Not Scared Anymore

Chapter 26 - Kevin

Kevin was at home finishing up one of his 'recharge weekends' when his phone beeped. Intending to ignore it, he glanced at the screen and then bolted upright when he saw the name: Stephanie.

It had been nearly a month since the incident on the train platform, and he hadn't heard from her at all. He hadn't even seen her on the train though he looked for her every single day. He picked up the phone and read the message.

Stephanie: Hey. Something came up, and I couldn't go to the Spellmasters premiere as planned. Any chance you can go with me on Wednesday night?

Kevin's mind reeled. It seemed like she wasn't missing a beat, and just ignored the past month they had no contact. He had no idea what to make of it. However, he desperately wanted to see her again, and responded immediately,

Kevin: Hey! Sure. I'm free that day. What time, and which theatre? I figured it would be sold out all week.

Stephanie: Well, it kind of is, but downtown CineShow  just added a 7:00 showing. I was thinking we could go there. Wanna meet right at the theatre at 6:30?

Kevin: Yeah. See you then

After a month with no contact, Kevin saw this as his chance to get a fresh start with her, and wanted to look his best. Thinking about what was in his closet, he knew he needed help, and picked up the phone to call Katy.

*

On Tuesday evening, Kevin collapsed onto his couch with a collection of shopping bags. He had freshened up his haircut and Katy had taken him shopping. He had new jeans, new shirts and even a new jacket. According to Katy, as an adult, his rain coat should only be worn in the rain, or on his hiking trips. He didn't need the swishing noises to announce his movement. 

As he finished putting all his new things in his closet, his phone started beeping. He walked over and found a slew of incoming messages from Jared. Katy had shown him all of the pictures, and Jared was teasing him. He hadn't told anyone who he was going out with, and Jared assumed it was just a random girl from MatchedUp.

At work the next day, Jared had all the other guys whistling and cheering at him. He had a lot of work to get done and knew it as going to be a long day, so he shut the door to his office to keep the extra noise out. They had a pitch meeting starting at 4:00 pm, and he trusted they would be done on time so he could get to the theatre.

Under no circumstance was he going to be late meeting Stephanie. He was already wearing his new jeans and jacket, but at 5:30pm he changed into one of his new button downs, and headed out the door.

He stopped to grab a burrito for dinner and still got to the theatre ten minutes early, so he went to the bathroom to fix his hair. He couldn't remember a time in his life he had ever worried so much about how he looked.

Stephanie arrived slightly breathless at 6:37pm. Kevin felt a flutter low in his belly, and suddenly he felt as breathless as her. He hadn't seen her in weeks, and he had missed her. He wanted to take her into his arms and hold her tight.

His terror of doing something stupid that would remind her he wasn't worth it froze him in place though, and he needed space to compose himself. So he said the first thing he could think of.

"Do you want me to buy the tickets?" Mental facepalm.

"No, I bought them online when you said you'd come with me. I'm going to get some snacks though, do you want some?"

Kevin generally didn't buy snacks at the movies, and he shook is head. His palms were clammy, so he excused himself to the bathroom while she waited in line. He needed to get a grip on himself if he was going to survive the night.