Love of Autism Ch. 06

"I know, just making them jealous of us," Keith said as he went down into the basement where Luke and Andy had their eyes clued to the TV. "Did I miss anything?"

"Only another game where Michigan is killing the football team that is only playing them for the giant check the school gets," Luke answered.

Keith turned to look at the TV and saw that the score was twenty-eight to three. "I know all three of us enjoy watching Michigan win, but maybe there is another game actually worth watching that isn't so one-sided."

"Give me a second to look up what other games are on," Luke said as he grabbed the remote. Keith gave each of them their beer and sat down in the open recliner.

"So Scott actually asked Katie out on date?" Andy asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

"Yes he did," Keith nodded, "and I think he is more nervous than he wants to let on."

"What makes you say that?" Luke asked still trying to find a good college football game for them to watch.

"I think he wants it to be perfect and is making himself more anxious than he needs to be."

"Weren't you nervous on your first date?" Luke asked.

Keith laughed, remembering how everything started between him and Jackie. "Well after running out on the first time we met and interrupting a date she was on only to be the one to get drugged, the only way things could go was up after that."

"Until you basically yelled at her that you have Asperger's Syndrome," Andy pointed out.

"Not every relationship is perfect and yes, I would have loved to have told her that in a much better way. That being said, things are really good between us now."

"Jackie was more open to learning about you and what was called Asperger's back then. I still don't quite understand why that term was abandoned and now just use autism."

"From what Bernie told me, it had something to do with insurance companies more willing to cover anything related to autism, but not much Asperger's."

"But Asperger's is just high functioning autism," Luke pointed out.

"Tell that to insurance companies," Keith said. "Either way, it is just called Autism Spectrum Disorder now."

"Some disorder where you completely own us in basketball and video games for years," Andy grumbled.

Keith couldn't help but laugh at the comment. "Not my fault society still hasn't caught up to realize it is anything but a disorder."

"Someone should have told Jillian that," Andy said. "It would have helped her be less of a bitch to you."

"Oh I bet she is in hell right now anyway with Katie and Scott starting to date," Keith replied.

"Time will tell if things work out between the two of them," Luke said. "I don't see Scott liking Katie all that much to begin with."

Keith chuckled ready to drop a bomb on Andy and Luke. "He likes her more than you realize. He lets her call him Scottie." Both Andy and Luke spit out the beers they were drinking when they heard that and looked at Keith with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Keith couldn't help but smile and laugh at their reaction. "Yes, Scott is letting Katie call him Scottie."

*****************************************************

Two days before the big first date with Scott, Katie was looking through her closet trying to find something to wear. Either the clothes were not in style anymore, not first date appropriate, too formal, out of season, or just outright hell no. After two hours of searching for the right outfit and failing, she fell back first, on her bed and was starting to feel defeated.

Jillian walked into the room and saw clothes tossed about everywhere. "Either you're getting behind on your laundry or you're having problems finding the perfect outfit for your date with Scott."

Katie lifted her head up to see her mom looking around the room. "Am I overthinking this Mom?"

Jillian shrugged her shoulders. "You might be, but he is taking you out on a real date. I am actually surprised."

Katie sat up onto the bed. "Surprised about what?" she asked, curious to know what her mom was thinking.

Jillian looked at her daughter with a smile. "I'm surprised that he is putting so much thought into this and got the money needed to take you out on a proper date. More than Jack ever did for you."

Katie shook her head, not believing what she was hearing. "Are you actually saying something nice about Scott?"

"Don't get used to it. I'm still not happy that you are actually dating him. However..." Jillian took a long breath before she continued, "I will say he is not the worst guy in the world for you to date."

"Geez, thanks Mom," Katie said rolling her eyes, "that sounds like a great vote of confidence."

"Why are you so nervous anyway? I don't think Scott will care what you wear on your first date with him."

"I know, but I still want to wow him."

"And none of these clothes," Jillian said with her arms spread showing the mess of clothes all over Katie's room, "will wow him?"

"No, none."

