Begin Again

Chapter 17

Wednesday couldn't have taken any longer to get here. I was like a child waiting for Christmas morning, thinking that it would never arrive. It finally did though, and I have mixed feelings about my so called date with Erik; I'm nervous, excited, scared, and giddy.

I'm anxiously sitting at our usual table in the library during study hall counting down the seconds until the final bell rings. There is 720 seconds left. Yes, I am literally counting the seconds. Oh my gosh, could this clock go any slower? Isabel keeps glancing at me and giving me weird looks.

"Will you please stop shakin' your leg, Trys? I know you're nervous but seriously, this table is shakin' like Luke Bryan just walked in the room and asked it to."

I try to laugh but it comes out as a nervous chuckle. "Sorry," I mumble and stiffen my legs.

With my legs immobile my hands start to fidget. I check my phone: 600 seconds left. I'm going to go insane or have an anxiety attack before the end of the period. Isabel sighs next to me and I hear her put her binder on the table.

"Trys."

"Hmm?"

"Stop drumming on the table and look at me."

I look down at my hands to see that I am indeed drumming on the table. I stop and look at my best friend.

"You need to calm down. I don't know what happened at that party and that's okay. I don't need to know. What I do know is that it's obvious Erik really likes you, so he did not invite you to ice cream to make you feel bad about what happened. Don't worry about it Trys. Just think that a hot guy has invited you to ice cream and wants to help you overcome the past. Specifically focus on the hot guy part."

A small smile appears on my lips at her little speech, "Did you write that down beforehand or did you come up with that off the top of your head?"

She laughs at my reference to The Winter Soldier.

"Thank you for being a good friend, Is."

"Anytime."

Before I can say anything else the bell rings. I throw everything into my backpack and sprint towards the library door. As I run out, I yell a quick goodbye over my shoulder to Isabel and promise to call her later. I walk as quickly as I can to my locker, but not too quickly incase he's already there. I don't wanna look too excited. I still don't know if he actually knows where my locker is. I haven't seen or talked to him since Monday morning.

I arrive at my locker and there's no sign of Erik, so I open my locker and switch out a few binders and store a couple text books. I turn around only to find myself face first into someone's chest. By the wonderful smell invading my nostrils I guess that it's Erik. I take a step back and look up to confirm my guess. He's smirking at me.

"Now, I know I smell good and all, but you didn't have to run into me as an excuse to smell me."

"I-I wasn't- I didn't kno-", he cuts me off with his perfect laugh.

"Trys, I'm kidding", he says still laughing.

I can feel the crimson creeping up my neck and onto my cheeks so I look at the ground. "Oh, yeah, I knew that." He let's out a light laugh and I start to nervously fiddle with my backpack strap. I never used to get this nervous talking to anyone.

Breaking the silence he asks, "Are you ready to go get ice cream?"

I look up to see him smiling at me, but there was something in his eyes. A hint of concern maybe? I knew then that his question had a double meaning. Was I ready to talk about what happened at his party? I guess I had to be; he already invited me to ice cream. I needed to clear it up with him anyway, so that if he did hate me then I could stop falling for him.

I give him a small smile, "Yeah, lets go."

He smiles and grabs my hand, "Well, let's go then."

I'm surprised by this contact, but it feels too good to pull away from him. Plus, I wouldn't wanna hurt his feelings. His hand is warm in mine and a tingly feeling spreads up my arm, making my whole body buzz. The skin on his hand is rough from all the work on his family's farm. I can't hide the smile that appears on my face; I look up at Erik to see he has a small smile gracing his lips as well. I wonder what he's thinking about.

I enjoy how his hand feels in mine and I don't want him to let go. The walk to the parking lot is quiet but it's a comfortable silence. It's still pretty crowded out here with everyone trying to leave. Suddenly, I'm very aware of my surroundings and truly notice all the people that are out here. Will Erik notice too and pull his hand away?

We are getting quite a few stares now. He is definitely going to pull his hand away. Ugh. I know he's noticed all of the looks because he's said hi to a few of his friends as we pass them. I recognize a girl that sat at my old table when I was popular whispering to a few girls beside her. He still hasn't pulled his hand away, which makes a slight blush creep onto my cheeks. Butterflies start to make their way into my stomach. We are almost to his truck and he still hasn't let go.

Why hasn't he let go yet? Why would he want to be seen holding the hand of the social outcast? For a second I contemplate letting go and running away, but before I can, we arrive at his truck.

Sadly, he lets go of my hand when we reach the passenger side; however, he releases it so that he can open the door for me. How perfect is this boy?

"Thank you", I tell him.

"You're welcome", he says before shutting the door and running around to his side and getting in. Once he's buckled up, he cranks his truck and the radio comes to life. He backs out of his space and we head to the ice cream place.

A/N:
Hey y'all! What do you think? Isn't Erik such a gentlemen? Don't we wish all guys were like that. Any guesses for what happened to Trys?

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I love y'all! Keep reading!

-Emmy <3