The Night I Fell In Love

Chapter 16

Jeffrey

I sat in my car, looking at the closed door of Josephine's house. It was amazing how we ended up together tonight. I smiled as I relived the events of what happened to us on our so-called date.

Sighing happily, I started Hannah. I wasn't sorry now that the night had ended. Tomorrow, or later today, actually, I would see her again. I was secure in the knowledge that she reciprocated my feelings after all. I drove to my house, whistling love songs and feeling lightheaded and incredibly ecstatic. Everything was finally going my way. I had Josephine's love, dad's slacks were okay and ready for him to wear to court, and Cooper and Chuck would never give me grief anymore now that they knew Uncle George would be on the lookout for them. Life was beautiful. The Larkin luck was long forgotten.

A drop of rain fell on my windshield. It started to pour down and I had to focus on driving carefully to navigate the road. It became dark quickly as the rain came down in torrents. I wound the car through the streets, peering out into the darkness. Finally I turned onto my drive and cut Hannah's engine off after I parked her properly. Dad and mom were probably asleep in their room by now. They would be excited to hear all the details of my date in the morning. Boy, did I have a great story to tell them!

I got out and noticed that the rain had stopped as abruptly as it began awhile ago. I gazed up at the sky and grinned like a maniac. I was in love! After all these years, I'd finally met the girl of my dreams and I was head over heels in love with her. Best of all, she loved me back!

I looked around and saw the streets were empty and all the houses were dark. Feeling like a little kid, I skipped and jumped all the way to the front door. When I stepped up to the porch, I didn't notice a puddle had formed on the top step. My feet suddenly gave way under me and I tumbled down onto the wet muddy grass. I landed on my rear, which hurt more than my pride, and heard the disgusting "splat"as the mud squished on my seat. On my pants. On my dad's pants. I was once again a dead man. The Larkin luck had struck again.

Leaping up to my feet in one swift move, I twisted and turned around to check the damage. Brown mud oozed from my butt down to my legs. I groaned inwardly. Of all the dumb things to happen...