'You Were Meant For Me'

Chapter 16: First Date

~*Amanda's Point Of View*~

I was nervous as all get out, sitting and waiting for Ashley to pick me up. He was going to be there in 5 minutes. I was bouncing my knee like there was no tomorrow. Stephanie had been a great help. She had helped to pick something to wear and helped me do my make-up. She left about ten minutes ago though.

After going through my entire wardrobe we had finally decided on my tight, black, velvet, spaghetti strap dress. It came down to about mid-thigh and had a three-inch slit on each side. It had a square neck that didn't show much cleavage, just enough to tease him. I also had on strappy black heels.

I decided not to wear a lot of make-up. I had shimmering white eyeshadow on my eyes. I had black eyeliner lining my eyes on the bottom and mascara to highlight my long eyelashes. I was also wearing strawberry flavored lip gloss that had the slightest red tint to it.

The doorbell rang and I jumped up from the couch, running to answer the door. I couldn't understand why I was so nervous, I mean it was just Ashley. Just Ashley, that was an understatement. Ashley was everything to me. Not to mention that this was our first official date. I peeked through the peephole and saw that it was Ashley. I smiled to myself and bit my lip. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and then I opened the door.

"Wow." Ashley said.

"You don't look so bad yourself." I said, giving him a warm smile and a kiss on the lips. He looked amazing in a pair of loose black slacks and a silk, burgundy dress shirt.

"Mmm. You taste good." Ashley said licking his lips. "Like strawberries. Oh, and this is for you." He said handing me two long stem roses. One was white and one was red.

"The white one represents friendship and the red one represents love."

" Thank you. That's so sweet." I said giving him another small kiss. He took my hand in his while I grabbed my purse. I closed the door behind us and turned around to lock it. After I made sure that the door was lock I put my key in my purse.

Ashley and I walked over to the elevator. When the doors opened we stepped inside and pressed the button to go down. Once we were downstairs we went out through the lobby doors and over to his silver eclipse. All of the guys had bought a car when they got to LA.

The drive to the restaurant was relatively short and filled with a comfortable silence. Ashley parked the car and before I could even put my hand on the handle to open it he had opened it for me and had his hand extended, offering me assistance.

"Thank You" I said, taking his hand. I stepped out of the car, my purse on my shoulder; the two roses left on my seat, and closed the door behind me. Still, holding my hand, Ashley and I walked into the restaurant together. He had taken me to a small Italian restaurant.

"I know that your favorite type of food is Italian and they have the best food in the world here so I thought that it would be a good place to bring you." He said as the waiter took us to our table.

"I love it." I said as he pulled out my chair for me. He then went around to the other side of the small table and sat down. The waiter handed us our menus.

" Would you like a bottle of wine to start of your evening?" The waiter asked.

" Do you want wine?" Ashley asked, looking at me.

" No, but could I have a glass of sangria?"

"You can have anything that you want."

"No wine, but we would like to order a pitcher of Sangria." Ashley said, turning to the waiter. The waiter nodded his head and left.

" So what do think you’re going to have?" I asked, setting my menu down on the table.

" I think I’m going to get the chicken parmasena. What are you going to have?"

" I think I'm going to get the spaghetti and shrimp."

" That sounds good."

" My mom learned how to make it during my senior year and she made it at least once a week. It was good though, so I didn’t mind."

" That sounds like something your mom would do." Ashley replied.

" So, how has your family been? Are they excited that you're going to be coming home next week?"

"Yeah, they can't wait. They're really excited about getting to see you too. I mean, it's been four, almost five years since the last time that they saw you."

"I know, wow, I can't believe that it’s been that long since the last time I was in Redding."

" I know. You could've come to visit you know."

" I know. I'm still not sure why I didn't. I think it was mainly due to the fact that both of us were really busy in high school. Then afterwards, you went straight to Orlando and I was off doing the college thing. It just got hard to find time."

" What was Valhalla like? Like, how was it to finish school at a different High school in a different city?"

