Girl

It happens on a Sunday when Sam is leaving his favorite book store. He's come to help Aidan move things out of his father's house and visit his parents. It's his last day so he decided to hit his absolute favorite places in his hometown. The burger place, the park, and of course, the weird I-can't-believe-it's-still-in-business book store. Even if Sam doesn't find a book worth getting he still likes going in there. Today he was able to find a book of Sandwich recipes that date back to the early 1900s. Walking back to his car, face buried in the book, it's safe to say that Sam isn't really paying attention. So it isn't a surprise when he bumps into somebody and nearly gets knocked down.

"Oh God," he shakes his head and looks around to see a young (beautiful) girl rubbing her temples, "I am SO sorry!" Sam fumbles with the books in his hands, "I was just reading a book and I wasn't paying attention-"

"Sammy?"

"Uh, yea," he laughs and rubs the back of his neck, "I'm Sammy."

Mystery girl runs a hand through her short hair and grins at him. Sam blushes and tries to figure out where he has seen/met this (gorgeous) girl.

"You don't know who I am do you?"

Panic wells up in him because oh my God where has he met this girl? He can't have met her at school-she looks a little younger than he is. He can't recall ever seeing at work (and it's not like he meet's the customers that walk into the restaurant anyways so) and he doesn't remember her from any of the hang out spots he frequents here or back where he now lives. However, Sam returns her grin with a smile of his own,

"I'm sorry I…really can't place you which is a shame because—"

The girl throws back her head and laughs-not cruelly, just somewhat amused.

"It doesn't surprise me-it's been YEARS since you've seen me."

This makes him frown. Squinting he takes a closer look at the mysterious girl in front of him. Her hair is a chocolate color and in an almost pixie cut. Her eyes are a dark blue and...her smile reminds him just a little bit of—his jaw falls open and Sam almost takes a step back,

"A-Alice?"

"Do I really look that different, Sammy?"

Laughing Sam runs a hand down his face.

"Uh…a little-yea…wow…"

No really WOW; Sam has not seen Alice since he left for college when she was fourteen yet still managed to look like she was eleven. Back when all she would wear was oversized men's shirt with skinny jeans and military boots and when did Alice get hot and oh crap did he really just call a girl he used to babysit when she was a KID hot?

"It has been a long time, hasn't it?"

Sam licks his lips and nods, "Yea I," he laughs a little awkwardly, "Sorry, just-trying to you know," he waves at her, "last I saw you was when you were fourteen so…"

Alice laughs, "Ah yea…THAT stage," she rolls her eyes, "honestly I don't know what I was thinking with those shirts," she winks at him, "Still have the boots though!" she says looking down and what do you know? She does indeed still have those boots and-

Oh my God her legs are amazing and she's got curves and-

Coughing Sam shifts a little, "So you do."

"Visiting your parents?"

"I'm also helping my friend move out of his father's house for real-you know, like a pack mule."

Snorting Alice pats his shoulder,

"How nice of you," she looks down at her wristwatch and sighs, "well I think I should go," as she turns around Sam opens his mouth,

"I'm gonna be here all day and probably tomorrow," that's a lie-he was going to leave tomorrow for sure. Alice turns back to him, an eyebrow raised, "just so you know, and um…maybe I don't know you'd like to get a coffee or something to eat or…yea?"

"Oh…" Alice blushes-but only a little and Sam thinks she looks so cute when she blushes and wow she has the most adorable dimple on her left cheek and-

"I'd love to!" she takes out a cell-phone, "Let me have your cell phone number. I'll call you to set up a time. Is that ok?"

"No yea that's…that's great!"

They exchange phone numbers. That done Alice pats his cheeks and bounces away and Sam just watches her go. He keeps replaying their conversation in his head on the way back to his parents house and keeps thinking about how beautiful Alice was and how he was going to have lunch or something with her tomorrow and—

"What's the matter with you?"

Sam blinks and takes a step back in surprise,

"Mom? What are you doing here?"

His mother rolls her eyes at him, "I live here."

"What-"he looks around and oh…he's back at his parents' house. When did that happen?

"Are you ok?"

"Yea, no yea I'm fine just…" he chuckles and goes into the living room where he sits down on the couch. As soon as his butt touches the cushion, his brain makes a very important connection. He asked out Alice on a-basically on a date. Alice…Alice who he used to babysit, Alice who was the daughter of the Janitor!

"OH MY GOD!"

Sam jumps from the couch and starts pacing the living. On his second trip around the couch his mother grabs his wrist and pushes him back onto the sofa,

"Ok, what did you do?"

"I asked Alice out on a date!"

His mother looks at him confused and frustrated,

"Alice who?"

"The Janitor's daughter Alice! Alice who ambushed me and tied me up when she when she was nine and I was fourteen Alice!"

For a second his Mom doesn't say anything, just blinks at him, face blank. However, when what he said sinks in, her face grows red and her lips start trembling,

"Oh my…" she lets out a laugh before reaching for her cell phone, "Oh I have got to call Perry!"

"Mom!"

