17

1 Reigna Carmen

Josh: Miss Carmen. R u awake?

The nickname made me cringe. It was 8:30 PM and I smiled, just a bit, and texted him back.

Me: U know u don't have to call me by my last name every time u text me right? I dont call u "mr. maradona".

Josh: Well, yeah, but calling u "Reigna" wouldnt be very formal. And I must impress, at all times.

God, this guy just doesn't give up! I give him credit, the boy tries.

Me: LOL, finefine, whats up?

Josh: Okay, I know tmw is ur bday, and I have a gift for u.

Me: Aw, thank you. But why r u telling me this now?

Josh: I kiiiinda need to give it to u tonight.

Me: What??? Why? Just give it to me tmw.

Josh: The problem is, I can't.

Me: Why?

Josh: Look out ur window, mi Corazon.

I hopped off my bed and opened my window. Josh's truck sat on the other side of the street, and Josh, himself, was sitting on the top of truck. As he noticed my window opening, he gave me a HUGE goofy smile, and a small wave. He rose his phone to his ear as mine started to ring.

"So you see..."

"Dude, what are you doing here? What kind of gift did you get me??" I leaned against my window sill and rested my chin on my hand.

"Okay, okay, I know this is last minute, and completely crazy, but you have to do me a favor, " he said as he turned and reached for something behind him.

"A favor? What kind of favor?"

There was a slight pause over the phone as he faced towards my window while holding a sign in the air.

"Trust me," He said. On the sign was written, in all caps, "PLEASE!!!" in bubble letters. Josh's face went from a smile to puppy dog eyes in two seconds. I laughed in disbelief.

"So you're expecting me, to sneak out of my house at night, and hop into your truck so you can take me who-knows-where, for a birthday gift?"

He shrugged, "..Yes?"

"Josh, my parents aren't home, I can't just leave."

Joshua crawled his way off his truck and bowed graciously, with one arm extended. "You have my word, Hermosa. You'll be back before morning."

I gave him a look. You know, that look that you give someone when they're absolutely crazy. And then I gave him another look. That look when you're about to do that exact crazy thing with them? Yeah, that look. I turned and paced my room, contemplating whether or not I was just dreaming or whether I was being a complete idiot. Was this really happening? Was I really going to do this? Was I? Before I could answer my own question, I found myself putting the phone back to my ear.

"Okay."

He instantly threw the sign back in his car and beamed, "Great! Ok, two things. Bring your house keys, and a change of clothes. Comfy ones." Before I could ask what the change of clothes were for, he hung up and hopped in the front seat.

I wore a black shirt with a dark grey sweatshirt that had a small faded Mexican Flag on the outer top part of the sleeve, a pair of dark jean shorts, and my usual roughed-up pair of converse. I stuffed some black sweats and a white V-neck into my smallest purse along with my phone. Grabbing my keys, I ran to the front door, catching a glimpse of a picture of my parents that was on the dining table. "I'm going to be killed for this if they find out," I mumbled, locking the door as I left. Stuffing the keys in my bag, I ran down the steps, to Joshua's truck. I came to the front window and tapped. He rolled the window down, just a few inches.

"Can I help you, Mam?" He grinned.

"..Can you open your door?"

He attempted another tiny bow and nodded, "As you wish."

I placed my hands on my hips, "Was that a Princess Bride reference?"

"Yeah, I thought you'd like it. Too much?"

I laughed, "Just open the door Josh! And where are we going?

He leaned over and unlocked the door, "Well, if I tell you then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? Much less a good birthday gift. C'mon, we are on a tight schedule."

I groaned loudly as I got in and buckled my seatbelt. "Ok, tell me something at least. I want to know that I'm not being kidnapped and murdered later." I looked around as he drove onto an empty main street. He had a nice truck. A really nice truck.

"Alright, fine. How old are you turning?"

"17."

"Exactly. So tonight, Madam Reigna Carmen, we are going to do 17 things that you have never done. Before midnight."

I was the kind of person who always liked a bit of action. But this? This sounded ridiculous.

"...17 things."

He nodded, "Mhm."

"Before midnight?"

"Mhm."

"Did you make a timeline for this or something??" I asked.

He kept one arm on the steering wheel and ruffled his hair with the other. "Well... maybe---but that's not the point here. The point is, we are here to have the time of your life. And so far.." -- He looked down at a black watch on his hand,-- "We are about two minutes ahead of schedule. So this is good. One down, and sixteen more to go."

I rolled down my window all the way to let the air in. "Wait, sixteen? What was number one?"

"Seeing if you would actually trust me or not," he laughed joyfully.

"You said we were going to do things that I've never tried, how do you know I haven't snuck out before?" I crossed my arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"Have you?" He gave me a tiny smirk.

I felt my face turn warm and quickly turned my head, attempting to look out at the passing trees and sparks of light. I mumbled a small, "Mm.." and shrugged.

I could hear him chuckle, "Hence, number one."

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Author's Note:

I'm working on this, I really want to add more, add as much as I can to this book, so help me along the way. Let me know if you like it. :) Thank you! 

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