From the moment I saw you

Chapter 13- A date?

Memphis Tennessee, June 14th 1953

Elvis shook me awake and I groaned " What do you want?" He cocked an eyebrow, "Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or somethin'? , get dressed we gotta go." I got up and yawned,i smirked at his comment about my sour attitude " Was I supposed to like being shook awake?" He smiled and said " Well you may have never woken up if I didn't!" I laughed and yawned again "Where we goin'?" He mumbled for a minute while scavenging his closet for shoes "Me and you are goin' to Biloxi for a day trip, may or may not stay the night, I know you've been all caught up with work and your momma so i'd thought i'd take you away for a while ."I raised a brow, "Where's Biloxi?"
He looked at me shocked, "It's a beautiful place, it's on the gulf coast of Mississippi,takes about 5 hours to get from here and back." I was anxious about going there, worried about directions, people knowing where I am, etc. I opened up the curtains as I walked into my possible permanent room only to see dark, what time did he get up? Regardless of whatever ridiculous time it was I still got dressed, wearing a form fitting short dark blue slip dress and sliver heels, then curled my hair a wore the classic necklace i've had since 13. I walked into the living room where Elvis stood waiting for me to come out " Can I ask you what time it is?" He glanced at his watch, "6:50,I told you it's a five hour drive." He looked up from his watch and looked me up and down but quickly went to the door opening it for me, I went through it despite him seeming nervous to even look at me, cheeks dusted bright read with eyes glued to the floor. I walked over to the car and asked him " Did you call Gladys to tell her we'll be gone?" He nodded , " I doubt she'll care anyway, she's on her anniversary trip why should she?" He got in the car and immediately turned on the radio on a low volume, I sat down and asked " This us uhm, very spontaneous. Are you okay, like you're not manic or somthin'?" He shook his head so I quit pestering him, he started up the car and drove off so I went with it.

About an hour or so into the drive we had been through several episodes of rain, "typical gulf weather" said Elvis. I had fallen asleep for most of the ride, I have no clue how Elvis isn't tired, excitement maybe? I wasn't much of anything but nervous due to the traffic but I knew he was itching to take me somewhere new. I adjusted my seat back up to an upright position and saw the shining road ahead of us "Morning sleeping beauty." he snickered. I yawned and said " You got me up at 6:00, this is what you get." Which made him laugh. I glanced at the road signs " Are we close?" he hesitated and then said " Closer than expected, you slept about two-three hours away." I smiled at his playful attitude, he'd always tease about how much of a night owl I am, even though when he wasn't sleeping in the same bed as me he could barely stay asleep. The radio was off which made the car nearly dead quiet, which I didn't understand at all, Elvis sometimes liked quiet moments but most of the time the radio would be on, the tv, or he'd be talking.

We finally passed a big blue sign with the words "Welcome to Biloxi" in big white text. I sighed and said "Finally! now that we're here, where we goin'?" with a big wide smile on my face, I looked out the windows to see nothing but attractions. Golden sandy beaches, casinos and bars, parks, and little kids chasing each other and making sandcastles near the shore. "It is really beautiful, you certainly weren't pulling my leg, so where are we going?" I wasn't looking at him but I knew Elvis smiled. " Don't worry about it." We pulled around a corner and into a parking lot, with nothing but bright beach ahead of us. " I didn't bring a swimsuit." he pulled a basket from the backseat "We ain't here for that." He grabbed a large towel and walked out to around 4-3 feet away from the shore, then set up everything. I followed along with him and saw the set up " Aww, you really shouldn't have." he did the " Sit down" pat on my side of the towel, I sat down and we both began to eat.

"God it's beautiful out here, how come I didn't know of this place before?" I said while laying, sunbathing aside Elvis. He shrugged. The sun gleamed down on us , the mist from the crashing waves on the shore started to settle into my dress. "The sea reminds me of Jackie y'know? I wish you coulda met her. Before she got her government name we called her Nokwisi Agehya, Star woman." I paused for a second, feeling a tear well up in my eye. " She was quite the star, she attracted a lot of attention ever since we were little, but she was still humble and one of the kindest people of known, the sea is gentle and kind but attracts a lot of attention, like her. Stupid connection, I know." He looked over at me and said "No! Not at all, that's really sweet actually. I can tell you guys were close from everything you've told me through the years." The grief slowly subsided and I went back the the main objective running through my head, the date. A date? I turned over to him and said "Huge subject change but is this a date? like does it qualify as one, because i've never been on one."
"Yeah, it does, and how have you never been on a date!?" I stopped to think, and then said " No guys have ever really offered, I haven't had my first kiss either." He looked shocked, his mouth was agape and his eyes widened " HOW!? Scarlett Uwoduhi Unetlanvhi Watike, you are 18 and you've never had your first kiss?" I shook my head, his face was completely frozen, then he continued, "I had mine at 14!" I nodded and said "Yeah, I remember you told me as soon as you got home from a school, the girl's name was Linda McAdams, you told me you regretted it because later you found out she was dating your cousin billy." He looked at me like I had just spoken in tongues. " I can't tell if I had mine early or yours is way late." I laughed and said " Oh trust me it's the second one."

