Where's the Fun in Playing it Safe?

One

"I swear to God, if you spend this entire trip with your face in your phone, I'll throw it into the river!" My mom yelled to me as her and my dad set off on their walk. They were headed to some greasy diner their new friends had told them about. I, on the other hand, was still sulking. We were on our annual family camping trip. Only, this year, my cousins had made other plans, leaving me stranded alone with my parents for a week. I usually loved being up here. Relaxing by the river in a town the rest of the world seemed to have forgotten, it was a great was to clear your head. This wasn't about to be the relaxing trip I had hoped for. Without my cousins there, there was no excuse for me to stay behind from my parent's continuous "adventures". So far I'd managed to weasel my way out of their relentless pestering for me to join them. I didn't know how much longer they'd let me get away with it though. I just wanted to relax. No stress, no drama. Just me and my music.

In an attempt to avoid my mom's badgering, I decided to ride my bike to the quaint little park I remembered was in town. I rode down the hill and onto Main Street with my guitar on my back, slowing as a passed by the rows of charming mom n' pap shops that line the left side of the street. I glanced into each of them as I rode past, taking in the familiar array of little trinkets and location-themed apparel designed to attract the wandering tourist. Everything looked the same as it ever was. Same stores, same stock, even the same employees. That is, until I glanced into one of the smaller shops and made eye contact with a face I didn't remember seeing before. In fact, I was so busy trying to decide if I had seen him before or not, I almost rode my into the street, right out in front of a truck. The diver laid on his horn while I slammed on my brakes, skidding to a stop.

I exhaled deeply as my body realized I was no longer in danger. The sound of muffled laughter got my attention and I turn to see the boy that distracted me standing in the doorway of his shop, chuckling. I couldn't stop my cheeks from turning a deep shade of crimson, thoroughly embarrassed that he had witnessed the debacle. That only mad him chuckle more. I hung my head, a bit put off. "I'm glad I cloud be a source of amusement for you." I said, as I got ready to take off again.

"I came out to see if you were okay. Come on, you have to admit, that was kinda funny." He said, smiling at me. Butterflies started swarming in my stomach. He was cute. Really cute. I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks once again.

"Okay, maybe it was a little bit funny." I said, giggling quietly. He looked out into the street.

"Would've been a shame to ruin a pretty little face like yours." He paused, shook his head, and looked down. "I'm sorry, that was fucking stupid." I laughed.

"No no, that was smooth as hell. Please do go on." I said, faking interest then laughing. He started to laugh also.

"Girls make nervous. Especially cute ones like you." He said, laughing to himself. "I'm Timmy, by the way." He held out his hand. I reached out a took it, trying my best to hide the fact the mine as shaking.

"Piper." I choked out.

"Nice to meet you, Piper." He shook my hand then let go a few seconds too long after.

"The pleasure is all mine." I said. He chuckled and brushed his shaggy, dirty blonde hair out of his eyes.

"Timmy! I'm not paying you to flirt with the tourists, I'm paying you to sell them things!" Yelled a voice from inside the shop. The boy in front of me blushed.

"You better get back to work." I said, chuckling at his obvious embarrassment.

"Yeah..." He said, trailing off at the end. "Wait here, I'll be right back!" He shouted as he sprinted back in to the shop and into an office at the back. I stood there, still straddling my bike, watching people walk by. A few minutes later, he came running back out with a piece of paper in hand. "I know this may be a little forward, but you seem like a pretty chill girl, Piper. So...here." He said, rambling on a bit at the end as he handed me the paper. I glanced down at it. There was a phone number scrawled onto it. I forced the butterflies in my stomach to knock it off.

"Thanks, I'll definitely text you later." I said, folding the paper and sliding it into my pocket. "Well, au revoir." He walked back into the shop as I pushed my foot down onto my pedal and took off down the road towards my original destination.

"Hey!" Somebody yelled behind me. I stopped and looked back. It was Timmy, causally leaning against the door of the shop. He looked like a damn god and I hated him for it. "Are you doing anything later?" He asked.

"No, I'm free. Why?" I said, liking where this was going.

"Well, I get off at four and there's this little ice cream shop down the road that's really good. Would you want to go with me?" I chuckled a little, realizing that he thought I was another tourist and that I hadn't been coming here for years. I decided to play along.

"Sure. Meet you here at four?"

"Perfect. See you then." He waved, peeling himself of the door and walking back into the store.

"Perfect..." I muttered to myself then shook my head and laughed humorlessly. "You're just going to get yourself into trouble, Piper." I thought to myself. "But where's the fun in playing it safe?" A little voice in the back of my head said as I rode the rest of the way to the park. "Where's the fun in that, indeed?"