Unpredictable

Chapter 7

"There she is." He said, stopping short. She had dark hair, was tall and slender, leaning against a light post. I stopped next to him. "You seem more nervous to meet your own mother then I am." He grunted. "I'm not nervous. She just really has to like you, or a whole year of work is ruined. And my whole future is depending on someone I don't even like." I rolled my eyes. "Don't you always know just what to say? Here." I took his hand but he jerked away, just like I did. "If we've been dating for a year, this should be normal by now." He sighed, not doing anything for a few seconds. "Fine." He said, accepting it. Begrudgingly, he took my hand, and started walking towards his mom. His hand was warm and rough, making mine feel cold and smooth in comparison. I shivered.

We approached her, and she had the same carmel eyes as Park. "So you must be the charming girl. Why, aren't you as pretty as he described?! Hi, I'm Park's mom. You can call me Claire." I shook her long hand, letting go of Park's. "It's very nice to finally meet you. I keep telling Park it's been way to long for me not to have met you. My name is Opal." Park was good at hiding his surprise, but I could see it in his eyes. Probably because I'm being so nice and likable, when he's used to me hating him. "Opal? Why that's a unique name." I smiled. "I get that a lot." She smiled back. "It's very pretty. Did you know it means jewel?" I raised my eyebrows. "I didn't! That's very fascinating. What is it you do for a living?" We started a conversation as Park bought tickets.

"Well I feel like I might go into nursing, but anything can happen." I told Ms. Claire as we walked through the carnival. Park and I decided we didn't need to hold hands, but we did link arms. "Oh, nursing! My, you want to help people?" I shrugged. "In any way I can." She grinned. We had played games, won small prizes that Claire kept in her purse, and just walked around talking. Park didn't really say anything, but it was okay. His mom and I were getting along very well.

"Why don't you two go on the Ferris wheel and spend some time together. I'm getting awfully tired, I think I'll head home. You two stay as long as you like. It was extremely nice to meet you." I shook her hand again. "The pleasure was all mine." She looked at Park with a certain glint in her eyes, and watched us as we got on the Ferris wheel, then she left.

The big wheel started to move and we unlinked our arms. "That was fun. Would've been better if you weren't there." I stated. "Oh ouch. That cut real deep." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

We got towards the top and I clung to the safety bar, so hard my knuckles turned white. He raised an eyebrow at me. "You okay there spaz?" I glared at him. "Not really. Heights aren't necessarily my thing if you know what I mean." He chuckled. "What, are you scared?" "TERRIFIED!!" I exclaimed as we rose a little higher. We stopped at the direct top, which made it worse. Way worse. We were really really really really high. Like extremely high. Park adjusted a little, which made our little car thing move. I shrieked and yelled at him to stop moving. He reached out towards me. "Look, if you need me..." I curled up in a ball and avoided his touch. "I'm fine. Oh yeah I'm totally fine. Yep just peachy. Doing pretty darn good, I can fend for myself as long as you don't touch me." He backed off. "I wasn't going to help you anyways." He said, hiding his hurt. We started moving and I thanked the Lord we were getting close to the ground.

"I didn't know you were afraid of heights." He comments as we walk towards his car. "Well, you don't really know me." My arms are crossed and pressed hard against my torso as the breeze blows by. I'm always cold, nothing new. "You didn't bring a jacket?" I scowled at him. "We live in flipping Georgia for crying out loud. I didn't think I'd need one." I shivered, and tried to keep my teeth from chattering. "Do you want my jacket?" I glanced at his warm black coat, seriously considering it. "No, that's okay. I'll live." We got into his black truck, and I nuzzled into the seat as deep as I could, trying to find warmth. "Seriously you can have it. I'm not even wearing it anymore." I narrowed my eyes at him. He still hasn't started the truck. He sighed. "Look, just because I'm giving this to you doesn't mean I like you. It means I don't want your death of hypothermia on my hands." I glared at him, snatched it from his hands, and hesitantly put it around my shoulders. Instantly, I began to feel warmer.

We got to my house. I got out of the car immediately and ripped his coat off, throwing it at him. "Thanks for the coat you're welcome for pretending to be your girlfriend bye." I said quickly, slamming the car door and running to the door.