Terrible Pasta, House Ghosts, and Magical Kisses

“It's the kind of kiss that inspires stars to climb into the sky and light up the world.” 

-Tahereh Mafi, Ignite Me

-

Emerson: Wanna go see Suicide Squad?

My heart nearly skipped a beat. Of course I wanted to--and the fact that I now didn't have to pay to go see it, made things even cooler.

Blair: Oh my gosh, yeah!
Emerson: Okay, we will go see that
Blair: Okay
Emerson: A bunch of my friends are going so I figured we could go do that

Cue the fucking record scratch.

In approximately .24 nanoseconds, I sent my friends each a screenshot of the conversation. What was he thinking?

No one goes on a group date for a first date! I mean, who does that? Group dates are reserved for when you want to meet your significant other's friends, and be "that cool, breezy, hot girl," and make them like you! I mean, what do you even tell your friends, "Hey this is Blair, it's our first date and I brought her to meet all of you guys?" Hell to the fucking no.

Sally: Maybe he wants you to meet all his friends
Blair: ON THE FIRST DATE?

And then, the thought hit me.

WHAT IF HE DIDN'T THINK THIS WAS A DATE?

I mean, it was definitely a date right? I mean, we had both been flirting and texting, sending cute Snapchats and liking Instagram pictures... for god's sake, we met on Tinder!

Was this a date?

To remedy this confusion, Blair-Bui style, I decided on a breezy, calm, totally conspicuous response.

What Blair Said: With them?
What Blair Meant: Are we really going to go on a date with your friends?

Emerson: Nevermind, we'll just hang here

-

Serena: God damnit Blair I wish I could just ship you mine
Blair: So all my shorts are not denim basically, because I wear rompers and dresses and skirts
Serena: You are ridiculously Blair
Blair: Do I need to shave my legs

(Spoiler alert: I didn't) I didn't find it necessary, because of Sally's number one rule about first dates--do not, under any circumstances, have sex with them.

Serena: Shave your legs. Shave everything. Vagina included.
Blair: This is a DATE
Serena: JUST IN CASE, YOU NEVER KNOW

But I did know, we weren't going to have sex! It was the first date, and after Rafael, I had learned a valuable lesson on not fucking on the first date. It was a relationship killer, and instantly stopped the growth of any emotional feelings between the two of you.

After freaking out, and finally deciding on a mint green dress with coral flowers, Gwyneth assured me that it was going to be perfectly fine.

"Blair, you're going to have fun. I think you're going to have fun!" After listening to my terrible dating mishaps while we worked together, she had quickly caught up to speed on the mess that was my romantic life. And she was one hundred percent rooting for Emerson...but then again, who in my life wasn't?

"What if it's terrible?"

"I don't think it'll be terrible, I think you're going to have fun with Emerson and then you're going to tell me all about it!"

"Okay, I'm going in my Uber."

When I say that it was the longest Uber ride of my life, it was the longest Uber ride of my life. In the fifteen minutes it took me to get to Emerson's place, my Uber driver had learned a lot about me.

• Emerson and I were going on our first date.
• We were going to dinner and a movie.
• I had not gone on a date since like, early June.
• Which was with the Fannie May guy.
• Before that, it was in April.
• And that date sucked too.
• I go on a lot of crappy dates.
• I am nervous as fuck for my date with Emerson.

I stepped out of the Uber, and the driver politely stayed close until Emerson opened the door and walked out. He was wearing shorts, a dark colored shirt, and holy crap, he was cute. Emerson's hair was shorter, but it definitely worked with his whole look--the haircut was very clean cut, although he was not that type of person. He was tanned, and had dark eyes and dark hair. He was tall, cute, and upon inspecting him physically, he had far exceeded my expectations. I knew that he was checking me out as well, my perfectly winged liner, my loose black curls, and my dress.

We greeted each other, exchanged pleasantries, and we headed into his apartment, which was actually really nice! It looked far better on the inside than 3950, although the outside made it look like a cute little house. Emerson explained that he lived with two other guys in his apartment, and that their three friends lived in the second floor apartment, so basically they all lived in this house. It was totally trashed, Pabst Blue Ribbon cans and Little Caesar boxes everywhere.

