15pm, we could catch that one and then head to dinner after? I could pick you up at 3:30pm to give us time to get the tickets and then drinks and popcorn. And don’t worry about money, I’ll pay for all of it.” 

“Thank you. And yes, that sounds good. Um… we should exchange numbers then… and then I could text you my address…” you trailed off nervously; you don’t think you’ve ever offered a boy your number before. He just smiled and agreed, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Here.” You both exchange phones for a second and input each other’s numbers before exchanging back. You look at the time and you both notice your break is now over. You look up at him as you both stand up and say, “Um… I’m really happy you asked me out. I can’t wait for Saturday…” He smiles and replies, “Me too. I’m really happy you said yes. I’ll see you at your door on Saturday.” You smile shyly and wave goodbye before you head back into the shop. You can’t help the wide smile you have for the rest of your shift. 

[elliewriteslove]

How You Meet

Josh Meyer

You’re sitting on the beach under your umbrella reading the newest book from your favorite author. Now that school has let out for the summer, you’re finally able to take some time to catch up on your reading. Some of the other teachers have to get summer jobs to support themselves over the summer, but you’ve been lucky enough to be able to support yourself on just your teacher's salary. You reach up to adjust the umbrella to cover all of you again, as you’ve been here a couple hours and the sun has moved higher in the sky. You love visiting the beach. The sound of the waves, the smell of the ocean, and the feeling of the breeze on your skin always draws you back, and living in LA, you’re lucky enough to live close enough to visit as often as you like. During the school year, you can usually only find the time to visit on the weekends, and lots of times have to bring your students’ papers along to grade at the beach or you wouldn’t have the time at all. But during the summer, you can visit as often as you like, in between planning for the next school year. 

Suddenly you hear excited squealing, and look up from your book to see a group of girls starting to crowd around a surfer that had been making his way from the ocean back to his umbrella on the beach. He must be someone famous, but you can’t quite tell who he is until you hear the girls start practically yelling in their excitement, “Josh! It’s Josh Meyer from Electrocandescence! I can’t believe he’s here at the same beach I am!” “Josh! Can I take a selfie with you?” “Can I have your autograph?” “I want a selfie, too!”

Oh, you know who that is now. Poor guy, he looks uncomfortable, and he doesn’t seem to have anyone else with him, so no bodyguards or anything to help him out. Those girls must be tourists, as usually people in LA tend to not bother celebrities that often when they see them. The girls are starting to attract the attention of the other beach goers now, and you can tell he’s looking around for a way to politely escape when his eyes catch yours for a moment and then looks back down at the girls as he tries to calm them down. The look in his eyes when he quickly locked eyes with you was practically begging for help. You know he wasn’t really asking you in particular for help, as you don’t even know each other, but you wonder if there’s something you can do to help him out. Those girls aren’t respecting his space and privacy, and are really starting to make a scene, although they’re too excited to notice. 

You think for a moment on a way to help out, before an idea comes to you. You stand up and walk over to where he is, stepping discreetly around the girls while they’re distracted trying to get his attention. You come up to his side, put on a professional facade, clear your throat, and call out to him, “Excuse me, Mr. Meyer?” 

Josh was at the beach surfing again. He loved it. It reminded him of his childhood, as his father always made sure to make the time to take the family out to the beach, and tried to teach him and his siblings how to surf. Josh picked it up easily, and has been coming to the beach to surf every chance he gets ever since. Being on the waves is one of his favorite feelings, the other one being when he and the band are performing a concert in front of a large stadium full of fans. They were similar in a way, but for completely different reasons. When surfing, it’s just him, his board, and the waves, filling him with a sense of tranquility that allows him to lose himself in the moment. When performing with the band, it’s just the band, their music, and the screaming fans, filling him with a sense of high energy that also allows him to just lose himself in the moment. He’s making his way back to his umbrella to get a drink and rest for a bit after being on the water for a while, when he hears some excited squealing and camera snaps.  He looks over and sees it’s a bunch of girls, who squeal louder when he looks at them. He’s used to it, it happens a lot now that he’s part of a famous band. What he’s not ready for is when they all come over and start to crowd around him, all trying to get his attention at once. Usually he can get around LA fine by himself without getting crowded by fans, as most people who live here tend not to bother celebrities that much when they’re out alone just trying to live their daily life, so he assumes these girls must be tourists. It’s getting overwhelming, and he glances up around the beach trying to look for a polite way to escape. It’s not that he doesn’t love his fans, it’s just that he doesn’t want to be constantly stuck in an endless cycle of selfies and autographs everywhere he goes. He looks back down at the screaming girls and tries to start getting them to calm down when he suddenly hears you next to him calmly clear your throat and call out to him. 

He looks over at you, along with all of the girls that just noticed you standing there. Show time. “Hello Mr. Meyer, I’m Lily Parker, one of the elementary school teachers that is working with your record label for a charity function involving the local schools. We talked on the phone earlier about meeting up later today to discuss the specifics, but I just got a call and am needed elsewhere later. I was just about to call you to see if we could meet sooner, when I noticed we were both here on the beach. Would you mind meeting now, since we’re both here? I know we said we would meet up at that coffee shop, but we could go ahead and meet at the beach bar over there. I’m sorry to disturb you if you’re busy…” You purposely trailed off as you looked over at the girls, then back at him. When you lock eyes again, you give him a meaningful look, hoping that he catches onto what you’re trying to do. 

He looked a little confused during your explanation, but then you gave him that meaningful look and he started to catch onto what you’re doing. He smiled at you and said, “Oh yes, Ms. Parker, I remember you from our phone call earlier. I understand, and I don’t mind meeting now at the beach bar. Let me just gather my things and we can go over there together.” He looks over at the girls and adds, “Sorry girls, as you can see, business has just come up and I have to leave now. It was nice to meet you and I hope to see you again at our concerts!” 

The girls start to back away, not wanting to get in the way of his work, and call out a chorus of goodbyes as you both walk over to his umbrella nearby. He looks at you and smiles gratefully, “Thanks for the distraction. I was starting to get a little overwhelmed. Usually I can visit the beaches here by myself no problem without getting bombarded, but they must have been tourists, I guess. So, are you really Ms. Parker or…?” 

You laugh and say, “Yes, my name really is Lily Parker, and I actually am an elementary school teacher. I figured using mostly the truth would help to make it more believable, and less likely for us to be caught in a lie later, if the girls try to look me up.” He nods as he finishes gathering up his things, and you lead him over to your umbrella so you could gather up your things. 

“That makes sense. That was some quick thinking on your part, coming up with that story practically on the spot like that,” he compliments. “So, since those girls are totally still watching us over there, I guess we should really head over to that beach bar. I’ll treat you to a drink, as thanks for your help back there.” 

“Thank you, but you don’t have to,” you smile at him as you finish collecting your things. He shakes his head and starts leading you to the beach bar, “No it’s fine, I insist.” 

You both find a table at the beach bar, and the next thing you know you’re talking about anything and everything. He’s so easy to talk to, and you can’t help but notice how good looking he is either. The way his hair hangs just slightly in his deep blue eyes, the way his wetsuit compliments his athletic body, the way he smiles so brightly that you can see it in his eyes. A stray thought pops into your head: you wish you could have watched him when he was surfing earlier. You’re having such a good time talking to him. Even though you know he’s part of a famous band, he seems so down to earth and... normal, for lack of a better word.

He looks at you as you laugh at something he said, and is struck by how beautiful you are. The way your sundress hugs you in just the right places, the way your eyes crinkle when you laugh, how openly and calmly and normally you’re talking to him despite knowing who he is. He’s had such a good time talking to you that he looks down at his phone and notices he’s lost track of time and it’s been more than an hour since you’ve sat down together. He realizes that he wishes he could keep talking to you all day, but he has to get going soon. He knows he wants to see you again. 

“So…” he clears his throat and looks at you with another smile. “I have to be somewhere soon, but I had a great time talking to you.” You smile back and agree, “Really? Me too! I didn’t even realize how long it’s been. I suppose I should get going too.” 

But before you can stand up, he continues, “I would love to meet and talk to you again. I come to this beach often. I actually planned on coming again tomorrow around the same time. Maybe we can meet up tomorrow…?” He trails off as he waits for your response. You smile widely and immediately reply, “ I would love that. I wanted to meet you again too actually. I also come to this beach often. Tomorrow at the same time sounds good, I was planning on being here anyway.” He smiles back just as widely, “Great!” 

“Should we exchange numbers, in case we can’t find each other tomorrow?” you ask.

“Oh, sure. Here,” he hands you his phone and you give him yours, both taking a minute to enter your numbers into the other’s phone before trading back. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car,” he says as he starts heading toward the parking lot.

He drops you off at your car with a smile and a promise to see you tomorrow. You watch him walk to his car for a moment with a smile on your face before you get in your car to drive home. You can’t believe all that just happened. 

Kai Slater

You’re at the club with your best friend Vanessa again and, having been here for a little while, you both are already a little tipsy. You both love partying, you have ever since you first met in 6th grade, and now that you’re old enough you love going to the club together too. You love getting all dressed up, showing up to booming music and lots of people crowded together dancing, having a few drinks with your friends, and letting loose. You and Vanessa usually show up together, but tend to go back home separately, as usually one or both of you have found someone to hook up with. It looks like tonight’s going to be no different. Vanessa’s already found someone new again, this time a fun-looking girl with cool sleeve tattoos. Lately, she’s been hooking up with someone new every night. You know they’re all rebounds, as her now ex-boyfriend just recently broke up with her after finding out she’s bisexual, and had dated a girl before dating him. She was pretty upset, and you immediately started taking her out to the club every night to help her have fun and get over him faster. You don’t usually hook up with as many people as often as she does, but you’ve definitely had your fair share of hookups. 

Kai’s at the club again tonight. He loves going to parties and clubs; the high energy, loud music, and crowd of dancing people remind him of the exhilarating feeling he gets when performing with the band in a full stadium. He also just loves meeting new people and having fun making new friends and hanging out with old ones again. He’s been dancing with various people all night and has already had a few drinks when he sees you dancing nearby. He finds himself staring a little; he thinks you look very good and you look like you’re having so much fun. You don’t seem to be here with anyone in particular, since he’s seen you dance with multiple different people now, so he wonders if you’ll mind dancing with him, too. He comes up to you, and he can tell by the look on your face when you see him that you kind of recognize him but don’t quite remember where you know him from. He smiles at you; this ought to be a lot of fun.

Tonight, you’ve been dancing near and with various people all night until you come across this hot guy you swear you recognize from somewhere, but must be too tipsy to remember. You smile at each other and start to dance together. 

“Hey, do I know you from somewhere?” you shout to him over the music. 

“Probably. I’m Kai. You’re really hot, what’s your name?” he shouts back with a flirtatious smile. 

“Maya. You’re really hot, too!” you shout back and return his flirtatious smile. You keep dancing together for a while, having a great time, before he offers to buy you a drink. You’re never one to turn down free drinks, and so agree and follow him up to the bar. 

He looks at you when you get to the bar and asks, “So, what should I get you?” You smirk at him and say, “Whiskey on the rocks.” 

“That’s hot,” he says, smirking back. “And that sounds good. I’ll get that, too.”

After ordering your drinks, you stayed at the bar to finish them, talking and flirting with each other, before going back out to dance together again, both pretty drunk now. You were having a great time. He was hot, fun, charismatic, and a great dancer. It was easy to lose track of time when you were with him. You realize you don’t really want to leave alone tonight, and wonder if you should go ahead and ask him or if you should wait a bit and see if he’ll ask you.

He looks down at you as you dance together. He’s had so much fun tonight after meeting you. You’re hot, fun, confident, and fun to dance with. He’s really lost track of time hanging out with you. He realizes he really wants to take you home tonight, and thinks about how to ask if you’ll come home with him tonight without sounding like he’s coming on too strong. 

It’s starting to get late, and you glance at the door to see Vanessa leaving with her lady friend. You look up at Kai and notice that he’s already looking down at you. “Hey…” he starts. “I’ve had a great time with you tonight. You’re fun and confident, not to mention hot,” he winks at you, making you giggle. “Do you want to come home with me tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m glad you asked! I was going to ask you in a minute if you didn’t ask me. I’ve had a great time with you, too,” you smile up at him. He smiles back down at you as he leads you to the door, “I love a girl who knows what she wants.”

You and Vanessa usually take an Uber from your apartments to the club and back, as you’re both usually too drunk to drive yourselves back. It looks like Kai had the same idea, as he calls an Uber to come pick you both up. Giving each other hot and heavy looks the whole ride back to his place, you immediately start to make out once you get inside his house. ‘Damn,’ you think to yourself, ‘he’s an amazing kisser.’ You eventually make it to his bedroom, both less clothed than when you walked in the front door, and proceed to have one hell of a night. 

The next morning, Kai rolls over and feels someone’s still in the bed with him. He wakes up to notice you’re still here, his rolling over just starting to wake you up as well. He’s a little surprised you’re still here and hadn’t woken up yet, but is glad you haven’t left yet. Now sober, he gets a good look at you as you wake up. You’re more than hot, you’re beautiful, with your long brown hair, beautiful brown doe-eyes, and soft skin. He remembers your fun attitude and confidence from last night and realizes that he doesn’t want you to leave yet, he wants to get to know you more while sober. 

You feel someone roll over and it wakes you up. You open your eyes to see Kai already looking at you, having just woken up himself. Wait, holy shit, now you know why you thought you recognized him last night. Almost everyone recognizes him at this point, this is Kai Slater from Electrocandescence! You just slept with Kai Slater! ‘Okay,’ you tell yourself, ‘be calm.’ Now sober, you look more closely at him. He’s more than just some hot guy, he’s very handsome, with his dark eyes and hair, lean build, and cute smile. You remember how fun and charismatic he was and how much fun you had last night, and realize you want to get to know him more while sober. 

