Where My Heart Is

Chapter 9

The next few days went by in a blur. They say that time flies when you're having fun, and I had never experienced a time when that rang more true than I was now. It was like life was finally exciting; it was finally good, and now it was playing by in a fast forward speed that I wanted to slow down, to pause, or even rewind. I spent my days at school, stealing glances with Luke as we passed in the halls and smiling to myself every other second between. I found it was becoming extremely hard to focus on my school work because Luke was always on my mind. I was acting crazy, because we weren't even together. I still didn't even know if he liked me, although, I hoped he did. I spent my evenings texting Luke and getting to know him better. We talked about everything. We knew almost everything about each other, yet we hadn't had one-on-one interactions. I hoped this would change. And then, one night it did.

I was on the floor in my room, studying for a huge chemistry test that was coming up. My mind was moving at a hundred miles an hour like the streets of a big city, full of cars constantly coming and going every which way.  It was extremely hard for me to focus, especially because I was waiting for Luke to text me. It was pretty late, and I was beginning to wonder if he would ever reach out. I was getting impatient with myself, which deteriorated my mood increasingly.

Suddenly, my phone started buzzing. Luke was calling. Finally, I thought.

"Hey Luke! What's up?" I greeted cheerily.

"Emma, I'm outside your house right now."

I glanced at the clock. 10:05 p.m. My parents wouldn't be happy with someone coming over at this time. In fact, they were probably already asleep. "What? Why?" 

"I wanted to talk to you in person. I have a surprise. Can you come out here?" 

"Okay," I agreed. I would have to be quiet. And quick! I wondered what the surprise would be. Before I went downstairs, I checked myself out in the mirror. I was wearing my sweats and favorite t-shirt from years ago, and my hair wasn't exactly the greatest. Oh well, I thought. This is who I am. 

I tiptoed down the stairs, trying not to make any sound. Quietly, I opened the door and stepped outside, careful to close the door softly behind me. I turned around and saw Luke standing there with a bouquet of roses in hand. He grinned at me and flashed his pearly white teeth and incredibly cute dimples through the night light. 

"Hey Emma," he finally said. "I brought these flowers for you, and I wanted to ask you something."

He held the flowers out to me, and I took them in my arms, marveling at how perfect this moment was. Smiling, I looked up at him. "Thank you, Luke. What did you want to ask me?"

He looked down at his shoes and smiled nervously. I waited, curiously. Finally, he looked up at me. "I wanted to take you out," he said. "Tomorrow night. A real date." 

My mind was screaming YES!! I had been waiting for this moment. It was a dream come true. However, I wanted to play it coy. "Yeah, definitely." I nodded assuringly and smiled at him.

His smile grew ten times bigger. I didn't even think that was possible. "Okay, sweet. Can I pick you up at seven tomorrow?"

"Yes, that would be great." I was trying to play it coy, but my smile was peeking out. Okay, it wasn't peeking out. It was popping, like a big billboard in New York Times Square. I couldn't help it.

Luke smiled and stepped closer to me. I thought maybe he wanted to hug me, so I set down the roses and took a step towards him. Step by step, we approached each other and buried the distance. I didn't want to be distant anymore. I was ready to take the leap and be in a relationship with Luke.