"We had a party last night," he admitted, trying to pick up the leftover boxes.

"I see," I said, handing him a pizza box. We walked into the kitchen, where there wasn't a crock pot in sight.

"So, I don't know how hungry you are, but I'm absolutely starving," Emerson said, with a coy smile. "We can go grab some food, or I can cook or something," he added.

As a foodie, I love the idea of a guy cooking for me. However, I have never, ever had a guy cook for me before. Despite the fact that I have made Chuck at least hundreds of meals, he had never cooked for me once. Although I really, really wanted him to (I think it's cute), he always refused, claiming that he hated to cook. Of course, it hurt, because I wasn't expecting a five course dinner...I just thought he'd cook for me, because I really wanted him to. But he's a selfish little bastard, so there's that.

So, Emerson offering to cook on the first date? Definitely impressive.

"I'm going to make this pasta, it's pretty good. Even though I don't have cheese," Emerson said, presenting me with a box of fusilli and spaghetti. "Which one do you want?"

"I don't care, it's whichever you want for your amazing pasta," I said, with a laugh. Emerson walked over to the fridge, and handed me a PBR. 

"I actually am not drinking right now," I responded, "I'm not drinking for the month before my birthday, and I turn twenty one on Sunday!"

"Not even a beer?"

"Not even a beer."

"It's kinda weird, but I get it. If you want one, feel free though, Blair."

"I'll have one after Sunday." I said, with a cute but flirtatious smile.

"Alright, you better."

"I'm gonna put on your favorite," he said, as Childish Gambino started playing from the speakers, and quite honestly, I found myself even more impressed with him.

The two of us talked and hung out, as he cooked the pasta. I resisted the urge to take the reins, and sat on the counter and kept him company. We talked about a bunch of different things, from music to friends, school and siblings. 

"I wouldn't mind hanging out with Sally, Matthew, Kayresia, and Titus sometime," Emerson responded, as he stirred the pot of pasta.

Emerson was just so easy to talk to, and so chill. Any gaps or moments of silence weren't strange between the two of us, they were just still moments of calmness. We sat and talked on his couch, as he told me about himself, and I divulged information about myself.

Suddenly, there was a thump.

"What the fuck is that?" I asked, turning to see if there were any loose crock pots around (Okay, I'll stop it with the jokes about the previous dates I've gone on...)

"Our place has a ghost," Emerson said, laughing.

I gave him a look, as he laughed even more. "Blair, I'm straight-up serious." He got off the stool, and started walking to the beginning of the hallway.

"You see that door at the end of the hallway?" Emerson said, pointing at the last door at the end of their hallway. Somehow in their house in Bridgeport, they had this straight-up ominous looking hallway straight out of The Conjuring.

"Yeah," I said.

"It opens when we close it. And I've put a backpack in front of the door before, and it's been moved and closed."

I swear, in my mind, ominous music was blasting in this house.

"And you decide to tell me this after I've already gone in your house? ON OUR FIRST DATE?"

"Hahahaha, don't worry Blair, I won't let the ghost get you."

"If it gets you, I'll just grab my purse and run."

He was just as cute and charming as he was in person, as he was in text. After the Fannie May guy disaster, I had quickly learned that texting chemistry definitely does not guarantee translation to in-person chemistry.

Emerson and I walked over to grab some purple plates, and he scooped some pasta on each of our plates. Upon trying his, he looked at me, and immediately said, "If you don't finish yours, I'll finish it for you. So don't worry."

Holy crap, was his cooking really that terrible?

I took my fork, and grabbed one piece of pasta from his plate. It wasn't terrible, but it definitely wasn't amazing.

"Uh, the noodles are a little undercooked, but I was really distracted," he said, giving me a look.

"Maybe it didn't turn out like you expected because you were so bent on impressing me," I said with a laugh, as I took another bite of the pasta.

Definitely undercooked. And definitely room temp, since he mixed the cold sauce with the hot pasta. It was quite honestly terrible, but I couldn't tell him that! After all, he did tell me that I was going to be mindblown, and that the seasonings he put in were going to make his pasta lit AF.

