The week wasn't very eventful, and I was mostly getting through it by the prospect of my first real date with Jack. Jack and I tried our best to keep our hands off each other, at least in public. It was mostly for Ellie and Finn's sake, because we both felt bad, but what really made us realize how fucking annoying we were was when people started asking about it. We didn't think anyone would notice a difference between us, since we've always been extremely close, but all week people have been coming up to us asking if we were dating. On Thursday, I had been waiting alone for the bus when Millie came up to me.

"What do you want?" I snapped, pulling my earbuds out of my ears impatiently. I had lent my airpods to Jack on Tuesday and he'd managed to lose them already, so I was forced to downgrade to wires for the time being.

"Can we talk for a second?" she asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"We're talking right now, aren't we?"

"Yes, I suppose," she said in her annoying accent. I swung the wire of my earbuds around my finger, annoyed, and she continued. "I wanted to apologize."

"Ok," I responded dryly.

"The way I acted was stupid. And childish. I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that."

"You're right. You shouldn't have," I shrugged. She did look kind of sorry, though, so I added, "Thank you. I appreciate the apology." I started to put my earbuds back in, but Millie stopped me.

"Wait, Madison, is it true you're dating Jack?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but yeah, I am," I informed her. She smiled.

"Does that mean Finn's single?" she grinned. I scoffed. Was she actually being serious? This girl had some nerve to ask me of all people if Finn was single.

"He is, but that didn't matter last time, did it?" I hissed. She laughed. "It wasn't a joke, but ok."

"Finn's been ignoring me lately, do you think you could tell him to talk to me or something?" she requested.

"Why the fuck would I do that? You're literally the reason I broke up with him," I exclaimed. Ok, technically Finn was the reason we broke up, not Millie, but she was a big part of the problem.

"It's not my fault you broke up. Finn's the one that came after me. You obviously weren't good enough for him," she smirked.

"Go fuck yourself, Millie," I said, finally putting my music back on and walking away. To tell the truth, what she said hurt my feelings a little. Was I really not enough for Finn? Not that I cared about Finn, it just... hurt.

"Excited for tomorrow? You aren't even ready, I'm about to give you the be- hey, are you ok?" Jack frowned as I slid into the seat next to him on the bus.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, resting my head on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern in his voice.

"Millie was being a bitch, that's all," I sighed.

"What'd she do this time?" he groaned.

"It's nothing." He glared at me to elaborate, so I added, "She just- well- I feel like I'm not good enough. It's dumb, I know."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't say that. I know this is fucking cringy to say or whatever, but you're more than enough. You're perfect. You're good enough for me," he said, then laughed and started singing "the goonies 'r' good enough," which made me end up laughing.

"This is why I love you," I giggled. Jack continued to talk, telling me about his day, and my mood slowly improved.

By the time I had gotten off the bus, I had forgotten about the whole Millie thing. It was strange, one conversation with Jack and my day could change completely. That boy had such a powerful hold on me.

Finally, Friday came, and it was time for my date with Jack. He had restless at school all day, and I was even finding it hard to focus.

"Jack's really good at this dating stuff. And the whole time he was with me he was in love with another girl, imagine how good he'll treat you," Ellie had told me. I was mostly excited, but I was still a little nervous. I was just hoping everything went according to plan, even if I had no idea what the plan was. Jack had simply told me to be ready at 6 and dress nice. I had decided on a light pink skirt with a matching headband and a white tank top. I carefully applied mascara, a little blush, and some pink tinted lip balm. I brushed my hair, making sure my headband was perfectly in place. I wanted to look perfect. I wanted tonight to be perfect.

Jack arrived at 5:57, which was surprising because he's the type of person to be late to everything. He was once late to his own birthday party, which he was supposed to be hosting. He had texted me to let me know he was here, but I had been waiting anxiously by the window to see his headlights pull into my driveway. I stopped in front of my mirror again to make sure I looked good, then grabbed my phone and raced down the stairs. Upon opening my door, I discovered Jack was waiting for me, leaning on the hood of his car and holding a mixed bouquet. He stood up straight when I stepped outside, and stepped forward.

"Wow- you look- wow," he said breathlessly, a smile forming on his face. He outstretched his hand, offering me the bouquet, which was comprised of beautiful red and white roses.

"You don't look too bad yourself," I grinned, accepting the flowers. Jack opened the car door for me, then proceeded to get into the car himself. He backed out of the driveway, first putting his hand on the back of my headrest, then bringing it down to my knee.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I have a great night planned for us," Jack said confidently. "I know you're going to love it."

"I'm officially scared," I laughed.

"Don't be. This is gonna be a night we'll tell our kids about. Our first real date," he exclaimed. I could tell he was genuinely excited, and it made my heart full.

"You still haven't told me where we're going," I reminded him.

"Our first stop is... drumroll please... La Fantasia Italiana!"

"Woah Jack, that place is really expensive," I said, taken aback.

"Don't worry about it. I want to spoil you. Tonight has to be special," he comforted me, rubbing his hand across my leg.

"Tonight would be special no matter where we went. I'd be happy if you took me to, I don't know, Mcdonalds. Wait, actually please don't take me there, I don't really like Mcdonalds. But you get the point," I explained. He just laughed and turned on the radio.

We arrived at La Fantasia Italiana five minutes later. Jack got out of the car rather quickly and made sure to open the door for me, even though I told him I was perfectly capable of opening doors myself.

"Stop complaining and let me be a gentleman for once," he joked, taking my hand and leading me inside.

"Hi, we have a reservation for six fifteen under the name Grazer," Jack announced to the hostess at the front desk. She silently led us to our table, placing down two menus before retreating to her original post.

