(Chapter 1: cont'd)

I called Jefferson to double check the date and give him my address. This was a whole new experience for me. Usually I was the one being told when and where, instead of doing the telling. I was unnecessarily sweaty-palmed and jittery by the end of our five minute conversation.

The night of the date came. My sister Mandy practically dressed me...okay...she did dress me, picking out my outfit and doing my makeup as well as giving me helpful suggestions on the best way to wear my hair. You would've thought she was the older sister and that this was my first date!

Jefferson came to the door and I let my mom answer it (just like in rehearsal everyone! ...just kidding). I came practically bounding down the stairs, my chin-length bob, for lack of a better word, bobbing up and down. I landed with a very unlady-like thud at the bottom of the steps to look up (way up) into the face of my date.

Wow, he's a lot taller than I thought he would be...way taller than his brother...

The date went off without a hitch...well, without too many hitches. Jefferson hit the embankment in the middle of our circular drive (in his defense, there was snow on the ground! And he'd just got back from a mission where he hadn't driven anything with more than two wheels!) but that was a slight hiccup in comparison with the scene at dinner!

But before dinner, we went to the Orem Mall and built Jefferson a "companion." I could tell he was really off-balance for some reason. I don't know if it was because he wasn't expecting me to be quite so vertically challenged (I am 5'6" to his 6'7") or if he didn't expect me to be such a mix of bubbly and goofy (I mean we were at Build-A-Bear), but he didn't seem to talk very much. I didn't want to make him feel any more out of place, so I chattered along and let him put in his piece when he wanted.

After Build-A-Bear, we went to Thai Ruby Gardens. Jefferson was way excited but, at the same time, a little nervous. "American Thai food is nothing like the real stuff," he said. This of course made me all the more nervous myself!

I don't wanna feed him crappy Thai food!, I thought.

When our waitress came by, she started (in English with a heavy Thai accent) to ask us if we were ready to order, when Jefferson started spewing out Thai! I have to admit, I was pretty proud of myself, I mean, I accomplished all three goals for our date (Build a "companion", eat Thai food, and speak Thai) even though I couldn't physically do the last one!

Jefferson chit-chatted with the waitress, who went back to fill our order. When she came back, she brought another waitress with her. They all were sprechen Thai at this point, and for a girl who speaks only Germanic languages (English and German) I just sat around awkwardly and smiled a lot. The waitresses (we're up to three at this point) went back to bring us our order, and when they came out they brought the cooks, too!

Jefferson is loving this!, I thought, when suddenly he burst out laughing at something one of the cooks had said. When I gave him a quizzical look, he told me he'd tell me later, and kept laughing.

After dinner, we decided to go to Olive Garden for dessert (Jefferson's idea...well, how was I supposed to know that most Thai desserts are deep-fried fruit or something with kidney beans involved?) On the drive there, he started to tell me all about his sudden fits of mirth back at the restaurant.