In My Dreams

Five

I couldn't sleep tonight. I didn't think I could take anymore unanswered questions from him. What did he mean by, "It's not about me"? I tried connecting the dots, but I hadn't a clue. Who was 'me' exactly? What was he trying to tell me? Why couldn't he just tell me? And when he decides to actually talk to me, he makes a stupid, witty remark! C'mon, man, not fair! Couldn't he get a pen and some paper and literally spell it out for me? I would just love that.

When I heard my phone vibrate, I took it from my nightstand and saw a text from Tyler.

Tyler: I'm at Foster Park. Are you still awake?

I looked over at the clock on the wall. 2:30am and I didn't feel the least bit tired.

Me: Sure am. I can't sleep.

Tyler: Perfect, I've got a surprise for you. Wanna meet me at the bench?

Me: Sure. Be there soon. :)

***

I threw on my warmest and most comfortable clothes and made my exit out the window. I arrived at Foster Park about 10 minutes later, my cheeks already stained red from the chilly air.

I walked down the path, the snow crunching under my feet. I saw Tyler sitting on our usual bench, looking up at the sky. When he spotted me he stood up and smiled.

"Hey."

"Hey to you," I said, butterflies building up. "So, what's the surprise?"

"I have to take you there, but it involves these," he said, grabbing a backpack from the bench and unzipping it. He pulled out two pairs of ice skates and grinned as he showed them off.

"Skates?" I asked, grabbing one pair.

"Yep, for you and me. Now come on, let's go, it'll take a while to get there," he rushed, taking my hand and urging me to follow him.

I followed him for a while until we came to a stop at a decent sized pond, one that had frozen over. It was beautiful. I walked over to cliff's edge, a few yards from the pond. The view was breathtaking, the moon was so big, illuminating everything in its path below. This place seemed so familiar, but why? I'm pretty sure I'd never been there. Then I realized I was spacing out. We're here to....skate.

Yay. I suck at skating.

"I'm sorry, I probably should've told you before we walked all the way out here, but I'm not a great skater. In fact, I suck at it. I can't stand upright, let alone glide around on my own." I laughed, eyeing the pond.

"Don't worry about it, I'll teach you. It's easier than it looks, I promise. Anyways, I didn't bring you out here to test your skills, I wanted to spend time with you," he said, untying the laces.

"I wouldn't put skating and easy in the same sentence. But I trust you to not let me permanently injure myself," I joked, sitting on a tree stump next to him. I tried to think of some way to acknowledge what he said about spending time with me, because it was really sweet. But I knew I would just make it awkward, so I kept quiet.

When we got our skates on, it was an extremely uncomfortable and unstable feeling. I had to cling to Tyler in order not to topple over face first into the snow...or worse, into the ice. The idea had my blushing with embarrassment. It would be so like me.

And it would be so embarrassing, so don't do that, Jade!'

I held onto his arm as we made our steps onto the ice and I almost brought him down with me multiple times. He just laughed and pulled me up each time, never losing his patience.