" Valhalla was cool. I missed Redding so much, but I still managed to have a good Junior and senior year. Jake and Janie were already seniors when I started at Valhalla, but the age difference never bothered them. The three of us were like the three musketeers that year. When I first met them, Janie and Jake were a couple. You and I were still dating at the time too. They actually broke it off around the same time you and I did. I still think that that's part of the reason that Jake and I got together. He was always really understanding. When I was upset because if something that had happened between you and me or if I was just really homesick, no matter what it was, he was there for me. He was my shoulder to cry on. Janie got really mad at me one time though. She said that I was stealing Jake away from her. She was one of my only girl friends at the time and I didn't want to lose her, so I broke up with Jake. Jacob got really mad at her for that and before you knew it, Jake and I were back together. The three of us were just like that though. It was actually kind of funny, because he would break up with her and date me and then we would break up and he would date Janie. It was hard to graduate without you though. I mean, we always planned on graduating together, and then we couldn't. I really hated that."

" I know. It was so weird to not have you there at graduation. I actually looked for you when I went up to receive my diploma. Shelli was there though, and that helped. I know that my relationship with her came to a bitter ending, but when we first started dating she was really sweet. She was understanding and she kept my mind off missing you. She was a lot of fun to be around. Then I got into O-town and everything went on a downward spiral."

"I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be. If I were still together with her then you and I wouldn't be together." I smiled at him. He was such a sweetie. Shortly after that our food came.

~*Ashley's Point Of View*~

We ate the rest of our meal in a comfortable silence, only talking every now and then. Both of us were full from dinner and decided not to get dessert.

"Well, are you ready to go?" I asked after I had paid the bill. She nodded so I got up from my chair and went around the table so that I could pull hers out for her. She smiled at me and took my hand. She grabbed her purse and we left the restaurant.

" Are you tired yet?" I asked once we were in the car.

"No." she replied, shaking her head. I pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards the park. Once we were there I got out of the car and went around to open her door. She took my hand in hers and stepped out of the car, instantly beginning to shiver.

" Here, take my jacket." I said, offering her my jacket, which had previously been in the car. She gave me a grateful smile as I put the jacket on her shoulders.

I took her hand in mine again and lead her into the park. We walked in silence until we came to a small lake just through a clearing in the trees, near the back of the park.

" Wow. It's so beautiful back here."

" I know. I love to just come here and think, or to write songs." I said as we walked over to a bench on the other side of the lake. Once we were sitting down I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to me. I held her hand with my other hand and she rested her head on my shoulder.

~*Amanda's Point Of View*~

Instead of going home right after dinner, Ashley took me to a park. We walked to the back of the park where there was a small lake. It was so beautiful and so romantic. There was a full moon that night and it was casting the most beautiful glow on the lake. We sat down on a bench, which was on the other side of the lake. He put his arm around my shoulders and held my hand in his other hand while I rested my head on his shoulders.

" I love you." I whispered to him after we had been sitting there for a few minutes.

" I love you too." He whispered back, kissing the top of my head.

'I don't wanna miss one smile/ I don't wanna miss one kiss/I just wanna be with you/Right here with you just like this/ I just wanna hold you close/ feel your heart so close to mine/ and just stay here in this moment/ for all the rest of time' I heard his hushed voice singing in my ear. I was nearly in tears from his singing. I tilted my head up so I could kiss him.

When we finally pulled apart I stood up, his hand still in mine and started walking to his car.

"Why'd you want to go back to the car?" He asked once we were there.

" I want to go back to my apartment." I said opening the door and getting in. He got in shortly after and started the car.

He pulled in to the parking lot of my apartment complex about ten minutes later. We both got out of the car and he took my hand in his once I came around to front of the car. He made sure the car was locked and then headed towards my building. I still had the two roses that he had given to me earlier in my hand.

Once we reached my door I took the key out of my purse and opened the door. I took the roses to the kitchen to put them in water while he went up to my room.

After I made sure that the roses were in water I took off my shoes and put them in the shoe closet by the downstairs bathroom. I left his jacket on the back of my couch and then went up to my room.

I saw him standing in front of my stereo and heard 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' coming through the stereo a few minutes later.

I walked over to him and put my arms around his waist from behind. He turned around and brought my arms up so that they were wrapped around his neck. Then he brought his own arms down so that they were around my waist.

"I love you so much." He whispered. Putting his forehead against mine.

" I love you too." I whispered right before kissing him.

Home

Chapter 17- You Were Meant For Me

Chapters