some things are destined to be

“Elephant ears,” she answered immediately, spotting a stand selling the treats. It was the first thing she caught in her gaze which had to mean something, probably. That or she just needed to control her sweet tooth better. “And then games?” Josie suggested, unsure of how much fun the carnival would be as adults. As a kid she had loved the fair, but she hadn’t been since she’d been out of middle school so it felt nostalgic but also a bit…not weird, but not normal. “Or the funhouse. Whatever the cool things to do are for adults.”

Josie took his arm, amused at the modesty of the action, and got in his truck with him. She hadn’t known Landon for very long, but thus far in their relationship he had done a fantastic job of showing her that he was a sweet and seemingly pretty old fashioned kind of guy. As he drove toward the carnival, she put the band on her wrist securely so that it covered up the ponytail holder that was always on her arm. “In that order it might be a mistake. I don’t think anyone ever looks forward to a second date when the first date is spent puking over the railing of a pirate’s ship or gravitron.”

Apparently, getting a second date was a huge thing. Josie lived with her boss and her boss’ boyfriend in a spacious three bedroom home that sometimes didn’t feel quite big enough. She loved her boss - the woman was a legend in their realm of being, someone who kept reinventing herself and kept getting better with age. As a woman in her early forties, she managed to maintain a tattoo shop and a bunch of young adults and keep her business running successfully and very profitably. Josie, however, could see beyond the amazing woman exterior and although she loved her, she was sick of being treated like someone who needed advice and approval from anyone without asking for it first. That was not who Josie was and she’d never be that way. Comfortably dressed in ripped jeans and a cute top that showed a sliver of stomach and just enough cleavage to draw the eye in, she answered the door when Landon knocked. “Hey,” she said with a smile. “Glad ya didn’t get scared off.”

Josie nodded to him in thanks as he held the door for her and then slid into a booth against the wall. There was a window that was bringing in a soft, subtle supply of moonlight to supplement the coarse restaurant lighting. It would be good drawing light if she’d had any inspiration. Portraits weren’t really her thing. She did okay at them, but she hadn’t ever worked too hard on drawing realistically detailed portraiture. Her style was more animated when it came to drawing people and faces and more realistic when it came to the inanimate.

When they were both seated and had ordered their drinks, Josie flipped her placemat over and pulled an ink pen out of her bag, starting to sketch out a tattoo idea she’d had a few days before. “So. Boring is how you choose to describe yourself? I don’t think that’s the approach most people would take to ensure that they got a second date,” she said with a wink, looking up at him only momentarily as she finished curving a line in the drawing. “Tell me what makes you so boring.”

He laughed lightly and then shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose I would prefer people to be pleasantly surprised by me than to have some kind of preconceived notion and I not be able to live up to it. My career is nothing exciting even though I love it.. I teach kindergarten so I am a male in a sea of female staff. I play piano. And I am the worst daydreamer I have ever known. I space out frequently when it’s just me at home. And I know way more Disney and kids songs than most people would find appropriate.” The boy smiled over at her and then looked down at what she was drawing. “Wow...that’s amazing,” he said, even though she clearly was not finished. “I knew you were good but that is amazing.”

“Bryce?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “That’s my last name. And no offense taken. Tons of sixteen year olds have the same mindset I do. It’s probably the whole ‘potentially ADHD but also hugely unapologetic about not fitting in with societal norms’. Or it could be that I’m super immature and still loathe high school even though I’ve been out for years. Jury’s out on which one it is.” Josie shrugged. 

“Honestly I usually just pitch in and order a bunch of food from wherever my roommate is wanting. We get way too much and just take the rest to work and the whole shop will eat it. Routines are kinda boring to me a lot of the time so I just go with my gut.” Impulsivity was a major vice of Josie’s, but she wasn’t so inconvenienced by it that she wanted to go to the trouble of attempting to change herself. It tended to work out mostly in her favor, so she just let it happen more of the time. “Not to make myself unstable or anything. I just like to go where the moment takes me, ya know? Like right now, it’s taking me to Denny’s and that’s killer.”

“Oh, yeah? Well...it’s a godo name,” he said, a smile on his lips. “Yeah, her name is Bryce LeeAnne. I don’t know what my mom was thinking.” He laughed, letting her know that he was only teasing. “I hated high school, too,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m not...as you know...super social. I was teased a lot. For really stupid reasons. They were never the same. It was like, they just needed a reason to tease me so they made shit up. I don’t know. College was much better for me.”

“My brother is an ass. They both are. I’m the baby by a few years so they like to tease me relentlessly about basically everything.” Josie rolled her eyes. “So don’t join any clubs that Hayden is in. He’ll only steer you in the wrong direction. Isaac too. Avoid being like him.” Her brothers were good people, but they had always made sure to take advantage of their status as older siblings and made her life harder than it had to be.

“I am never opposed to Denny’s,” she told him, faking offense at the implication. “C’mon,” she told him, standing and pulling him up with her before dropping a few of her cards just in case and weaving through the crowd to get out the front door. “They have this peanut butter cream pancake breakfast with eggs and hashbrowns and sausage…ugh, I die just thinking about it.” Josie licked her lips and released his hand once they had the freedom to span the entire sidewalk. “I’m really passionate about breakfast,” she told him unapologetically. “All day every day. Except taco day, pizza day, and chinese day. Then I’m only passionate about it for one meal.”

