Chapter 10 #2
“Not telling. It’s a surprise.” He reaches for me and pulls me to him. “Have I told you lately that you are gorgeous?” he says making me blush. “Wait. Isn’t that the new bikini top you bought the other day?”
“How do you know?”
“Oh, princess, I think I need to show you what happens to girlfriends who text pictures of themselves on their phone.”
Giggling, I ask, “What happens?” Jayson bends down, and I'm suddenly hoisted up and over his shoulder. “What are you doing? Let me down right this second!” I exclaim, laughing and wiggling.
Jayson smacks my butt before marching inside the house to kiss me breathless.
It's nearing ten o’clock, and I’m pacing my bedroom floor, full of jitters.
Jayson told me to stay in my room and he would pick me up at ten for our date.
The fact that he instructed me to stay and wait for him in my bedroom, and that our date is at ten at night, leads me to believe that his parents have no clue about our date, and he’ll be sneaking out of the house since he’s currently grounded.
Regardless of the time and circumstances surrounding our first date, I’m still excited and anxious about it.
Like any sixteen-year-old girl, it takes me about an hour to pick out the perfect outfit after trying on everything in my closet and Hailey’s, and then another hour to make sure my hair looks just right.
Jayson loves it when I wear my hair down, so I add some corkscrew curls to my long blond locks.
I’m even wearing makeup and perfume which is a rarity for me.
I figure, you only experience one true first date in your lifetime, might as well go all out.
My bedside clock turns ten, and Jayson appears at my bedroom window.
I should have known. Since I keep my window open most nights, it’s easy for Jayson to climb in, something he’s used to doing.
Something I’m not used to seeing, however, is him dressed in a dark gray collared polo shirt and khaki chino shorts.
I’m also not used to seeing him holding out a bouquet of flowers at me.
“Oh my gosh,” I gush, taking the bunch of wildflowers from his outstretched hand and smelling them.
“I may have stolen them from mom’s garden. Hope you like them.” Wow. “Liz, you look beautiful.” Double wow. My heart soars that he notices the effort I put in to look good for him tonight, so I repay the compliment.
“You, sir, look absolutely dashing as well.”
We take a minute to absorb what feels like a monumental moment before he reaches his hand out to me. “Princess Elizabeth, I am here to escort you to your date.”
I want to say something silly like, I thought my date was already here, but I don’t want to ruin the romance of what’s happening with jokes.
I place my hand in his and he raises it to his lips.
He turns my hand over and kisses the back of my wrist below my palm before twisting my hand over and doing the same to each knuckle.
I don’t know if I’m going to survive our first date if he keeps this up.
I’m already melting into a puddle of goo at his feet.
Jayson wiggles his eyebrows. “Follow me,” he says and pulls me to the window.
My first thought is, he’s going to make me climb down a tree.
My second thought is, I’m glad I decided not to wear a dress.
Jayson, Julien, and I have gotten very good at climbing up and down the old oak tree between our houses.
We’ve been doing it since third grade. Jayson helps me out of my window and carefully guides me down to a lower branch, one that’s sturdy and thick.
He steps out onto the branch and eases me down next to where the branch meets the trunk.
“Here. Sit.”
The branch is wide enough for me to comfortably sit without fear of falling.
I perch in a straddle, my back against the trunk of the tree.
We have to whisper in hushed voices in case both our parents are still awake, especially since Jayson’s still grounded and isn’t supposed to leave the house for another three days.
Jayson sits facing me and reaches into the side pocket of his shorts to take out a small remote.
My eyebrows raise at him, and he smiles, then presses a button on the remote.
Hundreds of tiny white fairy lights come to life around us and start to blink and twinkle. I gasp, my hand coming up over my mouth in surprise. When did he do this? I’m filled with wonder for this boy, for all the ways he shows me he loves me, that I am special and precious to him.
“As a first date goes, how am I doing so far?”
“Perfect,” I breathe.
He’s not finished. He reaches into his other pocket and brings out a small item wrapped in tissue paper. “This is for you.”
With shaking hands, I pull the tape off, being careful not to tear the tissue paper too much.
I want to preserve it in a scrapbook, one I will make to commemorate all of Jayson's and my firsts. I carefully pull back the last corner. Sitting inside the paper is a necklace. Not just any necklace. There’s a charm hanging from a thin leather cord.
It’s the rose quartz heart Jayson found in the creek and gave me when we were younger.
I’ll have to ask him later how he stole it from my rock jar without me noticing, but at the moment I am too in awe of the gift to care.
“I hope you like it. Jamie helped me make it.” He sounds nervous and unsure.
There are no words I can say to him to express how I feel right now, and a simple thank you isn’t enough, so I lean forward for him to place the necklace around my neck before murmuring against his lips, “I love it.” Then I kiss him.
I pour everything into the kiss, everything I want to tell him and show him.
“I think as first dates go, you knocked it out of the park. And you are so definitely telling me later how you were able to do all of this without me noticing. But for now, I just want you to hold me.”
He feathers his nose across my cheek. “I can do that.”
Jayson stands up on the tree branch and has me scoot forward, away from the trunk.
He settles down behind me and pulls me back against him, enveloping me within his arms. For the rest of our date, he holds me like that, my head lying back against his shoulder, and we talk amongst the starry fairy light universe Jayson made just for me.