Fate Interrupted

7. San Francisco Dreamin

Ren

APRIL 1998

The final bell rang on a Friday in early April, and the river of kids washed me down the stairs and flooded out the side doors into a pool of backpacks and hectic chatter.

It was a blue-bird sunny day at Ives High. The heat of the sun hitting my face felt so good. I walked toward where I knew he'd be.

And sure enough, I saw him —my Gio. His arms crossed, effortlessly leaning against the telephone pole in the sun by the school library, waiting for me. Even after being together for over a year, I still had difficulty believing he was all mine sometimes.

His olive skin glowed on a day like this as he watched me approach through his sexy, squinted eyes. To me, he seemed more like a dream I concocted in the night than a regular seventeen-year-old skateboarder kid in high school.

He was dressed up more than usual, wearing a dressy black and white button-up bowling shirt, dark pants, and leather shoes. Our bags were already packed and in his car. We had big after-school plans today.

"Hey, Babe," I said, jumping into his waiting arms with a wide grin.

"Hey," he said low, letting his hand glide down my figure to my lower back. I was wearing a simple black spaghetti strap dress short to my mid-thigh over a white t-shirt.

"Did I tell you you look damn good in this dress yet?

"Yes," I laughed.

"Well, I love it," he said, pulling me closer. "How come you don't wear dresses for me more often?"

He was referring to the fact that I only reserved dresses for special occasions and almost never to school.

"I have, several times," I said cheekily.

"Twice," he clarified.

Maybe I could have more often, but let's be honest: in my high school in the 90s, only ten percent of girls wore dresses to class, and that included the goth chicks wearing their long dramatic black gowns.

You kind of stuck out in a dress amongst the ubiquitous t-shirts and ripped jeans.

"You ready to go see Aerosmith tonight?" I said, changing the subject.

"Fuck yeah!" he grinned back at me. "I still can't believe your dad scored them for free on the radio!"

He brushed my long bangs aside and kissed me. It was a brief kiss, but his kisses never ceased to move me—that this boy loved me above everyone else, and I melted into his lips every time.

We hopped in his car, drove away from school, and off to San Francisco. We had yet to go on a date night in the big city, and I felt so grown up tonight. I brought my make-up in my backpack and did my hair and eyes on the way while he drove.

We wound through the hills of Marin down the 101 and into the tunnel, which shrouded the car in darkness and created a sense of anticipation. As we emerged into brightness again, San Francisco and the bay opened before us in all its glory.

The Golden Gate Bridge glowed immense and red in the afternoon light, contrasting with the blue of the bay and the glittering white city beyond, beckoning us across.

I clasped his hand as we drove over the famous bridge that awes me to this day.

But I had to release his hand once we entered the heart of the city. He was a good driver, but even he was nervous about stalling his stick-shift Chevy Cavalier on the massive incline of Nob Hill. After we crested the top, passing the big cathedral, we descended again towards the financial district.