But first things first… “Well, Mr. Slater. It seems that I do know you from somewhere. You answered me vaguely on purpose last night, didn’t you?” you ask him coyly. He smirks back at you, “Guilty as charged. Sorry, it’s more fun and genuine when people don’t know exactly who I am.” 

“No, that makes sense, I understand,” you reassure him. “So…” you trail off, not really knowing what to say next. He gazes at you with a sincere look in his eyes and says, “I had a really good time last night. From what I can tell when I was drunk, you seem like a great woman and I would like to get to know you a bit more before you just leave right away. So, would you like to stay for breakfast? Not to toot my own horn, but I’m a great cook. My mom’s a professional cook and taught me a lot growing up.” 

Your first thought was ‘Oh my god, and he can cook? Sold.’ But the sincere look in his eyes made you think more seriously about it. Seeing such a sincere look on his face after what you can remember of his fun attitude from last night has you intrigued, and it somehow makes him look even more handsome. You also wanted to get to know him better, and so said, “I had a great time last night, too. I would love to stay for breakfast. Also, it’s a personal policy of mine to never turn down free food!” You wink at him, and he gives a short, relieved laugh as you both get up and get dressed before heading into his kitchen. 

You both talk as he makes the food and continue to talk all throughout breakfast. The more you talk, the more enamored you both become. You can see that he’s more than just a flirty and fun club guy. He has a great sense of humor, but is also capable of being sincere, is fun to talk to, is a great cook, and is just an all around fun guy to be with. He can see that you’re a beautiful, charming, confident, fun girl with a great sense of humor that he definitely wants to see again. 

As you finish up breakfast, you compliment him, “You really are a good cook. That was great, thank you. I’ve had a great time.” He looks at you with that sincere look in his eyes again and says, “Thanks. I’ve also had a really great time, and I just wanted to ask if you’d like to meet at the club again? I was planning on going again tonight with my friends. Maybe you can come with your friends again too and we can hang out and dance together again?” 

You smile, “I would love to. I was hoping you’d ask. I was planning on going to the club tonight with my friend again anyway. Hey, we should exchange numbers, in case we can’t find each other in the club.” He smiles happily, “Great! Here, let’s trade phones for a sec.” You put each other’s numbers in the other’s phones, and then collect your things as he leads you to the door. The Uber you called for a few minutes ago is here now. 

You look up and kiss him on the cheek before walking out his door saying, “See you tonight.” He smiles and calls out as you walk away, “Can’t wait.” 

Roland Beck

You’re at a party in the club, sitting at the bar sipping on wine while reading a book. Not your favorite place to read, but it wasn’t exactly your choice to be here. Well, it kind of was, you guess, but you’re mostly blaming this on your best friend Nikki. She was the one who insisted you come along and dragged you out here. It’s apparently a party being hosted by a guy named Tom that Nikki insisted you both knew from college. If you’re being completely honest, you didn’t really remember him until Nikki re-introduced you once you got here. She claims that you both went to a lot of parties with him in college, but you think she’s forgetting that you didn’t go to nearly as many parties as she did back then. It’s not really your scene. You still come to the occasional party or club with Nikki, especially when none of her other friends can go, as you know she likes it and it means a lot when you go with her. Besides, you usually do have some fun when you both first get there, as you always dance together for a while. When it starts to become less fun is when Nikki inevitably starts to get a little drunk and finds some guy to start dancing with. You start to feel like a third wheel then, and you used to just go ahead and leave when it got to that point, but one time in senior year of college when you left early, Nikki ended up leaving alone instead of hooking up with the person she was dancing with, and some creep followed her out. If it wasn’t for a couple of other guys she knew that happened to walk out after and see them and scared that guy away, and then walked her back to her dorm, something really bad would have happened that night. She always told you that she doesn’t blame you for her being alone that night and that you shouldn’t blame yourself, but a small part of you still can’t help but think that if only you had stayed with her, that wouldn’t have happened. So that’s why you were in a loud club, sitting at the bar and trying to read your book instead of at home reading in your bed where it’s quiet. You didn’t like to leave the club until Nikki was either ready to leave with you, or told you she was leaving with someone she was hooking up with. 

Roland was currently half listening to a conversation that the rest of the guys were having with some of the other people at the party. Apparently, Kai’s friend Andy is a cousin of the host of this party, Tom or something, and Andy said that Kai could invite the rest of the band. Roland didn’t really want to go to this party, but Tom apparently really wanted to meet the members of Electrocandescence once his cousin told him that he was friends with Kai, so Kai kind of dragged all of the band members out to this party as thanks to Tom for allowing Andy to bring more friends to his already pretty full party. Roland figured he could show up, meet Tom and his cousin, hang around for a bit, then leave after a while once he got bored. He was already starting to get bored, but he didn’t feel like it had been long enough to leave yet without appearing rude, so he got up to go to the bar for a drink for something to do. When he got to the bar, he looked to his right and noticed you sitting there reading a book while sipping on wine. That was quite an odd site for a bar at a club, so he found himself staring as he waited for his drink, but you didn’t notice, as you were quite involved in your book. He received his drink, so went back to where his friends were, but he found that he couldn’t help but keep thinking back to you sitting there at the bar. He thought you were quite pretty, and you seemed interesting. He looked over and subtly adjusted where he was standing so he’d have a clearer view to where you were sitting, and he found himself glancing back at you often. He glanced back at you again, but this time he noticed that there was a rather drunk-looking guy standing a little too close and obviously trying to hit on you, and that you clearly looked uncomfortable. He was debating to himself on whether or not he should go over when he saw the guy reach out and grab your arm and start trying to drag you off of the barstool. That’s it.

You were pretty involved in your book when an obviously drunk guy suddenly came up to you, stood way too close, looked at you leeringly, and slurred, “Heyyy babe. Whatchu doin’? Books ain’t no fun, you should come’n dance with me!” ‘Oh boy,’ you thought to yourself, ‘how do I get this drunk idiot to leave me alone?’ “Uh, no thanks,” you said, hoping he’d give up and walk away. No such luck. “Aw, c’mon babe! Don’t be such a prude!” he said, standing even closer. You started to back away in your barstool and said more insistently, “No thank you, I really don’t want to.” Instead of giving up, that only seemed to piss him off. “What, d’you think you’re better than me or somethin’? C’mon, I’ll show ya a good time,” he said and grabbed your arm. He then tried to pull you off the barstool and you started to really freak out, “Hey, let me go, you creep! Leave me alone!” You looked around the bar, but the bartender was on the other side of the bar and didn’t notice what was going on, and no one else nearby seemed to notice either. ‘What do I do? Should I start screaming? Would anybody hear me?’ you started freaking out to yourself. 

Suddenly, another man appeared at your side, grabbed the creep’s arm, pulled it off you, and said in a dark voice, “I believe she said to leave her alone. You better walk away now, before I make you.” You looked up at him in relief to see him square his shoulders and narrow his eyes at the creep, whom he was also much taller than. The creep luckily seemed intimidated by the taller man and apparently thought you were no longer worth it, as he turned tail and escaped back into the crowd. 

“What an asshole,” he muttered, then turned to look at you with concern. “You okay?” You breathed out in relief, and looked at him with gratitude, “Yeah. Thank you so much. I… I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come by when you did. No one else saw or tried to help…” You trailed off as your throat constricted with the tears you were holding back. He noticed and suddenly decided to sit down next to you, soothingly saying, “Hey, it’s alright now. I’m going to sit next to you for a while, to make sure no one else comes to bother you. I’m Roland, by the way.” You took a deep breath to calm down and introduced yourself, “Okay, thank you. I’m Karina.”

He then smirked at you and said, “So, who comes to a party at a club to sip wine and read a book? Seems like there’d be better places for that.” You laughed. He was trying to distract you from breaking down and was trying to make you laugh. You appreciated it. “Oh, hush,” you teased back. “It wasn’t exactly my first choice. My friend Nikki dragged me to this party because we apparently used to party with the host, Tom, back in college. To be honest though, I didn’t remember him until she re-introduced me when we got here. She always partied way more than I did. This isn’t really my scene, but I guess you noticed that,” you said and laughed. 

“Maybe a little,” he teased. He then said, “To be honest though, this isn’t really my scene either. My friend Kai is actually friends with Tom’s cousin Andy, and Andy got him to agree to let him bring more friends to his party if we all agreed to come and meet him, so I couldn’t really say no.” 

At that statement, along with Roland’s and his friend Kai’s names, you realized something. “Oh, you’re from Electrocandescence, right?” He nodded, and you continued, “That’s cool. I love music; I used to be in choir back in school. Rock and EDM are actually some of my favorite genres.” He looked a little relieved that you didn’t start freaking out and turn into a fangirl, and said, “Really? Those are some of my favorite genres too. But I guess that’s pretty obvious, huh?” He laughed, and you laughed with him. 

The next thing you know, you and him had been talking for hours. It started off with telling each other your favorite genres, artists, and bands. Then he asked about what you were reading, and it turns out he’s pretty well read, too. Then you both just talked about whatever came up, and were having a great time. Looking at him as he responded to something you said, you noticed how good looking he is, with his black hair and gray eyes, tall and lean build, and intense gaze. You also have so much in common, and are enjoying talking to him. Watching you as you stopped to take a sip of your wine, he noticed how beautiful you are, with your long curly hair and dark blue eyes, your hourglass figure, and witty attitude. He can see how much you had in common, and is really enjoying talking to you. He remembers that Kai told him Andy was hosting his own party the day after tomorrow. He wasn’t planning on going at first, but now he wonders if you would come to hang out with him again if he invited you. 

You look down at your phone and notice that it’s been a couple hours. “Oh wow, has it been that long? I wonder where Nikki is…” you trail off as you look around the dance floor for Nikki. You know she has to still be here, as she wouldn’t leave without at least telling you first, not after that night. “Oh, there she is. Looks like she’s still dancing with that guy. I can’t leave until they decide to leave, or if Nikki wants to leave alone with me.” Roland looks confused by that, so you quickly explained what happened, or more like what almost happened, that night in senior year at college. He looks at you softly and says, “You know that wasn’t your fault, right?” You sigh, “Yeah, but I just… I don’t go to every party with her, I just come along occasionally when she wants me to, especially if she can’t find anyone else to come with her.” 

“What about you?” he asks. You’re not sure you get the question, so reply, “Hm? What do you mean?” He clarifies, “What about when your friend leaves with someone? Then you’re the one walking alone to your car.” You’re not really sure how to answer, you never thought about that. “Um, I’ve been fine. I usually just leave at the same time they do, so we’re in the parking lot together, mostly…” you trail off at the look he was giving you. “It’s great how you’re looking out for your friend, but you should also be more worried about yourself, too.” he lightly admonishes. “Yeah, I know…” you trail off sheepishly. 

Speaking of Nikki, you suddenly hear her calling out to you and look over to see her coming toward you with that guy she’s been dancing with all night. They were both obviously pretty drunk. “Hey Rin, me and Tony here are gonna go ahead and go, so you can leave too if you want,” she slightly slurred at you, and then sent a glance at Roland sitting next to you. It looks like she might have said something about him, but then that guy Tony pulled on her hand to get her to hurry up, and she got distracted as she looked over at him and giggled. “Okay, you go ahead and have fun, I’m fine,” you reassured her. She quickly said goodbye and headed out with Tony. 

You look back at Roland, and he asks, “So… did you want to go ahead and go, too? It’s getting pretty late…” He looked reluctant to ask you, and you realized he didn’t really want you to leave yet. You didn’t really want to go yet either, but it is getting pretty late. “Yeah, I guess I should go now, too…” you trailed off. 

“Well, I’m walking you to your car. Your friend and her date have already left, and I don’t like the idea of you walking to your car alone at this hour,” he told you. You smiled at him gratefully, “Thank you, that’s sweet of you.” You swear you thought you saw him blush as he looked away, but it’s hard to tell in the club’s lighting. 

He led you outside, and realized it was now or never if he was going to ask you to come to Andy’s party. He definitely wanted to see you again, and you looked just as reluctant to leave as he did. Just as he was about to say something, you smiled up at him and said, “So… I had a really good time talking with you tonight. You made that party much more fun than I thought it was going to be.” He smiled back at you and said, “Me too. I’m definitely glad I came to that party, which is something I usually never say.” He laughed, and you nodded in agreement and laughed, too. 

You stopped in front of your car and looked up at him. He took a breath and said, “So… I really want to see you again. Tom’s cousin Andy is hosting his own party the day after tomorrow and he invited Kai and the rest of us. I originally wasn’t going to go, but... do you want to come and meet me there to talk again? You can bring your friend. I know parties aren’t exactly our thing, but this seems like the perfect opportunity to hang out again and…” He trails off, not sure how to end the sentence, and looks to you for a reaction. You’re relieved he asked you. You were starting to worry that you might never see him again, but was unsure of how to approach the topic. You give him a relieved smile and say, “Yes! I’m glad you asked me, I was getting sad thinking I might never see you again.” You giggled shyly and continued, “I’m sure Nikki would love to come. I know I would love to.” He smiled at you, looking just as relieved as you felt, when another thought occurred to you, “Oh, we should exchange numbers so we can find each other when we get there.” He nodded and said, “Oh, good idea.” You gave each other your phones and entered in your numbers before returning the other’s phone. 

You smiled up at him, “So… I’ll see you the day after tomorrow?” He smiled back down at you, “Definitely.” As you got in your car and drove away, you thought about how excited you were to go to this party. You can’t believe that you’re actually excited about a party. Nikki was going to ask so many questions when you invite her.

