Head Over Heels

Chapter 30 - Popping the Bubble

"So what are your plans for next Saturday?"

I ask Tyler when I pull away from a kiss. We're still in his Jeep out in front of my house. We've been 'saying goodbye' from our date for about fifteen minutes now. It's almost my curfew and I really hate to go.

"Just spending as much time with you is all, why?"

"Well, it's no big deal or anything, but it's my birthday so I was hoping to have a few friends over to my house for dinner and just hang out for the night. You know, you, me, Payton and the rest of our inner circle."

"It's your birthday next week?! Dang Lila, way to bury the lead. You almost made me the world's worst boyfriend, I had no idea! These are things I gotta know babe. You didn't give me much time to prepare." Tyler scoffs.

"You're ridiculous! How could you have known? We've been officially together for what, two hours?" I playfully hit Tyler in the chest. "Besides, like I said, I like to keep my birthday low key. I don't expect you to get me a gift or anything. Just being together is what I want. My mom always makes my favorite meal and we usually just play cards or watch a movie or something. Super chill."

"But what if I want to get you a gift?"

"Tylerrrr, seriously, I don't expect one at all. You already gave me the best gifts when you gave me your journal and then planned the best first date I could have ever dreamt of."

I lean into Tyler for another kiss on the lips. Hoping he'll drop it but that isn't the case and he pulls away after a second.

"Well I'm not showing up to your birthday dinner empty handed, that's for sure. I promise I won't do anything crazy, but you need to let me celebrate you, Lila."

"You're not going to let this go are you?"

"Never."

"You Johnson's can be so pushy sometimes." I say with sarcasm.

"You should be less worried about me and more worried about what Payton is going to do when she finds out next week is your birthday. She's ten times worse than I am and you know it."

We both laugh.

"You're probably right." I cup Tyler's face with my left hand one last time and plant a soft kiss on his cheek. "As much as I don't want to, I should probably get myself inside. I've seen my dad's shadow pacing the living room window a couple times already." I say with a sigh.

"You're right. I want to stay in his good graces. Your dad was a little scary when I came to get you tonight." Tyler lets out a small laugh. "Good night pretty girl."

"Good night."

*****

Tyler insisted on picking me up before school Monday morning. Of course I'm happy to spend as much time with him as possible, even when it means I'm not able to hit snooze on my alarm seven times like normal. Which for anyone who knows me well, knows that's a big sacrifice. Tyler did promise to get me a coffee before heading to school from the little cafe in town, proving further to me that he's a keeper.

"Good morning girlfriend."

Tyler emphasizes the girlfriend part when I climb into his passenger seat. He looks handsome and smells like citrus and spice. It's truly unfair that he can look and smell this good so dang early in the morning.

"Mmmmm, warmth." I mutter out.

I pull my freezing hands out in front of me, directly up to the air vents which are pumping the heat on full blast. The sun is barely up and the ground is covered in a thick layer of frost.