"We don't even need menus," Jack commented, picking his up and pretending to read it. We always got the same thing every time we came here. Before I could even respond, a waiter came up to our table and asked if we would like anything to drink. We both asked for waters, then ended up ordering before the waiter left. Jack got his typical margarita pizza, and I got my usual spaghetti.

"I can't believe Finn doesn't like spaghetti," I laughed once the server had left.

"I know, what a dumbass. Wow, I can't believe we haven't been here since Valentine's Day. That was so long ago," Jack sighed. I nodded.

"And we were dating the wrong people," I added, laughing.

"Yeah," Jack scoffed. He looked down for a minute, playing with his glass of water. "Do you ever miss him? Finn, I mean," he asked.

"Miss him? I saw him a few hours ago, why would I miss him?"

"You know what I mean," he said, looking up and making eye contact with me.

"Finn's great, he really is, but I don't miss him," I reassured him.

"Really? Not even a little?" he questioned, squinting his eyes.

"Jack, I'm serious. The way I felt around him was... it was nice. Nice, plain and simple. But that is nothing compared to the way I feel around you. When I'm with you, everything feels right. I don't think I'll ever feel like that with anyone else. Ever. What we have is really special," I said. He smiled and playfully kicked my foot.

"Remember when we first met?" he asked. I nodded.

"Of course, how could I forget? You assaulted me with a stick on the playground," I recalled, smiling at the memory.

"I attacked you because I thought you were the prettiest girl on the playground, and I wanted your attention," he confessed.

"I'm flattered you thought I was the prettiest girl there," I blushed.

"I always think you're the prettiest girl in the room. This might be fucked up to say, but even when Ellie was here, I always thought you were prettier. But don't tell her I said that," he added quickly.

"Your secret is safe with me," I giggled, miming myself sealing my lips and throwing away the key. Not soon after, our food arrived. We continued to talk and laugh, even through mouthfuls of food. I didn't think it was possible, but I was seeing a new side of Jack. He was charming and breathtaking, which I had always known he was, but not to this extent. I felt so comfortable around him, so relaxed, but at the same time I felt so excited and on edge, in a good way.

"You know, we're lucky our parents turned out to be so close. I remember this one night my parents dragged me to a dinner party, and I was prepared to be miserable. But then I saw you, the girl from the playground, and I was so happy. I never complained about going to a dinner party again because I knew you'd be there," he confessed. I grinned, and I felt heart flutter.

We finished our dinner pretty quickly, but we sat and talked for a while after we were done. It was shocking that we never ran out of things to discuss. When the waiter came and offered the dessert menu, Jack declined, which surprised me.

"But I thought you loved their chocolate cake?" I asked after the waiter had walked away.

"I do, but I love ice cream more! Which is why we're going to Scoops!" he explained. The waiter returned with our check.

"Would you like one check or a split check?" he asked us. I was about to answer, but Jack spoke before I could.

"One check is fine, thanks," he said. The waiter disappeared again, then reappeared with our check.

"You don't have to do that, really, I have money," I offered.

"Madison, I'm serious, let me do this," he said firmly. I shrugged, knowing it was pointless to fight him on this.

"Fine, but I'm paying for ice cream," I insisted.

"Deal," he smiled.

We left the restaurant, and walked around town for a bit. The weather was beginning to get warm, and the first hints of summer glistened in the air. It wasn't quite dark yet, and I could see Jack illuminated in the setting sun. We held hands as we strolled around, and every time he looked at me I felt butterflies in my stomach. Wasn't that crazy? I've known this boy my whole life and a simple glance gave me butterflies.

We entered Scoops, and Jack's favorite workers, Joe and Maya, were deep in conversation behind the counter, but looked up with the bell above the door entered.

"Hey Jack! And, uh, Madison right?" Joe greeted us. I nodded, going up to the counter and examining the flavors.

"You kids on a date?" Maya asked, blowing a bubble with the gum she had been chewing. I liked Maya's voice, it was kind of raspy and cool, like you'd expect her to star in some indie film one day.

"They're best friends, Maya, don't assume," Joe laughed.

"Actually, we are on a date. Don't assume, Joe," Jack corrected him.

"My man!" Joe grinned, reaching over the counter and giving Jack a high five. "Anyways, you want the usual?" he asked. Jack usually got cookies and cream with chocolate sprinkles in a waffle cone.

"Yep," he confirmed.

"And for the lady?" Maya questioned me as Joe began making Jack's order.

"I'll have, hmm, I'll have soft serve vanilla in a cone with rainbow sprinkles," I decided. I payed for both of us, and left a few dollars in the tip jar since I liked Joe and Maya.

"Have a great night! Don't do anything I haven't done," Joe called as we left. We walked around more and ate our ice cream, enjoying the warm weather. It had gotten dark, and while it was warm, a breeze had blown through, and the temperature began to drop. Before long, I was regretting my choice of just wearing a cropped tank top.

"Are you cold?" he asked knowingly.

"No," I said through clenched teeth, but he knew better, and he took off his jacket and draped it around my arms.

"You're so annoying," I laughed, but I was really grateful.

"Wow, you aren't going to thank me for sacrificing my jacket? I see how it is," he joked.

"Thanks."

-

authors note: I WAS SUPPOSED TO POST THIS YESTERDAY BUT I FORGOT OOPS SORRY!!! anyways... hi! sorry ive taken so long to write, im really really reallllly busy with school and i have like no time to write so yeah. i think i had something else to say but i forgot so yeah thats it! have a great day and thanks for reading this story