Jillian rolled her eyes. "Guess that means you need a trip to the mall with one of your friends."

"If I had any left. After Homecoming, all my friends stopped talking to me."

"What about that girl that is friends with Scott and is dating his friend Steve? Elizabeth?"

Katie smiled. "She prefers to be called Liz and I don't know if she is the shopping type."

"Well call her and ask her if she wants to go shopping after school Friday. Worst she could do is say no."

"I guess I could give her a call."

"I'll give you some privacy to call her." Jillian left her daughter's bedroom and Katie got her phone from the nightstand. She took a deep breath before calling Liz. After four rings she was ready hang up, but Liz answered.

"Hey Katie, what's up?"

"Hi Liz. So I'm in a bit of a crisis at the moment."

"What type of crisis?"

"Crisis of not having the perfect outfit for Saturday and I need your help after school tomorrow."

"Say no more. I'll meet you at Macy's and we'll find you something that will make Scott's jaw drop."

"Thank you Liz! You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"No problem. This is what friends are for."

********************************************

Katie came out of the dressing room in a green dress that did not look good on her at all. One look at each other and Liz and Katie shook their head no.

"This is the tenth thing we've tried and our choices seem to be getting worse with each one," Katie complained.

"And we will try another ten things and twenty until we find you something to wear for tomorrow night."

Katie went back into the dressing room and changed back into her normal clothes. Once changed she exited with the clothes she tried on and hung them on the return hanger. "I think we've tried just about everything."

"Then we will go to Kohl's and JCPenney and where else that sells clothes to find you something. We are on a mission and we will not fail."

Katie couldn't help but laugh a little bit at Liz. "Someone is taking this very seriously."

"Of course I am! I have to deal with enough testosterone as is between Scott and Steve and I can't talk about girl things with them. No pressure or anything, but I need things between you and Scott to work out."

"Trust me, I want things to work out between me and him too," she said as they walked out of the dressing room area. "I just don't want to settle for something less than amazing of an outfit to wear tomorrow. He's doing his best to make this an amazing first date so I want to look my best."

Katie and Liz started to look through clothes again and didn't once nod their heads to suggest it was something remotely even worth trying on. Everything was either too revealing, too big, or just something Katie wouldn't want to wear unless she was much older and married. It didn't help matters that somethings that Katie wanted to try on Liz shook her head no knowing those clothes wouldn't wow Scott.

They were ready to give up and head into a different store when a dress that was on display caught both their eyes. They took one look at each other, checked the hangers for Katie's size, found one and headed immediately for the dressing room.

Katie took her time getting into the dress once she got into the dressing room, wanting to make sure it fit her perfectly. To her surprise and delight the dress fit her perfectly in all the right ways, looked sexy on her body and was still modest enough for her mom's approval. Satisfied, she opened the door to show Liz the dress and the smile on her face said it all.

"I think this is the dress," Katie said gleefully.

"That is the dress that will make him speechless for a good minute," Liz agreed, "but now we need to find shoes, necklace, and earrings to go with it."

"You think we need to go that all out?" Katie asked.

"Oh yeah," Liz said nodding her head. "We will make sure he never forgets this outfit and tomorrow night."

A half hour later Liz and Katie walked out with everything Katie needed for her big night. They said their goodbyes to each other and Katie drove home where she was surprised to see her mom's car in the garage. Once inside the house, she saw her mom at the kitchen table eating some Chinese.

"Hey Mom, no business trip this weekend?"

Jillian shook her head. "Nope. Work has said that I've been racking up quite the expenses with all these trips and that I need to spend some time with my daughter. So I'll be home every weekend probably until the new year unless something requires my attention." Jillian turned her head and saw Katie holding two bags in her hands. "I thought you were just getting one thing to wear for the date."

"Liz convinced me to get some extras and I think she was right with our choices that we made."

"Well you better put everything on so I can be the judge if my money was spent well."

Katie went into her room and put on the dress, shoes, necklace, and earrings that she had just bought. She took one look at herself in the mirror and was still amazed at how good she looked. With a deep breath, she left her bedroom and walked into the kitchen where her mother was waiting patiently.