Oli Jones

You’re in the park near your apartment where you’re walking your 6-month-old black Lab Bailey. She’s still a big puppy, still quite excitable and pulling on her leash to try to check out various things and people along the path. You’ve been working with her on behavior and obedience training, but she still gets overly excitable at times. You don’t mind too much, she’s still pretty young after all; she’ll settle down with time and continued training. You love to walk through the park, trying to make time to be able to do it every day if possible. The wind through the trees, the smell of the flowers, the sounds of laughter from children playing with their families nearby, you love it all. You also just love being outdoors in nature as often as you can, and this park was the closest natural area to your apartment. It also gives you great inspiration, for both your painting and drawing back at home and for your interior design work. Landscapes are your favorite to paint and draw, and when it comes to your interior designing, sometimes all a place needs to spruce it up is bringing some of the freshness and calm beauty of the outdoors to the indoors. While you were distracted, enjoying the nature around the park and thinking about how you’d like to paint a particular grouping of trees surrounded by flowers that you saw along the path once you got back home, Bailey suddenly barked and pulled on her leash over to a guy sitting on a bench and put her paws up on his lap, surprising him. 

Oli was in the park near his house again. He loves coming to this park, and loves being outdoors in general as he finds being in nature calming, not to mention beautiful. He tries to come back here whenever he has the time, as it helps him to calm down and not lose himself in the daily rush and excitement that comes with being part of a famous rock band. He loves being part of the band of course, but sometimes he starts to feel like he could lose track of himself if he doesn’t take the time to slow down, and just sitting and enjoying nature is one of his favorite ways to do that. He also likes to take the time while he’s here in the park to sketch or draw the surrounding landscape, as it’s one of his favorite things to draw. While he was distracted, busy continuing and improving on the drawing he started yesterday, suddenly a black Lab barked and put its front paws up in his lap. 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” you said as you quickly walked over to pull Bailey off of his lap. “She’s still a big puppy, only 6 months. I’ve been training her, but she still gets excitable sometimes.”

“Oh no, it’s okay,” he said, putting his drawing pad down on the bench next to him so he could reach down to pet her with both hands. Bailey was loving the attention. “She’s a beauty. What’s her name?”

“Bailey. She’s my pretty girl,” you said with a smile. He looked up at you. “So what’s your name? I’m Oli,” he asks. “Saige,” you reply, as you reach down to pet Bailey with him. He smiles and says, “Saige. That’s a nice name.” You smile back just a bit brighter from the compliment, “Thanks.” 

You decide to sit next to him on the bench to give Bailey some time to soak up the attention he was giving her, since he didn’t seem to mind. Looking down at the bench between you, you see his drawing pad and can’t help but notice how good his drawing of the park is. “Oh wow, were you drawing that? It’s so good!” you excitedly ask. He blushes at the compliment and says, “Yeah. I like drawing landscapes.” You get excited thinking about how you found someone else who likes to draw and say, “Really? Me too! Landscapes are my favorite thing to draw and paint, but I’m better at painting than drawing to be honest.” He lights up when you mention your love of art too, “Oh, that’s cool! I’m the opposite; I’ve tried painting, but I’m better at drawing. I haven’t met anyone else who likes to draw or paint like me since art class in high school.” You nod, “Me neither! My mom always tells me she wonders where I get it from.” 

Suddenly, Bailey, who up to this point was happy getting pets, started barking and pulling at the leash trying to run around. You sighed. “Sorry, looks like Bailey’s getting antsy. I should keep walking…” you trailed off, not really wanting to cut your conversation off early. It looks like he didn’t want to end the conversation yet either, as he got up with you and said, “No problem. Why don’t I walk with you, so we can keep talking?” You smiled and agreed immediately, “Sure! Let’s go Bailey.” 

He looked over at you as you both walked down the path together and asked, “So, what’s your favorite thing to paint? Well, besides this park probably. For me, besides this park, I like to sometimes go down to the beach and draw there, and occasionally I like to go to the nearby national parks to draw there when I have the time.” You smile and reply, “Yeah, those are pretty much my favorite places to paint, too! I like painting the city skyline sometimes as well. I actually have a separate room dedicated as my painting room, where I spend a lot of time painting things that caught my eye while I was out.” You paused as you looked at him a little closer. Since you’ve met him, you could have sworn you recognized him from somewhere. Suddenly you realize why he’s been looking familiar this whole time. “Oh! You’re Oli Jones, from Electrocandescence, right?” you blurted out. He nods a little sheepishly, wondering how you were going to act now that you recognize him. You just continue on as normal though, much to his relief, and say, “Cool, so you’re good at both art and music! I never learned how to play an instrument.” 

The next thing you knew, you had been talking for more than an hour. After about 30 minutes into it, you both sat down at another bench, and you let Bailey run around the nearby area while you watched her and continued talking. You both had started off talking about your art, then your favorite musicians and genres of music once you recognized him, then you both realized that you liked to volunteer at a lot of the same charities around the area when you both had the time, and then eventually the conversation just flowed into whatever else came up. You looked at him as he replied to something you said. He was so nice, friendly, and fun to talk to, and you had so much in common; you felt like you could talk to him all day. He was also quite cute, with his wavy brown hair and kind, green eyes. You realized you wouldn’t mind seeing him again. He said he likes to visit this park. Would he mind meeting you here again if you asked? 

He looked at you as you reached down to pet Bailey when she bounded back up to you. You were such a nice, happy, and fun girl to talk to, and you had so many similar interests. You were also quite pretty, with your wavy dirty blond hair, and beautiful honey brown eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun just talking to someone, especially someone that he just met. He felt like he could talk to you for the rest of the day, but you probably had to leave soon, as you could both see that Bailey was getting tired. 

You sigh and look up at him, “Looks like I’ll have to get going soon. Bailey’s getting tired, and she’s still just a puppy. I don’t want her to overexert herself.” He nods a little reluctantly, “Yeah, I was starting to notice that myself. I have to say, I’m a little sad to see you go though. This has been a really fun afternoon talking with you.” You smile and say, “I’ve had a fun time talking to you, too. Hey, do you want to meet here tomorrow? I try to come back to walk here everyday with Bailey if I have the time. We could meet here and walk her together?” He smiles happily and says, “That would be great! I definitely wouldn’t mind seeing you again. Besides, I also try to come here as often as I can to relax or draw, and I was planning to come back tomorrow anyway.” You smile back at him, happy that you’ll both see each other again and be able to talk some more. He then adds, “Oh, should we exchange numbers? In case we can’t find each other tomorrow? It’s a pretty big park…” You nod in agreement, “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Who knows where in the park Bailey will drag me to tomorrow.” You both share a laugh as you exchange numbers. 

“I’ll walk with you back to the parking lot,” he says. Once you get there, he leaves you and Bailey at your car with a pat on Bailey’s head and a promise to you to see each other tomorrow. You drive with a smile all the way home.

Finn O’Donnell

You’re at the independent coffee shop where you work part-time while you work on getting your degree. Your manager Jonas doesn’t have very many employees working here since the shop was never typically as busy as the popular coffee chain down the street. Due to that, you work here most mornings while you have your classes in the afternoon, and work longer shifts on the weekend sometimes if needed. While it was fine for a part-time job, your real passion was books. You wanted to be a librarian at your local public library ever since you were a child, having grown up going to that library. You were a shy child and loved to read, so your parents took you to the library after school so you could read the books there as well as be able to attend the “Storytime” program they have there, where the librarian would read children’s stories to the local children every day after school. You loved it, and it became one of your favorite things about your childhood. You wanted to create that same safe and fun environment for today’s children that you felt growing up, and so decided to get your Master in Library and Information Science (MLIS) so you could apply to be a librarian at that same local library. You just got your Bachelor of Arts in English, so now it’s only two more years until you have your MLIS degree and can finally apply for a job at the library. It’s often pretty slow in the coffee shop, so your manager allows you to read or work on coursework when it’s slow between customers. You’re currently reading an assigned reading for one of your classes when you hear the door jingle letting you know that a customer has entered the shop, so you look up to greet him. 

Finn is on his way to the studio today, though he’s not in any rush. He wants to be there at some point today to work on some music, but there’s no set time he has to be there or anything. That said, he really doesn’t want to wait in that super long line at the coffee chain he usually goes to on his way to the studio. He usually always stops by for a coffee as it’s right on the way to the studio from his house, but they’re doing some kind of promotion or something this week that’s making all their shops super busy, even after when the morning rush usually starts to slow down, and he doesn’t have that much patience. So instead, he decides to go to the independent coffee shop down the street. He’s been meaning to go there for a while now anyway to check it out and see if it’s better. As he’s walking up to the shop, he can see you through the glass storefront. He sees you leaning on the counter reading, and he can’t help but think about how cute you are. He finds himself staring a little as he goes to open the door, and notices how slow the shop is. He hopes that means that he’ll be able to spend a little more time talking to you. He opens the door and you look up to greet him.

When you look up at the customer, you see that it’s a very cute redheaded guy who gives you a charming smile once you make eye contact. You immediately blush and stammer out your greeting, flustered, “H-Hello and welcome to the shop. What can I get you?” 

“Hey! I’ll have a flat white, thanks,” he says. You nod and complete the transaction, then go to make the coffee. He follows your movement along the counter so he can stay in front of you, and then says, “So… is it always this slow at this time around here? I usually go to the coffee chain down the street but I couldn’t be bothered to wait in that long line with that promotion going on this week, so I thought I’d stop by here.” You look up at him to answer, but once you make eye contact again he gives you another charming smile, which flusters you again. “Um, yes, it’s usually pretty slow after the early morning rush…” you trail off, unsure of how to continue. You’re pretty shy, but you’re usually not this bad with customers, as it’s part of the job to be upbeat and smile at the customers. There’s just something about the way he smiles at you with that look in his eyes that makes you so flustered. 

He sends you a friendly smile and, obviously sensing how shy you are, asks in a slightly softer tone, “So, what’s your name? My name’s Finn.” You send him a shy smile and reply, “Anna.” 

“So Anna, what were you reading over there? It looks like a college textbook,” he asks, trying to get a conversation flowing. You nod and reply, “Yes, it is a college textbook. I’m working on my Master of Library and Information Science.” He smiles and asks, “So you want to be a librarian, huh?” You shyly nod. “That’s cute! I know I’d stop by to check out a book from your library,” he winks at you, causing you to blush furiously and look back down as you finished making his coffee. You put the lid on his coffee and hand him his cup. “Thanks! So, what made you want to be a librarian?” he asks. You told him about your love of books as well as the “Storytime” program that you participated in as a child, and how you want to make that same safe and fun environment for today’s children. He smiles softly at you and says, “That’s sweet. I bet the kids will love listening to you read to them everyday. You have a nice voice.” You blush again and mumble a quiet, “Thanks.” 

That’s when your manager pulls you aside for a moment and says, “Okay, you can go for your 30 minute break, I’ll cover you.” Then he got a mischievous look in his eyes as he quietly adds with a wink, “You should invite him to sit with you, get to know him better. If you don’t, I might.” You blush furiously, “Jonas!” He just laughs and walks over to the register. You walk out from behind the counter to see Finn watching you as he sips on his coffee. “Um, I’m going on my break now. I usually sit at one of the tables outside… if you want to…” you trail off, too shy to fully tell him that he can sit with you if he wants to, since he seems to want to keep talking with you. He thankfully seems to understand, “Oh, so you don’t mind if I sit with you? Nice! I don’t have to be anywhere in a hurry, so I think I’ll sit with you awhile. Besides, I want to get to know you better.” He smiles at you as you both sit down at a table outside, and you blush again and look down. 

He starts up the conversation again, “So, what does a shy, cute girl like you do with your free time when you’re not busy working or studying?” At that, you get flustered again. It’s almost like he’s saying these things on purpose to watch you get all shy and flustered. Maybe he is. You reply, “Well, besides reading, I really like watching movies…” His face lights up, and he excitedly says, “Really? That’s cool, me too! What are your favorite movie genres?” Having found a common interest, he talks excitedly with you about his favorite movies and asks you about yours. While speaking shyly and quietly at first, his outgoing, friendly, and fun personality starts to make you more comfortable with him, and soon you’re both talking more animatedly. Soon, you’ve both moved on from movies to just talking about whatever else comes up, and your 30 minutes goes by faster than you know it. 

You watch him as he excitedly explains something to you. You find yourself drawn to him. When he talks to you, he makes you feel comfortable in the conversation, and he’s even made you laugh. He’s charming, fun, and cheerful, not to mention really cute with his red hair and freckles, and pretty hazel eyes. You find yourself dreading the conversation ending and having to say goodbye. You’ve had such a good time talking to him, and really appreciated how he paid attention to how you were feeling and tried to make you more comfortable in the conversation. You started to realize that you were afraid that when your break was over in a few minutes, he would leave and you wouldn’t see him again. You’ve never felt this comfortable talking to a stranger this fast before. And he can make you laugh so easily. Would he come back again tomorrow to get another coffee? Should you ask him? Could you be brave enough to ask him?

He looks at you as you laugh at something he said, and can’t help but feel proud that he was able to make you laugh. He can’t help but think about how beautiful you are, with your pale blonde hair and gentle sky blue eyes. You’re especially beautiful when you laugh. He was drawn to you the moment he saw you through the glass storefront window. He couldn’t help but want to see you again, with your shy, cute personality, your love of books and movies, and how, the more comfortable with him you became, the more enthusiastic you became as you talked to him. He definitely wanted to see you again, but how should he do it? It was too soon to ask you out for a date, you were too shy for that yet. The only thing he can think of for now is to keep coming back to this coffee shop every day to visit you. You did say that you worked most mornings. 