After spending hours driving around and going places it was around  8:00 pm, we had ate dinner at some burger joint and were driving home, around 2 hours away from home. The whole ride home we talked about everything we remembered from when we were little, and before we even met, I was on my first cats, checkers, chess, domino and backgammon. "Why were they all named after board games?" I paused then answered " Agilisi Maxine loved board games in her old age, one christmas she gave us them and nearly threw a fit when we tried to name the kittens ourselves." He smirked and then said " I remember the first and only time I met her she wouldn't look me in the eye or talk to me, and you had to explain to me that she was blind because I thought she hated me."I laughed and said " You were bawling! You were too quiet for her to hear you and she couldn't see a thing so she just didn't think you were there." We both were laughing until tears were rolling down our cheeks and I could feel pain in my chest.

We finally got home and it was 10:30 on the dot, We both tried to step in the house quietly so we wouldn't wake the neighborhood from our laughing I walked in and Elvis shut the door behind me "Oh lord i'm exhausted, thank you for takin me there, seriously that was amazing." said in a quick breath I turned my head to face him while he was putting up the keys and several brochures, pictures, and a souvenir from a small surf shop, he responded. "You know I love to go places baby, even more with you." I stopped in my tracks on the way to my room. "What did you call me?" He looked confused, "What? Oh uh, nothin' , Scar." His confusion quickly turned to embarrassment. I smiled and gave him the sarcastic "Uh huh." and walked off to go change my clothes. I got in my room and changed into one of Elvis's old t-shirts and cotton shorts that cut off just a little above mid thigh. I went into Elvis's bedroom where he sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor, spacing out. I sat next to him and tapped him on the shoulder, " Elvis, Ellllviss." I said dragging my words, he snapped out of it and said "Oh! Jeez how didn't I notice you were there." We both laughed for a minute then I found myself staring off into space too. "Whatcha thinking about honey?" I don't know how the thought came up but I said "Y'know, when we were listening to music on the road I felt like I had a vision, I remembered you talking about wanting to record a song and put in on a vinyl, I feel like you'll really make it, with all the big musicians." He looked at me intensely, "You really think so." I paused for a minute then continued, "Yeah I can see it, you on a big stage with hordes of girls crowding in just to look at you, you'd be selling records faster then you could blink." We were closer together then I realized ,our faces a few inches apart, " And where are you in all of this?" I never really saw myself in his future, I just thought he'd get over me when he became a young adult "U-Uhm I-I don't know." He had leaned in closer, the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. His breathing got slower and he said in a low voice, "Can I kiss you?" I nodded slowly while keeping my eyes fixed on his, he quickly pulled me in by the waist and kissed me, he held on to me tightly and was gripping onto my clothes so hard you'd think he'd tear the fabric. I shut my eyes while he kissed me, he held onto me so long that it felt like he had waited an eternity just for our lips to lock. He broke off from me and I opened my eyes and said " I love you, Elvis. Not like I used to, like, i'm in love with you." He didn't say anything but he pulled me in again and kept kissing me, I closed my eyes again as our lips locked and the kissing got slower and sloppier, we'd break apart for a few seconds and he'd keep saying stuff in my ear quietly, "I love you", "Your so beautiful", words that made my heart beat faster and faster. We were moving closer to the wall as I backed up and he followed, I didn't even mean to but it felt like I was squirming away from him. My back nearly slammed against the wall, he had one had one had on my waist and the other on my thigh, his warm fingers heating up my cold skin, holding onto me so tight you'd think his life depended on it. I had a hand laced through his hair and the other on the back of his neck, ensuring that he'd stay close. He looked me in the eyes and said "I love you. I want you to be there and spend the rest of my life with me, and I want you to remember that baby." I tried to muster words, I was in such a trance and it was hard to break from it "I love you too Elvis, always have, always will."

(an: IF THIS IS CRINGEY PLEASE TELL ME I MAY DELETE IT IDK HOW TO WRITE ROMANCE)