Captive - FourTris

Fifty

SEPTEMBER 3
4 DAYS

Today I'm going out with Tobias. I can't believe it. He actually called after I gave him my number. I fully expected to be blown off. Guys just don't ask me out like this. I'm not outgoing enough to be noticed.

And now I'm a ball of nerves, practically bouncing off the walls. I've been on, like, four dates in my whole life, and two of them were homecoming dances where I went with someone "as friends" even though I wanted it to be more.

And I don't even know where we're going. It's a surprise. I tried to get it out of him, but he held fast, and I have no idea what we're doing tonight, if it's going to be dinner and a movie or something totally different.

I kind of like that. School starts in two days, and when all I can think of is our date, it makes it seem so far away.

Tobias said to dress casual, so I wear a pair of skinny jeans, short heels, and a black crop top, one baby blue. My hair is swept up in a messy bun and I wear little earrings. Stars. I hope I look okay. I hope he doesn't take one look at me and change his mind and decide he was totally crazy for asking me out.

He pulls up in a beat-up Ford F-150, the one he was driving the day I met him. I can see him from my window. It rumbles at the curb for a minute until he kills it and climbs out, and I can hear the door squeak. I want to watch him but I don't want to keep him standing on the porch, so I don't. I grab my bag and take the stairs two by two, and swing open the door just as he makes it up the last step.

He looks amazing. He has on dark jeans and a black T- shirt and the biggest smile I've ever seen. It lights up his eyes. His hands are behind his back, and when he holds them out I see what they contain: daisies and baby's breath. Yellow and white, the perfect summer mix.

Warmth spreads through me and I have to fight not to drop my jaw, I'm so surprised and pleased by his gesture. Instead I just grin, and I hope it's half as amazing as the smile on Tobias's face right now. "Thank you!"

Before I know what I'm doing I stand on my tippy toes and kiss him on the cheek, and then we both turn a little red. I have no idea why I was that forward.

"Let me toss these in water and then we can go."

Too late, I realize I should have invited him in, because he just stands there on the porch while I rush off to the kitchen and drop the bouquet in a vase. But it only takes me seconds and I'm back in no time.

He walks to the truck and holds the door open for me, and I slide over the cracked vinyl seats as his cologne washes over me. I breathe deeply, enjoying the scent. Before I'm buckled he's around to his side and jumping in and firing up the truck. It's even louder inside, but he doesn't seem to notice. He just puts it in gear and before I know it, we're winding down Snob Hill, our windows rolled down and the salty ocean air whipping through the cab.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

He just shakes his head and smiles, this cute half-smile that lifts the edges of his full lips. Why am I staring at his lips? "Still not telling."

I roll my eyes and smirk a little, enjoying the playful way he says it, but I don't ask again. I kind of like that he hasn't told me yet. Everyone always gives in and tells their secrets.

He turns right at the bottom of the hill, away from town and the beach, and now I'm really curious. He takes a few turns, winds back up toward the mountains and then down a gravel road, then parks on the edge of the pavement. "Come on. It's a short hike."

I nod and slide out of the truck, realizing that heels, even low ones, do not count as casual wear.

We don't walk far before I start having trouble. Late summer rains have made the ground moist and my heels are sinking, and I'm walking with my arms out for balance like some crazy lunatic, my hands waving whenever one heel sinks further than the other. This is definitely not scoring me any points.