For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream - Vincent Van Gogh


I was sitting on my couch, writing up mine and Zoe's lesson plans for the week while American Horror Story played in the background from Netflix. Nothing like planning a week's worth of classes for 5th and 6th graders while watching one of the scariest television shows ever on a Sunday afternoon!
I began tapping my pen on my lip, trying to figure out something fun for my history class when my phone buzzed.

I picked it up without looking at it and brought it up to my face, confused at the unknown number, but grinning when I saw the message.

From: 972-555-0118
Still bummed that I missed ur karaoke performance last night...

I laughed when I read it, and quickly typed in a response.

Ummmm, who is this? My creepy next table over stalker??

His reply came quickly.

wow! is that how I'm remembered?

Obviously!

I’m offended deeply.

I highly doubt that!

Nah, ur right. What are u doing?

I chuckled and shook my head, typing in my reply.

Doing some lesson plan for my classes. You?

Sitting with ty, so nothing special lol. Have u eaten yet?

Not yet, I was probably gonna grab some take out or something.

we should get something!

I grinned and bit my lip, hesitating for only a second. I decided to go for not. No harm, ya know?

That would be great! Let me know the details!

send me ur address and i'll get you at 7pm.

I smiled and typed the address of my apartment to him, he told me he'd text when he was there and that was that. I let out a small squeal while I smiled and hopped off the couch, to hurry to my room. It was just hitting 5:15pm and I needed to shower and wash my hair because it was gross thanks to the Texas heat.

I stripped down and jumped quickly into the shower, washing my body and hair as quick as I could. I got out a tried myself off with one of the towels and then wrapped my hair up as I tossed on some sweat pants and a tank top. I did my makeup as best as I could. Praying that some of the thousands of makeup tutorials that I watched on YouTube would help me at the moment.

I finished my makeup at 6pm and let my hair down, quickly blow-drying it and making some beachy waves with my straightener.

I looked in the mirror and shrugged, semi-satisfied. As good as it'll get for me.

I went to my bedroom and stripped down once again, and went through my closet deciding on a pair of black skinny jeans, a black tank top with a black lace top over top that had a white collar, and black wedge sandals.

I was just clasping my necklace together when my phone went off, and went over to it and saw that it was from Jamie and he was downstairs.

I smiled and grabbed my purse; I locked the door behind me and went down to meet him.

He was standing outside of his Range Rover when I was leaving the building, I saw him smiled when he saw me and he walked to meet me halfway.

"Hey," he said.

I waved lamely, "Hey back," I said with a smile.

He laughed and pulled me into a hug, I was shocked and responded to it after a few seconds, slowly bringing my arms around his waist and patting him weakly on the back.

"Sorry," he said as he pulled away, small smile on his face, "too much?" he asked as he led me to his car.

I laughed a little and shrugged, "Unexpected," I said casually, as he opened the passenger door for me. I slid in quickly and closed it while he went to the driver's side.

He laughed as he started the car and buckled up, "Sorry, I felt the urge to do that."

I smiled over at him as he started driving, "I'm not saying I minded it," I said looking away.

I looked over as we stopped at a red light and saw him looking at me with a smile, "So where do pro-hockey players eat?" I asked teasingly.

He started driving and chuckled, "Well, I was thinking one of the steakhouses downtown?"

"I've never been to one," I mused.

"Shit," he said quickly, "Do you like steak? I mean, they have other stuff too," he said.

I laughed and patted his arm that was resting on the middle console, "Don’t worry, Benny," I said, smiling as he laughed at the name, "I eat basically all of the foods."

"Oh God, Benny is a terrible nickname," he told me with a laugh.

I laughed loudly, "Well, that's good because then I know that no one else will call you that."

"You'll be the only one that will call me that, because I'd probably kick them in the face," he said.

I grinned and shook my head, "You're weirder then I ever thought you would be."

"In a good way?" he asked curiously.

I smiled, and continued to look outside, "We'll see," I said.

He pulled into a parking lot and parked, I undid my seatbelt but Jamie stayed in place, "You okay?" I asked him.

He sighed and leaned his head back on his headrest, "I just...I hope you don't think I was too forward. Asking you for dinner and whatnot."

I smiled and shook my head, "Really? That's something you're concerned about?"

He smiled and looked over at me, "Yeah, well, I don't want you think I'm a creep or something."

"Well," I started and smiled, "I always figured you were," I said with a wink before getting out of the car, not before I heard him laughing.

I closed the door behind me and waited for him to get out, he came around to my side and smiled down at me, "I like you," he said, almost accusingly.

"Same," I said with a small laugh.

He led me into the restaurant, and he whispered to the man that was at the front and he left us alone for a few seconds before he came back with another guy. The manager according to his nametag.

"Hey, Jamie," he said, smiling, while reaching for Jamie's hand to shake.

Jamie smiled back and shook his hand, "Hey, Nicky. This is my friend, Josie," he said motioning to me.

Nicky let go of Jamie's hand and shook mine, "Nice to meet you."

I smiled, "You too."

Nicky sighed when he let go of my hand, "Alrighty, so dinner?" he asked, before turning and walking away from us.

Jamie put a hand to the small of my back and pushed me gently to follow him. I liked the way his hand felt there, I couldn't lie.

