Saturday, February 14, 2015

First-double-blind Date


When I was sixteen, I went out on a very particular date, a date that has forever remained in my vivid memory. It was summer, my friend Catalina asked me one day on the bus ride home from school if she could give my number to her boyfriend's cousin because he was new in town. She told me that her boyfriend's cousin had just arrived from Mexico and wanted to meet a cute girl because he was lonely.

I was excited at the thought that I could very well have a boyfriend very soon! In my mind, I already had the fairy tale written even before speaking to my prince charming. -  Soon, I would come to realize that my version of the date was ten times better than the reality.- Within a few days, J. and I were talking. We spoke every day for about a week.

My parents knew I was talking to a boy that I did not know personally. They were okay with the idea of me talking to him but not with the notion of going out on a date with him alone. Therefore, my friend Catalina and her boyfriend would have to join J. and me on our date. Unfortunately, the week I was supposed to finally meet my prince charming Catalina and her boyfriend broke up.

I was devastated! Thankfully, we were back on when J. said he would bring a friend for my friend.
The BIG day finally arrived. Catalina and I were both nervous because we were about to go on dates with two complete strangers. All we knew were their names. It was around 3:30, and Catalina and I stood outside her driveway, waiting to be picked up.

Off at a distance, we saw this little green car. My friend starts laughing nervously and says to me, " Oh my God Angela! That better not be them! I hate green cars!" No sooner she finished expressing her dislike towards green cars when the car parks a few feet away from us, and two men step out and start walking towards us.
" Oh shit, Angela! This cannot be happening!" Catalina was in horror while I was trying to keep my heart from popping out of my chest.

By the time our dates approached us, we had stopped giggling and had already determined who we wanted our suitor to be. Unfortunately, we wanted the same guy.
 J. was around 5'6 and wore baggy clothes. His straight jet black hair was long and looked as if he used an entire gel bottle to glue his hair down. J. had dark brown eyes with tan skin to match.
N. was about 5'10 and wore clothing that was his size. He had short black hair, and light brown eyes, and deep olive skin.
The J. I pictured in my mind was not the J. standing in front of me.

After the initial shock had dissipated, Catalina and I were walked to the car, where N. and J. proceeded to sit in the front while she and I sat in the backseat ( we opened our own doors). Before driving to the movie theater N. and J. handed us a huge CD album filled with music that neither Catalina nor I liked.

Then N. and J. turned to Catalina and me and gave us two artificial potpourri roses with a tiny and equally hideous white teddy bear hanging from the stem. When we arrived at the movie theater, neither N. nor J. wanted to go up to the window to purchase the tickets. They were too shy due to not speaking English very well. They handed me the money, and I (the one who spoke the most English) bought the tickets. As if that wasn't bad enough, when we sat down in the theater, N. and J. sat next to each other, followed by Catalina and me. Not the best sitting arrangement for a double date if you ask me.

Following the move, we naturally went out to eat; instead of asking us where or what we wanted to eat, N. drove us to a fast food joint. At this point of the date, I was pretty disappointed because J. was paying more attention to my friend than to me. We ate the food back at Catalina's house. After the dinner was over, there was nothing more to do than to say our goodbyes. That in itself ended up being the most awkward part of the date. Instead of a quick hug, both N. and J. extended their hands and gave us a handshake.  To this day, I cannot wrap my head around that last aspect of the date.

The icing on the cake came a few days later when my friend Catalina informed me that J. had begun calling her wanting to go out on a date with her. My friend being loyal, ignored him. This story does have a happy ending; Catalina and N. dated for a few years.
As for me, I never spoke to J. again. 


 





No comments:

Post a Comment