Stargazing

Hip Bones

On February 24th my world was rocked, quite literally, and I'll never forget it.  I met Eilers that day, for the very first time. The date, although, had quite a rocky start, from him not being able to find me, to us hiking up this gigantic hill to get to our destination. Nonetheless, I was still enthralled. I know what you're thinking, "Louisa, how the hell did this begin?" Well, it all started 2 weeks before, the weekend before Valentine's Day.

"I love Lil Xan", Eilers had replied to my story, a video of my newly painted red nails with 'Been About It" playing in the background, a song that now kills me to even hear a single key. We talked for a few days about music and our hobbies, when he asked me out on a date. Being a girl, of course I had to play hard to get, so I made him work for me. 

"Okay, I'll let you take me on a date," I said to him over text, "on one condition."

"And that is?" he replied to me, seconds later, eager to hear my wager.

I didn't really have one in mind, until it dawned on me, he hates reading, and I love it. This should be interesting.

"You have to read 'I Am Number Four' by Pittacus Lore before you can take me out, deal?" I said smugly, I was sure he would turn it down.

"You have a deal." he texted back immediately.

All the time in between us making the deal and our first date I was almost completely sure that he would bail out at the last second and not read the book. But, he did it. He did it for me. So, two weeks later, on a Saturday, we went on our very first date, and it was rough.

He was supposed to pick me up from my mother's house, and she didn't know I was going on a date, so as you might have guessed, that fell through almost immediately. 

"Louisa, you can't Uber by yourself to the Observatory," she persisted "I'll just have your stepfather take you."

I hopped into the car with my stepdad and made my way to my future. As we were on our way all I could think about was him. His fiery red hair, his perfectly paint splattered freckles, his smile. The smile that could light up any room in an instant. My stomach was filled with the best kind of butterflies, and I couldn't wait any longer.

After an anxiety filled car ride, my stepdad finally dropped me off and I made my way to find him among the vast amounts of people already there. I called, and texted him approximately 87 times before we finally found each other. He pulled up right beside me in his mom van, with the biggest grin on his face, his eyes lit up in a vivacious smile. The conversation in the car could not have been more awkward, good Lord. We made small talk about his outfit, a black Oliver Francis t-shirt, paying homage to our song, Hip Bones, and about how a rap group from his school were all in jail. I cared, I really did, but I was just so damn nervous. And so was he.

When we finally found a parking spot, we made our way up the hill to reach the observatory. We got to know one another in the hours we were there. We walked and talked, and I knew from the moment we sat down across from one another to share a lemonade that neither of us ended up finishing, that I wanted this boy in my life forever. Keep in mind, the keyword 'wanted'.

After we finished up at the Observatory, he took me out to dinner at a quaint Italian restaurant, literally down the street. We laughed, we talked, we ate, and I was beyond happy at that moment. I wanted it to last forever. Dinner came to an end and I thought he was just going to take me home, I was wrong. I kept asking him where we were going, in hopes he would tell me, but he didn't. 

After an agonizing 20 minutes in the car, we arrived at our destination, a view. A beautiful view looking out over Glendale and Los Angeles. We just gazed over the edge for a long while, in silence. In this moment, I felt so safe, I felt at home.

"I think this view is so amazing." I said to break the silence.

He then turned to face me and said, "You know what I think?"

"What?" I answered unsurely.

"I think you should be my girlfriend." he replied, confident. 

"No!" was the first thing that slipped out of my mouth. He looked at me, confused.

"No, I mean yes. Of course." I corrected myself. Then he leaned in for a kiss. And completely missed. It took 3 tries to actually get it right, and it was amazing.

After that followed ice cream, and the dreaded drive home. We sang like idiots eating our ice cream, flying down the freeway. I didn't have a single care in the entire world, and neither did he. 

When it came time to part, I leaned in for one last passionate kiss, and I was returned with a peck. Mortified, I said goodbye and thank you for the amazing night, and naturally, ran away as fast as I could. 

Later that night, grinning in the starlight, staring up at the stars, listening to 'Stargazing' by Kygo, I thought to myself, this is how it's going to be forever. And I was content with life.