Kissing Dylan

five: retracing

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      Dylan was five minutes late, and I was freezing my ass off waiting for him. 

      The frigid winter air hit my skin like tiny needles. I could feel my nose already going red, as were my cheeks. Deciding to wear an oversized hoodie and skinnies jeans was probably the worst decision I made this morning. 

      The Hallelujah song mentally rang through in my head when I heard Dylan's voice coming from the opposite direction. "So why did you invite me to Playland?" Unlike me, he was thoughtfully dressed from head to toe for the weather, rather stylishly too. 

      "Haha, funny story," I said to him as we were standing in front of the admissions gate to the empty amusement park. I wasn't sure how I was going to break it to him. "I thought they were open today-"

      "Everyone knows that Playland is closed during the winter," he said with mild coldness.

      "They why didn't you tell me this yesterday when I told you to meet me here?"

      "Because I thought it was part of some sort of plan you had," he said, "but it looks like you actually wanted to play here today."

      I tried to glare nastily at him. "Hey, this was where Ludwig and I had lots of fun during the summer."

      Going to the Playland last year with Ludwig was one of our favourite memories we shared. Even though we left the place early that day because I started to feel claustrophobic when tons of people began to roll into the amusement park, the rides we went on and the mini donuts we ate made the day one we would never forget.  

      "But how is going back to this place going to help me?" he asked. 

      "We're trying to retrace your, I mean Ludwig's, steps," I said, "because it bothers you how you don't remember, right?"

      He nodded grudgingly. "Well what did you do here exactly?"

       I began to fidget with my fingers inside my hoodie pocket. "Well, uh, we went on the Hellevator and the wooden roller coaster, and um, ate some mini donuts and we went to the bathroom but you didn't really know which restroom to go in-"

      "Why are your teeth chattering?" he suddenly asked.

      I didn't even realize that I was stuttering some of my words. I could now feel my teeth shifting against each other. 

      "You're cold aren't you," he said, taking his brownish plaid scarf off his neck. He looped it around my neck, and I immediately felt his body heat from it transferring to my skin. 

      "Thanks."

      Without another word, he placed his black beanie on top of my head, making sure it covered my ears. He was frowning,  not appearing to be satisfied. The next thing I knew, he was draping his thick winter coat over my shoulders.

       It was surprising to see him act this way.

      "I don't know why, but I can't stand seeing you shivering away by yourself. It might be because of Ludwig, but it could also just be because I'm a nice person today. I don't know."

      I was glad that my cheeks were already stained with pink, because I might or might not have been blushing. Okay, just a little. 

      Since I wasn't saying anything, Dylan continued on, "Since your goal seemed to be that we spend a day at Playland but it looks like we won't be doing anything here today, want to just hurry up and get out of here?" His legs were a little shaky. I could tell he was feeling the cold  now that he had given up some of his winter wear to me, but he refused to express it.