Beautiful Symphony

Chapter 12

     [WARNING: Filler. This is filler. I'm sorry. It needed to be here.]

   After agreeing to meet up again later that week, he gave me his cell phone number. I had never received a guy's phone number before, so I didn't really know what to do. I didn't really know what he was to me, and I didn't know what to say to him.

    I waited around all morning for him to text me. I didn't want to be the one to text first, only because I didn't know what to say. And I was a teensy bit afraid. And nervous. Okay, I was too nervous to text him. Sue me. But my nerves payed off, because around noon, I received a message from him.

"Hey, it's me."

Have you ever seen those comics of someone receiving a text from a person they like, and they get so happy and squeal with delight, but then they send back a calm response? Yeah, that happened. I was turning into a typical teenage girl. He only sent three words and he had me spinning.

He was pretty fast at replying, which was great. I always hated waiting forever for someone to respond. Although, it wasn't like I ever texted much of anyone except for Dad and Crystal. We agreed to meet at the boardwalk on Friday around 1:00. He said he wanted to show me around town, so I figured I wouldn't have anything to freak out about. It was just a tour, after all.

    I went downstairs and practiced some chords on the piano. Every time I came into the music room, it seemed cleaner and more organized than the last time. I had heard Crystal moving around in there a few times, so I assumed she was keeping it tidy for me. I wondered if she did that at our house back in Columbine, too. I had really appreciated it, though. I decided to leave her a note before I left.

   "Thanks for cleaning. -A"

  I had noticed myself doing little things like this frequently, only after I had been out with Elliot. He made me all giddy inside, I just couldn't keep it all to myself. Dad and Crystal had noticed, too. They seemed pretty pleased with my sudden kindness and warmth, so they just didn't question it.

  I decided to keep the secret of Elliot to myself, because I had no idea how they would react to me having, a.. well, Elliot. Especially Dad. I had always seen the typical overprotective father routine on television, and I really didn't want to risk scaring Elliot away. He was the first boy to ever take an interest in me, and I was intrigued by him.

   For a moment I wondered if Mom would have liked him. As a child, her approval meant the world to me, and it was extremely hard not knowing if I was doing things to make her proud or not. I could only hope that she would be smiling down on me at that point. I wish there was a phone number for Heaven.

     I had almost forgotten to actually ask permission to go out on Friday. I rarely ever went out, so I didn't know what to do every time I did. I found Dad and Crystal sitting out on the front porch. They had been planting flowers in the window pots. (Crystals idea)

   "Hi, honey. Lemonade?" Dad offered me a glass, but I turned it down. I hesitated, but spoke.

  "Uhm.. Can I.. Go out? On Friday?" I asked, twiddling my thumbs back and forth. I prayed that he wouldn't ask me any questions about who I was going with or why.

   "Oh. Sure, sweetie. Just don't go out too far. And don't stay out too late. Okay?"

  "Okay, thanks." I turned on my heels and went back into the house. A smile spread across my face. I was excited. I was going on another date. Another one! With him!

  A part of my inner teenage girl was finally coming out, because she had been left in the shadows and replaced with music throughout my early teenage years. And she was happy.

    I was happy. And that was an amazing feeling.

[Hello, again, I'm sorry that this is a very short filler chapter! I really wanted to add in some of Ariette's changes and character developments. There will definitely be more Elli soon! (yes, I call him Elli.) Thank you all so much for reading, voting, and commenting!! Chapter 13 will be out soon. :)]