“Good to know. I’ll stay far from being like them. Though I doubt I would ever want to tease you. I have a thing about wanting the girl I think is cool and pretty to want to be around me and I have a hunch that teasing you would do the opposite of that.” He smiled easily at her. “I am an older brother but I don’t tease my sister. Bryce is...she’s sixteen and I swear she’s the total opposite of me. You’d probably get along great with her. Not that...I’m not saying...ignore me.”

“Nah, it doesn’t suck. It’s just too romantic and stuffy for a first date. First dates are supposed to be fun. How much fun can you have at a little restaurant with crabby old ladies and pasta bloat bellies?” She winked and listened to him speak, excited to hear his secret and then audibly groaned once he exposed his “secret addiction” to her.

“Oh no,” Josie said with false disappointment. “You’re one of those.” She shook her head. “You’re a non dad dad joker. That’s a rare type of person but you definitely fit the bill.” She pretended to look him over, nodding after a moment. “Yup. You’ve got a chronic case of ‘adorably nerdy’ and a co-diagnosis of ‘incurably cute’. I don’t think there’s much that can be done for either illness. You’re doomed. It must be the profession. My oldest brother teaches high school math and he’s the same way.” She pasted on a falsely sad smile and shook her head again. “I’m sorry to give you such tragic news in the middle of a raging kegger, but it had to be done.”

Landon grinned but rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’m honestly not normally that cheesy but, maybe you’re right. Maybe it is the noble profession of teaching that has me saying really stupid stuff to a beautiful girl. In my defense it worked. You thought it was funny.” There was nothing to be offended by or worried over. She was only playfully teasing him. Landon knew that she meant nothing by it. “Well, the best news for such tragic news is a raging kegger so I suppose I am glad I got your diagnosis here, doctor.” The boy winked as his fingers slowly moved up and down her arm.

Josie didn’t fight the last this time. “I’ve never been one to exist within hypotheticals.” She put her hand lightly on his knee as she looked at him, ignoring the pumping music and loud voices feeling the room around them. It was almost like having a movie moment, she thought, except he wasn’t glowing or dulling anything she’d been feeling. He was just completely stealing her attention away from everyone and everything else. Strange as it was, it was not unwelcome. Networking could wait. Landon was her priority for the moment.

“So let’s skip them. Friday night. You don’t have any term papers to grade or anything, do you?” she teased, knowing that kindergarten grading was probably fairly easy in comparison to actually being in the classroom and planning out their lessons. “No bistro, but yes to the boardwalk. I’m thinking we can totally fill up on street vendor food, go see what’s new in the artist alley, and then go to that little pub and have a beer. Maybe we’ll find more trouble to get into after that but I think it’s a solid plan so far.” She grinned. “Whatcha think? Do we have a date?”

“Bistro idea sucks, huh?” he said, his nose scrunching up to show he was being playful. “But I like your idea. I’ve always wanted to try street food. Maybe there will be food trucks. They have some weird combinations that sound kind of amazing.” He put his hand over hers on his knee and laced their fingers together. “Friday it is. No extensive grading to do, in fact, I will not have anything to do.” It kind of sounded perfect - him and her on a ride or eating ridiculous food that sounded so gross but so good. Kind of perfect to him. 

Josie had been watching Landon. She liked to think that she was pretty intuitive when it came to reading people and Landon was easy to read. He was nervous, sweet, maybe more out of his element than he cared to admit. They were all fine traits in someone she’d just met. A lot of the that approached her were bold and brash and tried too hard to seem like they could live up to what they expected her type to be, but in doing so they only further proved that they weren’t her type. She liked a man who could be honest and admit that he wasn’t entirely comfortable. Landon was proving to be that kind of person.

When he put his arm around her, as nonchalant as he’d tried to be, she couldn’t fight the amused smile that took over her expression. Not wanting to make him feel like his advance was unwelcome, she scooted closer to him so that their thighs were touching. He was too sweet to try and play hard to get with and that really only made things easier for her. Hard to get could be an exhausting, frustrating game. Rolling the bottom of her tongue ring over her bottom lip, Josie leaned in to Landon again. “You should see how people act when they come to get piercings. That’s almost as funny as the tattoos. I’ve seen people burst into tears over something as easy as a cartilage piercing and I want to tell them that the worst isn’t even over yet but I try to save that piece of advice for after I’ve been paid,” she joked.

He tried not to smile so big when Josie scooted closer to him. Honestly, he was really bad with meeting girls and hoping things progressed. It was such a talent that he did not have. In fact, he hated the process so much that he usually avoided it unless there was someone he couldn’t get out of his head. Sure, it had not been long since they had met but he didn’t care. She was kind of great and he wanted to see what would happen between them. “Yet, little girls get their ears pierced all the time and don’t make that big of a fuss. I’ve seen how strong little girls are just from the few days of having kindergartners.”