Plus, it was our first date! You don't tell a boy how terrible his pasta is on the first date.

"Um, it's...interesting." Emerson gave me a look, as I quickly corrected myself. "It's good! No, yeah, like it isn't terrible." I said, laughing.

We talked over dinner, and then decided to watch a movie. After learning that I am a total wimp, we decided on watching Devil, as in Emerson picked the movie and said it was pretty good.

As he pressed play, the screen started shaking and displaying only static, before stopping. 

This is how I'm going to die.

"Um, I'm definitely going to die in this house now," I laughed, as Emerson frantically tried to fix the movie.

"How creepy is that? We're watching Devil and shit's going crazy."

He showed up with a blanket (bonus points!) and as he sat on the couch, he put his arm around me. As he put his arm around me, I felt nervous for a brief second, as my hair extensions (yes, I put them in for this date), hung heavily, and the clips poked me in the head.

Could he tell that I had my extensions in? And more importantly, would he care? I awkwardly sat there, as I felt a clip come undone.

FUCK.

The two of us sat and talked, as we watched the movie. It was definitely an interesting movie, and I was genuinely impressed with his movie choice. 

"Hey you want to lay down?" Emerson asked, turning to face me. For a brief moment, I thought that he was going to lean in and kiss me, but we kind of just sat there, as he looked at me, probably wondering what the actual fuck was up with this girl.

"Yeah, sure!" I said, as I felt another clip getting loose. I think the two of us spooned for approximately six minutes before I gave up.

I sat up, and turned to look at Emerson.

"Is everything okay?" He asked, looking at me. I moved over a bit, and then turned too look at him.

"Okay...so I totally put these extensions in because we were taking headshots..." Total fucking lie, biggest lie of my life, almost. But he didn't need to know that! "So, it's really uncomfortable, so I'm going to take them out, and you totally can't laugh at me," I added. I unclipped the hair, and took it out of my head, breathing a sigh of relief as my hair felt light and free again.

"Let me see this," Emerson said, looking at it. "I totally felt this earlier, because it felt hard and stuff....but your hair looks nice now, and you definitely don't need it," he said, laughing. The two of us laughed at the situation for a second, and it was pretty rad that Emerson was so unphased and chill about the whole thing.

As we cuddled, my dress kept riding up, as I pulled it down. Emerson moved my hand for a second, and I thought something was going to happen--but he completely surprised me, by pulling my dress down for me, and resting his hand on my waist. Full disclosure, we fully watched the movie, and did not mess around, you guys. We didn't even kiss! Emerson just stroked my legs a little and played with my hands. 

Each time we turned to face each other, I totally gave him my sassy bedroom eyes, thinking that he'd kiss me, but he didn't. And as we laid there, spooning, and I felt...him being attracted to me, there was a feeling telling me that I was in for trouble. A feeling that told me that I should be glad that I shaved the other parts of me, and that I might be breaking some of Sally's rules.

I was obviously attracted to him, and it had been a long time since I was in a situation where I was hanging out with someone that I was attracted to, and wanted to, quite frankly, have sex with. But I wanted to go on dates with Emerson too, and see what could happen, and Sally's advice just kept repeating itself in the back of my head.

Blair, do not have sex with him.

Even though I really, really, really wanted to. 

The movie ended, and we laid there, and talked to each other for a little bit. Have you ever been so close (physically) to someone that you can literally feel the chemistry and attraction between the two of you? The polarizing and intense attraction, which is evidently present, although you both try to keep your cool? That was how it felt, as Emerson and I laid there, and I wondered why he just hadn't kissed me already.

"Do you kiss on the first date?" Emerson asked, with a laugh. 

"Yeah," I whispered, as he leaned in closer, and pulled me into a kiss. It was absolutely electrifying, and the fact that we had held off on it...that made it even more magical. It was the type of kiss that you could feel down to your very toes, the type of kiss that makes your heart beat faster and takes your breath away. The type of kiss that has some cheesy song (like Sixpence None The Richer's Kiss Me) play in the background in the movies. It was one of those.

And the kiss was over, he looked at me, and pushed a curl out of my face. And in that moment, I knew that this date was not going to turn out exactly as I had planned.