Having my dad be the one to drop me off at the mall is the most uncomfortable thing I've ever experienced. Before Fairview, he would drive Nadine and me around all the time, but he always knew the places I was going to and the people I was going with. Fairview doesn't even have a movie theatre, so he's driving me all the way to Meadow Green, which is still only a slightly bigger town than Fairview. At least it has a movie theatre.

Rosie took charge of planning tonight, one hundred percent. All I know is when and where to meet everyone, even where to park so I can find them inside a mall I’ve never been too before.

I’m texting with everyone else the whole ride there, but as we pull into the mall, it seems like absolutely everyone is running late.

"So you're sure you have a ride home?" My dad asks, keeping the car in neutral as he stares me down again.

"I should be fine. I'm sure someone else will drive me back so you don't have to go both ways."

"Well either way, I'm just going to pop over to the hardware store across the street for about half an hour. If for some reason, you want to go home in the next little while, just give me a call. Even if you want to go home midway through the night, let me know and I'll be here."

I give him a look, trying to reassure him that he's overreacting. I still appreciate the gesture. "Thanks, Dad. I'll keep that in mind."

I hop out of the car and try to keep my head tilted down, away from the falling snowflakes until I slipped inside the building. The movie theatre is the central point of this small mall, but we're meeting at the food court first to grab something to eat and buy cheaper candy to smuggle inside our purses.

Reagan: I'm here. Anyone else?

Kent: Five minutes.

No one else answers, which probably means they’ve already been distracted by shopping. Either that, or they’re just rushing out the door, meaning Kent and I will be the first ones here.

I find the burger joint where we said we'd meet and sit down to wait, wishing someone else had already been there waiting for me. Still, Kent and I might get a few minutes alone together… and I’m not as nervous as I should be. A few minutes at a time, I can do. My phone rings, startling me a little. "Hello?"

"Hey Reagan, it's Rosie. So, bad news. Kind of. I'm not going to be able to make it, and since my mom was Jen and Frank's ride, they’re out to.”

“Sorry what?”

“Things just kind of fell apart. I’m really sorry.” Something in the tone of her voice makes it sound like she doesn't feel bad about any of this. How had they not mentioned they were all carpooling before this?

"So, it’s just you and Kent tonight. Totally didn’t do this on purpose or anything. Good luck." She hangs up the phone before I have any chance to respond.

Oh.

It becomes perfectly obvious just what this is. Kent and I have been set up. Now it’s just the two of us, alone in a different town going to the movies together. My heart thuds against my ribcage, but I don’t have time to panic because I see Kent coming from the opposite end of the food court. I wave him over pathetically as butterflies assault my gut.

"Where’s everyone else?" he asks.

I’m guessing he didn’t get that same fortuitous phone call I did. Now I get to wait and see what his reaction is, hoping it’s not sheer panic because this is about to get either all kinds of exciting or mortifying very quickly. "They’re not coming. Rosie just called, none of them can make it."

Kent’s mouth drops in surprise but soon the expression turns into a grimace. I don’t know how much to tell him. I’m sure that Rosie did this on purpose so Kent and I would be alone together. I don’t know if she did this because of anything she’d seen from him. She caught me looking at Kent more than once. Would she have pulled something like this based on that alone, or does she know something about Kent’s feelings that I don’t?

Or she’s telling the truth. And I’m officially in way over my head.

God, this is terrifying. Also, kind of wonderful.

I’m desperate to text my sisters and let them know the situation I’ve fallen into, but now Kent is here, he’s looking at me and we’re the only ones here to keep this conversation going.

"Well we’re here, so I guess we should see the movie?" My eyes search his for any sign that he’s uncomfortable. But I’m too nervous to make sense of anything right now. At least Rosie picked the latest fantasy blockbuster for all of us to go see, so it’s something I’m interested in either way. Not that I’ll be able to focus all that hard on it with Kent sitting right beside me.

"Sounds good. But I’m starving. If you’re okay with it, I’ll go grab us some burgers. My treat." Kent smiles shyly and my heart just about explodes. All I can do is nod along and put in a request for no pickles.

As soon as Kent leaves the table, I whip out my phone and start a new text to Reece.

Reagan: Help! This whole going to the movies thing was just a set up. Everyone else bailed, so now it’s just Kent and me. What am I supposed to do or say? I don’t know if he feels okay about this whole thing. I’m not even sure he realizes what this whole thing is supposed to be and I’m not about to tell him. I literally have no idea what to do next. He’s getting food, then we’re going to see the movie.

I stare at my phone, willing my sister to respond for the entire time Kent stands in line, gives and gets our order, and then makes his way back to the table. Nothing. Apparently, today’s the day that Reece decides she doesn’t need to be on her phone at all times. Meaning, she’s absolutely no help to me.

I pocket my cell as Kent slides the tray across our table. "Fries okay?" he asks.

"You can never go wrong with French fries." I grab one and take a bite, not sure what if anything I’m doing could be construed as flirting. I want to be flirting, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. More likely, I’m seconds away from doing something embarrassing that’ll have Kent screaming and running from the building.

