Burrow

Dinner

For hours we slaved over finding potential Wood Sprite food sources, foot foot prints, and garments. Oliver even did his part by examining flower petals for tell- tale marks. A lot of people thought we Paranormal Investigators just sat around, but we did a lot of work. And this was summer.

As I absentmindedly took bark samples, though, I had something else on my mind. Mark. I wanted to see him so badly, but as the hours dragged on, I began to worry. I was going to make a fool of myself, either that or my family would make sure he never wanted to see me again with their talk of magic and Sprites and elves.

After a while, Dad called it a day, and Mr. H was so pleased with our work that he let us ride in his door less brown jeep, instead of hiking. I knew that even though we now lived by the woods, going out to eat was a pretty big deal. And going out to eat with a cute guy like Mark (even if his mom was coming too) was a huge deal. An occasion that warranted makeup, and a pretty dress. I didn't care if Oliver wore his stained wood clothes and mom wore jeans and dad and Jim wore cargo shorts. I was going to look nice, and that was all there was to it.

"So, where are we going?" I asked Mom, who sat in the passenger seat. She gave me a dead creepy wink, which moms should not attempt, like ever.

"You'll see." She said. It was ridiculously cryptic, which was exactly her style. She thrived the most off the mysterious, the paranormal.

She then pulled out a length of blue fabric, and grinned evilly.

"What's this for? I don't need a hairy tie, mom, I have an elastic already." I told her.

"It's a blindfold, dummy." Jim crowed.

"Yeah, Nell is a gummy!" Oliver mirrored Jims tone. That child was a bad influence on my littlest sibling.

"Ollie, don't say stuff like that," I glared pointedly at Jim, " I'm not the gummy in the family, trust me."

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The drive to the house didn't last long, and as soon as we arrived, I climbed the two flights of stairs up to my room, even before anyone else went in the house.

I showered, scrubbing away all the earth that stuck to me, and used this really nice smelling body wash.

I changed quickly into a cute pastel yellow dress, that flared at the bottom, and put on a chunky necklace, the only one I had. Then I applied foundation (I still had acne, somehow) and lip gloss, and even a little eyeshadow. Now I felt I might even be a little bit worthy of dining with Mark.

Then I shook my head in the small mirror from California that I had kept. I wasn't even close to being in his  league. Even if I looked kind of pretty now, I was a weirdo Karter by association, even if I was normal.

"Come on, Nell, we're gonna be late!" Dad called to me. I ran back down the stairs, almost tripped, but managed to hold by balance. I felt proud. I was getting loads of exercise from all these steps.

"Put the blindfold on your face, Nell." Mom said. I reluctantly obliged. There was no point in arguing with my mother when she had a crazy idea. I had learned that the hard way, like the time she wanted me to make a Christmas tree out of old leather shoes, or the time she took my phone and outfitted it with a case reading "i <3 Faeries" even if I was in middle school. Every disagreement with mom was ill-fated.

So, I wrapped the bandana around my auburn pigmented hair, and my eyes were covered. I hoped she was satisfied. On the way to the door, I crashed into the wall and almost died.

Mom led me to the car, and as I felt the leather under my fingers. This was an awful idea.

The minutes passed, and without sight, I felt nausea creeping up on me. I wanted to rip the fabric off and have a scream fest, but the knot was too tight. I was pretty sure my head wasn losing circulation.

I knew that it was part of being a Paranormal Investigator, doing wacky stuff. If only mom and dad knew that my real passion lay in the field of being an FBI agent. Their lips would get all thin, and they would tell me that I should always follow my dreams, but that the FBI was a conspiracy.

I knew that you had to be pretty fit to be in the FBI, so I jogged every day, well, at least before this hectic move. I had to start that again. I was getting good, even though my genetics made me naturally unathletic, I was doing my best, and over the months, I saw improvement.

But instead of running, I was sitting in the car, being blind as a bat.

I heard the door open, after a spell, and I was led towards the restaurant by mom. I knew it was her, her hand was too soft to belong to anyone else. I stumbled around, until I felt a ramp leading me somewhere, and heard a door open far too hard. Then, the blindfold was ripped off unceremoniously.

"We're in Friendly's?!" I gasped. Ice cream was all around, and I looked down at myself. I was way overdressed. Mark would think wait that either I was way snooty, or desperate. Should I rush to the woman's room and try to wipe off my makeup? Or should I just roll with it?

My anxieties about this just multiplied tenfold.

Yet, I was overjoyed to be here. I didn't have to be so formal, or order from waiters who gave you the Soup de Jour, and the best pro? Ice cream, duh!

Then, Mark came in with the cutest smile ever. I willed myself to stay stoic.

I bet he sees you're blushing, my brain told me. Why did it always give me cruel reminders when I needed them the least?

"Hey, Nell. Hope you like ice cream." Mark greeted me.

"You bet!" I told him sunnily, "it's basically a crime to not like ice cream. Are you a chocolate or vanilla kind of guy?"

"Nah, Rocky Road's more my speed. What about you?"

"Hey, Rocky Road is my favorite too! That's such a coincidence!" It really was.

"Woah. You know, what ice cream you like is a huge reflection on your personality."

"Then what does Rocky Road say about the two of us?" I was hooked, to say the least.

"Well," he leaned in, " it means we both are pretty interesting. But I'd bet I'm way more interesting then you, California Girl. You've never been through a Connecticut Winter."My heart didn't just flutter when he said that, it basically jumped out of my chest and beat me with a stick.

"Let's get a table, kids." Dad said. We got a nice booth right by the window. I ordered Rocky Road at the same time as Mark, and I felt pretty smug about it.

This was going to be a great night after all.
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One Hour Later...

I was just starting on my treat, when Mark took some of my ice cream and ate it.

"Hey, that's mine!" I shoved him. Gently, of course. But he pushed me back.

"It's good, it's cold, and it's Ice Cream. Haven't you ever learned about sharing, Nell?" He took another bite of my ice cream.

"You have the exact same ice cream, Mark. For real, eat your own order!"

Then, I saw Dad glowering down at me.  I realized he'd been calling my name, and I hadn't even heard him.

"Excuse me, Nell. But I was trying to tell you something important." He frowned.

"Sorry, dad." I said sheepishly.

"Well, tomorrow, we're going to need someone to watch Oliver while we bring Jim to his Intro To Trig orientation. We were wondering if you and your friend Mark wanted to do it. I know you're responsible, Nell." He announced. I beamed so hard I had a jaw ache.

"Yeah, we'll do it!" I exclaimed.

Only later would I realize that one sentence would change life as I knew it forever. Then, maybe I wouldn't have said yes.
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Authors Note

Tell me what you think! About Nelly, about Mark, about Nellys family...tell me if there is a ship name for Nelly and Mark, and maybe make a prediction or too! I know it's a bit boring now, but trust me, loads of exciting surprises are coming up very soon!