Sonja made her way down the brightly lit street, struggling to keep her umbrella held up against the wind. It was one of those summer nights - the kind where it rained but you couldn't wear a coat because it was just too warm.
She walked, keeping her eyes straight ahead of her as droplets of rain pattered softly against her umbrella. Even if it were the middle of the day, Sonja never liked drawing unwanted attention. She felt people's eyes on her as she walked. The feeling was more intense at night.
A block away, she saw the deep blue glow of a neon sign. The whole street was lit with those kinds of lights, but the blue was her destination. The blue signalled an end to the eyes and the rain. It also signalled food.
Sonja had almost been surprised when Felicia had actually agreed to go on a date with her.
Her parents had gone away for the weekend, leaving their apartment to Sonja's care. They trusted her, never expecting her to do something like throw a party and ruin the place. Sonja was sensible. At least, that's what she told herself.
She stepped inside the restaurant and smiled at the waiter, who promptly showed her to a small booth in the corner of the restaurant, just by the window. She spent the next few minutes anxiously checking her phone for a message. Felicia hadn't said anything since agreeing to get food this Saturday, despite Sonja's message to double check that morning. Sonja looked out the window into the busy street and decided she would wait a little longer. Part of her was too anxious to get up and go.
"Hi, beautiful."
Sonja looked up to see Felicia squeezing into the seat opposite her. Her breath caught as she snapped out of her reverie.
Sonja had dressed smart, worn her cutest blazer and skirt, but she felt like a fraud when she looked at Felicia. The girl's silver blonde hair was curled, coming to just beneath her shoulders. She wore a black transparent shirt with a black crop top underneath. The combination drew the eye immediately to her chest and made Sonja swallow.
"You look cute." Felicia smiled at her. Then, a moment later, she said: "I can't believe I actually got you on a date."
"What do you mean?" Sonja said, consciously suppressing her blush. It took her a second to regain the composure of the smartly dressed rich girl persona she liked to project.
"Only yesterday I was talking to my friend Lia about how excited I am for tonight. I've had a mini crush on you for a while. I guess I just underestimated how hard it is to get an introvert like you to spend some time away from studying."
Sonja cringed inside. Was she really that obvious? It had been a few months since she'd went on a date, and people knew she was single. If people like Felicia's friend Lia Smith were talking about the lack of time she was seen socialising, people clearly took more notice of her than she thought. "Well my parents have high expectations for me," she chose to say. "I hate it, but sometimes I just have to study."
Felicia laughed. "O.K," she said.
"What?"
"Nothing, I'm just glad to see you. You have a very mysterious vibe."
Sonja pushed the nerves away. She wouldn't be insecure tonight. She'd done this before, she just had to relax and be herself.
At that moment, a waiter came to ask them what they wanted to drink.
One meal and a few cocktails later, Sonja was a lot more relaxed.
"They call it highly strung, you know?" Sonja said.
"Yeah, but I prefer the phrase 'nerd'," Felicia shot back, sipping her drink. It was bright pink and had one of those orange slices in it.
"I'm not a nerd!" Sonja said. "I just like math, ok?"
"I think that makes you a nerd."
Sonja rubbed at her brow. "Nerds don't have any friends, they never go out, and they have no dress sense."
Felicia's smile had been growing wider as Sonja continued to justify herself, but then she laughed at the last comment. "Well, you do have good dress sense. I thought people stopped wearing blazers after high school. I've never seen a single other person wear one in college, apart from you."
"What about that Mark guy?"
"Which Mark guy?"
"The one who always sits at the back with earphones and a blazer."
"Ohhhh, yeah I guess. He doesn't wear it well like you do though."
"How's that?"
"You look hot. He doesn't. It's pretty simple."
That made Sonja pause. "You're going to need to stop complimenting me," she said.
Felicia smiled again, making Sonja half melt inside. "Fine, that can be arranged. Did your parents buy you the blazer?"
"No!"
"Sure?"
"Felicia, I might have rich parents, but I still buy my own clothes, ok? In fact, I was going to buy some tomorrow since I finally have a Sunday to myself."
Felicia finished her drink. "How come?"
"They're out of town for a few days, so I have the apartment to myself and I can go shopping tomorrow."
"Oh, that's cool." She stopped, thinking for a moment. "So, that means that technically I could come to your apartment tonight? You know, if we wanted to have another drink that didn't cost nearly as much as the meal."
"If you want another drink, I'd be more than happy to-" Sonja started, before she catching what Felicia was suggesting. She bit her tongue. "I mean, I guess that's true. You could come back to my place. If you wanted a drink, that is."
Felicia smiled and called the waiter over to pay the bill. "I'd like that. I like getting to know the mysterious introverted girl who is clearly the best in the class at math."
Sonja nearly spilled her own drink on herself as she laughed. "Why do you keep saying I'm mysterious?" She found herself smiling at Felicia. It had been a while since someone had actually got a smile out of her.
Half an hour later, they were wiping their shoes on Sonja's door mat.
"Wow," Felicia said. "Your parents have a real sense of style. When you said apartment, I never thought it would be this big. It's basically a house."
"Yeah," Sonja said, hanging her umbrella on a hook to dry. "It's a pretty big place. Come, I'll show you around."
Sonja grabbed Felicia's hand and led her through the open plan living room and took a seat out for her from the breakfast bar table. As Felicia sat down, she went to get some drinks.
"I didn't know you could make cocktails," Felicia said, as Sonja began pouring.
