Haley rushed through the house. It was 20 'til seven and Isaac would be there in a few short minutes. Tearing off her sweat pants, she searched her room frantically for a nice pair of Levis.
"Heads up, Hal." Katie tossed Haley a warm pair of Levi's.
"Thank you! Where'd you find these?" Haley stepped inside them and zipped them up.
"The dryer." She replied simply and sat on her bed.
"What shirt should I wear?" Haley opened her closet.
"The black and gray striped button up." Katie replied without looking.
"But that's a man's dress shirt."
"So? You've never had a problem wearing it before. Besides, it looks nice on you." Katie said.
"Okay, then." Haley stripped her t-shirt and took the dress shirt off the clothes hanger and put it on.
Haley brushed her hair out and putting it in a ponytail. A few wisps of hair fell out, but she ignored it.
"Vanilla Soft Musk or CK One?"
"Vanilla." Katie watched her aunt dab a small ammount of perfume on her wrist and neck.
"Adidas or Keds?"
"Adidas."
Haley grabbed her shoes and quickly shoved them on. After she got them tied, they heard a knock on the door.
"Should I get it?" Katie asked.
"Nah, I'll get it. Thanks so much, Kates. Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself for a little while?" Haley double checked herself in the mirror.
"Don't worry about me. The sattellite will keep me busy. Now you go out on your date and have fun." Katie practically shoved Haley out of the room.
Haley walked up to the door, smoothed out her hair and casually opened the door.
"Hi, Isaac." She said.
Isaac was wearing cords and a black t-shirt.
"You look nice." He said.
"Likewise. Would you like to come in?" Haley let him step inside.
"I guess we have a few minutes." He said looking around.
"Hey Isaac!" Katie ran into the room.
"Hey girl. Maybe I should've brought Mikey over and let you babysit him so you don't have to be alone." Isaac said.
"I babysit for my neighbors." Katie said proudly. "But I'll be fine for tonight. I know the drill. Keep the doors locked, don't open it for anyone. Stay inside. Let the answering machine get the phone."
"Wow, you have that all down pat." Isaac said.
"Yeah, I practically drilled it into her." Haley said.
Isaac laughed. "Well, let's get going if we want to catch the 8:00 movie."
"Alright. Bye Kates. Don't burn the house down." Haley waved goodbye and followed Isaac out to his truck.
He opened her door and she pulled herself in.
He walked around to his side, hopped in and started up the engine.
He turned around in her driveway and went back up the dead-end road.
"So, Haley Webb, what do you do for a living?" Isaac asked as he waited for traffic to clear out.
"Well, this fall, in a couple of weeks actually, I'm going to teach a class of third graders."
"Impressive." He said.
"How about you?" She asked.
"Well, I'm a retired musician and I give guitar lessons at the music and vocals center downtown." He said.
"Retired musician?"
"Well kind of." He said keeping his eye on the road. "Me and my brothers were in that band Hanson."
"Oh yeah, that's where I've heard your name before! That was you?" Haley asked.
"Guilty as charged." He smiled. "I'm thinking of working on a solo career now."
"Wow...I always wondered what happened to the Hanson brothers. After that second album, you guys just kinda layed low."
"Yeah, we kind of did that on purpsoe too. A lot of stuff happened then." Isaac said.
"Oh. I was kind of expecting VH1's "Where Are They Now?" to come find you guys." Haley laughed.
"They tried contacting us. We just didn't want to be contacted." He explained. "So, how much Hanson trivia do you know?"
"Not much." She answered honestly. "I know MMMBop and Weird were my favorite songs. I didn't buy the CDs so I don't know. Sorry." She added an apologetic smile.
"That's fine." He said. "I think I like it better that way."
The houses started getting smaller and closer together as they headed into the Tulsa city limits. Pretty soon the Woodland Hills Mall sign came into view. Isaac pulled into the parking lot.
"Well, let's go." He turned the truck off and walked to her side and opened the door and helped her down.
"Thanks." She said.
"No problem." He grabbed her hand and she smiled at him as they walked into the mall together.
"So, what movie should we see?"
"How about the new Bruce Willis one?" Isaac suggested.
"Yeah, I like him."
So, the decision was made. Isaac paid Haley's way in and bought one large bag of popcorn and two large cokes.
They both enjoyed the movie, and smiled as their fingers barely grazed the other's when they both reached into the popcorn bag at the same time. Haley felt like she was in high school again. The whole experience of the first date. Isaac hadn't dated since Michelle, Mikey's mom, died. That was over three years ago and he knew Michelle would be happy for him. Haley was a lot like her in a way. They both loved being around kids. So many of Haley's expressions reminded him of Michelle. And the way Haley laughed, took him back to when he and Michelle first started dating. He and Michelle would joke around all the time. Pretty soon Mikey would start asking Isaac why all the other kids in pre-school had mothers and he didn't. Isaac didn't know what he would tell him. Before either of them knew it, the movie was over, and the main lights were coming back on.
"That was an awesome movie." Haley gushed. "Bruce Willis never fails to kick butt."
Isaac smiled, trying to listen to her but his mind kept wandering off.
Isaac pulled up in Haley's driveway.
"Is there something wrong, Isaac?" Haley asked. Ever since after the movie Isaac had been acting weird.
"No." He said, gripping the steering wheel.
"Well, thanks for the date, Isaac. It was fun." She said.
"No problem."
"Would you like to come in for a while?" She offered.
"Nah, I have to get on home." He said.
The way he said it made Haley think he didn't have any fun. Maybe she'd give John Bates a call.
"I'll see you later." She said opening her door. She walked up to her front door and watched him back out and leave.
"How'd it go?" Katie asked sleepily from the couch.
"Awful." Haley sunk down in the recliner. "Do you still have John Bates' number wrote down?"
**
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