All Of Her Favorite Things

Eighteen-year-old Kyle had been nervous on dates before, but this was different. This was quite possibly the most special date of his life. Sure, he would probably go on to propose to the love of his life on a date or celebrate a wedding anniversary at a fancy restaurant, but he knew that he was never going to forget this one.

Since Kyle’s parents were out of town for the weekend, this was the perfect opportunity for him to use their beautiful back porch. He set some flowers on the table and plugged in the lights that wrapped around the bannisters. The cheesy little cherub fountain on the grass was a nice touch. A full moon shone a spotlight on the scene, setting up a perfect little moment from a romcom. 

Kyle knew this girl well enough to know that she was going to wear a purple dress on this date, so he dressed accordingly. He wore the usual white shirt with black dress pants, but he added a purple tie to match the most perfect girl in the world. She loved messing with his dirty blonde locks, so he didn’t even bother to add hair gel. He put on his glasses, looked himself in his brown eyes in the mirror, and took a deep breath. 

Maybe this is too much, he thought to himself. Most people wouldn’t overdo it in this situation. It was too late for him to make any changes, though. He had already told her where to meet him, dinner was ready, and he had already bought a gift. Besides, he felt like this was the right thing to do.

The doorbell rang. Kyle’s heart sank as he walked to the door. He opened it and tried not to gasp at the sight of Naomi. She was just as beautiful as the day they met in their freshman year. Her brown hair was up in a high ponytail with that sparkly hair tie that Kyle adored. Her lilac dress contrasted with Kyle’s deep purple tie, but they still complemented each other nicely. Her hazel eyes sparkled brighter than her hair tie. 

“Hey, Tuba,” she giggled.

“Hey, Nom Nom,” he replied with a smirk.

They hugged each other, but they broke away sooner than normal. The air had been different the last few months, and anyone could see from a mile away that something wasn’t right.

“Dinner is ready,” Kyle said as he led her to the back. “I got your favorite.” 

“Really?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “For this kind of date?”

“We’re eating in my parents’ backyard. This is ain’t Olive Garden. Besides, I wanted you to have your favorites for our final date.”

Naomi stopped before they reached the back door. Her mouth twitched a little bit.

“Right,” she whispered. “Our final date.”

“Hey,” Kyle whispered back as he put his arm around her. “It’s ok. We’re just going to have a nice little night and that’s it. I promise that I won’t fight with you about our college plans or anything. I won’t make you change your mind. We’re just going to have one last date together. Will you be ok?” 

Naomi took a deep breath, nodded, and let her boyfriend lead her outside. 

Nearly an hour had gone by, and Naomi was helping herself to her third slice of mushroom pizza as Kyle helped himself to a fourth slice of classic cheese. Mushroom normally made Kyle gagged, but not even Naomi’s mushroom breath could make him turn down a kiss. They had already finished a liter and a half of orange soda, and the key lime pie was still waiting in the freezer. Naomi unintentionally let out a huge burp, but she was too beautiful and sweet for Kyle to care. 

“Excuse me,” Naomi said as she turned her head away.

“It’s ok,” Kyle reassured her with a grin. “I always thought that your burps were cute.”

“Don’t. It’s embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing? You know what’s embarrassing? Do you remember how we met?”

Naomi couldn’t help but smile as she looked back on their freshman year. They had seen each other in the hallway and in class, but Kyle didn’t get to actually speak to Naomi until the first football game of the season. He was hurrying over to the section of the bleachers where the marching band was seated to see a friend of his. However, he slipped and somehow managed to fall headfirst into a tuba. Naomi was the first person to hurry over to the scene and rescue him from the melodious nightmare. Hearing her ask if he was ok blocked out the laughter from the bystanders. 

“How can I forget?” Naomi replied with a giggle. “It’s why I call you “Tuba”.” 

“If we haven’t met that way, what do you think your nickname for me would be?” Kyle asked as he poured himself some more orange soda.

“Probably something boring like “honey” or “babe”. I don’t know.”

“Yeah, there are worse nicknames out there.”

The two of them giggled before entering a silent territory. They couldn’t even give each other direct eye contact. Naomi started picking at a mushroom on her pizza, which she only did if she was uncomfortable. Kyle took the smallest sips that he could take as he had a staring contest with the cherub statue. The silence was finally broken by Naomi’s phone going off. She quickly picked it up and finally gave her boyfriend some eye contact.

