Mindful Secrets

Chapter 19 - Repeat of the Past

Dakota

I couldn't believe what I actually heard. He just said 'I love you' to me. He accepted my confession. I felt so light headed at that moment. He truly does love me back. Well then, I'll make sure to return an equal amount of love to him.

But, there's still an obstacle in the way and only he can overcome it. I've noticed for the past week that a rather dark aura has surrounded him which was unusual for someone like him. It only appeared when the newest guy came to the school.

It's not that hard to see the connection but sometimes, these things just becomes coincidences which are annoying. I'm pretty sure that the hyena is the problem though because Jasper seems to avoid him like the plague. I've noticed the way he acts in homeroom.

Anyway, I have to plan out what's Jasper and I are going to do today. Our first date is today and I'm ready to show him how much I truly love him. I mean, a simple kiss will do but that's boring and cliché. I want to try something entirely different from the novels and movies.

No going to the cinema, no cliché romantic dinner (though, I'll provide food either way) and no kissing until we're both comfortable. I'm not willing to just kiss him out of nowhere. I'm not sure if he would like me to kiss him randomly.

I mean, it's romantic to just have characters kiss with a beautiful scenery. But like I said, cliché and overused. So, I drafted around five different date ideas. Once done drafting, I looked back at all of them to pick the one that felt the best.

Honestly, every single one of them was terrible. Either too boring, out of my budget or was just stupid. I let out a frustrated sigh as I tried thinking of new ideas. I only came up blank. That's when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID to see it was Jasper.

Crap! I pick up the phone and accept the call. "Hey, Kotten. I'm already on the way to your place. Are you ready for the date or should I wait a bit more?", he asks. I wanted to say something but at those moments, my mind was blank.

I had no excuses nor was I able to say the truth. "Dakota? Is something wrong?", he asks. Oh, god. "I, well... You see, I... I mean... I don't have any plans for the date", I say sadly. There was a minute of silence before I heard him chuckling.

"Is that really what you were worrying about? You're just so cute when you're all nervous", he says. Cute? I'm far from being cute. Just then, a knock on my front door echoed through the room. I went and open it to reveal Jasper standing there.

"You ready?", he asks. "But, I don't ha-" "How about I take the lead today? You can take the lead the next time", he says. I pout at that. I wanted to plan out a romantic day and ended up with nothing. I grab my phone and keys before following Jazz to our destination.

I guessed that it wasn't far since we ignored the bus stop. We walked and walked. Where were we going? All of a sudden, he stops and makes a dramatic reveal of the place. It was a fair but much more spacious than the one we previously went to.

"I remembered the first time you brought me to this kind of place and it really stuck with me. So, I did a bit of research and found that they were going to have another one today", he says. It brings back some happy memories for me.

I decided to just go with it since I don't have anything else in store. We started exploring the place, looking at all the stalls. There was just the usual things like carnival games and accessory shops. Nothing too special for a place like this.

We played some games from test you strength to knock the cans. They were all definitely rigged. The only one I won was the balloon dart and even then, I just got the generic stuff toy. It was a panther one. How creative of them... I gave it to Jazz as a gift.

He rather liked it despite already owning another one at home. I still have my coyote one. I just like staring at it because it makes me happy. We ate some foods which tasted mediocre at best. We wandered around the place, trying out new games or buying things that looked somewhat interesting.

I bought a new necklace at one of the stalls. It was a lock and key design. I rather liked the meaning it had so I had to buy it. I held onto it first because I intend to give it to Jazz at a later time. The time needs to be perfect so it can compensate for this day. Jazz didn't leave the place empty-handed either.

He tried the shooting range, which made me realise how dangerous he can be with a gun. Every shot was pinpoint accuracy. He won yet another stuffed toy. I feel like we're stockpiling stuffed toys for the apocalypse or something. Every stall we had tried only had a variety of stuffed animals.

He hands me the toy as gift to me. It was a fox. Black and white in colour and bigger than the panther toy I gave him. I hold onto it. I wanted to cherish it just as I did with the coyote. I look at Jazz and saw in his eyes the raw excitement coursing through him.

But when they met with mine, that excitement changed to love and admiration. And I can't say I don't feel the same way as him. I love him and truly admire the type of fur he was. He's feisty when needed but timid every other time. He's ambitious but also knows his limits.

I can see that he was definitely the opposite of me in some aspects. I barely think of the consequences of my actions while he worries about what would happen in the next five seconds. I'm rather impatient while he is able to maintain his patience. I'm aggresive with my actions while he's more cautious in his next step.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with him", I thought. I know we'll get into fights here and there but that's something we have to experience. Not all things will go our way. Sometimes we need the bad to finally reach something good. I entwine my hand around his and I smiled at him.

He looked rather shocked at what I did but didn't reject my advances. Instead, he entwined his with mine as we walked away from the busy area. There is still a long day ahead of us and I'm making sure we use up all that time.