It looks like your break is just about up, and he can see that, too. He looks at you with a determined face, and says, “So, you said you were working the same shift tomorrow, right? Would it be okay if I came back at the same time tomorrow and talked to you during your break again? I really had fun talking to you, and I definitely want to see you again.” Your face lights up and you reply with relief, “Really? I had fun talking to you, too. More fun than I usually have talking to someone I just met. I was, um… well I was getting a little sad thinking that you might never come back.” You blush at your own words, and continue, “I would like it if you came back tomorrow to talk again.” He smiles happily at you as you both stand up, your break now over, and says, “Great! I can’t wait to talk with you more tomorrow.” You look up at him before you walk back inside the shop and say with a shy smile, “Um, so I’ll see you tomorrow…” He smiles back, “Definitely.”

You walk back inside the coffee shop, and your manager Jonas practically ambushes you. “So? How did it go? What was he like?!” You know Jonas is gay, but he’s acting more excited about this than you think he usually does when he finds someone he thinks is cute, so you give him a confused look at his over-enthusiasm. He pauses, then looks shocked and says, “Wait. You’re telling me you don’t know?” You look even more confused, “Know what?” 

He looks practically scandalized, “Oh my god. Anna, that was Finn O’Donnell! From Electrocandescence! Didn’t he look familiar to you?!” You freeze in shock and realization, then say, “Oh my gosh. I… I can’t believe it. I was just talking to someone from Electrocandescence, and I didn’t even realize it. I thought he was a little familiar, but I thought that he must have been a customer sometime in the past and thought that must have been why I recognized him.” Jonas just shakes his head at you in disbelief. Then another thought occurs to you, “Oh my gosh! And he said that he wants to see me again and is coming to visit tomorrow, too! Jonas, how should I act?! He’s part of a famous rock band and I’m just a shy nobody! I’m going to totally freeze when I see him tomorrow!” 

Jonas sets his hands on your shoulders to try to calm you down, and says, “To be honest, I wouldn’t have even been able to talk to him like you did today at all; I’d have been freaking out the whole time. But you’ve already talked to him. Just talk to him like you did today. He’s still the same person, right? You just know who he is now.” You take a deep breath and calm down, “You know what, you’re right. I can do this. He already said he wanted to see me again. He likes me as I am, and… and I like him as he is, too. Our status shouldn’t matter.” You smile up at Jonas, more calm and a little more confident now, “Thanks, Jonas.” He smiles and gives your shoulders a squeeze before he lets go so you both can get back to work, “No problem. Glad I could help.” 

[elliewriteslove]

The Girls

Lily Parker  (Josh Meyer’s Future Girlfriend)

-Full Name:  Lily Jade Parker

-Birthday/Age:  November 14th, 1994. Age is 25 at the start of this story.

-Hometown:  Born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mostly a mix of Western European ancestry. The largest majorities are part French and German on her mother’s side, and part English and Welsh on her father’s side. 

-Parents:  Daniel Parker - Father;  Rose Parker - Mother, deceased (died of complications from childbirth)

-Siblings:  None

-Pets:  Her father and her own a male 27-year-old Russian tortoise named Scooter that was her mother’s. It was a gift from her father to her mother on their first wedding anniversary, as she always loved tortoises. Lily and her father have taken care of him in her stead, and love him greatly as a living link to her mother. When Lily moved out to get her own place she let her father keep Scooter, and has decided not to get any more pets of her own for now. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Medium-short, down to her shoulders in length, slightly-wavy, light brown. Parts it on the right side, and prefers to wear it down. 

Eyes:  Hazel. Specifically, mostly shades of brown with a little bluish-green around the edges. 

Skin tone:  Neutral, fair

Build:  Lean

Height:  5 feet, 7 inches

Style:  Prefers earthy tones; casual and layered clothes; doesn’t mind wearing pants, skirts, or dresses

Piercings:  1 lobe piercing in each ear

Tattoos:  A stylized tattoo of a rose and lily twined together on her back left shoulder. It honors her mother’s memory, who died of complications from childbirth, and represents their close mother-daughter bond that her father helped cultivate by making sure to keep her memory alive, even though she never got to personally know her.

-Personality:  Friendly, affectionate, maternal, calming/soothing, charming, mostly extroverted with some introverted tendencies (likes to be around others, but occasionally needs her alone time to “recharge”)

Good Traits/Habits:  Since her mother died in childbirth and it was just her and her father growing up, she was always there for her father just as he was for her, sometimes feeling as if they were raising each other. This made her more maternal and calming as a person. As a result of this, she’s great at calming people down when they’re upset, especially children. As a friendly and charming person, she’s almost always able to quickly de-escalate situations and win people over to her side. She is also the person all her friends go to when they need someone to talk to, as she is always ready to listen and give advice when she can. She’s also quite an affectionate person, always willing and able to show her love and affection for those she cares about openly and freely. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  Due to her willingness to help out and her desire to keep situations and people calm and happy, she frequently tries to mediate difficult situations that she encounters in an effort to return the situation to relative calm, which sometimes can put her in bad positions where she might find herself in danger when she is unable to calm down the situation. Some people also get irritated when she butts into their argument to try to mediate and tell her it’s none of her business. Also, as a very affectionate person, she sometimes lets others affect her too much emotionally or lets others take advantage of her good nature and her willingness to always help out. She also can get a little clingy sometimes, as she’s almost constantly craving touches, hugs, and affection from those she’s close to. 

-Job/Profession:  She has already received her Bachelor of Arts in Education and her teaching certification. She now works as an elementary school teacher at one of the local schools in LA. She has always been good with and loved kids and knew at a young age that she wanted to work with them. She loves that she gets to teach the next generation how fun learning can be and hopes that she can provide a safe, fun environment for children to be able to be themselves. 

-Nickname:  Growing up, her father referred to her as “my little Lily”

-What Type of Drunk She Is:  She’ll go out for drinks with friends occasionally, but doesn’t like to get drunk, as she doesn’t really like the feeling of being drunk. The few times she’s been drunk in the past, she was an emotional and sad drunk, crying at the drop of a hat over the smallest things and getting very clingy.

-Goals/Motivation:   Her more immediate goal is to continue to be a good teacher and role model for her young students. Her motivation for that stems from her childhood alone with her father. She often felt almost as if she was raising him as he was raising her, feeling as if they grew together. As a result, she grew to love taking care of others and has a fondness for children, having always secretly wanted a sibling but was unable to have one. By the time she graduated from high school, she knew she wanted to be an elementary school teacher, and followed her dreams to become one. Her more long-term goal is to find a guy to settle down and start a family with. Her motivation for that is from listening to her father talk about her mother and their relationship, and seeing how much they must have loved each other. She hopes to find that someday, but hopes she’s able to stick around and be with her future family for a long time, unlike her own mother.

-Fears:  She fears losing someone else important to her. Since her mother died during childbirth, and both her parents had no siblings, her family has always been small - just her and her father. She also had a small circle of close friends growing up, mainly just her best friend Trinity, so she only has a small group of people she’s really close to. She’s afraid of anything else happening to the few people she has left. She’s also afraid that, after she starts her own family in the future, something will happen to her to cause her to have to leave her own family behind. 

-Nervous Habit:  She tends to overthink and get herself worked up, and if it gets bad enough, starts to quietly cry when she’s nervous or worried.

-Best Friend:  A 25-year-old African-American girl, mostly of West African descent, named Trinity Harris. They met in 1st grade and have been best friends ever since. They always did everything together growing up, and she is always there to support Lily when she needs it, especially at those times when the loss of her mother weighs heavier on her. 

-Additional Fact:  She loves the beach, and tries to make time to visit it as often as she can, although she prefers to stay on the beach and tan or read a book rather than get in the water most of the time. During the school year, she sometimes takes her leftover schoolwork, like students’ papers to grade, to the beach on the weekends to work on it there. During the summer months she has off, she likes to visit as often as she can when she’s not planning for the next school year or catching up with friends, even if it’s just a couple hours at a time. 

-Random Trivia: 

Her favorite color is green; she also likes pink.

She is right-handed.

She is slightly more of a light sleeper than a heavy sleeper, but is mostly average. She can usually sleep through most quiet sounds, but the louder noises outside and around the house usually wake her up.

Her preferred sleeping position is on her side, with both arms slightly stretched out in front of her.

Maya Reid  (Kai Slater’s Future Girlfriend)

-Full Name:  Maya Emerson Reid

-Birthday/Age:  January 29th, 1995. Age is 24 at the start of this story. 

-Hometown:  Born in Kansas City, Missouri. Family moved to Los Angeles when she was 4 years old. 

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. A mix of Western and Eastern European ancestry. The largest majorities are French and Czech on her mother’s side, and Scottish and Greek on her father’s side. 

-Parents:  Melissa Reid - Mother;  Wayne Reid - Father

-Siblings:  Emma Reid - Older Sister by 2 years

-Pets:  A female 2-year-old silver tabby American shorthair cat named Nova that she got from her best friend’s cat having kittens. Her family always had cats growing up, currently owning a female 7-year-old white Persian cat named Bianca, so she knew she wanted a cat when she got her own place. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Long, just past midway down her back in length, mostly straight, chestnut brown. Parts it in the middle, and has semi-long bangs that parts down the sides of her face to about mid-ear. Likes to wear it in a low messy bun.

Eyes:  Medium Brown

Skin tone:  Fair, warm

Build:  Petite

Height:  5 feet, 3 inches

Style:  Prefers bright colors and patterns; loves accessories and more fun and elaborate style clothes; will wear pants, skirts, and dresses, but prefers skirts

Piercings:  Double lobe piercings in each ear

Tattoos:  Has a matching tattoo with her best friend Vanessa that they got when they were 18. Maya’s is a small waxing crescent moon, which is a black circle with a white crescent moon on the right side, that’s on the lower part of the back of her neck. Vanessa’s is the opposite, a small waning crescent moon, which is a black circle with a white crescent moon on the left side, that’s in the same place. They chose the moon as they both loved watching the moon and stars together at night growing up, and now they both love the night life, going out to parties and clubs/bars. 

-Personality:  Energetic, fun-loving, loud, compulsive, always down to party or hang out, very extroverted (loves to be around others, gets her energy from being around other people and would prefer that to being alone)

Good Traits/Habits:  She has tons of energy and exudes confidence in all the things she does. Others often get swept up in her energetic personality and find themselves having more energy as well when they’re around her. She’s quite good at getting what she wants, having the confidence and knowing just how to act to appeal to the person she’s trying to get something from. She also loves meeting new people and making new friends, and they will often find there’s never a lack of fun things to talk about and do with her around. She’s always looking to have fun in life and loves to hang out and party, so as a result is a great person to have at a party and to be around in general, because as long as she’s there, she’ll do what she can to try to make sure everyone’s having a good time. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  She can sometimes be too energetic, wanting to go out and have fun all the time, when sometimes her friends just want to stay home and relax. She can be too loud as well, sometimes not taking into account the situation or location she’s in, embarrassing her friends and causing them to have to calm her down and tell her to be quieter. She also parties a little too much sometimes, and often drinks too much at those parties. She can also be quite compulsive and make snap decisions without thinking through the consequences more thoroughly, which sometimes doesn’t lead to very good results, and may even get dangerous occasionally. 

-Job/Profession:  She completed an Event and Wedding Planning Course (IEWP) in order to become a Certified Event and Wedding Planner. She has always loved to party and often hosted them as well as attended them, at first with her friends at each other’s houses as a child, and then at clubs/bars when she got older. After graduating high school, she realized she could make party planning her career, so she took the certification course to become a certified event and wedding planner in order to follow her dreams of doing what she loves. 

-Nickname:  Growing up, her father referred to her as his “jelly bean” due to her being so small as a child.

-What Type of Drunk She Is:  She likes to party and go out with friends to bars/clubs a lot and gets drunk at a good deal of them. She turns into a fun and happy drunk, constantly laughing, dancing, or playing party games, and generally being pretty loud. 

-Goals/Motivation:  Her more immediate goal is continuing to grow and become an even more successful event and wedding planner. Her motivation for that is because she always loved planning and attending parties, so now that she gets to do it for a living, she’s so happy and wants to make sure her business succeeds. She also loves seeing how happy her clients are after the event/wedding she planned is a success and helps make their special day even better. Her more long term goal is to find a guy that can keep up with her and that she can enjoy life with. Her motivation for that is from watching her best friend Vanessa’s previous dating experiences, as well as some of her own. If your significant other doesn’t live at the same pace or have the same goals in life, she’s noticed that often leads to problems in the relationship that tends to cause the relationship to end, due to lack of compatibility. So she wants to find someone that she’s compatible with that shares her goals in life and tries to live life to the fullest as much as she tries to.

-Fears:  Before she got her job as an event and wedding planner, she used to fear that she was going to have to get a boring job that she hated just to be able to support herself, and was afraid that she’d always be stuck in that boring job which would lead to a miserable life doing something she hated. Now that she’s working as an event and wedding planner doing what she loves, she isn’t as afraid of that anymore, but is still somewhat afraid of that happening if her business fails, at which point she would be forced to get that boring job. She also fears that she’ll end up alone and won’t find a guy that’s compatible with her, someone who wants more than just a superficial physical relationship and actually wants an emotional connection as well, but still knows how to have fun in life. She’s a little disheartened that she’ll find someone like that, as almost all her previous experiences in romance so far have tended to be more superficial and physical.

-Nervous Habit:  She tends to start talking too much and too fast when she’s nervous or worried. 

-Best Friend:  A 24-year-old Latina girl, mostly of Mexican descent, named Vanessa Gonzalez. They met in 6th grade and have been best friends ever since. They always tell each other everything, and love to party together, frequently going to various parties and clubs/bars around LA to drink and have fun together. 

-Additional Fact:  She loves astronomy and loves to stargaze, and made sure she bought a loft apartment that has access to the rooftop so she can go out and stargaze at night when she’s not out partying at the club/bar. The rooftop is also a great place to host parties or just hang out with friends, so she makes sure to host them up there often. 

-Random Trivia: 

Her favorite color is purple; she also likes red.

