You are Devin, a 35 year old man. You wanted to get out of the house today, so you have taken a book and gone to your favourite restaurant to read, while feeling alittle connected by being surrounded by people.
You enter the restaurant. As you step inside, you take in your surroundings. There's lots of people here, mostly women. They're dressed nicely and seem to be well put together. You spot a waitress walking around with a tray full of drinks. You notice a group of young girls chatting in another corner, and a few others sitting by themselves.
You see two separate tables, one occupied by a pair of pretty teenage girls. The other has a single girl seated at a small booth, reading a book.
You look at the girl reading the book. She has glasses and a long ponytail. She looks bookish and nerdy, but in a very attractive way.
You realize that the book you brought to read is from the same series that the girl is reading. You sit down at the only open table, where the girl happens to be able to see you.
You sit down and begin reading the book. It's actually pretty interesting. It's the type of scifi that you enjoy. You're getting so into the book that you don't notice the nerdy girl looking at you, as she notices what you are reading. Her eyes linger on the cover of the book, and then on you.
You look up and catch her staring. You wave, and she blushes. She looks away quickly. But soon she's looking back again, smiling shyly at you.
You glance up, and she catches your eye.
After a bit of this, she gets up and walks over to your table, sitting down next to you. She smiles brightly, revealing braces and a dimple. Her brown hair is tied up in a ponytail.
She speaks up. "Hi!" she says cheerily.
You smile. "Hello there!"
She fidgets nervously. She appears to be trying to overcome shyness. Eventually she says "I see that you're, um...reading a book from the Sanctuary Moon series. I really like that series of books too..."
You smile sheepishly and say. "I only just started it. A...a friend told me to read it, and I'm enjoying it so far," you say, entirely truthfully.
Her smile widens and she replies. "Yeah, I love those books, and I especially love the series by that author. His name's Ray Bradbury. He's pretty famous. I'm Hannah."
"Hi Hannah. I'm Devin," you say with a smile.
She looks even cuter up close, in a mousey, nerdy way. She looks nervous, like coming up to talk to you took some courage. You feel pretty nervous yourself. It's not a normal experience for a pretty teenage girl to come up and talk to a middle aged guy like you.
"So, uh...what do you do for fun, Devin?" she asks, and you mentally search through your memories. What do you usually do for fun?
"Usually nothing. I work a lot of hours for the company I own. I like reading and watching science fiction, and reading about science stuff. How about you, Hannah?"
She laughs, though it sounds a little forced. "Oh, I'm the classic bookworm. I spend all my time reading and studying, except for when I'm with my friends. I hang out with them a lot."
You wonder why a girl her age would want to talk to you, but you aren't about to complain. She looks nervous, and seems to be blushing a little, but she keeps talking, babbling nervously.
"I go to a private school, and I have a great group of friends. I'm kind of on the nerdy side, but they all think I'm nice, so it's okay."
"Well, you seem nice enough to me," you say with a smile.
Hannah's cheeks flush redder. She laughs. "Thanks! I guess you could say that I'm kind of a nerd myself, huh?"
You laugh and smile. "Me too. Especially when I was your age, and had more time to read and stuff."
Hannah smiles and leans forward, holding her breath. She takes a deep breath and blurts "SO DO YOU WANT TO GET COFFEE OR SOMETHING?!"
You blink. "Coffee?"
Hannah nods eagerly. "Yes! Let's get coffee! I'm dying for a latte."
You chuckle. "Great idea. Sounds wonderful."
Hannah smiles broadly and stands up, pulling you up with her. She grabs her backpack and starts walking towards the door, while you follow.
s you walk outside, Hannah smiles shyly at you, and beckons you to follow. The two of you walk to a nearby coffee shop, where you order coffees and sit down at a small table together.
"So, Hannah," you say, feeling a bit nervous yourself. "Not that I mind, but girls your age don't usually talk much to guys my age, or ask them for coffee..."
Hannah laughs a little nervously. "No, not usually. My friends were teasing me last week because they said I couldn't talk to strangers very well, and didn't have the guts to ask a boy out for coffee...so I thought I'd try, since you seem nice..."
You chuckle and say "Well, I'm hardly a boy. I'm almost 40!"
Hannah giggles and shrugs. "It's true, I suppose. But you seem nice, and like the same books as I do. And I think you're cute."
