Beautiful Symphony

Chapter 10

I was at a loss for words. This kind of thing had never happened to me before. Ever. I had always seen it in movies, or read about it in books, but I had always assumed that actual boys were too stupid to do anything romantic. Boy, was I wrong.

He continued looking up at me, waiting for a response. I must have had a dumb look on my face, because his smile faded a bit, replaced with worry.

"Uh- I mean, I guess, if you really want to." Wow. Nearly 10 words in one go. Way to go, me. His face lit back up.

"Absolutely. I'll come by tomorrow around three. See you then." He replied, with a bit too much eagerness. He turned on his heels and quickly walked away, throwing the remaining pebbles as he went. I shut the window.

Wait. Am I going on a date? Realization of what I had just agreed to hit me in the face like a brick. A date. Is it a date? Oh, goodness. I started pacing around the room. I could not do this. I couldn't even have a simple conversation with my parents. How in the world was I going to handle a date?

Stress ate at my brain for another ten minutes or so before I just gave in. I had already agreed to go with him, and there was no going back. I flopped down on the bed and let out a groaning noise. It must have sounded pretty distressed, because no sooner was Crystal knocking on my door.

"Sweetie? Is everything okay?" She asked before slowly peeking in. My arm was laying across my eyes, and I lifted it a bit to meet her gaze. She gave me a look, one that read, Can I come in? If this had been any other day, I would have refused on the spot. But, this day was already going strangely, so I just nodded.

   She cautiously made her way inside the room, closing the door behind her. She sat awkwardly on the bed next to me. She wasn't used to this, and neither was I. I didn't know what to say. I was afraid to say too much, or maybe not enough.

   "Do you want to talk about it?"

   That was a good question. Did I? I just looked up at the ceiling and sighed. After another minute of awkward silence, I looked over at her.

   "What do I wear on a picnic?"
                                    *****

     Crystal was overly excited for the next hour because I had asked her for advice. Fashion advice, which I immediately regretted after she dragged me to her temporary closet for a shopping trip. We went through about ten different dresses before I just picked one out myself. I had never seen her wear it, which made me like it even more. It was a creamish white color, with straight folds in the skirt. I was surprised she even had some of the stuff that was in there. It wasn't even her size. Weird.

After making my selection, I detached myself from Crystals grasp and hung the dress up in my closet. I went to bed early that night, only because I knew it would take me forever to fall asleep. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. Him. The date-ish thing. The fact that he kept showing up in my life was way past normal at that point, and I didn't know what to do. It wasn't like I hated having him around or anything, it was just... Different.

*****

I had a dream that night. I was in the music room downstairs. I could hear the piano, except I wasn't the one playing. It was like I was standing a few feet away from whoever was playing. I could hear the notes of a familiar song, Endless Love. It was the one with the missing sheet music. Someone was playing it, and they were doing an excellent job. It sounded so beautiful, I couldn't prevent my eyelids from closing shut. It was like some magical lullaby. And then it was gone.

*****

It was only 2:00, and I was already freaking out. I already had my dress on. I decided to wear a sweater and tights with it, because there was a chilly wind blowing outside. I fidgeted around with my outfit whenever I wasn't pacing around the room. My conscious refused to let me rest. My thoughts were swirling, and I felt like I was going to pass out.

I can't do this. I can't. I can't. I can't. It's too much. He wouldn't understand. Several impossible (yet in my mind, entirely possible,) scenarios flipped through my thoughts. If anyone had walked in the room at that point, they probably would have thought I had murdered a guy, and didn't know how to deal with it.

By the time the clock read 2:53, the oh-so magical prince arrived. I saw him head down to where the double doors were in the music room. I did a quick scan of myself in the mirror before rushing down the stairs. My heart was pounding inside of my chest. Just calm down. It's only a picnic, Ariette. You'll be fine.

I slipped into the music room, shutting the massive wooden doors behind me. I could see him from where I stood. His brown hair was fluffed up a bit, and he was wearing a grey flannel shirt with black jeans. There was a picnic basket sitting at his side, filled with food.

    I walked over to the doors and slid one open, to where it covered half of my face. He looked back at the sudden movement and jumped up, a smile instantly spreading across his face. He smoothed out his shirt and jeans, and held out his hand.

    "Shall we?"

   I hesitantly accepted his hand and he slid the door shut behind me. He held onto me for a second, before realizing what he was doing. He quickly removed his hand from mine, his face turning a bit red. He grabbed the basket and threw that silly grin back on his face, and led the way.