She Rises

Chapter 14

After we had dinner, I changed into my pajamas. Simple t-shirt and pajama pants. As I lay down I text Ashlyn.

Haseya: So, when me and Jace talked, he asked me out.

Ashlyn: OMG! I'm soo happy for you. We're going to have to find something special for this date! Oh, I can't wait to get you all dolled up! It's going to be so exciting!

Haseya: I don't know who is more excited. Me or you haha. I have to get to bed. Goodnight. I will see you tomorrow.

Ashlyn: Goodnight girl! See you tomorrow.

These next few days go by, boring as ever. Finally, it's Saturday.

I wake up to the sun shining and a text message.

Jace: I'll be there to pick you up at 7. Wear something nice.

Haseya: I'll be waiting.

I go downstairs, get something to eat and, call over Ashlyn. It's about noon when she comes over. "Omg girl, we have so much work to do, and only 7 hours to do it!" "Ashlyn, 7 hours will be enough. Let me go get into the shower." About 45 min later, my hair is washed and I'm all shaved. "Alright girl, let's start with your hair." She grabs a blow dryer, and a curling iron. About an hour later, my hair is in big curls, with my side bangs sitting perfectly straight to my left side. Next, we do the makeup. "How about a light smoky eye? Not those really dark ones you see all the time." She asks me. "That's perfectly fine. I don't like really heavy makeup anyway." I tell her, then she gets to work. About another hour after that my makeup is done, and I'm looking hella good if I do say so myself. Now, all that's left is to find something for me to wear. Going through my closet, we pull out almost all my dresses. It took about 2 hours of searching through my closet for this. Trying on different dresses and different skirts. Trying to find the perfect one then we finally found a pretty blue sweetheart neckline that stops just above my knees and some blue heels. After it was all done, it was rounding about 6 or so. I had a little time to get my nerves under control. 7 o'clock on the dot, I hear the doorbell ring. Ashlyn runs down and answers the door. "Haseya, Jace is here." I start walking down the stairs and see him standing with a single white rose. I look up and he just staring at me, like it's the first time he's ever seen me. He's in a nice black button up shirt and some black jeans. Let's say, he looks hot! As I get to the door he hands me the rose. "Haseya, you look gorgeous." He then leans in and gives me a small kiss on the cheek. I know it was only on the cheek, but I still feel my face redden up. "Awe, how cute." I hear Ashlyn in the background giggling. "Let me go put this rose in a vase. I will be right back. As I'm coming back, I see my uncle talking to Jace. Oh my, Jace looks a little intimidated. As I come closer, I hear. "She has been through a lot. I can tell she likes you a lot. She won't admit it right now. But when she came home and said you asked her out on a date she had the biggest smile I have ever seen. So, I beg of you please, don't hurt her. She is like another daughter to me." "Sir, I would never hurt her." "Oh, don't call me sir. Makes me feel old. Just call me Jason." My uncle gives him a smile as he hears me walking into the living room. Not realizing, I heard everything. I don't say anything about it. "Ready?" I ask Jace. "I sure am." He says, as he grabs my hand and leads me to the car and opens the door. He has a 2007 blue mustang. He pulls open the passenger door for me. Awe, what a gentleman. As he gets in, we start with small chit chat. "So where are we going?" I should've known the answer. "It's a surprise, love. I'm hoping you like it though."

A few minutes later we pull up to Britt's BBQ & Catering. "OMG I love bbq!!!" "Haha, I'm glad. They have the best brisket I have ever had." He tells me as he comes to open my door. He then grabs my hand, leads me in. "How many?" the pretty blonde waitress says, looking Jace up and down. Why do I get this jealous feeling? He's not technically mine. This is just one date. "Two please." I hear him say. "Right this way. Is a booth ok?" she asks. "Perfectly fine." Jace tells her. "Your waiter will be with you soon." As Jace grabs us some menus and hands one to me we look and see what we want. "Hello, my names Mark. What can I get you to drink?" "I'll have sweet tea." I tell him. Jace looks at him "I'll have Pepsi please." "Do you know what you want to eat? Or do you need a few minutes?" I look at him while he nods his head. "I think we know what we want. I will have your beef brisket sandwich with your mac and cheese." I hand him my menu. "And for you sir?" Jace looks up at him. "I will have the tri-tip sandwich also with macaroni and cheese." Then he hands him the menu and the waiter leaves to put our order in. Jace looks at me "You really do look beautiful tonight." I blush, I just can't help it. "You look mighty handsome yourself." "You know, I'm new to this. I've never been on a date before so I have no clue of what I'm doing." He says to me, a little sheepishly. "I'm in the same boat as you. I too, have never been on a date." I tell him. "So, can I get to know you a little better? I mean that's what you do on dates, isn't it?" he asks. "What do you want to know?" I say as I look at him. "Tell me about back home." I was a little taken aback. I hear my mom's words about letting him in. Here goes nothing. "When I was 13, my mother was sick. We're not sure what ended up killing her because my father was stubborn, and didn't want to get any help. He thought the medicine man could help her. It honestly didn't work. It was about a month before my 14th birthday, when she passed away. I was broken. I had no one to confide in anymore, because she was the only one who understood me. My father didn't. Neither did my brothers, or my... never mind on that. She felt the same that I did, but she stayed. I never felt like I belonged there. After my mother died, my father just got worse and worse. He wasn't as warm and welcoming as he used to be. He started to get angry all the time. I was 16, when I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave. I'm never allowed to go back. Once I left, I was betraying my tribe. I knew my aunt was here, so I came and asked to live with her. Of course, she said yes. I took about a year of homeschooling before I came to high school. It's still a little hard adjusting. There is some more to my past. I just don't want to get into that right now. It's still a little hard to talk about." There, I let it out. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I was finally able to tell someone about it. It felt really good. "Wow, Haseya, I don't know what to say. I wish there was something I can do to help. I honestly don't know what I can do." He tells me. "Jace, there I nothing you can do. I just don't want it going around to everyone. It's hard enough telling you it. More or less knowing everyone else know it." I tell him. He's looking at me with seriousness in his eyes. "Haseya, I would never do that. I'm not like that." He says to me.