"Definitely go for the black," Yvonne looked up from her Mode magazine. "It's much sexier."
"I don't know if I want to be sexy Vonnie," Raquel said nervously.
"Nonsense!! If you've got it-girl flaunt it!"
"Flaunt what?! That's easy for you to say, Ms. Size 6," Raquel pointed out as she nervously looked at herself. Now that she had been dieting over a week, the pounds were starting to fall off.
Raquel was impressed when Howie showed up at her dorm on time. He was dressed to the nines in khakis as well as a polo shirt. In his hand he held a single yellow rose. This shocked Raquel beyond belief, other than her father, no man had ever given her flowers before.
The night began as any story book date should. When they arrived at Lumierre de la Lune, an expensive French restaurant in downtown Tampa, Howie had to order for Raquel because she wasn't familiar with the menu.
After ordering, the settled into a comfortable conversation. Howie picked up his water glass and extracted an ice cube. Popping the object into his mouth, he crunched on it loudly. As soon as he did this, the familiar notes to Boccherina's Minuit began to flood through the room.
Raquel erupted into a hearty laughter, and had a bit of trouble stopping. She continued in her fit, despite the look of confusion displayed in the brown eyes across from her.
"Was it something I said?" Howie asked innocently through his mouthful of ice.
Raquel shook her head. "Just thinking about a scene from one of my favorite movies," she gesticulated slightly with her arms. "The music, the restaurant, the atmosphere…" she caught the look of amusement twinkling in his eye…"the look you're wearing…" she giggled again.
He set his glass down, perplexed at the spectacle this young woman had become. He thought it was kind of cute.
"From Ferris Bueller's Day Off!" Raquel said.
A look of recognition came upon his features. "Oh yes! My little buddy Nick has seen that movie…he quotes it all the time, actually." Howie munched on another ice cube.
"It's an eighties classic!" Raquel exclaimed. "I watch it whenever I'm in that nostalgic grade."
Howie shrugged, "never been too big with movies."
"Blasphemer!" Raquel chided, pointing at Howie.
"You know, you sort of remind me of my friends Nick and Brain," Howie said thoughtfully.
Raqual raised an eyebrow at Howie's comment.
"Would you like to meet them after dinner?"
Raquel began to cough as the water ran down her throat the wrong way. She tried her best to hide the surprise from her face. It sounded intimidating…meeting new guys always seemed to have that effect on her.
"Brian is your age…Nick is…13 I believe."
"Oh?" Raquel sipped her water…wondering what this guy was doing with a 13-year-old friend.
"We can do something alone, if you'd rather," Howie continued.
Not wanting to give Howie the impression she was afraid to meet new people, she agreed to the going on the two hour trip to Orlando to meet Howie's friends.
After the longish drive up to Orlando, the couple arrived at an apartment complex.
Howie turned to Raquel, setting his car alarm. "Nick is spending the night here. He's from Tampa, too. He's good pals with Brian, who lives with his cousin, Kevin."
Raquel nodded, making a mental note of this newly acquired information.
Almost immediately Howie's knock was answered by a tall six foot man with chiseled features. The kind of man that intimidated Raquel the most.
"Hello!" he said pleasantly, offering her his hand. "You must be Raquel." He turned around just enough to holler: "boys we have company!" He turned back to Raquel. "By the way, my name is Kevin."
The soft pitter patter of bare feet against the hardwood floor flooded the apartment. Moments later, a skinny blonde boy appeared.
"Howie" he proclaimed, gleefully pouncing on his friend. The boy, whom Raquel assumed to be Nick, was now sitting piggy-back on Howie. "Giddy-ap!" He shouted.
Howie groaned from the new strain put on his back. "How many times have I tried to tell you, you're too heavy to be doing this to me?" Howie said, winking at Raquel.
For the first time, Nick took note of Raquel. Turning red, he hopped off of his friend's back, mustering up his dignity, he mumbled a shy "hello."
Raquel grinned at the boy. He was a cutie! "Hello there! You're Nick, right?"
Nick nodded meekly, still embarrassed by his rowdy behavior…after all…she was a girl!"
She grinned at him. "I hear you're a fan of Ferris too-"
"Ferris!?? He's da bomb!!" Nick said excitedly. Nick frowned, then stuck his tongue out at Howie…try explaining that to Howard here!"
"oooo…ouch…he used my full name!" Howie joked sarcastically.
Nick swatted at Howie. "Be careful or I'll have B come and do a number on that face."
"What about me? I heard my name!" another guy, about Raquel's age appeared. He reminded her a bit of Mark Wahlburg. "Hey, yo Nicky…the game's paused and I'm in the lead!" Brian chided.
"What?" Nick asked, incredulously. "I was ahead!"
Brian grinned and ruffled Nick's hair in jest.
Nick scowled and stalked off to the other room.
Howie grinned sheepishly…"well wasn't that fun? Raquel this is Brian…Kevin's cousin."
Rather than shaking her hand, Brian pulled her into a warm hug. Right away she felt right at home with these people. In fact, Raquel couldn't remember ever feeling so safe and at ease…even being with her girlfriends at school she always felt a little tense. It wasn't until Howie dropped her off at her dorm at around 5:00 am that she realized why she had never felt so care-free. Not once did she think about her weight.
Howie gave her a hug and kissed her hand. "Good-night, Raquel. I'll call you tomorrow."