Dream Date by Ivan Kendrick

bathroom break. Inside, he pulled out his smartphone from his pocket. He was about to call Amanda when he remembered that he hadn’t even asked her for her phone number.
    Nathan set the phone on the edge of the sink, looking at himself in the mirror. As he was fixing his hair, Nathan’s smartphone vibrated. He answered the call right away.
     “Nathan Ferland,” he answered.
    “Hi, Nathan. It’s Amanda.”
    “Hey, I meant to call you, but I realized that I didn’t ask you for your number. Are you okay?”
    “Yes. Hughes brought me back to my apartment. It’s all clear here. No danger.”
    “Thank God. You really are all right?”
    “I’m a little shaken, but otherwise I’m fine.”
    “That’s good. I’m glad you called.”
    “Thank you for protecting me.”
    “Anytime.”
    “Well, I got to go. See you later.”
    “Take care, Amanda. Bye.”
    “Bye.”
    Nathan held the phone in front of him. He didn’t want to hang up, so he waited for Amanda to do so. When she did, Nathan put his phone back in his pocket.
    After he was free to go, Nathan drove back to his dorm. He walked up to his room and entered. The place was dark. Evidently, Ashton wasn’t there yet.
    Nathan sat down on the sofa. He picked up the remote control and turned on the TV. He didn’t watch shows often, partly because he was too busy. Nathan browsed through the channels, settling on the news. He walked to the kitchen to make himself a cold-cut sandwich. Nathan then grabbed a bag of Lay’s from the pantry and opened it.
    A quarter of an hour later, Nathan saw the front door opening. Ashton was back.
    “Hey, bro,” Ashton said when he closed the door.
    “Ashton,” he replied. “How was your day?”
    “Not bad. I couldn’t find Judith, so I went to work. Maybe she doesn’t live here. It’s no problem, I’ll still talk to her later.”
    Nathan nodded, finishing his sandwich.
    “How was your day?” Ashton asked.
    “Eventful,” Nathan answered. He then told him about what happened earlier.
    “Someone wanted to kidnap Amanda?”
    “It looked like a robbery attempt to me. Amanda looks...well-to-do."
    “She does.”
    “I’m just glad I was there to save her.”
    Ashton thought for a moment.
    “You know, I might have kidnapped Amanda myself, if I was as into her as you seem to be.”
    “Ha ha ha,” Nathan replied with sarcasm.
    “Come on. She’s clearly interested in you. I’m sure Amanda wouldn’t mind if you kidnapped her.”
    “I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate it.”
    “If you say so.”
    Ashton went to the kitchen to microwave a couple of burritos for his dinner.
    “Does Kayla know about you and Amanda?”
    “No. And I think that maybe it would be best if she never knew. What if I tell her and then nothing happens between me and Amanda? I’d rather not worry Kayla.”
    Ashton gave Nathan an it’s-your-call sort of look.
    “You’re a lucky bastard, you know. To have two hot women vying for your affection like that. Damn. Not that I’m not lucky enough.”
    I wouldn’t call it lucky , Nathan thought as he disposed of his bag of chips and then washed his plate on the sink. When he finished, he went back to his bedroom to do some homework.
     
    While Amanda was working on her laptop, she heard the ring that indicated she was receiving a Skype video call. She opened the program and saw that the call was from her parents. Amanda accepted the call. After a few moments, she saw her mother, Florence, on screen.
    “ Hi, mom!” Amanda greeted. She noticed her mom’s expression and added, “Is something wrong?”
    “ I just wanted to know if you’re all right.”
    “ What do you mean?” Amanda asked, looking up. She spotted Kellan standing around the corner of the entrance that led to the kitchen. He grinned sheepishly. Amanda rolled her eyes and looked back at her MacBook’s screen.
    “ We heard about your attempted kidnap.”
    “ I figured as much. Don’t worry about it. I’m fine. Hughes got it under