I dropped my will to be here**

*All names have been changed to keep the identity of my friends and potential love interests private. 

HELLO. So.

About a month ago I gave a ride to a kid named Kendall to FHE. It really wasn't that big of a deal because I picked him up from the Westclock bus stop which is 5 min from the church building here. I made small talk with him on the way to FHE but then didn't really interact with him during FHE. I didn't end up giving him a ride home because it wasn't on the way home for me but it was for this other girl so she took him home but he texted me afterwards and said he wanted to repay me somehow, possibly with a sweet treat. I told him he didn't need to worry about it but he was persistent!! He texted me one night asking what kind of treat I'd want and then told me he'd have it for me after work. I had to break it to him that I didn't live at Flamingo which threw a wrench in his plans. A couple weeks later he messaged me asking if I was free on Tuesday to get dinner and watch the fireworks (I was not free on Tuesday) and then finally, he messaged me yesterday asking if I worked. I said, "Yes from 10:00am-7:00pm" (I was really only scheduled from 10:00am-5:00pm but was hoping they'd let me stay til 7:00pm so I could earn some more cash.) He said, "Great wanna get ice cream at Beaches and Cream after you're off?" and feeling like I could no longer escape this kid's invitations I said yes, hoping it would get him off my back. I didn't really want to say yes because from my limited interactions with this kid I didn't really feel like I needed any one on one time with him but part of what motivated me to say yes was this blog! I told myself even if I was going on a date that I didn't want to go on, at least I could have fun writing about it.

The date was fine.

I feel like because I wasn't thrilled to go on this date in the first place, I was judging him a little harshly throughout which maybe isn't the most fair of me but c'est la vie.

Before we get into it, let me lead off with his redeeming qualities

1. Gentlemanly (paid and opened my doors for me when it wasn't too out of the way)
2. Asked me questions
3. Persistent

Work didn't end up letting me extend my shift so I ended up going home at 5:00pm which was maybe a blessing in disguise because that allowed me to actually get ready for the date rather than just changing into the t-shirt and sports shorts I had in my work backpack as an emergency change of clothes.

He was coming over from Hollywood Studios on the Skyliner to meet up at the ice cream place and I decided to park at the Riviera Resort and take the Skyliner over because I'd had trouble parking at the Beach Club Resort without a dining reservation before. We ended up running into each other at the Epcot Skyliner stop so we walked over to Beach Club from there. The time was approximately 7:45pm.

I asked him if he'd made a reservation for Beaches and Cream and he said, "No, should I have?" I explained that the past two times I'd tried to go to Beaches and Cream, it was almost impossible to get in without having a reservation beforehand but we resolved to go and try to join the walk up list anyway. 

The walk up list was full. So Plan B went into effect which was ordering ice cream from the Beaches and Cream walk up window. I got a single scoop of chocolate. He got a double scoop of chocolate. He jokingly suggested we order one of everything on the menu. I gave him a pity laugh.

After ordering our ice cream, we were standing by the pick up window and he turns to me and says, "Hey you dropped something!" I look slightly down kinda confused when he goes and says, "You dropped your smile. I just like being silly like that." I gave him another pity laugh and immediately thought to myself "Man I can't believe that just happened, but I cannot wait to tell all my friends that it did." and, "This'll make some great blog content." I was also wondering if any of the people around us heard him say that and were going to go home and recount what had just happened to their friends and family e.g. "You'll never guess what I heard this guy say to this girl at the ice cream window...." At least he has a sense of humor. I can't say we have compatible senses of humor but at least he has one!

After the kind cast member delivered us our scoops of chocolate, I took a bite or two and promptly spilled some down the front of my shirt and we ended up walking around the Epcot resort area just talking. 

See chocolate here

I asked him lots of questions (because that's what I tend to do whenever I'm getting to know someone new) and if I didn't immediately shoot him a question after he was done answering the last one there was often some prolonged lulls in the conversation til he finally thought of a question to ask me. He was asking me questions though which was good! I learned that he just scored a computer engineering internship with Disney Imagineering and he wants to stay here long term. He wants to earn $120,000/year because he feels like that'll provide for a wife and kids. He also thinks housing in Florida is cheap. He's from Vegas. We were also talking about our favorite musicals at one point and he told me one of his favorites is the Book of Mormon musical which made me go 🤨, as I do not feel like that musical pays proper respect to our shared faith.

By 8:50pm we'd made our way back to the Epcot Skyliner stop and I informed him that I was tired and would be going home at 9:00pm. He said "Alright I'll take you back to the Riviera then." So we got in the long line for the Skyliner. He was on his phone for a lot of the time we were in line.

We parted ways at the Riviera bus stop. He was thinking of heading to Magic Kingdom after leaving me so I could walk to my car. I gave him a light hug and thanked him for the time and giggled to myself on my way to my car thinking about the, "You dropped your smile" line again.

So there you have it. I did not leave the date feeling anymore inclined to spend additional time with him than I did before the date. I was hoping the date would happen and he would realize that I'm not the one for him but he messaged me tonight while I was working and asked how my Sunday has been so it seems I'm not off the hook quite yet. I've found myself wishing one of the cuter boys in my ward would start asking me out so I would have a better excuse to ask him to stop messaging me. Yipes. Wish me luck.

**Today's blog title comes from my friend Sara who after telling her the details of the, "You dropped your smile" line, told me that if she'd been on the date, she would have replied "Well I just dropped my will to be here" and left.