Jillian was astonished to see how beautiful her daughter looked. "Oh my god. You look gorgeous sweetie!" Jillian exclaimed.

"Thank you Mom," Katie said, slightly blushing.

"You better let Scott know he needs to get here early because I need to take some pictures of you two together."

"Mom!"

"Don't 'mom' me. You are too beautiful to not have some pictures taken."

**********************************************

Scott looked at his phone to check the time again and it read 3:15pm. He cursed himself for checking again after just checking it literally five minutes early. Nothing on TV interested him and he didn't want to lose track of time playing a video game. The fact that time seemed to be moving much slower didn't help his patience. Giving into the fact there was nothing else he could to help move time faster, he decided to take a long shower to try and help relax his mind and body. He had never felt so tense before in his young life.

Once the temperature of the water was to his liking, he stepped into the shower and raining of the hot water over his body immediately helped his body feel relaxed. However, his mind was still active with anxiety and worry about the date with Katie. He knew he had chosen a good restaurant to eat at and it was very close to the movie theater they were going to see a movie at, whatever movie they ended up deciding to see. He probably could have spent a good hour in the shower trying to calm himself, but Sarah banged on the door, reminding him he still needed to dry off after the shower before he got dressed. As much as he hated it, he knew his sister was right.

He turned off the water, dried off, went to his bedroom, and looked at the clothes he had picked out for his first real date with Katie. After he knew he was completely dry, he put on a dark blue button-up shirt and black pants. Once those were on he put a nice pair of black dress shoes. After that was done he put on his glasses and looked at himself in the mirror in his room. He didn't know if he looked handsome or not, but he knew he looked good enough for a first date.

He exited his bedroom and went to get his keys and winter coat. It was the first week of November and the weather was turning colder by the day. Every few days a warmer day would hit, but that was the way weather in Michigan always acted. Scott had hoped this day was going to be one of those warmer than normal days, but today was not one of those days as the high was in the high forties and the low was going to be in the high thirties. No matter what, a winter coat was going to be needed.

Before he could get to the closet where his winter coat was at, his mom stopped him in the kitchen.

"Wow," Jackie said with a big smile, "you look so handsome Scott."

"Mom!" Scott said while his face turned beet red.

"Katie should consider herself lucky to have such a handsome man taking her out tonight."

Scott's face stayed red. He knew his mother meant well, but he always felt a little embarrassed when she gave him such compliments because he felt that she was always supposed to say such things.

"I really do need to get going Mom. Katie's mom wants to take pictures and I'm nervous enough as is."

"OK Scott. Have a good time tonight and just remember to relax. Katie likes you a lot and I'm sure she will enjoy being with you."

Scott got his winter coat and keys and left through the front door. He got in his car and began the short journey to Katie's house. Once there he took a deep breath to try to calm the nerves he was feeling. After a couple minutes he stopped the engine, got out of his car, headed towards the front door of Katie's house, and rang the doorbell. A few second later Katie's mom opened the door.

"Hi Scott," Jillian greeted, "come in."

"Thank you," Scott said.

"You can set your coat on the chair over there for now. Katie will soon be ready. She just needs to add some finishing touches."

"OK," Scott said as he took off his coat and sat in the couch in the family room while Jillian sat in the recliner across from him.

"So you are taking Katie to dinner and a movie," Jillian said in a nonthreatening a voice as she could muster.

"Yes Mrs. Paulson."

"Have you decided on a movie yet?"

"No," Scott admitted, "we've butted heads on that but I'm sure we will either pick a movie we will both like or hate together."

"Isn't it more important to pick a movie Katie would like?" Jillian challenged.

"I think it is more important we decide on something together instead of just giving into what the other wants. I'd rather us have a good dinner together and not agree on a movie than either one of us being forced to see a movie we don't want to see."

"So you're willing to sacrifice part of your plans just because you can't come to an agreement?"

Scott swallowed before he answered. "Yes, I am."