She moves away from him, phone already by her ear,

"Yea Perry?" another laugh, "Guess what? You know Alice?" a pause, "The Janitors daughter!" another pause, "Well, our son asked her out on a date."

Despite the fact that Sam was a good ten feet away from his Mom, he could still hear his father's laughter over the phone,

"I think the fact that it's the Janitor daughter he asked out is finally starting to sink in."

"MOM! It's not funny!"

"It's hilarious," with her back still turned to him she waves a hand in the air, "I hope you realize that I'll be mocking you for at least a week."

Groaning Sam goes and falls back on the sofa, face burning. He doesn't know how long he stays there, mixed emotions running through him. On one hand, he almost wants to call Alice and call of the date because it is weird. He's dating someone he used to babysit and it sort of makes him feel like a pervert. On the other hand, Alice is no longer a child. She has to be at least twenty two years old which means she is definitely old enough to date.

Oh God I wonder if she's going to tell her father\

Sam had no problem with the Janitor-in fact, he really liked him. He was without a doubt the craziest guy he had ever met. The key word was crazy. Now Sam had heard nothing about Alice dating ever but he would imagine the Janitor would be one of those "Nobody-will-ever-find-the-body" protective fathers that would have boys everywhere cowering in fear. Sure the Janitor liked him well enough but would he still like Sammy when he found out he was going on a date with his daughter? Before he can continue on that train of thought his phone rings. Sam answers it,

"Hello?"

"Hey man it's Aidan; just want to know if you're heading back out later today or tomorrow like you said."

"Um…actually I'm not going to leave until tomorrow-late tomorrow."

"Why that late? Did something come up with your parents or?"

"No, no…nothing like that not really I just…have a kind of date tomorrow."

Aidan laughs, "Dude seriously? That's awesome man-it's been a while since you've dated," there's some shuffling noises, "who is it with? Is she hot?"

"Um…" Sam blushes and coughs, "yea she's…yea she's hot. It's…someone I know actually," he frowns, "I've known her for a while now-I think I even talked to her to you at some point."

"Someone from high school than?"

"No…not anybody from school."

"Oh…mysterious," Aidan chuckles, "Ok I'm curious. Who is this mystery hot girl?"

"So you know the Janitor that works at the hospital?"

"Kind of hard to forget him-he made us help him catch squirrels."

"Yea…" Sam takes a big breath, "I'm going on a date with his daughter."

There is silence on the other end of the phone,

"Aidan? Did you hear me?"

A weird noise followed by laughter, "How in God's name did this happen?"

"Well I was walking out of the bookstore and not paying attention to where I was going and next thing I know I'm crashing into somebody and it turns out that this somebody was a totally hot girl and—"

"Sam…"

He shakes his head, "Ok, sorry…the point is, that she recognized me and then I recognized her but by then I was too late because I just HAD to ask her out on a date you know?"

"That hot?"

"Gorgeous Aidan…Gorgeous beautiful, curvy and she has the most adorable dimple on her left cheek and—"

"Man you have got it pretty bad. Like high school crush bad."

"Yea…I guess I do."

There is a gasp from Aidan, "Oh my God! What's her Dad going to say? Because you babysat Alice when she was just a kid! Isn't that going to be like a little weird? I'm feeling weird just thinking about it to be honest."

"I'm kind of feeling…well like a pervert I guess but believe you me, Aidan," Sam smiles and leans back, "Alice is no longer a little girl. She is definitely old enough to date."

"Say's you and says's she-you'll have to see what Daddy says."

"I've always gotten along with the Janitor though."

"Well yea but that was before you were going to start dating his daughter."

Sam rolls his eyes, "It's just one date, Aidan. It might not lead anywhere."

"Whatever you say," there were some clicking noises, "I think I'm going to go get something to eat. I'll guess I'll see you again late tomorrow, "a chuckle, "I'll be sure to tell Jenny you'll be out here for one more day."

Before Sammy can tell his friend to keep his mouth shut, Aidan has already hung up,

"Damn."

No sooner had Sam put his cell phone down did it chirp to announce an incoming text. Sighing, he takes out his phone and checks the text,

Hey Sammy it's Alice

Grinning Sam sits up,

Well hello miss Alice

A minute later he gets a respond,

Oh Sammy, you're still the same

Wriggling on the couch Sam types back,

I hope that's a good thing!

Another speedy reply,

But of course! What time should we meet tomorrow?

Sam bites his lip and thinks. Would it be better if they met in the morning for breakfast? And if so, how early? Maybe they should meet for dinner…but that gave him too much time to think and freak out! Lunch…lunch was good.

I was thinking for lunch-Noon sound good to you?

That would be great-were do we meet?

Chinese Buffet?

Mmm…love me some Chinese

Sam bites his lips to hold back a giggle,

Awesome-he's about to just send that word alone when a thought enters his mind.

um…does your Dad know?

This time the reply last a little longer,

Dad has not dealt well with past boyfriends

Sam pales; another text arrives,

He already likes you, so that's good-but to answer your question no he doesn't know.

A sigh escapes his lips. Thank god.

