Jenny had gotten a text from Hoya earlier that day saying that he would pick her up around 8.  She looked at herself in the mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, making sure everything was in its place.  She didn't even know why she bothered.  A movie date meant that they'd be spending most of their time in the dark, attention not focused on each other but on the screen in front of them.  However, there was something about the intensity in Hoya's eyes when he looked at her that made her feel like she was thoroughly observed.  On second thought, observed wasn't quite the right word.  The intensity of his stare was familiar; she saw it out on the field when Hoya was playing.  It felt different when he looked at her; at least it did to Jenny.  It was as if he was committing everything to memory, trying not to forget a detail.  Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of her cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey.  I’m in front of your building.”

“Okay.   I’ll be down in a few.”

“Okay.”

As he hung up the phone, Hoya got out of the driver’s seat and decided to wait for Jenny near the passenger’s side.  He didn’t have to wait long as Jenny came striding out of her building soon after.  The first thing he noticed was the glasses she was wearing.  They suited her.  He quickly had to banish the image of a Jenny dressed as a y librarian out of his head.  He then noticed that she was wearing her hair down.  It fell down in natural waves and fell just past her shoulder.  He now wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through her hair.  This woman was driving him crazy.  He gave her a smile as she approached and tried to clear all previous thoughts from his mind.

When Jenny got out of her building, she noticed that Hoya was leaning against the passenger’s side of the car, hands in his pockets.  Her heart did little flip flops when she saw him.  He looks so good.  As if on cue, she saw his eyes quickly, but purposefully scan her.  More flip flops from her heart.

“Nice glasses.”

 Instinctively, Jenny pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her hand.  “Thanks.  My contacts were bothering me the whole day at work, that’s why I’m wearing these.”

“I like them.”

Hoya opened the passenger door; let Jenny in, then made his way to the driver’s seat. 

“Where should we head to?”

“There’s a movie complex about 10 minutes from here.  I like it there.”

“Sounds good.  Just tell me where to go.”

Hoya started the car up and loud hip hop music started to blare from the speakers. 

“Sorry about that.” apologized Hoya as he turned the music off.

“You weren’t kidding when you said you liked hip hop.”

“In another life, I think I could have been a rapper or something.”

Jenny imagined a gangster rapper Hoya in her head then giggled. “Can’t really picture you like that.”

“Like I said, in another life...”

- - - - - - - - - - 

When they got to the movie theatre, they looked at the choices they had.

“What do you feel like watching?” asked Hoya as he scanned the titles.

Jenny looked at the titles and sighed.  “I read the book versions of most of these movies.” 

“What about this one?”

“That works.”

They moved to the ticket counter.  As Jenny reached for her purse, Hoya stopped her.

“You know how I feel about paying for my own things.” Jenny declared.

“I know.  You feel strongly about being independent, stubbornly so.  Let me take care of this.  Let me take care of you.”

Jenny’s eyes widened at Hoya’s declaration and she found that she had nothing to say back. 

Hoya was waiting for it, the quip, the witty comeback.  He had come to expect it from her.  What he got instead was silence.  Taking her silence as consent, he quickly paid for the tickets.

“Got them.  Do you feel like popcorn?  I’m gonna grab some.”

Jenny nodded.  Hoya handed the tickets to her as he headed to the concession stand.  As she watched Hoya walking away, Jenny thought back to the words that Hoya had said.  Let me take care of you.  She didn’t know why, but those words shot straight to her heart.  Let me take care of you.  Something about those words reverberated through her and shook her.  What are you doing to me Hoya?

Hoya made his way back to Jenny, his arms carrying various goodies.  He didn’t stop at the popcorn.  He also got a few other things as he didn’t know exactly what Jenny liked.  He found her right where he left her, with a serious expression on her face, as if she were trying to figure something out.

“Ready to head in?”

Jenny looked at the load that Hoya was carrying.  “I thought you said you were only getting popcorn.”

“I figured you might be hungry and since I didn’t know what you’d like, I got a bit of everything.  And if not, well, I’d have just eaten all of it.”

“Let me help you with that.” She grabbed the drinks he was holding as well as the bag of popcorn.  “Thanks for this.  I am feeling a bit hungry.”

“Good, ‘cause contrary to what I said earlier, I don’t think I could have finished all of this myself.”

Their arms full of goodies, they made their way to the right theatre.  They had arrived early enough that there were a few good seats left to be had.  It also helped that they were watching a later showing.  They decided to sit in the back, towards the middle.  Jenny put the drinks down in the cup holders, sat down first, and then grabbed a few more things that Hoya was holding so that he could sit down.  As they watched the advertisements on-screen, Hoya started munching on the tacos he had bought.  Jenny opened a pack of candy and also started snacking. 

In the middle of two bites, Hoya nudged Jenny with his elbow.  She turned to look at him.

“Earlier, when I was coming back from getting the snacks, you looked like you were thinking about something serious.”

Jenny was glad it was dark as it prevented Hoya from seeing the color that she was sure was now tainting her cheeks.  “It was nothing.” she lied.

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t say anything to upset you, did I?”

“No.  Like I said, it was nothing.”

Hoya let the matter drop for now.  From what little he knew about her, he knew that whatever it was that was bothering her, she wasn’t ready to share it with him.  As he took another bite of his food, he stole a quick glance at her.  He hoped that one day, she would trust him enough to be able to share such things with him.  For now, sitting beside her, getting to spend time with her was enough.