When Penguins Fly

Chapter 7

I wake up all of a sudden, and drowsily check the time. HOLY PENGUINS! It's already 7:30! I have no time to eat breakfast, let alone get ready for school! I'm gonna be late. I jump out of bed, running towards my closet and digging out a pair of random shorts and a t-shirt. I put those on, slip on my shoes, brush my teeth, and run downstairs to grab a banana, all in record time. 

I run into my mom as I'm grabbing my keys to run to my car Charlie. 

"Good morning, mom, I gotta get to school before I'm late!" She looks bewildered for a second, before realizing that she herself has to get ready for work. She waves goodbye to me, and I start Charlie. I zoom to school in record time, before running into class at 7:44 am. One minute to spare. I sit down in my usual seat, sweaty and gross, before turning my attention to the board. Seconds later, I feel a tapping on my shoulder. And when I turn around, guess who it is. 

That's right, ladies and gentlemen. It's Drew sitting there with a cheeky grin, looking as clean and amazing as ever. 

"What happened?" He asked, gesturing to my messy outfit and hair. I glare at him before turning back to my notes. 

But he doesn't stop there. I feel him lean close to me and whisper into my ear, his breath tickling my skin. 

"You still look beautiful." He whispers faintly, just so I can hear. After that, he turns and faces forward, not looking at me for the rest of the class. Although he is sometimes annoying, I find it cute, and I have to admit, Drew switching his schedules so he could have all his classes with me isn't that bad. I kinda like it. I enjoy having his company. 

The rest of the day passes by in a blur. We only have three days of school this week, which I'm grateful for. That means I can catch up on some sleep and avoid oversleeping like today. Whenever I saw Drew, he would act all mysterious, and secretive. I knew Mel had something to do with this, too, because she kept looking at me and smiling like she knew something big was going to happen. I could read her very well, Mel being my friend and all. My first assumption was that today was the day Drew would make penguins fly, since it was the final week of the month, and he only had 6 more days left. But then I thought, it's very unlike Drew to complete the challenge 6 days before the deadline. He would probably do it the day before, or something. So I decided that it was something else. And I was determined to find out. 

After school, I tried to find Mel, but she was no where to be found. I then sat around, telling myself that I would wait 5 minutes for her to show up. If she didn't, then I would just go home. 

Suddenly, I feel two strong hands wrap around my waist and pick me up, spinning me around. I scream in surprise, but when I see it's Drew, I relax into his grip. When I get dizzy, he puts me down carefully, steadying me in case I fall. 

"I thought you went home already?" I asked him breathlessly. 

"Nah, I was busy working on something. Now, come on. I wanna show you something." He starts dragging me along with him, but with my short legs, I struggle to keep up with him. 

"Wait, Drew, slow down! Where are we going?" I pant while attempting to keep up. But he didn't respond, and kept beckoning me to his car, which was parked far away from school. I was getting scared; everything was so mysterious and eerie. 

Drew opens the door for me, like a gentleman, and I thank him. Through the whole drive, he doesn't say anything. He just turns on the radio. I'm confused, and a little hurt at the same time. He basically just turned on the radio so he wouldn't have to talk to me. What did I do? He's the one that has been acting all mysterious all day. 

I reach over and turn off the radio. 

"Are you mad at me?" I asked him, without sugarcoating it. 

"Why would I be mad at you?" He responds. 

"Because you've been mysterious all day, and now you won't even talk to me." I replied. 

"It's all part of my plan. Just wait and you'll see. We're almost there." He says, and then doesn't say anything after. 

I ponder over his words. His plan? What is he going to do? The flying penguins? I slump in my seat, deciding to just be patient and wait to see. 

Drew parks the car, and hands me a blindfold. I look around before putting on the blindfold, but we're in the middle of nowhere. 

"This is our destination?" I asked him. He shakes his head wordlessly, and beckons me to put on the blindfold. 

Then I realize, that this was a surprise, we weren't there yet. He wanted me to be blindfolded when we got there. 

I feel the car rumbling as we continue to drive. Finally, we get there, and I hear Drew talk. 

"Stay here, I'm going around to open the door for you, okay? I'm not leaving, don't worry." I nod, relaxing. 

Seconds later, I feel his hand hold mine and he helps me out of the car. The whole time, I'm blindfolded and Drew leads me somewhere. 

"Stay here, okay? I'm gonna go get the show started." I feel him walk away, leaving me cold. I stand there for a few minutes, before I feel someone take the blindfold off. 

I blind rapidly, trying to get used to my surroundings. I realize that we're in a big grassy field that I've never been to. I want to draw this place, but I don't have my drawing supplies. Maybe I'll just ask Drew to bring me back here one day. 

Mel walks up to me, holding a laptop. 

"Mel? What are you doing here? Where's Drew? Please tell me what's going on." I pleaded. But she merely shook her head, and ran off, leaving me in the quiet field. 

I see that there is a video on the laptop screen, so I play it. Drew's face comes on, and I almost gasp at how cute he is. 

"Remember the first day I met you? When I was sitting in your seat and you walked up and kicked me out of the seat? All I could think about that day was how beautiful you were, how strong and independent you were. And you still are. Every day, I question how I was so lucky to meet someone like you. Someone so beautiful, so caring, so strong and different from other girls. In a good way, of course. I'm so lucky to have met you, and I'm really glad that I got a chance to get to know you better. Ever since I met you, I've never been able to get you out of my mind. I'm always thinking about you, every day, every minute, and every second. And so I just wanted to share this with you, to show how much I care about you, and I really do like you, Zoey." 

The video then went on to a bunch of pictures of us goofing off, from the one at the carnival, to when he took pictures of me when I was drawing. By the end of it, I had tears in my eyes, and I was touched by his speech. 

When the video ends, I close the laptop and look up. And there he was, standing in front of me. I carefully put the laptop down, without throwing it, and run up to Drew. I jump on him, and hug him for the longest time ever. But I'm confused. Where are the flying penguins? I break away from him and decide to ask. 

"Drew, what about the flying penguins?" I ask him. 

"That, Zoey, I have planned for another day." He says with a grin on his face.