My Spring Break Fiasco

Chapter Fifteen - Midnight Rendezvous (EDITED)

"I can't hold this in anymore.

I can't hide the truth from you.

All the things that I adored.

They don't mean a thing,

Not a thing. 

Not a single thing.

Compared to you."

- From "Wide Open",

Originally Performed By Kyle King

-

             As I lay on my bed in the guest room, visions of dancing guests and the sounds of laughter and clinking champagne glasses waltzed through my head. I imagined my grandparents, holding one another close, dancing in a pool of light, their greyed heads bent close together, as if their hearts were whispering to one another.

             I still hadn’t gotten up the courage to ask Eric to the dance.

            Suddenly, I heard a thump against my window. Uttering a shrill scream, I clamped a hand over my mouth and grabbed the nearest object. As I looked down, I realized that I’d grabbed my hair straightener, still slightly warm from use.

            A familiar voice began to whisper my name, the word muffled by the thick double-paned glass of the hurricane-proof windows.

            “Emma?” It called. “I know that you’re in there.”

            “Levi?” I gasped, running to the window and peeking through the curtains. “What are you doing here? It’s almost midnight!”

            “I know.” He replied. “I need to borrow you.”

            “Now?” I looked at him skeptically. “I’m in my pajamas.”

            “Put something on, then.” He insisted. “But hurry up! We’re going to be late.”

            “Fine.” I sighed. “Wait right there.”

            Hurriedly, I threw on a pair of old shorts and a t-shirt, not really caring whether or not they matched. Slipping my feet into a pair of flip-flops, I cautiously opened my door and peeked around the corner, towards the living room. Grandpa was sitting on his recliner, snoring. A rerun of Jeopardy flashed, muted, across the screen. I turned off the tevelsion and penned a quick note in the dimness of the oven light, letting him know that I was going out with Levi, that I had my phone if he needed anything.

            Then, grabbing a light jacket from the coat rack in the hallway, I slipped past a drooling Otis, who thankfully limited his greeting to considering me with a single, sleepy eye, before snorting and going back to his previous state of comatose drooling.

            The screen door eased shut behind me, and I headed out into the driveway, making my way towards the silhouette figure of my date, perched in the driver’s seat of his truck, engine already going.

            “Where are we going?” I asked, as I climbed up into the seat of the vehicle, inwardly cursing my short legs.

            “You’ll see,” he smiled mischievously.

            “You seriously dragged me out of bed in the middle of the night and won’t even tell me why?” I demanded. “That’s it. I’m going back inside.”