She is right-handed.

She is a heavy sleeper, and can usually sleep through most sounds, except the very loud ones. However, unlike Kai, she usually doesn't accidentally sleep through her alarms, as her alarms usually wake her up with no problems. There's only been a few times when she was very tired that she accidentally slept through her alarms.

Her preferred sleeping position is on her back in a starfish formation, with her limbs splayed out in various directions.

Karina Black  (Roland Beck’s Future Girlfriend)

-Full Name:  Karina Lyla Black

-Birthday/Age:  October 25th, 1995. Age is 23 at the start of this story. 

-Hometown:  Born in Fort Meade, Maryland on the military base. Her father was in the Army while she was growing up, and so moved quite frequently, about every 2-3 years. They moved to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas when she was 3, moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina when she was 6, moved back to Maryland to Aberdeen Proving Ground when she was 8, then moved to Fort Irwin, California when she was 10. He retired from the Army when she was 13 years old, where they settled down in Los Angeles, California. 

-Race & Family Heritage:  Mostly white, small part Native American. Mix of Western European, mostly German, English, and Scottish, on her mother’s side. Mix of Western and Eastern European, mostly German and Polish, as well as a small part Cherokee Native American on her father’s side.

-Parents:  Harper Black - Mother;  Matthew Black - Father

-Siblings:  Dakota Black - Younger Brother by 4 years

-Pets:  None. Her family never owned any pets growing up due to constantly moving around. When she got her own place, she decided not to get any pets yet either. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Very long, down to her lower back in length, naturally curly, auburn brown. Parts it on the left side, and prefers to wear it down. 

Eyes:  Dark Blue, with flecks of dark green around the pupil

Skin tone:  Pale, fair

Build:  Slender, curvy

Height:  5 feet, 5 inches

Style:  Prefers darker colors; unique and form-fitting clothes; will wear pants, skirts, and dresses, but prefers pants

Piercings:  1 lobe piercing in each ear, and a helix piercing in her right ear

Tattoos:  none

-Personality:  Quiet, great listener, reserved at first but more quirky with those that know her, witty, loves writing and literature, finds it a little hard to make friends due to moving all the time growing up, introverted (likes her alone time, but still likes to hang out with friends, she just needs more time alone to “recharge”)

Good Traits/Habits:  As she never had many friends growing up due to moving all the time, she values the friends she does have greatly and is always willing to do what she can to help them when they need it. She’s a great listener, and her friends know they can come to her to vent or for some advice or help whenever they need it. For example, she’s always had good grades in school, as she never had many friends to distract her from her schoolwork, and grew to love and become quite good at literature in particular. So her small circle of friends would always know to come to her if they needed help with their schoolwork, and she’d try to do what she could to help them understand it. When she gets closer to someone and starts to feel more comfortable around them, her real personality starts to come through and she can get quite quirky and fun, and can also be quite witty. So those that she’s close to are able to see the real her beyond the quiet, reserved front. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  As she had to constantly move growing up, she finds it a little hard to make friends. This meant that growing up, she never had many friends, and started to withdraw from others, not wanting to make that many deep connections due to not wanting to constantly go through the pain of leaving behind good friends when it came time to move again. So she feels like she never really learned how or felt comfortable getting close to other people, and so today feels like she’s not that good at making new friends. In addition to that, her relatively lonely childhood also led her to being a rather quiet and reserved person with those she’s not close to, which can make others less likely to feel comfortable approaching her. Another reason people might not feel comfortable approaching her is the fact that when in public, if she’s not currently in the middle of doing something, she’ll most likely be reading a book. Besides the fact that she loves reading, she does it to help her feel more comfortable in situations where she feels awkward or doesn’t know what to do with herself, but it tends to send out the signal that she doesn’t want to be bothered or interrupted. 

-Job/Profession:  She has already received her Bachelor of Arts in Literature. She now works as a publishing assistant at a local publishing company to be able to support herself and supplement her income while she works on her real passion, which is writing. Her style of writing is fiction that has elements of fantasy and romance. She has always loved to write, and when she was a young teen started posting the amateur stories she had written online and got positive feedback, which only served to fuel her passion for writing. After high school, she decided to get a degree in literature in order to help her write better stories. After graduating, she decided to get a job as a publishing assistant while she worked on writing her books, hoping to get experience with publishing companies as well as hopefully get a foot in the door when it came time to publish her own books. 

-Nickname:  Her family and friends sometimes shorten her name to “Rina” or “Rin”.

-What Type of Drunk She Is:  She doesn’t really like the taste of beer or liquor, preferring the taste of wine instead. She has a pretty high tolerance, but doesn’t really like to get drunk that often, instead preferring to just drink in moderation when at home or at a party on those rare occasions her friends can get her to go to one. When she does get drunk, she turns into a quiet but philosophical drunk, that will start to talk about serious and deep issues like the meaning of life and the universe if anyone tries to talk with her.

-Goals/Motivation:  Her more immediate goal is to finish her first books and get them published. Her motivation for that is because she wants to become successful enough to be able to quit working at the publishing company and be able to support herself while working on her writing full time, which is her real passion. Her more long-term goal is to find a guy that she feels comfortable with and is able to form a deep connection with. As a more reserved person when it comes to meeting new people, having someone that she’s able to feel comfortable with and form a deep connection with is important to her. She also took inspiration from her own parents, as they have such a deep and loving connection that they stuck together all these years despite him being in the Army and having to leave the family occasionally and also having to constantly move them across the country. She wants to be able to find a love that deep that it’s able to stand the test of time like that. 

-Fears:  She fears that her writing won’t be good enough to be worth publishing and she’ll have to give up on her passion, and so be stuck doing a job she doesn’t really like for the rest of her life just to be able to support herself. She also fears that her reserved nature when meeting new people and her difficulty making new friends will stop her from finding a guy that she’s able to form a deep and loving connection with, and so is afraid that she’ll be alone for the rest of her life. 

-Nervous Habit:  She tends to twirl the ends of her hair in her fingers, or start tapping her pencil or pen on the nearest object if she’s holding one, whenever she gets nervous or worried.

-Best Friend:  A 23-year-old white girl, mostly of Western European descent, named Nicole Bolton, but she goes by Nikki. They met when she first moved to LA when she was 13, when they had been placed next to each other in class at school. After talking throughout the year, they realized that they had a lot in common and soon became best friends. Now that they’ve moved out and gotten their own places, they make sure to still hang out and catch up when they have time. 

-Additional Fact:  She loves music, and loves to sing. She was in her school’s choir back in middle and high school, and now often listens to music whenever she’s writing to help her get in the right mood. She has a wide range of genres that she likes, pretty much listening to some from every genre. She really loves rock, metal, and alternative, but she also likes pop, EDM, and R&B, and even jazz and classical. 

-Random Trivia: 

Her favorite color is blue, but black is a close second.

She is ambidextrous and can do most things with either hand, but does have certain activities that she prefers to do with one hand over the other. For example, she usually prefers to write with her right hand, but brush her teeth with her left hand.

She is a light sleeper, and will wake up from most sounds, except the quieter ones. However, she's found that she almost always wakes up when someone tries to enter into or move around her bedroom, no matter how quiet they try to be.

Her preferred sleeping position is about halfway between sleeping on her side and sleeping on her stomach. It's not quite fully one way or the other, and she usually has one leg bent up with her arms tucked in loosely to her chest.

Saige Crawford  (Oli Jones’ Future Girlfriend)

-Full Name:  Saige McKenzie Crawford

-Birthday/Age:  March 19th, 1996. Age is 23 at the start of this story. 

-Hometown:  Born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Parents divorced when she was 6. Mother remarried when she was 9. Father remarried when she was 8 to a woman that had a 9-year-old daughter at the time. Every other weekend, she would go over to stay at her father’s house.

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mix of Western European ancestry, mostly part Dutch and Flemish (Belgian) on her mother’s side, and part English and Welsh on her father’s side. 

-Parents:  Amelia Crawford-Steinberg - Mother;  Raphael Steinberg - Step-Father;  Jacob Crawford - Father;  Charlotte Keaton-Crawford - Step-Mother

-Siblings:  Reagan Keaton - Older Step-Sister by 1 year (daughter of her father’s wife)

-Pets:  A female 6-month-old black Labrador retriever dog named Bailey. Her mother always owned dogs, currently owning a female 4-year-old Border Collie named Connie, so she knew she wanted a dog when she got her own place. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Long, midway down her back in length, wavy, dirty blonde. Parts it on the right side, and prefers to wear it down. 

Eyes:  Honey Brown

Skin tone:  Neutral, fair

Build:  Slim, lithe

Height:  5 feet, 4 inches

Style:  Prefers varied colors; likes boho-chic style; doesn’t mind wearing pants, skirts, or dresses

Piercings:  1 lobe piercing in each ear

Tattoos:  A watercolor feather with a few small flying birds around it on her right front shoulder. It symbolizes her desire to be able to be free in all she wants to do and follow her dreams wherever she wants to go.

-Personality:  Free-spirited, happy, optimistic, empathetic, daydreamer, extroverted (likes to be around friends, mostly gets her energy by being around others but doesn’t mind some occasional alone time)

Good Traits/Habits:  As a free-spirited person, she loves to live in the moment and go wherever life takes her. She loves trying new things and meeting new people, and treats each moment in life as a valuable life experience. She’s very empathetic and feels emotions deeply, and is always willing to be there for someone and listen to their problems and empathize with them, and is always willing to help them out if she can. She also likes to try and donate to and volunteer at charities whenever she can, as she feels like it’s only the least she can do to help people less fortunate than her. She’s quite a happy and optimistic person most of the time, and always seems to lighten up whatever room she enters and seems to make those she talks to more happy just by being around her. She’s also a daydreamer and quite creative, and so always has ideas for something fun to do whenever she’s out with friends and they need something to do. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  She can sometimes get too emotional or empathetic and lets her emotions rule her too much. She can let herself get too caught up in her own or even others emotions and lets it take her over, causing her to not have a strong enough grip on controlling her more extreme emotions and letting herself get carried away. When it comes to the time she spends volunteering at charities, she sometimes tries to give too much of herself away to others and ends up spreading herself too thin trying to help all the people she can. A bad side of her free-spiritedness is that she often daydreams too much and gets carried away, causing her to start having a hard time focusing and getting distracted easily, which also tends to cause her to lose motivation for things she’s started and makes her have a hard time finishing them. 

-Job/Profession:  She completed a Certified Interior Decorator (CID)-accredited interior decorating program in order to become a Certified Interior Decorator, and now works at a local interior decorating company. She has always loved designing and decorating, and loved to help her parents decorate their houses growing up as well as decorated her own place. She’s artistic and creative with an eye for good design, so after she graduated high school, she immediately pursued going through the interior decorating certification program so she could follow her dreams of becoming an interior decorator.

-Nickname:  Her mother still often refers to her as “my baby,” and her father still often refers to her as “my little girl”

-What Type of Drunk She Is:  She occasionally likes to go out drinking with friends, and sometimes gets drunk. She turns into a giggly drunk and a wanderer. She’ll start giggling over the smallest things, sometimes over nothing, and will frequently wander away from her friends, making them have to keep an eye on her or go look for her so they don’t lose her. 

-Goals/Motivation:  Her more immediate goal is to continue to grow and be an even more successful interior decorator. Her motivation for that is from her lifelong love of decorating and artistic design. She spent her childhood helping her parents decorate their houses and later even helped her friends decorate their own places. They always told her that she had an eye for this type of thing and should think about pursuing it as her career, and she agreed as it was something she always loved to do. Her more long term goal is to find a guy that shares the same happy and optimistic outlook on life that she does, that also doesn’t mind her free-spiritedness and won’t try to tie her down doing things she doesn’t like. Her motivation for that is that she believes if she finds someone as generally happy and optimistic as she is who doesn’t mind her free-spiritedness and won’t hold her back, then they’ll be able to be compatible and happy together for the rest of their lives. 

-Fears:  She fears that she will start to feel tied down and trapped in life or in a situation that she can’t get away from or feels obligated to be in. As a free-spirited person, she can’t stand the thought of being forced to do something she hates because she feels trapped in the situation or obligated to do it.

-Nervous Habit:  Whenever she gets nervous or worried, she tends to start fidgeting with her fingers, and also starts biting her nails. 

-Best Friend:  Her 24-year-old white step-sister, mostly a mix of Western and Eastern European descent, named Reagan Keaton. Since they became step-sisters when Saige was 8 and Reagan was 9, and Saige had been coming over to her father’s house every other weekend where Reagan lived with her mother, they spent a lot of time together growing up and became best friends. They even asked their parents to be able to meet up and hang out when it wasn’t Saige’s weekend to visit. Now that they both have their own place, they make sure they still meet up often to catch up, hang out, and have fun.

-Additional Fact:  She loves painting. She also likes to sketch and draw, but prefers painting. She has a room set up at her place that she’s dedicated as her painting room, and tries to take the time to paint when she can. 

-Random Trivia: 

Her favorite color is yellow; she also likes green.

She is right-handed.

She is slightly more of a heavy sleeper than a light sleeper, but is mostly average. Most sounds outside or around the house will usually not wake her up, but louder noises will, especially those inside the bedroom.

Her preferred sleeping position is on her back, with her legs mostly straight and her arms either by her side or across her stomach.

Anna West  (Finn O’Donnell’s Future Girlfriend)

-Full Name:  Anna Violet West

-Birthday/Age:  August 12th, 1997. Age is 21 at the start of this story. 

-Hometown:  Born and raised in Los Angeles, California. 

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mix of mostly Scandinavian and a little Western European ancestry. The largest majorities are Norwegian and Swedish on her mother’s side, and Finnish and English on her father’s side.  

