My phone pings at twelve o’clock the next day, I look down at my phone to see a message from Hazel.

HAZEL: I’m outside.

JASON: Coming out now!

I grab my phone and keys from my desk and run downstairs.

“Going somewhere, sweetie?” My grandmother asks.

“Yeah, I'll be back before dinner!” I yell before slamming the door behind me. Hazel's car is in the driveway. I nervously try to fix up my hair as I walk over.

I hear the sound of her car unlocking as I approach the door. I go inside and try my best to stay calm. “Wow you're even more beautiful in person.” I stammered on my words.

 “Thank you.” She blushes. “I'm glad we're finally meeting in person. Where do you wanna go?”

“There's a theater not too far from here, not sure what movies are out though.”

“Sure we can decide when we get there.” She puts the car in drive and pulls out of the driveway.

…

We go inside the theater and scroll through the long list of movies but nothing looks particularly good. “None of these look good.” I look down at her. “Does anything pique your interest?”

“You can never go wrong with a horror movie.”

I scroll back up to the top. “There's one out right now but I’ve never heard of it. Have you?”

“No but nothing else looks better so let's just give it a try.” 

“Ok,” I say before ordering two tickets for the movie. “Wanna get popcorn or candy?”

“Yeah let's get popcorn, I'm not a big sweet person.” 

We walk over to the snack stand but the line is out the door. “This line is gonna take forever.” I let out a sigh. “All the good seats will be taken by the time I get to the front. Wanna go get us seats while I wait for the popcorn?”

“Yeah, I’ll look for some near the back.”

“OK, what do you want to drink?”

‘“Lemonade if they have it!”

“Ok, I’ll be there soon.”

I wasn't there soon. Twenty minutes had passed before I was able to order. Luckily it doesn't take me that long to find her in the theater.

“You’re back just in time, the movie is just about to start.” She whispers.

“Yeah it took me longer than I thought it would-” I'm cut off by the lights dimming, and the movie starts.

The movie was bad, to say the least, but to be fair I didn't pay much attention to the movie. I was busy looking at her facial reactions, they were adorable. Every time a jump scare would come on she'd cling to my arm then get nervous once she realized she touched me and start to blush.

We didn't have much time to hang out after the movie but we talked the entire way home and laughed about how bad the movie was, and we agreed to FaceTime once she got home. As I sat in my grandparents living room, I couldn’t help but realize it. I had fallen for Hazel.