Seaglass Promises in the Midnight Sky

Sunrise Surprise

"Okay, now stay here," Taylor instructed. Lorraine was seconds away from demanding answers. It wasn't every day that her friend woke her up like it was Christmas, jumping on the couch Lorraine was sleeping on and dragging her out of the house before the sun was even up.

She figured it might be a planning session for Belly's birthday but she had thought Taylor promised to keep it light at the other girl's behest. Sometimes promises like that wouldn't mean anything to Taylor but Belly had explained that it would ruin her birthday if they did anything big. Taylor seemed to understand that and she had always done a good job keeping Lorraine's birthdays' lowkey.

Then she had thought, as they rushed out of the house, that maybe Taylor wanted to watch the sunrise. They could never stay up long enough to see it but Taylor had a habit of waking up at weird times and it wasn't unusual for her to wake Lorraine up as well, though usually with less fanfare.

When Taylor started heading back to the house, leaving Lorraine on the patio right next to the pool, she didn't know what to think. It was beginning to seem like this was another one of those things that everyone else knew and understood. Another tradition she missed out on.

She turned back, only to find that someone else had taken Taylor's spot in front of her.

Conrad Fisher.

"Hey." Behind him, the sky was beginning to light up. Waves danced across his side from the light of the pool. They had a lot of conversations sitting right here, though their spots reversed, with her closer to the house this time. He had something in his hands. Lorraine didn't know what to make of any of it. She was afraid of drawing the wrong conclusions.

"I'm not good at this," He explained, "To be honest, I don't think I ever will be."

"But Taylor and Jeremiah have been bugging me about it, and they're right. I need to try." He looked up for a moment, took a deep breath. Lorraine wasn't sure she was breathing at all. When he looked back at her she was sure she wasn't.

"I like you. You're funny and kind and beautiful. And you make me happy." He told her softly, like the words were fragile, handled with care. He smiled and Lorraine's heart ached with something she wasn't ready to name.

"You are my favorite star."

And fuck if that didn't do something to her. She really didn't want to cry right now. Didn't he know not to say shit like that? How was a girl supposed to respond?

"So. I was wondering if you would be my girlfriend?" Conrad asked, looking altogether much more nervous than he should be. Didn't he know he had her wrapped around his finger?

"Yes." She said, no more than a whisper, her voice was unsteady as it was. Her mind was a mess. She wanted to hug him, kiss him, scream. She didn't think she could manage them all at once.

"Yes?"

"Yes, dumbass." She was smiling so much it hurt. The sun was rising and her vision blurred a little at the edges. It took her a second to realize what he was offering her, "You got me sea glass?"

"Yeah. Jeremiah thought it was stupid but Taylor said you would love it." He told her, sheepishly, like he wasn't sure if she would appreciate it. Like she didn't just agree to be his girlfriend.

"I do. I love it." She affirmed, taking it from his outstretched hand. She felt giddy, like it was Christmas.

In a few minutes, she would go back inside and have to survive an onslaught of questions from Taylor. Then she would get some breakfast because there was no way she was going back to sleep. Maybe after that, they would watch a movie. Or play a board game.

But right now, this minute, she was going to spend kissing her boyfriend because he was too amazing not to.

Lorraine Michaels had a lot of predictions for how this summer would go, some good, some bad, but she could have never predicted Conrad Fisher. He was the kind of thing no one could really plan for. She found that she didn't really mind getting caught off guard. He was a pretty good surprise.