-Parents:  Elizabeth West - Mother;  Mitchell West - Father

-Siblings:  Tyler West - Older Brother by 6 years;  Cody West - Older Brother by 4 years

-Pets:  None. Her parents never wanted to have any pets while she was growing up, and now that she has her own place, she doesn’t really want any pets either.

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Medium-long, between her shoulders and mid-back in length, straight, pale blonde. Parts it in the middle, and has bangs that are about eyebrow length. Sometimes likes to wear it in a low ponytail. 

Eyes:  Sky Blue

Skin tone:  Very pale, cool

Build:  Petite

Height:  5 feet, 1 inch

Style:  Prefers pastel colors; cute and feminine style clothes; will wear pants, skirts, and dresses, but prefers skirts and dresses

Piercings:  1 lobe piercing in each ear

Tattoos:  None

-Personality:  Shy, sweet, bookworm, patient, gentle, slightly introverted (likes to hang out with friends, but also likes her alone time)

Good Traits/Habits:  She is a very sweet and gentle person, always greeting people with a smile and generally being very non-intrusive and speaking with a quiet voice. People say it’s hard to find it in themselves to dislike someone like her and rarely have a problem working with her because they say she always tries to do her part and is always so nice. She’s also quite patient, so that along with her kind, quiet, and gentle personality makes her work very well with children, and she’s good at comforting them as well. She’s also a great person to turn to when you need a shoulder to cry on or some calm advice, as she always does her best to try to make you feel better. She also loves books and is very well read, always willing to help out friends when they need help with their school work if they’re having trouble understanding the concepts in the books they’re reading. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  She is quite shy, sometimes having trouble communicating with people because she is too shy to talk to them or make eye contact, or is not bold enough to speak up and get her ideas across. Due to her gentle and kind nature along with her shyness, she sometimes is a pushover and lets others walk over her, as she is not bold enough to stand up for herself and tell them off. It’s also easy for people to just completely overlook her, as she is usually too shy to be the center of attention in conversations and is instead being a wallflower off to the side. She often uses her love of books as crutch in social situations when she feels too shy or uncomfortable by choosing to pull out a book and stand off in a corner and read instead, which sometimes makes people forget about her or puts off the signal that she doesn’t want to be bothered, when she’s really just shy. 

-Nickname:  Her parents used to call her “Anna Banana” as a cute nickname growing up, and they and her brothers still sometimes call her that as a joke

-What Type of Drunk She Is:  She has never been drunk before. She has gone out for a couple drinks with friends since she turned 21, but she found out she doesn’t really like the taste of alcohol, and doesn’t think she’ll like the feeling of being drunk and not being in complete control over her own actions, so she doesn’t really want to ever get drunk. However, based on how she acts when she takes cold medicine when she’s sick, she thinks she’ll probably be a confused and sleepy drunk.

-Job/Profession:  She currently works part-time at a local independent coffee shop while she works on getting her degree. She has just started on her Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) 2-year degree, after having just completed her Bachelor of Arts in English 4-year degree, as she wants to be a librarian at the local public library. This is because growing up, she often visited the local public library, as she was a shy child and loved to read, making the library the perfect place for her to spend her time. She also loved attending the “Storytime” program, which is a program where the librarian reads children’s stories for the local children at the same time every day after school. After graduating high school, she realized that the library and its “Storytime” program hold a special place in her heart and that she would like to work there, so she started working on her degree. 

-Goals/Motivation:  Her more immediate goal is to graduate with her MLIS degree so she can start working in her local public library. Her motivation for that is so that she can create the same safe and fun learning environment for today’s children that the library and its “Storytime” program created for her growing up. Her more long-term goal is to find a guy that can make her laugh and can make her feel comfortable enough to not be shy around him. Her motivation for that is from her best friend Maddie telling her that she needs to find someone more outgoing that can make her come out of her shell. She figures that finding someone more funny and outgoing would help to balance her out and lead to a more happy, fulfilled life. 

-Fears:  She fears that her shyness will hold her back in life and make her miss opportunities. She fears it will stop her from following her dreams, and also from putting herself out there enough to find a significant other. She works hard to push herself outside of her comfort zone to be able keep chasing after happiness and new opportunities. 

-Nervous Habit:  When she gets nervous or worried, she gets very quiet and still and starts to overthink about whatever’s happening. She’ll also start to bite her lip and furrow her eyebrows as well. 

-Best Friend:  A 21-year-old white girl, mostly of Western European descent, named Madeline Caldwell, but everyone calls her Maddie. They’ve known each other for as long as they can remember, as their parents were friends since before they were born. They grew up together as best friends, and now live together in an off-campus apartment near UCLA while they get their degrees. They both plan to graduate in 2 more years for a total of 6 years spent, because Anna already got her BA in English and is working on her 2-year MLIS degree, and Maddie changed her major from Nursing to Education which caused her to have to take 2 more years to catch up on all the credits needed to get her BA in Education.

-Additional Fact:  She loves movies, and frequently makes time to go watch the new ones in theaters when they come out, or finds the older ones online through various streaming services. She likes almost all the genres, but her favorites are action, drama, and thriller. She also likes romance, musicals, and animated movies, but doesn’t really like to watch horror and gore most of the time, as she scares and gets grossed out easily.

-Random Trivia: 

Her favorite color is pink; she also likes purple. She prefers the pastel shades of colors.

She is right-handed.

She is a light sleeper, and will wake up from most sounds, except the quieter ones. She's found that she usually wakes up when someone tries to enter into or move around her bedroom, unless they are very quiet.

Her preferred sleeping position is on her side in a loose fetal position, with both legs bent up and both arms tucked in close to her chest.

[elliewriteslove]

How the Boys Met Each Other and Formed the Band

Josh and Kai’s parents live near each other, so they have always gone to the same school. One day on the playground in 3rd grade, Josh noticed Kai getting made fun of by a couple bullies for his Asian heritage and immediately stood up for him. They have been best friends ever since. They both have always been interested in music, so in middle school they asked their parents to take them to guitar lessons together. That is where they met Oli, who had also asked his parents to take him to guitar lessons. As they kept meeting at the lessons, the three of them hit it off as friends, so Josh and Kai would make sure to invite Oli to hang out and invite him to parties, despite Oli going to a different school. 

After high school, during which the three of them had decided on which instruments they wanted to play (Josh wanted to focus on singing, Kai wanted to play electric guitar, and Oli wanted to play bass), they talked about maybe forming a band together, and started asking around for other members. Oli’s cousin, who had gone to a different school, mentioned a guy named Finn that he went to school with who was a drummer looking for a band to join, so they reached out to him. After hanging out and playing together a few times, the four of them realized they got along great, and became really good friends the more they hung out. 

Then, the four of them agreed that they wanted one more member, and decided that a synth would work well with their sound. That’s when Finn remembered that his younger cousin sometimes babysits a little girl who has an older brother named Roland that plays the synth, so they had Finn’s cousin get his contact information and then reached out to him to see if he was interested in joining the band. It turned out he was looking for a band to join, and so agreed to meet up. After playing together multiple times, Roland fit right in to their friend group and they all agreed that they worked well together and liked their sound as a group, so they officially formed their band in June of 2015. 

Roland’s step-dad agreed to let them use his little studio where he teaches classical piano lessons to record their music, as long as it’s outside of his lesson hours. That’s where they actually came up with the name for the band. Once while practicing, one of the light bulbs in the studio burnt out. When Roland went to his step-dad’s storage to get more light bulbs to replace it, he saw “incandescent light bulbs” on the box, and thought the word incandescent sounded cool and liked its meaning: when something becomes so hot that it glows, or alternatively, being passionate or full of emotion. He told the rest of the band about it, and explained how he thought that using it as part of their name could be symbolic of the band, and they all liked it. They just needed to find a way to make the name unique and interesting, and so came up with combining the words electronic, because of their genre, and incandescent together into Electrocandescence. They agreed to work together and individually to write their own music, and once their first tracks were written and recorded, they uploaded it to various music sharing sites online. They also started looking for places in the LA area that would allow new bands to play gigs. Kai actually helped with finding some relatively popular bars and clubs to play at, since he’s pretty good friends with many of the owners or bartenders, having hosted or attended many parties at their locations. After about 7 months, they were getting pretty popular in the indie music scene, and started getting better turnouts for their live performances around the LA area as word-of-mouth helped spread their name. An agent for a major record label looking for new talents in the LA area caught wind of this up-and-coming-band at one of the clubs they frequently played at, and went to check out one of their live shows. He was very impressed with their sound, as well as how well they all worked together. He caught them after their show and offered them the chance to meet with his record label to work out a deal. They immediately agreed, and after some negotiations with the label, signed a record deal. 

Now under the record label, where they had access to much higher production costs, their own studio, a manager, and various other conveniences, the quality of their music increased greatly. By using the power of the label’s marketing team, including collaborations set up with other famous artists under the label, they grew in fame much more quickly. Within the following year after getting signed, which was about a year and a half since they formed, they were one of the hottest new bands in the country, and in the following two and a half years to the present day of June 2019, their fame kept growing and reached outside US borders. They are now internationally famous with ongoing tours worldwide, and now can each afford their own houses around the LA area. Now that they’re more established, they are all starting to wonder if maybe they have room in their lives for someone more…

[elliewriteslove]

The Band and the Band Members

-The Band-

Band Name:  Electrocandescence

Genre:  Electronic Rock

Origin:  Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Year Formed/Status:  Officially formed in June 2015. A major record label reached out to them after 7 months to sign a deal after one of their agents noticed the band’s increasing popularity in the LA area. They quickly shot to fame nationwide within the next year after getting signed, and now, about two and a half years after that, are internationally popular and do worldwide tours.

Members:  Josh Meyer - Lead Singer/Leader;  Kai Slater - Electric Guitar/Backing Vocals;  Roland Beck - Synth;  Oli Jones - Bass/Backing Vocals;  and Finn O’Donnell - Drums

Additional Information:  All the members work together as well as individually to write their own songs.

-The Band Members-

Josh Meyer

-Full Name:  Joshua Alexander Meyer

-Birthday/Age:  February 3rd, 1994. Age is 25 at the start of this story.

-Hometown:  Born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mix of Scandinavian, mostly Danish, on his mother’s side. Mix of Western European, mostly Dutch, on his father’s side.

-Parents:  Kirsten Meyer - Mother;  Isaac Meyer - Father

-Siblings:  Elise Meyer - Younger Sister by 5 years;  Levi Meyer - Younger Brother by 8 years

-Pets:  A female 7-month-old blue merle Australian shepherd dog named Pepper. His family had multiple dogs as he grew up, currently owning a male 7-year-old boxer named Max and a female 3-year-old dachshund named Roxy, so he knew he wanted a dog when he got his own place. He got her from his parents’ neighbors’ dog’s litter of puppies, and since they’re an active breed that loves exercising, he likes to take her on runs around his neighborhood. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Medium-short, about mid-ear in length, semi-wavy, dirty blond. Tends to slightly hang in eyes.

Eyes:  Deep Blue

Skin tone:  Neutral, fair

Build:  Athletic

Height:  6 feet, 1 inch

Style:  Prefers bright colors; simple and looser, casual clothes

Piercings:  None

Tattoos:  A small Enso, an imperfect circle, on his inner right forearm closer to his inner elbow. It symbolizes his desire to remind himself that there is perfection in imperfection, to try to be happy with what is and not constantly try to improve upon what has been.

-Personality: Responsible, caring, friendly, hard-working, perfectionist, mostly extroverted with some introverted tendencies (loves to be around others, but occasionally needs his alone time to “recharge”)

Good Traits/Habits:  You can always depend on him to get the job done, and get it done well. He will usually take charge of a situation and make sure everyone involved is being taken care of and has what they need. He is an older brother to two siblings quite a few years younger than him, so always felt responsible for looking out for them and being a good role model for them, and that mindset has followed him in his life. He’s also fun to hang out with too, as he’s quite friendly and charismatic and can keep the conversation going, as well as usually coming up with the best plans when hanging out with friends, making sure everyone’s having a good time. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  Since he’s a perfectionist, he can often work himself into the ground doing and redoing something until he thinks it’s perfect. When he does this, his band mates and friends often have to step in and remind him that nothing can be perfect, and take him away from what he’s working on to take a break and get his head back on straight. Also, sometimes it can be hard for him to step back, let go of the reins, and let people, especially those he feels responsible for, take control of situations to let them make and learn from their own mistakes. Some people might label him as a control freak or a “mother hen,” but he just feels that if he could help them make better decisions then it’s his responsibility to help them out, even when most people don’t appreciate that much meddling into their personal affairs. 

-Role in Band:  Leader, Lead Singer, Songwriter

-Additional Instruments He’s Able to Play:  Acoustic Guitar

-How He Decided Which to Play:  Loved to sing as a child. Wanted to learn how to play the acoustic guitar in middle school, so his parents took him to guitar lessons where he would like to sing as he played. He eventually realized he loved singing more, so now he just uses the acoustic guitar to help him write music for the band.

-Nickname/Joke Name the Group Calls Him:  The “older brother” of the group, sometimes jokingly referred to as the “mom” of the group 

-What Type of Drunk He Is:  He doesn’t like to get too drunk too often, since he likes to keep track of his friends that he came to the bar/club with to make sure they’re okay throughout the night, but when he does get drunk, he turns into a bossy drunk, telling people what to do and getting increasingly upset when they don’t listen. 

-Goals/Motivation:  Just like the rest of the guys, his more immediate goal is for the band to continue to be successful worldwide. His motivation for that is being able to pour his heart and soul into creating and performing music that the fans love just as much as he does. His more long-term goal is finding a girl to settle down and start a family with someday. His motivation for that is from seeing how happy his parents were growing up; he wants that for himself one day.

