Valentine's Day

2/13

February 13th. It was February 13th.

Riley was freaking out. She couldn't believe it had been a whole year already. But she was just being paranoid...right? She was 23, and she was still afraid of Valentines Day.

That day Riley decided to have a great time today, so that when tomorrow turned sucky, she'd be able to think about how much fun she'd had he day before.

Around noon, she ate grilled ham and cheese for lunch, before texting a few friends, asking them to meet her at "Six Flags America", the nearest water park. Once they agreed they set a time of 2:00 sharp to meet by the admissions table.

By 1:00 Riley was completely packed and ready to go. She had her swim suit on under her regular clothes , and in her back she had sunscreen, a towel, her phone, her wallet, and sunglasses. She couldn't wait to get to the water park.

Since the park was only a 20 minute drive from Riley's apartment, she had to wait a whole 40 minutes before she could head out, so she just chilled and watched tv.

As Riley turned her head to the microwave clock, she saw it read 1:19.

"Finally " she said, "it's about time!"

Riley grabbed her bag and headed out to her car. She got in, fastened her seatbelt, and started the engine. As she backed out of her parking space, she started to think about Valentine's Day tomorrow. She started to get anxious and distracted.

"No" she thought, "I'm not going to let this fear control me anymore".

And with that she was at the water park.

"Hey Theresa!" She said enthusiastically "Hi Carrie!"

"Hey Riley!" Theresa replied. " It's been so long!!"

"Yeah... Last Valentine's Day..."

"Let's not focus on the negatives today, let's just have fun!"

"Let's hit the water slides!" Carrie chimed in.

Though Riley was not so sure this was a good idea (because she was wearing a string bikini), she went along anyway. It ended up they had a great time on the water slides. They even had the lifeguard judge their screaming contest as they went down.

After that, they headed to he main pool area where there was a diving board.

"Holy cheese!" Said Riley, "Who is that?!?!?!?"

"No kidding, he smokin' hot!" Said Theresa.

"OMG you guys!!!!! He's headed our way!!" Riley said.

"What do we do, what do we do, what do we do!?!?!?!?!" Screamed Carrie.

"Strike a pose!!" Screamed Teresa urgently.

Carrie and Theresa struck an awkward pose that hey thought would be attractive, but was actually really weird, while Riley just stood their awkwardly.

"Hey girls!" Said the guy.

"Um...hey" said Riley

"What are your girls' names?"

"Riley"

"Theresa"

"Carrie"

"Interesting names. Mine is Luke. Nice to meet you girls"

He started to walk off, but Riley stopped him.

"Hey, um...would you wanna maybe go out sometime?"

"I'd love that" he said "Pick you up around 6 tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow???" She replied worriedly

"Yeah...is tonight okay?"

"Yeah, I guess, see you at 6."

Riley wrote her address and apartment number on a scrap piece of paper, and handed it to Luke.

"Thanks, see you soon." He said as he started to walk away, with a smile on his face.

Riley turned around to face her friends and started screaming as soon as Luke was out of earshot.

"OH MY GOSH!!!"

"HE JUST AGREED TO GO OUT WITH YOU!!!" Yelled Theresa.

"I KNOW I WAS THERE!!!"

"We have to go shopping," Carrie said "like NOW"

"Why shopping?" Asked Riley

"Are you serious right now????" Replied Carrie.

"Yes??"

"Jeez Riley, he's so fricken hot! You can't wear your normal clothes on a date! You need something sexy!"

"Totally agreed" Theresa chimed in.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!?!" Said Carrie " Let's go!!"

The girls went shopping for three hours downtown, and ended up buying 3 dresses, 5 outfits, 6 pairs of shoes, and lots of other accessories, for a grand total of $1,028.49.

By the time they were done shopping, they had just enough money for a taxi ride home, which they spent gossiping about celebrities. About 35 minutes later, the driver dropped Riley off at her apartment complex. She politely said thank you, paid the driver, and exited the vehicle.

As she was walking into her building, she was thinking about how her date was going to be ruined because of her bad luck on Valentine's Day. She meets her future husband, and she won't even be able to have a decent date-all because he picked February 14th. That was the last thing Riley thought about before she fell asleep...