Tim pulled into a parking spot at the Green Onion. I had never been here before, but I’d heard of it. Mom called it a “fusion” restaurant, serving a slightly odd mix of Hispanic and Mediterranean foods. It was supposed to be pretty good, so I thought it was a good choice.

There were quite a few couples from our school, and I realized that this was a popular “date” restaurant. I couldn’t give Tim any points for originality, but if this was that popular, the food must be pretty good. We were shown to a comfortable booth, and a smiling young man gave us our menus.

“Hi, welcome to the Green Onion. My name is Stephan, and it will be my pleasure to be your server this evening. May I get you something to drink?”

I choose a Diet Pepsi, and Tim had a Mountain Dew. When he returned with the drinks, I decided to have a small chicken Wet Burrito. Tim decided to be a little more adventurous, and he ordered something called a Chicken Cranberry.

“Interesting choice. Have you eaten here before?” I asked.

“No, but I’ve been asking everyone for their recommendations. I wanted someplace where we could relax, have some great food and get to know each other. It had to be a place where we could talk privately without bothering anyone. Several people suggested this place, so I thought it would be good for our first date.”

“Thanks, Tim. I’m impressed that you gave this so much thought.”

He smiled, shyly. “I really wanted to make a great first impression, without getting too “over-the=top”. I’m really glad you decided to accept my invitation.”

“Oh, Tim, we’ve had so much fun together already, and you’re a very nice guy. How could I not accept?” I smiled. “There aren’t that many good looking crazy guys out there!”

“Crazy? No, pretty lady.” He pulled himself up and sat very formally. “I consider myself to be pleasantly weird.”

I giggled, which got us both laughing.

“Pleasantly weird. I like that! Do you mind if I use that?”

“Be my guest, I’m happy to share. There really aren’t enough pleasant weirdoes out there.”

"Oh, I must agree!" I giggled.

Dinner continued in the same way from there. We had a lot of fun, and got a little silly at times. All in all it was very pleasant, and I really had a good time. Tim was right, the food was excellent. He let me try a bit of his Chicken Cranberry, which is a grilled chicken breast, Provolone cheese and spinach, with their special cranberry sauce. I thought it was very tasty. For dessert we split a caramel fried ice cream (Heaven!). I'd wondered how you could fry ice cream, and I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted.

As we left the restaurant, it was still light out, so we drove to the beach and watched the sun go down while we talked. We held hands and walked quietly along the boardwalk. I think we were both almost afraid to talk, not wanting to ruin the special feel of the evening. By the time we got back to the car, it was getting dark.

Tim opened my door for me, and before I got in, I reached up and put my arms around his neck. I had to pull him down a little bit, but our first kiss was amazing. The second was even better, but after that, they just kind of stabilized at wonderful.

When we came up for air, Tim looked at me with surprise. “Wow.” He said as I sat in the car. I smiled as he walked to his side, sort of dazed, but when he got in, he had a huge smile. I held his hand as we drove the short distance to myu house.

“I know you aren’t supposed to kiss on the first date, but I figured that was an old rule.” I told him, as we pulled into my driveway and parked.

Tim laughed. “Yeah, the rules have changed a lot. Now you’re just not supposed to sleep together on the first date, and that’s not really a rule...”

“Oh, yes, it is!” I said, firmly but with a smile. “I think that’s likely to apply to several dates yet.”

Tim laughed. “I don’t think we have to worry about that for some time yet. I’d really rather wait until I get married, personally.”

“My parents are gonna really like you!” I said with a giggle.

“I’m more worried about what you think, Emily.”

“I wouldn’t be worried, if I was you,” I said, smiling. “I’m already pretty sure how I feel.”

I gave him a kiss that I hoped wouldn’t leave any doubt about how I felt. He seemed to get the message loud and clear, and returned my answer enthusiastically.

We sat in the car talking (yeah, talking, that’s what it was...trust me) until Grandma came out and waved. I laughed.

“I think that’s their ‘subtle’ signal that it’s time I went in, what do you think?”

He smiled, and kissed me again. “Oh, I think maybe you’re right. I’ll let you go, as long as we do this again, and soon?”

“As much as I liked this, I hope we do some other things, too.” I smiled.

“Oh, if you insist, but I have to warn you, I’m a creature of habit.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah-and I think I’m really hoping to make this a habit. I’ll call you sometime this weekend-I don’t know what my parents have planned, but I’m sure that at some point I can steal a few minutes to talk to you.”

“Then I’ll keep my cell with me.” I kissed him one more time, and opened the door. “Talk to you later, I have to go make my report.” I giggled.

“I better go, too. I really had a good time, Emily.”

“Pretty great for a first time.” I agreed. “I don’t know how you're gonna top it next time.”

“Ooh, tough assignment!” He saluted. “I’m on it, Ma’am! Bye!”

I watched as he drove down the street, then sighed and went inside. Mom and Grandma were waiting, of course, and I told them what a wonderful time I’d had.

It was amazing. I’ve only been a girl for a short time, but I was pretty sure I was already in love. I wanted to be so happy, but I worried that things would change, or that I had read more into it than I should have. I held Grandma’s amulet tightly.

Please, let this be real.

Please?