We were led into the back of the dining room in a corner where no one was around us. Privacy for Jamie I could only imagine.

Nicky came to my side and was about to pull out my chair but Jamie came over quickly, "I got it," he told Nicky with a small smile.

Nicky smiled back and nodded once, "Sure, man. So, your server will be here soon! If you need anything let me know! I'll see y'all in a bit!" and with that, he left us.

Jamie took a seat on the other side of the table and smiled at me, which I returned. Our waiter came over and took our drink order, and left us with our menus.

"So," I started, as I skimmed though the menu, "why did you decided to ask a random girl out for dinner?" I asked with a small smile as I looked through the steak options.

He began coughing and I looked over my menu at him, seeing his bright red face and eyes wide. I smirked and continued to look down at the menu.

"You're not random," he said finally.

I laughed and closed my menu, deciding to get the blackened sirloin, "I am, actually," I smiled, "You don't know me."

"I don't know you well," he said, "but I know enough about you to know that I want to know you."

I felt my eyebrows knit together as I nodded my head, "Smooth," I said.

He laughed loudly as our waiter came back with our drinks, beer for me and water for Jamie. He took our orders and was gone within seconds.

"So," Jamie said with a playful smile, leaning back in his chair while he watched me, "tell me about yourself, since you say that I don't know things about you."

I laughed and shrugged, "What do you want to know?" I asked.

"What's your full name?" he asked.

I giggled, "Its Josephine Ivy Blackwood."

He raised his eyebrows, "Fancy," he said.

I shrugged my shoulder lightly, "Sounds fancy, but my family isn't."

He leaned closer to the table, "What was it like growing up in Toronto?" he asked.

I smiled, "I love it there. I miss it a lot. We lived in an apartment in downtown Toronto until I was...oh man...12 or 13. Living downtown was a crazy experience," I said with a laugh, as I tucked some hair behind my ear while he watched me intently.

"We moved into a house just outside Toronto and that's where my family still lives," I told him.

"Brothers, sisters?" he asked.

I took a quick sip of my beer and smiled as I set it back down on the table, "Several," I said with a grin, "One older and five younger."

He looked at me wide eyed, "Holy shit," he blurted, "Sorry," he said quickly, running a hand through his hair, "that's...that's a lot of you."

I laughed loudly with my head thrown back, "That's usually the response I get," I told him after a few seconds of laughter from me.

"How old are they?" he asked.

"Well, my older brother, Eric, he's 27. Then me, I'm 25. Eve is 14, Brody is 12, Lucy is almost 11, and Scott and Sammy are twins, they're 8," I said, mentally counting to make sure I didn't miss any of them.

"Your parents had a bit of a gap there, eh?" he commented.

My chest tightened and I looked down at the table, "My youngest siblings...they're my half siblings," I said looking back up at him, "My huh...my mom died when I was 6. Dad got remarried when I was 10 and when I was 11 Eve was born. And then they all just kinda kept coming," I said with a small smile.

Jamie tilted his head and looked at me, "I'm sorry Josie."

My throat felt tight and dry but I nodded, "its okay," I said, "I don't really remember a lot, but I appreciate that."

"I'm sorry, I've made it weird," he said staring at me.

I shook my head, "No no. You didn't know. We're getting to know each other. It would've come up eventually."

Our food came out then which I was grateful for, not that I minded talking about my mom or my brothers and sisters. It's just still hard sometimes to rehash some things.

Dinner was filled with some light banter and me questioning him about growing up. He was soft-spoken but was very funny and charming. He never let us sit in silence, it was nice. Refreshing almost.

"Why Dallas?" Jamie asked, as I pushed my empty plate away from me.

I hummed, "Change of scenery."

"But you love Toronto," he said accusingly.

I laughed and nodded, "True. I do love it there. But I needed a change in my life and I figured why not. I had completed a couple years of the schooling in Toronto and they pulled some strings for me so I only had to do the two years down here instead of starting over again."

"Why'd you need a change?" he asked curiously.

I laughed and looked down at the table, "Oh, Benny," I said, looking at him, "That's a story for a different day. Probably when we've both been drinking and it accidentally pops out."

He looked at me, shocked, before he burst out laughing, throwing his head back and hitting his leg, I couldn't help but laugh along with him too.

"Okay, that's fair enough," he said, wiping under his eyes.

The waiter came over and cleared away our plates and asking us if we wanted desert which we both declined. He left us with the bill and walked away.

"Are you gonna let me pay for my half?" I asked him.

He laughed and shook his head, "No," he said easily.

I scoffed, "You can't always pay."

"I do what I want," he whined as he took out a card from his wallet. The waiter came back with the machine and Jamie paid up. Jamie and I both stood and began making our way outside to his car.

"One day I'll pay," I told him as I climbed into his car.

He laughed as he started driving, "You think we're gonna go out again or something?"

I playfully gasped and hit his shoulder, "Shuddup. You'd be so lucky."

"I hope so," he said, glancing quickly to me before looking back at the road in front of him.

Same, I thought to myself.

Notes

Sorry for the wait!! Had a hard time finding time to write!! THank-you for sticking with me, and let me know what y'all think!!!!