Cool-I mean I like your Dad and all but…

The reply this time is quick,

Yea, I totally know what you're saying. Gotta go! See you tomorrow!

Sam types back a quick bye and puts the phone down eyes looking up towards the ceiling. He had a date with Alice tomorrow-he had a date with Alice, the Janitors daughter and a girl he used to babysit tomorrow.

"….What IS my life…"

Noon tomorrow came both sooner and later then Sam would have wanted. Both his parents had, of course mocked him before he left. Jenny had called around midnight, freaking out before laughing at him for a solid five minutes. Even Jack had called to rib him a little and to make sure Alice was "legal". God had that been ten kinds of awkward and it had not helped him become less nervous. If anything it made him freak out just a little bit more; though obviously not enough to call off the date because he really wanted to get to know this new Alice. Someone taps him on the back and Sam turns,

"Hey Sammy!"

For a moment Sam is speechless because if he thought that Alice looked good YESTERDAY.

"H-hi Alice. How are you?"

She shrugs and blows some hair out of her face. Sam quickly (subtly) looks down. The dress Alice is wearing is short-almost too short but it looks like she's wearing knee high leggings with it so that's ok and oh man she is all curves and—

"-so that's awesome," Sam blinks realizing that he just missed everything Alice said,

"Cool cool," he nods towards the restaurant, "Shall we go in?"

Alice calmly slips an arm through his and winks at him,

"We shall-I am starving!"

After saving a booth they both go to get their food. Sam is a little shocked to see how much stuff Alice keeps piling on her plate; it's almost as much food as Sam has on his and that is saying something. He's never been on a date with a girl who ate like he did…it was kind of nice.

"You ready?"

Alice smirks at him as she piles more orange chicken on her plate, follow by some cream cheese wontons,

"I am now."

They didn't really speak for the first five minutes or so because Sam was pretty hungry as well. It's not until he's made a good dent in his plate that he speaks,

"So…last I heard from your Dad you were studying to be an engineer."

Alice finishes chewing before answering,

"Yea-I changed my majors though," she takes a sip off her soda, "I'm studying to be an architect now."

"Really? That's kind of cool! What made you change your mind?"

"My dad," she grins and that dimple appears on her cheek again-Sam stares at it, "I saw what he did in the break room-do you know about that?"

"That hidden room behind the Pac-man arcade game?"

"Yea! I thought it was pretty cool what he did and…well then I started looking at some books about architecture and I really started to get into it so…I decided to switch."

"That's pretty sweet."

Alice waves at him excitedly, "I know! I'm actually kind of hoping of going to Europe this summer-check out some of the architecture over there."

Sam can't help but stare at how she licks the orange sauce off of her lips, "By yourself?"

"Nah-with a couple of friends from school; Dad is going to help me pay for it."

"Awesome," he shoves more food inside his mouth, "I want to go traveling one day. Need to save a bunch of money first though."

Alice wipes her mouth with a napkin and smiles at him, "How is work going for you? Last I heard you were working at some fancy restaurant."

Wincing Sam takes a sip of is soda, "I quit-I mean the pay was good and everything but I just hated working there. To high-brow you know what I mean?"

Alice laughs and Sam feels something warm filling him,

"Yea I can understand that. Where are you working now?"

"At this really cool dinner that serves good American food. It's great-the head-chef even takes my advice on how to prepare food and everything. It pays a little less but I'd definitely prefer it over my old job."

They keep talking for a solid hour. Alice talks about her love of books and her obsession with foreign music. Sam talks about his love of books and his obsession with food and zombies.

"You know I still have that gift you gave me for my 14th birthday."

Laughing Alice ducks her head,

"Oh my God…"

She looks up at him, face red and eyes shining. Sam holds his breath,

"I remember building that for you," shyly Alice shoves at his shoulder, "I had such a huge crush you."

The words jump out of his mouth before his brain has time to even think them,

"I think I have a crush on you NOW."

Alice looks up, startled. Sam slaps both hands over his mouth. Oh my God now Alice was going to freak or something because she said she HAD a crush on him, not HAS and what has he done-

"Oh Sammy…you're still so cute!"

That said Alice leans over and kisses the hand that is over his mouth.

"You know," she sits back down and runs her fingers through her hair, "I don't think I live that far from you…maybe like an hour or so. Probably less," she bites her lips and smiles at him, "Maybe we can go on more…dates if you would like."

Sam nods frantically, "Yea-yea that be…wow, yea that would be AWESOME. Yea…"

After that they leave the buffet. Outside Sam reaches for her hand and kisses it. Alice rolls her eyes but gives him a hug anyways,

"I'll be sure to text you later today, ok?"

"Ok."

Alice pats his cheek and starts walking to her car. Before she gets in, she turns back to him and waves. Sam waves back. When he can no longer see her car Sam jumps and pumps his fist back and forth. At that moment, he didn't care if the janitor ever found out-he didn't even care about the jokes his family will make at his expense. All he cares about is that he will be going on more dates with Alice.

Best…day…EVER.

A/N-Oh yea...this idea hit me ever since I wrote that scene where Alice ambushed him.