As promised Adam called and made plans with me for lunch. We decided on a pizza parlor in the city and he volunteered to borrow his brother's car to drive us.

I'm putting away my straightening iron when Ben calls.

"Hey! What are you up to?" He asks.

I close my eyes in disbelief and then say, "I might be going on a date."

I tell him of my conversation with Adam from last night and then we end up analyzing the words and decide that this definitely counts as a date.

"How was dinner with Claire?" I ask, once we're done discussing my upcoming date.

"It was okay. She spent more time bitching about girls on her Instagram than actually talking to me about us." I hear Ben sigh.

"That's just Claire." I remind him and I'm not too surprised to hear him say, "I really wish it wasn't."

"Just give her another chance and then make your decision based on that. I know you're not happy with her." I say as I finish applying lipstick.

"Of course you do, I've complained about us every time I've gone out with her." This makes me laugh and I encourage him to give her one more shot and be more open with her this time before deciding on whether he wants to continue a relationship with her.

He agrees and I disconnect the call to find a message from Adam waiting for me. He'll pick me up in ten minutes. I finish with my makeup and give myself a final glance in the mirror before heading down to the lobby.

To my surprise Adam is already there waiting for me.

"Hey! You didn't have to come in." I say I walk up to him.

"Basic etiquette for a first date." He shrugs and then realization dawns on his face as he watches me, "We're considering this a date?"

"I guess." I shrug, suddenly feeling shy and when he smiles and nods, I heave a sigh of relief before walking out of the building with him.

Adam is taking the 'first date etiquettes' to heart as he even holds the car door open for me and then when we arrive at the pizza parlor he again opens it for me.

The inside of the pizza place is bustling with activity from Sunday lunchtime. We're given a table to one side of the room, next to the huge window that looks out onto the street. Since it is self-order, we decide on our orders, pepperoni pizza for Adam and Mushroom and Olives for me.

While Adam is at the order station, placing the order, I get a call from mom.

"Hey mom." I say, attending the call.

"Hi Bunny. How was your first week?" She asks.

"It was fun. Experienced quite a lot in just a few days." I tell her and briefly explain to her the frat party from last night and my current situation.

"You're on a date?" Mom confirms.

"She's on a what?" I hear dad say in the background.

I smile and shake my head as I look out the window, "Yes and its lunch in broad day light."

Just then I spot Adam walking back to the table, so I hastily say to mom, "I'm going to call you back tonight."

"I'll be waiting." She tells me and I say goodbye as he sits back down across from me.

"How long will the order take?" I ask him.

"Twenty five minutes." He informs me.

"How are you liking the course so far?" I ask him after a moment.

"It's really interesting. I'm definitely taking up Economics as my major in college." He says with great enthusiasm, making me smile.

"So, where does your interest in Architecture come from?" He asks me.

"My mom's an architect." I start and he nods, "Of course, Emma Aaron."

"Yeah." I trail off and then continue, "I've gotten to travel all over the world because of my parents and I find it really intriguing how a basic building can defer from culture to culture. Especially the materials used."

Adam is watching me so I just shrug to finish my line of thought, "It's an interest I've developed over years."

"That's actually really fascinating to hear. You genuinely sound intrigued by the subject." He tilts his head to one side as he looks at me.

"I do love architecture." I nod.

We talk more about Rushmore Academy, his old school in New York, his friends back there and he tells me more about his interest in Economics. A server brings us our order and we dig in talking more, getting to know each other.

Leave lots of comments please! Tell me what you think of the story ❤️

-T