After the song was over, I checked my watch again. Now it was 7:37. Alright, you know, less than 10 minutes late, still not a big deal, but not what I expected from a high school principal whose job depended on him being punctual. I thought briefly about calling him but figured it might come across as being a bit demanding or overly eager, and I didn't want to give that sort of impression right off the bat.
The next song that came on was Metallica's One. This was a long song, and if he hadn't arrived by the time it was over, then I would know that something was up.
I sat through the song, trying to get into it, but I couldn't help feeling distracted. Where was he? Why hadn't he called? What was taking so long? Halfway through the song I got up and looked through the window again. All of his lights were still on, so he had to be in there. But what the heck was he doing that was taking so long? Had he lost track of time or something? Guys never take this long to get ready for dates, not like us girls do. This was starting to get weird.
I sat back down and watched the rest of the song, which had a long, extended finale due to it being a live performance at a huge concert. After this I checked my watch. It was now 7:50.
Alright, something was definitely up now. He couldn't have simply lost track of time, not for 20 minutes. I got out my phone and dialed his number. The phone rang for a while, and then it went to voicemail. What was going on? Was he in the shower or something?
Well, there was only one way to find out what was going on. I picked up my bag, headed out, and locked my front door. Perhaps there had been some sort of miscommunication. Maybe he had been waiting for me to come over the road to his place, although I was pretty damn sure he said he would pick me up.
I strode briskly across the road, trying not to feel too upset, and telling myself to be calm. After all, this was probably just some misunderstanding. I walked up to his front door and knocked on it.
“Everett?” I said loudly. “Hey, Everett, are you here?”
There was no reply from indoors. I knocked again and waited, but still, nobody replied. Now I had to try something different, so I turned the doorknob intending to just stick my head in. It opened. Alright, the house wasn't locked – he had to be inside. I walked in one step cautiously, not wanting to appear rude.
“Everett, hi, I'm here,” I said loudly. “Are you ready to go? I don't know if you noticed, but it's already 7:50.”
Still, there was no response.
“Everett?” I called out as I began to walk from room-to-room.
Silence.
Eventually I had been through the whole house, and there was no sign that anyone was home. A creeping feeling of disappointment and despair was now beginning to trickle down my spine, and I was really feeling pretty terrible about this. Now there was only one last thing to do, and that was to check if his truck was still in the garage. Maybe it had been him I had heard at around 7:15.
I walked briskly with purpose and more than a little anger in my stride, and as soon as I got to the garage, I threw the door open.
Disappointment and anger hit me like a ton of bricks as I saw that the truck was gone.
“I don't believe it,” I grumbled to myself. “I don't believe it! He stood me up! The jerk stood me up! Not even a word of warning! He just up and took off!”
I stormed back across the road to my house, wrapped up in a storm of negative emotions. I'd been so stupid, so naive to think that this guy was different. Of course, he had been too good to be true – guys like the type I had hoped he was simply didn't exist in this world, and I had been a fool to believe that they could.
I had gone to all this effort, taken all this time to make myself look pretty, and had allowed myself to get all excited about this – and now it wasn't even going to happen.
I was about to sit down and sulk about it – because really, what else could I do now that my evening was ruined – when I remembered Angie. She had wanted to go out and party with me – so what better time than now, when I was all dressed up? I'd show that jerk Everett that I could have a great time in spite of his standing me up. Well, as long as Angie wasn't busy, of course. I prayed that she wasn't, because I didn't think I could handle being stuck in my house now.
I found her number and called her up. She picked up right away.
“Hi, Angie, it's Vivienne.”
“Vivienne? Uh, sorry, I don't remember a Vivienne...”
“Alicia. Remember, I bumped into you at the bar the other night? I told you, I've changed my name to Vivienne.”
“Oh, right! Sorry, guess I had a brain fart, totally forgot about that. How are you? What are you up to on this awesome Friday evening?”
“Not much, Angie, not much. Actually, I've just been stood up.”
“Oh no! You poor thing. That's just the worst. What sort of jerk would stand a girl like you up?”
“I don't know, Angie, I really don't know. I'm all dressed up, and now I have nowhere to go as the saying goes.”
“Well, hey, why don't you come out with me? I was thinking of heading out to a cocktail bar and having a few drinks. You wanna go with me? Have a drink or two, see where the night takes us... and forget about the idiot who just stood you up?”
I smiled.