“I’m sorry, but it’s my mom,” she apologized gently. “I promise that it’ll only take a minute.”

“Go ahead, babe.”

It was impossible to not hear Naomi’s mom. That woman’s voice was a megaphone, and you didn’t need to hit the speaker button to hear her on a phone from the other side of a room. Kyle could hear her complain about how the Uber Eats driver got her the wrong side dish. He couldn’t help but smile as he heard her scream “HELLO” at him. However, his smile disappeared when he heard her remind Naomi that they needed to buy some bedding for her new dorm room before she left in a couple of days. Naomi saw the look of pain on her boyfriend’s face, told her mom that she needed to go, and hung up. The phone rang again, but she promptly ignored it.

“Kyle, I’m sorry,” Naomi said with a sigh.

“For what?” Kyle asked.

“I’m sorry that you had to hear my mom bring up college. I wanted to get through the night without bringing it up.”

“It’s ok, Naomi. That’s why we’re here in the first place. We’re having one last date before you go off to Julliard and I go off to MTSU. Would you like for me to go and get the pie?”

“Maybe later.”

With tears fighting to pour from her eyes, Naomi swiftly walked down the stairs and onto the grass. Kyle sat there and considered his options. As much as he wanted to, he knew that he couldn’t ask her to reconsider her decision to end the relationship. He had suggested long-distance dating, but they had already tried that for two weeks during the summer and it failed miserably. As much as he wanted for them to stay together, he knew it was better to end it in peace now than end it tearfully later in different states. It was time for him to accept the fact that they weren’t going to do everything together.

The speaker turned on and played a little song. Naomi gasped softly and looked up at Kyle on the porch. He was also fighting back tears as he turned up the volume using his phone. The couple slow-danced to “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star as the moon shone a spotlight on them. They first danced to this song at the homecoming dance the year they met, and they were fortunate enough to dance to it again at their prom. Kyle wasn’t lying when he said that he had all of her favorite things for their date. 

Without any warning, Kyle got down on one knee. Naomi was just about horrified.

“Kyle, “she said sternly, “You better not be doing what I think you’re doing.”

“No, I swear I’m not,” he explained as he pulled a small box out of his pocket. “I just wanted to get down on my knee for you just this once. I’m sorry, I know that this isn’t right. I’m not asking you to marry me. I just want to ask you this. Naomi, will you please remember us?”

And with that, he opened the box and revealed a necklace. It was a clear pendant with rose petals inside of it. Naomi immediately recognized the hot pink petals from her prom corsage. They clashed with her lavender gown, but she didn’t care that night because they were given to her by the best boyfriend in the world. She could barely say the word “yes” as she cried. Wiping away her tears, she pulled her ponytail out of the way so that Kyle could carefully place the necklace around her neck. 

“I could never forget someone like you, Kyle,” Naomi said in between sobs.

“And I swear to never forget you,” he said as another round of tears escaped his eyes. “I don’t know how many girls I’ll meet in college, but I feel honored to have had you as my first.”

After what felt like a lifetime, the couple finally kissed. As unlikely as it seemed, it was almost identical to their very first kiss. Naomi’s breath smelled like mushrooms the way it did after their first date at a pizza parlor, and it didn’t bother Kyle on either night. He held her the same way he did nearly four years ago; he gently lifted her chin up with his right hand as his left hand rested on her waist. Just like on their first day, she stood up on her tiptoes so that their faces were leveled equally and so he could place his other hand on her waist. She had both of her hands on his shoulders and gently squeezed them. 

Another lifetime must’ve passed before the two of them finally broke away from each other. They stared into each other’s eyes, not knowing what to say. Finally, Naomi found the courage to speak up. 

“I think it’s time for me to go now,” she said as she tried to avoid another round of sobs.

As much as Kyle wanted this date to linger on a minute longer, he knew she was right. If she stayed, things would get even more emotional. It was time for him to let her go.

“I agree,” he said as he turned off the music. “Would you like to take the pie home with you, Nom Nom?”

With a twinkle in her eye, Naomi giggled and said, “Sure thing, Tuba.”