Chapter 15

                                    

                                          
"You're sneaking out?!" Steph exclaimed.
"Would you yell that a little more loudly? Maybe the next floor will be able to hear."
"Sorry. But...you're sneaking out? You could get in trouble. And especially since you're teenagers and you're unsupervised."
I rolled my eyes. "Steph, we're not going to do anything we shouldn't."
She sighed. "Well, if it's your first date, I'm helping you get ready for it. Come on. Show me what clothes you have," 
We went through my clothes and I picked out just a regular shirt and jeans. Steph agreed to the jeans but swapped my shirt out for one of my bell sleeve tops. 
I changed and pulled my hair up into a bun on top of my head and let the rest of my hair hang loosely. 
"Okay, how do I look?" I did a twirl. 
"You look hot," she laughed. 
"Well, I guess that's okay," I laughed. "I just wanted to look nice."
"Well, you do! Ben won't be able to take his eyes off of you!"
I laughed at her enthusiasm. "You know, for being in your twenties, you sure act like a teenager still,"
"Oh, haha. I'm a child at heart due to all the Disney movies I've seen."
A knock on the door came. It was Ben.
Steph squealed. 
"Steph!" I laughed. 
"Go, go, I'll cover for you! Have fun and behave yourself!" 
I laughed. "Yes, Mother." 
She giggled. 
I opened the door and found Ben. I smiled and his eyes widened. 
"Wow," he breathed. "You look great."
I looked down. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself." 
He did look great. He was wearing one of his dressier shirts and jeans. 
"Ready to go? We only have so much time before they come room by room to see if we're here. Josh is covering for me." He held his hand out. 
"Yeah, Steph is for me too. I'm ready." I grabbed his hand and we ran to the elevator without being seen. 
We looked around downstairs and we didn't see anybody we knew, so we left. 
"So, where are we going?" I asked. 
"You'll see,"
We came across the street to a coffee shop. It was the same type of coffee shop we went to after our first callback. 
"I figured our first date should be where we really first bonded." He smiled as he opened the door for me.
I giggled. "This is great, Ben."
He smiled. We both ordered our drinks, him insisting he pay. As we sat down, we talked but I wanted to do something more than discuss what we were. I wanted to get to know more about him. 
"All right, why don't we play a little game?"
He gave me a thumbs-up as he swallowed some of his drink. 
"It's called we ask each other questions and we have to answer truthfully,"
He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Wow, that's creative, girlie." 
I blushed at the nickname. "How long exactly have you liked me?" 
He nearly started sputtering, as he tried to swallow. I didn't know if him turning red was from the question or nearly choking. "Well, um, truthfully? First time I saw you. I saw you and my first thought was, 'I wanna meet that girl'."
My face had to be tomato red. I took a sip of my drink. 
"How about you? What was the first thing you thought when you saw me?"
I looked down as I spoke, embarrassed. "I thought, 'Okay, he looks my age and he's really cute'."
He started laughing.
"Oh, stop! It's embarrassing enough having to admit it," 
"I'm just picking with you, Indi. I think you're really cute too," he winked. 
"You know if we weren't on a date and I didn't like you, you would probably get slapped," I joked.
He smirked.
"So, when you said you'd already exchanged numbers with Josh, was that your excuse for getting my number in the coffee shop in D.C.?"
"A little. It wasn't a lie, I did already have Josh's number and I was going to get Sky's too, but I saw it as an advantage."
"Well, I didn't think anything of it." I chuckled. "Little did I know," 
"Yeah. I'm so lucky I met you." He stared at me, his tone sounding dreamy. 
"Me too. I don't even want to think about if I hadn't gotten the part. I can't imagine my life without all of you," I said, swirling my drink around.
"I can't either." He looked me in the eyes. I knew that if we hadn't been sitting across the table from each other and in this coffee place, he probably would've kissed me.
He looked at his watch. "Crap, it's eleven-thirty. We better be getting back."
"Yeah. Steph and Josh won't be able to stall for much longer."
We both got up and threw away the empty cups, leaving. Despite the time of night, Philadelphia was still bustling. Not as much as other cities, but still bustling. 
"Hey, on the bus to Connecticut I said we could do a shoot. Would you still like to when we get to our next stop?" 
I looked up at him, smiling widely. "Yes!"
He laughed at my enthusiasm. "Great. Come on, we should hurry. We need to get rest, we'll have a long trip tomorrow more than likely." 
He slipped his hand in mine and we ran to the hotel. We looked around in the lobby and no one we knew was down there. We walked quickly to the elevator and then we made it to our rooms. 
"I had a great time tonight. It was the best first date ever," I whispered, hugging him. 
"I'm glad. Good night, Indi."
"Good night, Ben." I stood on the tip of my toes and kissed his cheek. I pulled away and opened the door to my room quietly, expecting Steph to be asleep. 
"So, how'd it go?!" 
I jumped at her voice. "My goodness, Steph! I thought you'd be asleep by now." 
"Heck no! I want to hear all about it." She curled up with a pillow. 
"In the morning. I'm tired and it'll be a long day tomorrow. I'll tell you by text message tomorrow on the buses."
"All right. I am a little tired too. Good night," 
"Good night," 
I got into my pajamas and got into my bed, excitement still coursing through my veins. 
~~~
Ben's POV
I walked into my hotel room, wanting to shout from happiness. I finally got to go out with her!
"Dude, what happened? I want to know everything!" Josh's voice made me jump.
"Gosh! Can you not scare the living crap out of me?"
"How'd it go?"
"Great. She's amazing."
He chucked a pillow at me. "I knew you were smitten! Oh, I've got to tell Sky." he laughed. 
I chucked the pillow back at Josh. "Go to sleep, man. You're starting to act like Steph," I joked. 
He laughed. "I hope not! Night, man." 
"Night," 
I changed and got into my bed. Josh was already snoring from across the room, making me roll my eyes. 
I lay there, smiling, reminiscing already over tonight's events. Indi was so amazing.