Harper wells

Chapter seven: The toy store

It was a warm spring day in New York City, and I decided to take my bike out for a ride. It was a baby blue bike with a wicker basket attached to the front. Usually, I would ask Charlotte if she wanted to go, but she had a busy day today, so I decided to give Christian a call. Would he think this was cheesy or lame? Did he even own a bike? I decided that I was overthinking It and that I should just call him.

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I dialed his number and waited.

"Harp?"

"Hey Christian," I said, "I was wondering if you were up for a bike ride."

"Oh yeah, sure." There was a slight pause and then he said, "it's a beautiful day isn't it?"

"Yeah... The sun is shining and it's not too hot or cold," I said.

"Meet you outside your apartment?" He said.

"Yep, see you in a few."

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I hung up the phone, and started to get dressed. I decided to wear my pink converse sneakers because they were better for biking. I took my bike from the storage room in the basement and dragged it up the stairs to the main floor. I wheeled my bike out the door, and sat on the curb. It had been a good five minutes that I was outside and there was a slight breeze. I took my sweatshirt that was tied around my waist and put it over my head.

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Christian came a few minutes later. He was riding his navy blue bike with a gray tee shirt and shorts. "Hey Harper... Sorry I'm late, my tire was low on air and I had to scavenge for the pump."

"It's okay," I responded.

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We started off by riding to Central Park. We went down paths, over bridges and passed the people who were row boating. "I want to do that someday," I said. It looked so peaceful out there. It was on my bucket list to go out there someday. "Maybe I'll take you one day" Christian said.

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We rode down the paths until I saw a giant rock that people were sitting on top off. "Christian wait up!" I said while starting to climb up the rock.

"You're going to kill yourself Harper!" He yelled as I climbed higher and higher.

"I just want to see where we are!" I said. I climbed all the way to the top and looked over the trees in the distance. "We're near the border of the park... I think I can see FAO Schwartz!" I yelled down.

"Cool! Now would you get down from there?" He yelled. "Carefully!" He added.

I turned around and carefully climbed down the rock. I was almost down and around five feet away from the ground when my hand slipped. I screamed and fell slightly backwards. I felt Christians hands catch me, and lift me from the rock and down to the floor.

"I told you to be careful!" He yelled with a worried look in his eyes.

"I can take care of myself!" I said . After I said that I immediately regretted it. Christian had such a hurt look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that," I said.

"I know, I just worry about you," he stated.

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We continued to ride to the border of the park, and crossed the street to FAO Schwartz. The underground Apple store was right in front and I looked through the glass dome covering the stairs down. I stood there for a second until the thought hit me. "We should go on the giant piano!" I said.

"What's that?" He asked.

"It's basically a giant piano on the floor that you step on and it makes sounds," I answered.

"Oooh sounds fun," he said.

We tied up our bikes on a nearby tree and went inside. It was a wonderland of toys. We went up the escalator and tried to find an employee to tell us where the piano was. Eventually, I spotted an employee showing a group of kids a cool remote control helicopter. "Hey, where's the giant piano?" I asked.

"Down the hall and to the left," he said not even making eye contact with me.

"Well, he was a little rude," said Christian.

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We finally found the piano and waited on line among the little kids.

"Are you sure about this?" He said looking a little embarrassed.

"Yeah, we're fine," I said. When it was finally our turn we took off our shoes and out them in the little cubby. We got on the piano and jumped around.

"This is actually really fun!" Christian laughed.

"Told ya," I laughed back.

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When our time was up we went over to the stuffed animal section down stairs. I found a huge stuffed bear and said, "Awww this is so cute... And huge."

Christian laughed and said "Do you want it?"

"You would buy this for me? It's like a hundred dollars!" I said.

"I would do anything for you," he smiled.

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We went back to the giant rock I had previously climbed, and we climbed back up. The sky was a beautiful mess of pink, red, and purple. "This is beautiful," I said hugging my giant teddy bear who I named "Scruffles." Christian leaned toward me and closed his eyes. We had our first kiss at that moment. Under the sunset, in the middle of Central Park, all alone. I couldn't have asked for anything better.