I stood in the hallway, the only guy there. Miss Anderson had the kids lined up in the hallway, each holding their favorite zoo animal. The boys all had tigers, lions, snakes, the normal deadly stuff that boys were into. The girls chose horses, pandas, a few had kittens. And there was Sadie, smack dab in the middle. Holding a cutout of a unicorn. Granted, it was the same horse shaped cutout as the others, but Sadie’s had a paper towel tube attached to its head.

A freaking unicorn.

I smiled and nodded, watching as Emily gave a quick speech on their adventures to the zoo in the classroom. The books they read. The information they learned.

It was cool when the center did stuff like this.

Miss Anderson then announced that everyone was free to go. The kids hurried into a crazy shuffle, darting into the room to get their stuff and get back out to their parents.

Every kid except mine.

I waited and waited but Sadie never appeared again.

I crept toward the door and peeked into the room.

She was sitting at her desk.

I snuck into the room and pssst’ed her.

She looked at me.

Tears in her little eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Unicorns aren’t real, Daddy,” she said. “And I chose a unicorn. I should have just done a horse like the other girls.”

“Why?”

“The boys made fun of me.”

“Boys are jerks, Sadie.”

“You’re a boy.”

“I’m a jerk,” I said with a grin.

“Daddy…”

“Do you believe in unicorns?” I asked her.

“Yes,” Sadie said.

“That’s all that matters. You trust in what you believe. Nothing else matters.”

“Okay.”

“Plus, those horses were boring. Your unicorn looks amazing. We have to hang it up at home. So why don’t we get to Lisa’s so I can finish my work and then we’ll hang it up tonight, okay?”

“Okay,” Sadie said.

She finally stood and walked with me from the classroom.

“So how was your date with Bobby?” I heard a voice ask.

I looked over and saw Miss Anderson and Emily in the storage room putting supplies away.

So I stood there.

“It wasn’t a date,” Emily said.

“Well, to me it was. He said it went well.”

“It lasted all of five minutes. I walked away.”

“Why?”

“Julie, I’m not… I don’t know what I’m not, okay?”

“You shouldn’t be worried about seeing someone,” Miss Anderson said.

I nodded.

Emily had a date?

All that touchy flirty shit with me? What was that?

“Daddy, can we go?” Sadie said.

Emily looked at me, eyes wide. “Jake?”

“Just leaving,” I said without looking back.

I was being a jerk - a boy - but that was fine. I had things to do. I wasn’t going to stand around and hear about Emily fucking dating someone.

I took Sadie to the babysitter’s and went back to the garage.

I worked aimlessly, my mind scattered in a million places.

Finally, I threw a towel to the table and let out a sigh.

“What’s got you, Jake?” Mickey asked, a cigarette bouncing between his lips.

“Thinking about shit,” I said. “That thing about dating. What you said.”

“You’re a smart guy, you can figure it out,” Mickey said.

“Hey, if you need a date,” Paul said, appearing from nowhere, “my girlfriend’s one friend is single. She’s pretty. You might like her. Here, look at her picture.”

In seconds, Paul had a picture of a woman pulled up. He shoved his phone in my face.

Was that dating these days? Everything just so instant? People were so exposed.

It was hard to imagine what it was like before…

(I’m going to talk to her. Christ. If I don’t talk to her, it’ll be the biggest mistake of my life.

My mind is racing like my heart.

I bail on my buddies as they talk about how to lower an engine into a car. I didn’t give a fuck about engines, cars, anything in that moment.

She was a dream.

She opened the door and the wind blew her hair back.

Jeans, a black t-shirt, nothing written on it, everything mixed up in this wild beauty that stole my attention before I could get a hold of myself.

The way she stood at the counter and ran her hand through her hair, moving it to one side. Her right leg slightly bent.

I drop my slice of pizza and walk right to her. I have no clue what the fuck to say or do. Somewhere inside me I see myself just grabbing and kissing her. She’d probably smack me, call the cops, and I’d get put in jail.

Worth it.

I walk to the counter and lean against it.

Two pizza boxes are placed in front of her.

I watch as she touches her pocket and a look of terror spreads across her face.

The guy gives her the total and she stands frozen.

“You forgot your money, didn’t you?” I whisper.

Those would forever be the first words from me to her.

She looks at me. Her mouth opens, ready to spew fire. But she says nothing. Her eyes goes wide. There’s a flicker in her eyes.

Holy fucking shit. This is happening.

That spark…

“I forgot my money,” she says. “I was in a hurry. Helping a friend move.”

I reach into my back pocket. I take out the cash that’s meant for engine parts. I’ll take hell from my boss, Mickey, later about it.

“No way,” she says.

She touches my wrist.

My heart explodes.

“Make it up to me,” I whisper. “I’ll need to see you again. So you could pay me back. Right?”

She smiles.

Fuck, what a smile.

“Right,” she says.

It all feels too easy. Like it’s meant to be.

Fuck that.

It is meant to be.

I’m going to see her again.

I’m going to get that first kiss. And many other firsts…)

“What do you think?” Paul asked. “She’s pretty, right? She’s a nice person. Has her own apartment. Works at a hair salon. Doesn’t have any drama baggage with her. I mean…”

I gave Paul the phone back.

I thought about it for a second.

“Okay,” I said. “Set things up… I’ll go out on a date with her.”