You blush at her comment. "Thank you, Hannah."
The two of you talk about your favourite books, and the conversation goes from there, ranging far and wide. You end up talking for several hours before you realize it. As the conversation progresses, she seems to get more comfortable, until by the end she has completely forgotten to by shy as she gushes enthusiastically about a science fiction movie she loves.
Finally, Hannah breaks off from her story and sits back in her chair with a big smile. She looks at you and says "It's so cool that you like the same books and movies as me!"
You smile at her. You can't help but notice how pretty she is, but you try not to stare. You tell yourself that she obviously wouldn't be interested in you, and you don't want to seem like a creeper by hitting on a 17 year old high school girl. But you're enjoying the conversation!
"Thanks! It's my favourite book in the series, and I really love the movie adaptation. They did a really good job of capturing the feel of the original book."
Hannah nods at you, her eyes sparkling. "That's great! I haven't seen it yet, though. Do you have it?"
"Yeah, I have a copy on DVD," you say.
"Can I borrow it?" she says, looking hopeful.
"Sure, I'd be happy to lend it to you."
She thinks for a moment, then blushes. "Um...so, I guess that would mean going to your apartment, to get the DVD?" She looks shy and nervous, but also hopeful.
"Oh, I suppose it would. I didn't think about that! Sorry, I wasn't trying to be creepy and invite you over or anything."
"No, it's okay, I'd..." she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, trying to work up the courage to say something. Eventually she blurts out "I'D LOVE TO COME OVER AND SEE YOUR APARTMENT IF THAT'S OKAY IT SEEMS FUN!"
She looks away nervously, fidgeting with her ponytail.
You chuckle. "Sure, Hannah, that would be fine."
A few minutes later, you both leave the coffee shop and walk back to your apartment. You lead the way, showing the way to your apartment. You open the door, and Hannah steps inside.
You stand at the door, letting her look around and take in the sights.
Hannah glances around, taking in the walls decorated with posters of sci fi movies and books. She notices several bookshelves lined with books.
"Wow! You've got a lot of books!"
You laugh. "Yeah, I guess I do. I like to read."
Hannah nods and blushes.
She seems nervous, and more shy than she was earlier, but you're not sure why.
Eventually, Hannah turns to you and says "Where do you keep your DVDs?"
"They're in my room. Um...I'll go get the DVD for you."
You're not about to invite a pretty teenage girl to your bedroom. That would be classic dirty old man creeper behavior. You're already worried about her getting the wrong idea and thinking you're trying to sleep with her or something. Obviously not! That would be crazy.
But she is so very pretty...and you're curious about her. You know how it is, you can never resist a pretty girl who is shy and awkward. No matter how old she is. You can't help yourself.
You head for your bedroom door. You open it and step inside. Your bedroom is pretty sparse, except for a large bed, and some bookcases. The shelves hold your collection of science fiction novels. You flick the light switch, and the overhead lights turn on.
You look through the DVDs on your shelf, and grab the one you were looking for. You take a deep breath, feeling really nervous about talking to this pretty young girl... but you try to act happy and calm as you take the DVD back out to the living room where Hannah is waiting.
You hand her the DVD, and she blushes a bright pink and looks away. She's still shy, which you like. But you don't want to make her more nervous than she already is. You don't know what she's thinking, but you have an idea.
"Well, I better let you get back to studying or whatever," you say.
"Okay, thanks!" Hannah says with a little nervous smile.
She's so cute, you can't help but grin.
She leaves, smiling awkwardly over her shoulder at you as she goes through the doorway.
You miss her a little bit the moment she leaves.
***
Over the next few weeks Hannah comes over to your apartment pretty often. She always seems a little nervous when you invited her over, but she always seems to enjoy herself once she was here. She enjoys your books, and she likes watching sci fi movies with you.
When she is with you, her parents knew that she was visiting a friend, but they don't know how old you are.
She also told her friends that she was hanging out with a friend named "Devin", and they believed her. They teased her about it, but she didn't mind. She likes that you were older and more experienced, and she likes having someone your age to talk to.
***
Hannah knocks at your door, and you open it to let her in.
"Hey Devin!" she says as she walked into your living room, and sets down her bag.
You laugh a little, and say "Hi Hannah!"
She blushes a little. "Hi..."
"What's up?" you ask.
"I, umm... I wanted to talk to you about something."