The two of the sat in silence as Scott tried to remain as calm as possible while Jillian stared at him, sizing him up. After a few minutes Jillian decided to speak.

"You clean up quite nicely," Jillian said in a somewhat sweet tone.

Scott didn't know how to respond at first. That was the first time Katie's mom had ever said anything nice to him. "Umm, thank you."

A second later he heard a door open and close from down the hallway. Scott stood up in anticipation of Katie coming down the hallway. When she came into view his heart just about stopped. She was wearing a blue dress that seemed to show off her young body in all the right ways. Her hair was pinned up that showed off her slender neck and the earrings she was wearing. Last was a necklace that had a blue jewel at the end of it.

Katie put on her best smile trying to hide her nervousness. It didn't matter that when Scott saw her he didn't say anything. After all the worry and stress, she was hoping he would say something.

Scott just couldn't believe how beautiful Katie looked and it took him a few seconds before he realized that he needed to say something. "Katie, you look absolutely beautiful."

The smile on Katie's face no longer masked her nervousness, but instead showed her happiness that everything was worth it in the end. "Thank you Scott. You look very handsome yourself."

Both of them stood where they were standing for a minute before Jillian decided to break up the awkwardness between them.

"Why don't you get together so I can take some pictures."

Katie immediately rolled her eyes. "Mom, this isn't Homecoming or Prom. You don't need to take pictures."

"This is still something special. Your first date with Scott."

Katie was about to argue with her mother but Scott came up to her and put his hands on her arms. "Let her take some pictures. The sooner we let her do this, the sooner I can take you to dinner."

"But she is acting silly and we shouldn't have to do this," Katie argued back.

"I agree," Scott said while giving her a sympathetic smile, "but this isn't something worth fighting over with her. Let her have her pictures. It won't kill us to hold each other a little bit before we leave."

Katie wanted to find some sort of error in Scott's logic but couldn't. He was right. This was not something worth fighting her mother on. "OK." She turned to look at her mother. "Three good, non-blurry pictures."

"Sounds fair to me," Jillian agreed. "Just stand next to each other and put your arms around each other in whatever way feels comfortable."

Scott and Katie stood next to each other and put their arms around each other's waists as Jillian took several pictures of them. Once she took three good pictures she told them they could go and without a second wasted Scott and Katie went out the front door. When she saw Scott's car leave Jillian made a call on her phone and within a few rings the person who she called answered.

"Hey, so they just left. You two can come over now."

***************************************************

"Here are your menus and your server will be with you shortly," the hostess said as she handed Scott and Katie their menus.

They both thanked the hostess as she left them to themselves.

"Well, we're here," Scott said nervously.

"Yes, we are," Katie said with a small laugh. Scott didn't say anything as he looked at the menu, but she could tell he was feeling a little overwhelmed. "Hey, everything is going to be fine Scott. Just take a second to breathe."

Scott took a deep breath and tried to relax. "I know I shouldn't be nervous," he said as he sat his menu down on the table, not able to focus on it, "but this is our first actual date and I just want it to be perfect."

"Scott, we don't have to have a perfect date. I'm just happy to be on a date with the perfect man for me."

"Perfect man for you?" Scott asked with a small smile.

"Yes, perfect man for me. Who else could get me to watch bloody, violent anime?"

"A more attractive anime nerd," Scott joked.

"I'm already with one," Katie countered, "but you've also made me laugh and smile in one of my worst moments, even after all I've put you through. I wouldn't choose to be with anyone else right now."

"That is really nice of you to say Katie. This is all just very new to me and I really don't know what to say and do. I've never been on a date before."

"Well we make conversation, enjoy some good food..."

"Very funny," Scott said recognizing Katie's sarcasm, "but you know what I mean. I've just never been in this situation before and because of that I'm very anxious."

"Trust me," Katie said trying to comfort Scott, "everything will be great tonight."

Their server came by interrupting their conversation to ask them for their drink orders and if they needed more time looking at the menu. Scott said that they would need a couple minutes and the server left them alone.