-Fears:  One time when his siblings were very little (he was 11, his sister was 6, and his brother was 3), he was watching his siblings while they were all playing out in the front yard and got distracted. In the few minutes he wasn’t paying attention to where his brother was, his brother managed to wander out into the street and very nearly got hit by a car. Ever since then, he fears losing control of a situation and something bad happening to someone he cares for or feels responsible for. To try to compensate for this, he always makes sure to plan out activities ahead of time and tries to keep track of everyone during the activity so he can reassure himself that they’re okay.

-Nervous Habit:  Whenever he’s nervous or worried, he can’t sit still. He’ll constantly be shaking/bouncing his leg when he’s sitting down, or pacing around when he’s standing.

-Best Friend/Which Member He Turns to When He Needs Someone:  Kai Slater. They’ve known each other and been best friends since they were 8 years old, and he knows Kai will always be there to set him back on the right path when he gets too lost in his own head or cheer him up when he needs it.

-Additional Fact:  He knows how to surf, and likes to visit the various LA beaches to catch some waves when he has the time. His dad was actually the one to teach him how to surf, always making time to take the family out to the beach when he was growing up. 

-Random Trivia: 

His favorite color is blue; he also likes orange.

He is right-handed. 

He is slightly more of a heavy sleeper than a light sleeper, but is mostly average. Most sounds outside or around the house will usually not wake him up, but louder noises will, especially those inside the bedroom.

His preferred sleeping position is on his side, with the arm he is laying on tucked up underneath the pillow to support his head.

Kai Slater

-Full Name:  Kai Hiroki Slater

-Birthday/Age:  April 19th, 1994. Age is 25 at the start of this story.

-Hometown:  Born in Sacramento, California. Family moved to Los Angeles when he was 3 years old.

-Race & Family Heritage:  Half Japanese on his mother’s side, half white on his father’s side. His white ancestry is mostly Western European, with the greatest majority being German.

-Parents:  Kimiko Slater - Mother;  Henry Slater - Father

-Siblings:  Naoki Slater - Older brother by 3 years

-Pets:  A male 5-month-old tricolor beagle dog named Cooper. He grew up with dogs and knew he wanted to own one when he got his own place. His parents had a male Shiba Inu named Koji that died when he was in middle school, and they now own a male 5-year-old French bulldog named Kenji. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Medium-short, comes to about the tops of his ears in length, straight, dark brown. Likes to slightly spike it up.

Eyes:  Dark Brown 

Skin tone:  Slightly tan, warm

Build:  Lean 

Height:  5 feet, 7 inches

Style:  Prefers bold colors paired with some black; more complex and stylish clothes

Piercings:  1 lobe piercing in each ear

Tattoos:  None

-Personality:  Energetic, loud, bold, brazen, always down to party or hang out, very extroverted (loves to be around others, gets his energy from being around other people and would prefer that to being alone)

Good Traits/Habits:  He always has energy and confidence in all the things he does. His energetic personality is often contagious, making those around him have more energy as well, and as a result people often comment how much fun it is to work with or hang out with him. His bold ideas often help push the band in greater directions, where others might have held back out of lack of confidence or fear of failure. Also, he’s incredibly fun to party with. There’s never time for a party to get dull with him around, he’ll hype it up with his boundless energy and fun ideas. He loves meeting new people and making new friends, and they will often find there’s never a lack of things to talk about with him around. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  Occasionally he can be a little too bold, rubbing people the wrong way. He sometimes doesn’t know when to give up or let things go, thinking that if he just keeps pushing people, he can get what he wants. He is also often too loud, sometimes at inappropriate times. When he gets this way, his band mates and his friends often have to tell him to calm down and be quiet. Also, his boundless energy can occasionally be annoying when sometimes all his band mates or friends want to do is chill and relax, but he constantly wants to go out and do something fun. He also parties a little too much sometimes, and often drinks too much at those parties.

-Role in Band:  Electric Guitar, Backing Vocals, Songwriter

-Additional Instruments He’s Able to Play: Acoustic Guitar, Bass

-How He Decided Which to Play:  Became interested in guitars in middle school, so his parents took him to guitar lessons where he learned how to play the acoustic. As a teen, he started to dabble in learning both bass and electric guitar, until he decided he liked electric guitars more.

-Nickname/Joke Name the Group Calls Him:  The “life of the party” of the group, sometimes jokingly referred to as the “party animal”

-What Type of Drunk He Is:  He likes to party and go out with friends to bars/clubs a lot and gets drunk at a good deal of them. He turns into an obnoxious and reckless drunk, being very loud and often doing stupid stunts to try to get attention or for the rush. 

-Goals/Motivation:  Just like the rest of the guys, his more immediate goal is for the band to continue to be successful worldwide. His motivation for that is how incredibly amazing their live performances are in big stadiums around the world. The fans screaming, the lights blaring, and the music blasting make for an exceptionally exhilarating experience. His more long-term goal is to find a girl that can keep up with him and that he can enjoy life with. His motivation for that is seeing how compatible and happy his older brother and his new wife are together; he wants to find someone just as compatible with him so they can live just as happily together.

-Fears:  He has a fear of missing out, fearing that if he doesn’t always “go for it” or make himself available, he’ll miss out on something fun or important, making him sometimes jump into things without thinking them through more thoroughly. He also has a big fear of snakes. Once when he was 7, he almost got bit by a rattlesnake while playing in his backyard. Ever since then, he tends to freak out whenever he sees one. 

-Nervous Habit:  He can get very impatient when nervous or worried, tending to complain a lot to whoever’s with him.

-Best Friend/Which Member He Turns to When He Needs Someone:  Josh Meyer. They’ve known each other and been best friends since they were 8 years old, and he knows Josh will always have his back or lend a listening ear when he needs it. 

-Additional Fact:  He’s really good at cooking, having learned it from his mother who is a chef at a local fine dining restaurant. The boys often make him cook for all of them whenever they have to cook for themselves while on tour. 

-Random Trivia: 

His favorite color is red; he also likes blue. He prefers the brighter/bolder shades of colors.

He is right-handed.

He is a very heavy sleeper, and will sleep through most sounds, even loud ones. He sometimes even sleeps through his own alarms, making someone have to come physically wake him up when he has somewhere he needs to be. For example, while the guys are on tour, one of them always texts him when they wake up to make sure he's up, and if he doesn't reply, they know that they have to go physically wake him up so that he doesn't make them late.

His preferred sleeping position is on his back in a starfish formation, with his limbs splayed out in various directions.

Roland Beck

-Full Name:  Roland Milo Beck

-Birthday/Age:  June 24th, 1995. Age is 24 at the start of this story.

-Hometown:  Born in Seattle, Washington to a single mother. When he was 8 years old, his mother married his step father and moved to Los Angeles.

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mix between Western and Eastern European ancestry, mostly split between German, French, Russian, and Polish.

-Parents:  Savannah Beck-Richards - Mother;  Tim Richards - Step-Father;  Biological Father is unknown

-Siblings:  Alexis Richards - Younger Half-Sister by 15 years

-Pets:  A female 1-year-old blue lynx mitted ragdoll cat named Evie. He had missed having a cat around the house when he moved into his own place, as his family has a female 6-year-old blue lynx mitted ragdoll cat named Lacey that they bought for his little half-sister’s 3rd birthday. So when Lacey had kittens, they gave him one to live with him after he got his own place.

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Medium-long, about midway between his ears and chin in length, mostly straight, black. Has it in a side part.

Eyes:  Ash Gray

Skin tone:  Pale, cool 

Build:  Lean, slightly toned

Height:  6 feet

Style:  Prefers black paired with some darker and muted colors; slightly detailed and more fitted clothes

Piercings:  1 lobe piercing in each ear

Tattoos:  An upper quarter sleeve tattoo on his right arm of a dragon ouroboros, symbolizing his desire for self-sufficiency and renewal 

-Personality:  Stoic, quiet, sensitive, independent, fiercely protective of those he’s close to, tries to put up a strong front publicly but is softer to those who know him, very introverted (likes a lot of alone time; still likes to hang out with friends, he just needs a lot more time alone to “recharge”)

Good Traits/Habits:  He cares deeply for those close to him that have made it past the walls he’s put up. His emotions run deep, and he finds himself more easily empathetic to others’ problems. He is a great listener, always willing to lend a sympathetic ear to a friend in need, and will always try to offer whatever advice he can and help them fix the problem if possible. Those in his close-knit friend group know they can always depend on him to be there for them when they need him, and that he will always fiercely defend them if it comes down to it, as he doesn’t want to lose anyone close to him. So while he mostly shows his strong, independent side to the public, those close to him also know of his softer, more sympathetic side, especially those who have seen how protective and sweet he is with his much younger little half-sister. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  He has a hard time opening up to new people, and so can often seem cold or unapproachable to those who don’t know him. He spent a lot of his time alone as a child, so he had to be pretty self-reliant at an early age, since he was raised by a single mother until he was 8 and he never knew his father. His mom would often have to leave him alone so she could work long hours to be able to support the two of them, so he often didn’t have anyone to talk to or confide in growing up. Due to that, he still has a hard time showing his emotions to those who aren’t close to him, preferring to put up a strong front in public and keep his feelings to himself since he’s not used to sharing things that deep with other people and doesn’t want to appear weak. While more open now then he used to be, his band mates and friends still sometimes have to remind him that he can confide in them if he needs to when they can tell he has a problem that’s weighing him down. Also, as a very introverted person, he tends to not want to hang out and go to events nearly as much as his band mates and other friends do, so they often find themselves having to drag him out of his house to go to more parties and events.

-Role in Band:  Synth, Songwriter

-Additional Instruments He’s Able to Play:  Classical Piano, Keyboard

-How He Decided Which to Play:  His step-father is a classical piano teacher, so he took him to lessons with him as a way to bond when he first married his mother. He realized he liked it and became quite good, until he decided in high school that he wanted to play more modern music instead of classical, so he learned and switched to the keyboard. Then, in his senior year he went to a concert that had a synth player and was fascinated. Since the synth had a keyboard attached, he figured he could use his skills on the keyboard to help him start learning it, where he then realized he loved it.

-Nickname/Joke Name the Group Calls Him:  The “quiet one” of the group, sometimes jokingly referred to as an “edgelord”

-What Type of Drunk He Is:  He has a pretty high tolerance, but doesn’t like to go out and drink to excess that often. When he does get drunk, he turns into a philosophical drunk, trying to talk about serious and deep issues like the meaning of life and the universe with anyone nearby that he knows. 

-Goals/Motivation:  Just like the rest of the guys, his more immediate goal is for the band to continue to be successful worldwide. His motivation for that is creating meaningful music that can help his fans get through difficult times. He knows some of his favorite bands helped get him through some dark times growing up, and if he can do that for someone else, he’ll keep doing all he can to be able to continue to perform meaningful music with the band. His more long-term goal is finding a girl that he can trust and form a deep connection with. His motivation for that is from seeing how hard life was on his single mother, and how much happier she was after marrying his step-father. He wants to find someone he can trust so that what happened to his mother during his early childhood doesn’t happen to him, and so that he can be as happy as his mother now is, now that she’s found someone to love and trust. 

-Fears:  He has a fear of abandonment, fearing those close to him will become tired of him or feel burdened by him and leave him behind. This stemmed from his childhood spent alone watching his single mother work herself to the bone to take care of both of them, making him feel like a burden. When his mother married his step-father, he feared she would forget about him and want to focus on starting her new happy life with her husband, leaving him as part of an unwanted past. After his mother noticed his fears, she tried to reassure him that wasn’t the case and made sure he felt loved, which helped him get over most of his fear, but deep down he still fears that it’ll happen again with someone else he’s close to. 

-Nervous Habit:  He gets irritable and angry when nervous or worried. He’ll snap at people more, and his replies will get more curt and short. He’ll also run his hands through his hair a lot. 

-Best Friend/Which Member He Turns to When He Needs Someone:  Oli Jones. He knows Oli will always be ready to listen without judgment or pretense when he needs it, and will always do whatever he can to help. 

-Additional Fact:  He has a grand piano in his house that he likes to play to relax or when he has down time. He also owns and knows how to ride a motorcycle, and likes to ride around to relax or when he needs to get away to have time alone.

-Random Trivia: 

His favorite color is black, but blue is a close second.

He is right-handed.

He is a very light sleeper, and will wake up from most sounds, even the quiet ones. He has suffered from nightmares and insomnia since he was little, and although it's not as bad as it used to be, he still suffers from both occasionally.

His preferred sleeping position is either on his back or his side. He doesn't really prefer one over the other as he usually finds himself tossing and turning between them in his struggle to fall asleep.

Oli Jones

-Full Name:  Oliver Gabriel Jones

-Birthday/Age:  September 7th, 1995. Age is 23 at the start of this story.

-Hometown:  Born in Raleigh, North Carolina. Family moved to Los Angeles when he was 2 years old. 

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mostly a mix of Western European ancestry. The largest majorities are part Italian on his mother’s side, and part English and Welsh on his father’s side. 

-Parents:  Marisa Jones - Mother;  Derek Jones - Father

-Siblings:  Rosalie Jones - Older Sister by 4 years;  Dylan Jones - Younger Brother by 2 years

-Pets:  None currently. When he was 7 years old, his parents had gotten the family a male golden retriever dog named Cookie that died when he was 17 after having lived for 10 years. They couldn’t bring themselves to get another dog after Cookie’s death, and he still has not decided to get another pet after moving into his own place. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Medium-short, just past the tops of his ears in length, wavy, medium-brown. Tends to be a little messy.

Eyes:  Forest Green 

Skin tone:  Tan, olive

Build:  Lean 

Height:  5 feet, 10 inches

Style:  Prefers shades of brown and warmer colors; button-down shirts

Piercings:  None

Tattoos:  A stylized paw print tattoo of his childhood dog Cookie on his upper left arm close to the shoulder to honor his memory.