We eat in silence for a few minutes, Kent looks up at me from his food every few seconds but never speaking. Since I haven’t come up with anything all that great to say either, I can’t fault him for not talking. This is my chance, and I’m in the process of blowing it.

I open my mouth to ask him something about drama class, trying to find common ground, but Kent speaks first. "I’m really sorry about this."

"You’re sorry? About what?" I try to read his face to guess what he is about to say, but I can’t think over the sound of my pulse in my ears.

"About Rosie. I should have seen this coming. She’s tried this stuff before, it never ends well but she keeps going, determined to be some kind of matchmaker or something."

I stop chewing. I stop eating. So he does know what this is. "You got nothing to apologize for. You didn’t do it."

"I guess." Kent takes a long breath and then locks his eyes on mine. "I’m pretty sure she did it for me though, thinking she was doing me some kind of favor."

I can feel a smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, but I refuse to let it loose. What does that mean, Kent? Be specific! "Oh. Well, don’t worry about it. I wanted to see this movie anyway." I do my best to brush the whole thing off, to hopefully make him feel less uncomfortable. I’m realizing that it’s now or never. Either I can laugh this whole thing off like it’s no big deal, or I can make even a tiny confession of my own. "I don’t mind that it’s just us."

Okay, so that was pathetic, but it was something. Now Kent is the one studying me, and I wish I could give him more to go on. I could have been less pathetic if I’d had some kind of warning I was about to go on my first date ever. I have absolutely no experience in any of this, the one dating expert in my life has probably forgotten her phone in the bathroom, and won’t find it again for three hours.

So I guess I’m on my own. Except, I’m with Kent. I’m on my own with Kent. My brain is not processing this information right now. I consider slipping away, saying I have to go to the bathroom and either calling Reece or texting Nadine, but I’ll save that plan for an actual emergency. So far, things are just a little awkward but not bad. When Reece went on her first date last year, though my parents refused to call it that, she said she and Andrew whatever his last name was, barely spoke the whole time. Apparently, it was super awkward, but she had so much fun anyway. I’m willing to ride out a bit of awkwardness to see where this goes. If nothing else, it’s possible Kent just confessed that he likes me. Or at least that Rosie thinks he likes me.

I take a big bite out of my burger and chew to give myself time. What are we supposed to be talking about? As I’m eating, I feel a gentle nudge against the side of my foot. Every muscle in my body freezes in place as I try to piece together what just happened. I’m pretty sure that Kent’s foot is now leaning against mine ever so slightly.

I look over at him but he’s pointedly looking away, giving me a great chance to admire from up close, seeing just how cute he is. He’s wearing a blue plaid, button down shirt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him wear at school. Did he dress up? His hair on the other hand, looks about the same as it always does, curly but controlled.

Kent looks over and catches me staring. At first, he looks away. But a moment later his eyes are back on mine, and we are both grinning like idiots. Very happy idiots.

I’m on a date with a guy I actually like. How is this my life? All at once, the whole idea of moving to Fairview feels like the best thing that ever happened to me.

"So where does your dad live?" I ask, because it’s the only thing I can think of. My mind has gotten stuck on his quick visit to our house after Thanksgiving. In this moment, it’s looking a lot more like there was a reason beyond just being polite for him to stop by that day.

"The absolute middle of nowhere. He and my step-mom have this kind of farm, a couple of hours from here. They don’t actually farm anything. It’s just all about growing their own food, keeping free range chickens and basically living in their own little bubble."

"Please tell me they have a stable Internet connection," I joke. "Because I don’t care how much space they have, without being able to get online, I don’t think I’d be able to manage."

"It’s not good, but it’s functional. It took forever for them to get any Internet at all, so I’m not willing to complain. Yet."

"How long your parents been divorced?" I’m not sure if that’s too heavy a question to ask, but it seems like a natural lead-in from our conversation.

"Four years. Five now I guess. I was ten when it happened." He doesn’t elaborate, and I don’t ask any more questions. It’s possible that failed relationships weren’t the right conversation route to take, but I want to know everything about him. My instinct is to just ask every question that pops into my head even though they aren’t remotely related. What is his favorite class at school? What’s his favorite movie? Does he have any brothers or sisters? I want to know it all.

Before I can ask anything at all, my phone rings letting loose with the theme song to Doctor Who. "Oh, that’s me. Sorry." I grab it from my pocket and stand up, taking a few steps away before I answer since I’m fully expecting to hear Reece’s voice shrieking at me from the other end of the line as soon as I answer. Instead it’s my dad.

"Reagan, honey. Are you there?"

"Yeah, Dad. I’m fine. You can go home. I promise." Has it been forty minutes already? Hard to believe how quickly all of this is flying by. Kent and I should probably make our way over to the movie theatre soon, since the showing we were aiming for starts at seven-thirty. Which means soon it will be just Kent and me alone in a movie theatre.

I wonder if he’ll try to hold my hand.

"Any chance Rhiannon told you where she was going to be today? Your mom can’t find her."