Out of Summertime

Chapter 4: Meeting McCreery

I say the first thing that comes to mind, "My dad was talking about you this morning," I blurt.

Scotty laughs, "So you do know me?"

I am blushing furiously, "Well, kinda... I mean, I've heard of you... I..." He smiles at me lopsidedly, apparently aware of the fact I am struggling.

"Wanna start over," he suggests.

"Could we?"

His smile grows warmer, "I'm Scotty McCreery."

I begin to smile too, "I'm Callie."

He takes my hand again, and my heart flutters, "Callie... Pretty name for a pretty girl."

I cannot believe this is happening. "Thank you," I say in a daze. He motions toward the rest of the fair. We start walking through the fairgrounds, and I pull out my phone to text Mel: Hey, I gotta go. I'm still at the fair if you need me. Tell you all about it on the way home, and I press send.

"Who was that," he asks. I slide my phone back in my pocket even after I hear my text tone, no doubt that's Mel.

"My best friend Melanie," I answer. I gasp a little when I see a huge stuffed horse in one of the booths. Scotty looks my direction; grinning he walks that way and I follow excitedly.

When we get to the tent I see that there is a water gun about five feet in front of a bunch of rubber ducky faces. A man with a mustache stand up from his chair and introduces us to the game.

I grab Scotty's arm and point to the big horse, "I want that one," I tell him. He tells the man who gives him a price. Scotty looks at me mischievously and leans over the counter to whisper in the man's ear. When he returns, Scotty looks victorious and grabs the gun.

"What did you tell him," I ask, but he has already begun to shoot the gun into the ducks' mouth which keeps opening and closing randomly. As he shoots, a yellow balloon begins to fill up above him. It finally gets so full it explodes and splashes us with water. Scotty and I are laughing and soaking wet, the employee chuckles and grabs the stuffed horse as big as me off the shelf. He hands it to Scotty who gives it to me. I snuggle it close to my chest as we walk away.

Next he says we should ride the Ferris Wheel; I don't want to tell him I've already been on it once. We get to the front of the line and the same employee seats us and explains the same rules. Scotty and I laugh and talk the whole way up about this "stop" in his concert. When we reach the top somehow our conversation stops and I get lost studying his face. I notice him doing the same to me. We reach the top and as the sun sinks I feel a single spark in my chest. As I am studying his face it occurs to me, Some girl gets to marry this boy someday... A strange feeling of dread runs through me. For some reason I feel a tether form between me and the boy next to me. I glance down and see his hand has taken hold of mine. We stay like that till the ride is over. At the bottom our conversation starts back up again.

"That was so fun," I tell him. He smiles down at me as we walk over to where all the food stands are. I head straight for the funnel cakes and ice cream. We order but Scotty walks away as soon as the woman hands up our food and we find a table away from the rest to sit at.

I sit down and ask him, "Okay, what did you say to those people? We didn't even have to pay for our food!"

He grins slyly, "I told them who I was, that's all..."

I narrow my eyes playfully, "If you say so mister." We share a laugh and there is a slightly awkward pause as I take a bite of my funnel cake.

"So what do you like to do," Scotty asks me, looking for something to fill the empty space. He is so easy to be around, it's impossible to be uncomfortable around him.

I swallow, remembering my mother's scolding this morning, "I play volleyball for my school, I got onto the varsity team this year. I like sports a lot, which I know is weird for a girl. I love horseback riding. I love horses in generally actually; they are such sweet creatures." I stop worried that I am babbling. The fact that this boy, who is way out of my league, is even talking to me, scares me.

I look up from my dessert to see his dazzling smile again, "Well then you both have that in common, don't you?" My cheeks blush and I see his color too, maybe he's as nervous as I am.

We sit and talk for what I think is another two hours. The sun has fully set and the stars are out now. I check my phone for the time, 10:24 pm, and see a million texts from Mel. I shove my phone in my pocket again as Scotty and I reach the entrance to the fairgrounds.

We stop to say farewell, "Thank you so much for tonight Callie. You're the first person who has treated me like a regular person in a long time," he says taking my hand.

I smile at the ground, "I had a great time too..."My green eyes look up into his gorgeous blue ones, his smile has become shy and I almost faint when I hear what he says next.

"I know we just met and this might be crazy but I feel like we could be really close friends... Maybe more than friends. Callie, would you be willing to go to a movie and dinner with me?"

It was my turn to boost his confidence, I happily answered, "I would love to."

He looks up from the ground with stars in his eyes, "Really," his face falls a little, "I don't know any place around here.

I touch his shoulder, "Tell ya what, I know a lake just a few minutes away, meet me here at nine tomorrow morning; bring food if you want it, and I'll take you there."

Scotty's smile comes back, "Okay, see you then Callie," he releases my hand as I walk away.

I stop in my tracks when he calls out, "Wait! What do I wear?"

I smile, "Hmm, bring a swimsuit!" I walk out of the fair to meet Mel. I can't wait to tell her about my night.