Fire Princess and The Ice Queen

3: first date

So, now you know how I fell for Joshua. It pains me to relive this experience, but if you want to know what changed me, what made me kiss Ben at the end of operation Deadly Manatee, you'll just have to suck it up... and so will I. So, in the interest of getting on with the story, let's skip to my first date.

***

I wanted to have as normal a dating experience as I could after Josh asked me out. Unfortunately when you are a spy in training whose main life goal is to be a successful spy, who has a mom who is super nosey in your love life, and a grandpa who thinks that your love life (well, social life in general) shouldn't even be a thought in your head, it's kind of difficult. 

Josh and I decided that we should do something simple for our first date, but something fun. Luckily, he knew just the thing. I met him outside the academy gates at 11 pm sharp. He was wearing a motorcycle jacket which was fitting because he was sitting on top of a motorcycle. I grinned and hopped on the back. 

"Where are we going?" I asked him as he took off.

"You'll see." I could hear his smirk. The cool night wind whipped my raven hair around as Josh sped down the streets of Washington. Finally, we arrived at his destination. We were in a clearing in the woods near the Washington Monument, in front of a statue of President Chester Allan Arthur. 

"What's this?" I asked, but Josh put a finger to my lips to silence me.

"Trust me, Hale. This is going to be fun." he twisted a ring or Aurthur's finger and to my surprise a keypad swing-out. He typed in a code, 7423, and the monument swung aside. He grinned, leading me down a rickety staircase and into a long tunnel. I could feel my skin crawling with excitement. After a few minutes, we reached a steel door. Josh opened it and we found ourselves...

"Oh my god." I said, feeling a smile spreading across my face. "are we-"

"Inside the Washington Monument?" Josh nodded. Then he led me up a long, twisting staircase to the top. It was beautiful. Out the window, I could see for miles. Josh sat down against a wall and I joined him. He put his arm around me and staired at me with his hard gray eyes. I smiled. At that moment I felt like I had found my soulmate.