-Personality:  Kind, loyal, positive, giving, cheerful, slightly introverted (likes to hang out with friends, but also likes his alone time)

Good Traits/Habits:  He is one of the nicest people you could meet as well as a great friend, always willing to help out anyone who needs help, and always making sure he’s able to be there for his friends when they need it. He almost always seems to be smiling or happy when working or hanging out, often making others who are around him happier as well. He has a very positive and optimistic outlook, which really helps bring up the morale of the band when things might not seem great, or helps bring up the mood in general when his friends need a boost. He has a really giving heart, always trying to donate what he can and volunteer with various charities to help those that are less fortunate than him, especially now that he has a lot more money due to being part of a famous band. He’s always very involved in the charity functions the record label sets up for the band, and even donates to and volunteers in some other charities outside of what the band does when he has time. 

Bad Traits/Habits:  He can often give too much of himself away, spreading himself too thin and not taking good enough care of himself, as he gets too caught up in trying to take care of others. When his friends notice he’s doing this, they often have to drag him away from whatever he’s losing himself in and force him to focus on himself or take him out for some fun, just to get him to relax and focus on his own well-being. He also tends to be too soft on people, allowing himself to be a bit of a pushover, finding himself in situations he doesn’t want to be in because he couldn’t say no. He sometimes gets carried away and thinks too emotionally and not rationally enough about certain things, especially about those that pulled on his heartstrings like charities, which makes his band mates and friends have to pull him back and make him reconsider his thoughts and decisions more reasonably to make sure he’s not overbooking himself or falling for a scam. 

-Role in Band:  Bass, Backing Vocals, Songwriter

-Additional Instruments He’s Able to Play:  Acoustic guitar

-How He Decided Which to Play:  He started learning how to play the acoustic guitar in middle school when he asked his parents to take him for guitar lessons. In high school, he looked into learning the bass instead and realized he liked it more. 

-Nickname/Joke Name the Group Calls Him:  The “always optimistic one” of the group, sometimes jokingly referred to as a “bleeding heart”

-What Type of Drunk He Is:  He actually doesn’t like to get drunk that often, as he has a low tolerance, and he doesn’t like the feeling of losing control over yourself that happens when you’re drunk. He’s also a little embarrassed of the type of drunk he turns into, which is the emotional drunk. One moment he’ll be telling every friend he sees, “I love you, man!” while smiling with tears in his eyes, and in the next moment he’ll be upset and crying over the simplest things, like one time when he accidentally stepped on a friend’s foot and kept crying and saying, “I’m so sorry I hurt you!” even though his friend tried to assure him he was fine.

-Goals/Motivation:  Just like the rest of the guys, his more immediate goal is for the band to continue to be successful worldwide. His motivation for that is the fans, hearing from them how much the band’s songs and lyrics mean to them. He loves knowing that their music connects with and helps people, and loves that he can be a part of something that helps so many people. His more long-term goal is finding a nice girl that shares his cheerful outlook on life. His motivation for that is believing that if he finds someone with a similar outlook on life, they’ll be able to be compatible and happy together for many years to come. 

-Fears:  He fears that he will be so caught up trying to take care of one thing he cares about that he will forget to take care of other important people or things he cares for, which will make them think that he doesn’t care about them as much or find them worth his time. He often overcompensates by being there for and helping as many people as he has time for. He also feels guilty for suddenly having as much as he does, as far as wealth and fame, and fears people will think he’s ungrateful or doesn’t care about those less fortunate than him, so he tries to make up for it by donating to and volunteering with lots of charities.

-Nervous Habit:  He fidgets when he’s nervous or worried, constantly wringing his hands together or fiddling with his clothes or an item in his hands. 

-Best Friend/Which Member He Turns to When He Needs Someone:  Roland Beck. He knows Roland cares deeply about those close to him, and will always be ready to listen or help out when needed. Roland’s quiet but strong reassurance helps Oli put his head back on straight when he gets too lost in others and starts to lose himself. 

-Additional Fact:  He is quite good at drawing, and likes to do it in his spare time. He actually designed their first album cover himself. 

-Random Trivia: 

His favorite color is green; he also likes yellow.

He is right-handed.

He is slightly more of a light sleeper than a heavy sleeper, but is mostly average. He can usually sleep through most quiet sounds, but the louder noises outside and around the house usually wake him up.

His preferred sleeping position is on his stomach, with one arm on top of the pillow up around the back of his head.

Finn O’Donnell

-Full Name:  Finn Braiden O'Donnell

-Birthday/Age:  December 11th, 1996. Age is 22 at the start of this story.

-Hometown:  Born in Boston, Massachusetts. Family moved to Los Angeles when he was 5 years old. 

-Race & Family Heritage:  White. Mostly Irish ancestry on both sides, with a minority of English, Welsh, and other Western European ancestry. 

-Parents:  Siobhan O’Donnell - Mother;  Devin O’Donnell - Father

-Siblings:  Connor O’Donnell - Older Brother by 9 years;  Liam O’Donnell - Older Brother by 7 years;  Aileen O’Donnell - Older Sister by 5 years

-Pets:  None currently. His mother has a pet allergy, so they never could have any dogs or cats. They did keep fish when he was growing up, but he decided not to get any fish or other pets when he moved into his own place. 

-Physical Description:  

Hair:  Short, slightly above his ears in length, semi-curly, redhead. Styles it shorter on the sides, longer on the top.

Eyes:  Hazel. Specifically, browner around the pupil and more greenish around the edges.

Skin tone:  Very pale, slightly pinkish, light freckles across his nose and cheekbones

Build:  Skinny, thin

Height:  5 feet, 5 inches

Style:  Prefers shades of blue and cooler colors; graphic tees and hoodies

Piercings:  None

Tattoos:  None

-Personality:  Carefree, fun-loving, competitive, playful, funny, extroverted (likes to be around friends, mostly gets his energy by being around others but doesn’t mind some occasional alone time)

Good Traits/Habits:  He is a generally fun person to be around. He is funny, often cracking jokes and making games out of less exciting situations to make them more fun. He is carefree, always up to doing something fun, and doesn’t really care about what others think of him or let it affect him, as he just wants to have a good time in whatever he’s involved in. He can usually get most people to laugh at some point in a conversation with him, and most people enjoy his fun-loving personality. If he sees someone is down, he makes it his mission to get them to laugh, or at least make them feel better. He is always down for a fun competition between his band mates and friends to make things more fun, like “race you back to the bus” or “I bet you my slice of cake that I can sign more merch posters in an hour than you.” 

Bad Traits/Habits:  He doesn’t seem to take things seriously enough sometimes, especially when it’s a relatively serious topic. He feels uncomfortable in overly serious situations, so he’s always trying to make a joke out of everything. However, not everything can be fun or made into a joke, some things need to be considered seriously and with care. Sometimes people think he doesn’t consider that as often as he should, which irritates some and makes others think he is immature and a little naive. He also can get overly competitive, either in the form of constant small bets or competitions that his band mates and friends start to find excessive and irritating, or in the form of taking some competitions too seriously and becoming too focused on winning, which makes it less fun overall for the others involved. 

-Role in Band:  Drums, Songwriter

-Additional Instruments He’s Able to Play:  Various Percussion Instruments in School Band

-How He Decided Which to Play:  Played in his middle and high school’s bands as a percussionist. People would constantly find him drumming on everything all the time, and would joke that he should be a drummer when he grows up. He eventually realized that he actually liked that idea and made it his career.

-Nickname/Joke Name the Group Calls Him:  The “little brother” of the group, sometimes jokingly referred to as the “baby” of the group

-What Type of Drunk He Is:  He likes to go to parties or the bar/club with his friends semi-frequently and sometimes gets drunk. He turns into a fun drunk and hype man. He’ll be constantly laughing or doing something silly, and can also be found hanging around other drunks who are about to do stupid stunts, like trying to down a full drink in one go, and hyping them up and chanting for them to, “Yeah, do it! Do it!”  

-Goals/Motivation:  Just like the rest of the guys, his more immediate goal is for the band to continue to be successful worldwide. His motivation for that is how much fun it is to be a part of an international band, being able to have a blast playing music he loves for fans around the world. This is all he’s ever known he wanted to do with his life, and he’s so glad he has the opportunity to do it with some of the best band mates he could have asked for. His more long-term goal is finding a girl that can appreciate his humor but still be able to take him seriously, while also having the personality and attitude to help balance him out. His motivation for this is his parents’ relationship. At first glance they seem like opposites, but despite their differences, they’ve managed to stay happily in love his whole life, and helped to balance each other out with their differing attitudes and outlooks on life. 

-Fears:  He fears that people can’t take him seriously or think of him as a joke. This stems from multiple things, one being the fact that he’s always been the youngest one, like being quite a few years younger than his siblings, always being the youngest in his friend group due to his birthday being so late in the year, and now being the youngest in the band. Another reason is the fact that he tends to laugh and try to make jokes during serious situations, which he usually does automatically without thinking to help him feel more comfortable in those situations, but then worries it makes people not be able to take him seriously. Another reason is his insecurities over his short height, worrying how it’ll make people perceive him.

-Nervous Habit:  He has a nervous laugh that frequently comes out at inappropriate times when he’s nervous or worried. He also gets more jumpy. 

-Best Friend/Which Member He Turns to When He Needs Someone:  Josh Meyer. He feels like another older brother to Finn, one that will always look out for him and help him whenever needed. He knows he can always depend on Josh to be there for him and help boost his confidence when he gets too insecure about himself or how others perceive him. 

-Additional Fact:  He loves video games and played them often growing up. He actually began to play competitively in high school and even won a few tournaments.

-Random Trivia: 

His favorite color is blue; he also likes green.

He is left-handed.

He is a heavy sleeper, and can usually sleep through most sounds, except the very loud ones. However, unlike Kai, he doesn't accidentally sleep through his alarms, as his alarms usually wake him up with no problems.

His preferred sleeping position is on his stomach, with one arm tucked up underneath the pillow.

[elliewriteslove]

Important Information About My Story and How I Write

This story will be in the style of the preferences / imagines / reactions / scenarios / short story series that have been popular within various fandoms. However, mine will be using my Original Characters (OCs), partly because I feel like I don’t know enough about any one fandom to do a whole series on them accurately, but mostly because I feel I have more control over my own OCs. Also, I just really wanted to write this. 

It will feature my 5 boy OCs that are a part of my made-up band, and my 5 girl OCs that they will meet, fall in love with, get married to, and eventually start a family with. While I will write from the girls’ point of view in 2nd person and include 3rd person omniscient, I’ve decided to make the girls my own OCs and not do them in the style of “reader inserts,” for example using (Y/N) and the like, because I just don’t like how that looks in writing. I also feel like personally, it limits what I can do with my characters because I have to keep them vague on purpose. Since I’ll have my own girl OCs, I can make them as specific as I want - like with their personality, looks, and even their names - which I feel will help me connect with them better and will help me write better. Also, this is just the way I want to write it. This doesn’t mean that the reader can’t relate to or insert themselves into the character, it just means that it will be more similar to a book in this way. We’ve all been able to insert ourselves into characters in books and video games even though they have their own names, personalities, and physical descriptions, right?

Because I’m creating my own OCs, I’ve included a section for introductions and character bios. The bios will be a little longer than some due to the fact that this story will not be a regular, full length story and instead be in the style of short stories/scenarios, and also due to the fact that these are my own OCs and not an already established fandom, so I felt that they needed a fuller explanation beforehand so the reader could get a feel of who my characters are. So after some character and backstory introductory posts, it will be separated by series: Dating Series, Wedding Series, Pregnancy Series, Baby Series, Toddler Series, Second Pregnancy Series, Second Baby Series, and then maybe more after I post all those. I’ve made a masterlist for all my series and will update it as I write each post. Each post will be written with all 5 boys having their own sections in the same post, with each boy’s (and their paired girl’s) story being under their name, and always listed in order of the boys’ age from oldest to youngest. For example, the first post in the Dating Series will be called “How You Meet,” and it will include each boy’s story of how they meet the girls, with each couple’s story being separated under each boy’s name. I will not be including any photos or gifs, as I feel like they are their own people in my mind, and finding photos/gifs that match them for every scenario will be too difficult or won’t fit with my headcanon. Feel free to imagine how they look like in your heads, using my physical descriptions as a base! 

Also, I will not be writing any smut. Sorry, I just don’t feel comfortable going into that much detail about exactly how they’re having sex. When it’s relevant to the story, there will be casual references to when they have sex, but that’s it (kind of like when movies fade to black before it shows the sex scene). Sex between my characters and their significant others is implied, as it’s a natural part of most relationships, and they will all be having children later, I just won’t go into exactly what and how they do it. I’ll leave that up to your imagination. ;) 

Author’s Note:  In my story, the date it starts on is in late June 2019, unless specified as a different time like in a flashback or otherwise. Time will pass and they will all age as the story progresses. Also, all the boys’ stories coexist at the same time in the same universe, so for example, all the girls would have the opportunity to meet each other at some point once they start dating the boys. However, not every event for every boy will happen at exactly the same time in their timelines; it will be relatively close, just not exact. For example, some boys will get married or have children before others will. 

[elliewriteslove]

Hello!

So here it is! I’m finally ready to post the introductory posts as well as the first post in my story series! This story is a romance short story series in the style of the preferences / imagines / reactions / scenarios that have been popular on here. 

It features my own OCs in a rock band and their adventures finding love. After some character and backstory introductory posts, it will be separated by series: Dating Series, Wedding Series, Pregnancy Series, Baby Series, Toddler Series, Second Pregnancy Series, Second Baby Series, and then maybe more after I post all those. 

I have created a Masterlist for all my series as well, that I will update as I write the posts. The link is also at the top of my page.

I also posted this to my Wattpad here.