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Chapter 4

The week seemed to drag by unbearably slow. Aside from school, I had the occasional "study date" with Lauren (we really just talked about boys. Well, she talked about boys. I listened.), homework, studying. I ran into Jase a few times. Technically, he ran into me. He took it upon himself to meet my at my locker every morning.

"Need a hand? That chem book looks terribly heavy for someone with such weak writers arms. " he'd wink. And he'd grab my chemistry book and walk me to Mr. Matthews room.

After an excruciatingly slow week, I spent my last final minutes at school on Friday shoving all my books into my locker. The teachers were gracious enough to not give us any homework. I grabbed my bag and shut the door, only to find Jase leaning up against the locker beside mine.

"Are we in a 90s movie?" I asked, handing him my backpack.

"Yes actually. And I am here in my leather jacket to ask you on a date." This was the first time he'd ever really used the word "date". We'd been on a couple of "dates" before, but they weren't really classified as dates and neither of us spoke up.

"Oh really? And what kind of date are we talking here?"

"Well technically I'm babysitting Seth. My parents don't really trust him. " He whispered. "His band is playing at a bar tonight and I really don't wanna go alone." By this point we were stopped in the courtyard. I rode home with Lauren everyday. She was waiting by her car, leaning against the side on her phone, probably texting me asking where I was.

"Yeah. Sounds like fun. Pick me up at 7?"

"It's a date. " He kissed my hand, handed me my bag and strolled to his car. I walked over to Lauren's silver Altima, blushing.

"Who's turning your cheeks pink?" She said with a smile. I had told her about Jase over coffee and journalism reports on Monday. I wouldn't be surprised if she had zoned out the entire conversation. Lauren and I have been friends since I was 7 years old. She's a year older than me. At first we didn't get along because I still watched Disney junior when she had updated to Disney channel. But one day, desperate for friendship, I made her a hello kitty bracelet. I rang her doorbell. Her mother answered. She knew who I was so I followed her inside and up to Lauren's room. I simply handed her the bracelet, and walked home. She returned to my house the next day on her scooter and that's when we became best friends.

The ride home was spent jamming to Miley Cyrus (Lauren's personal favorite). When I walked inside, my mom wasn't home. She usually works until 6. I shot her a quick text telling her the details of my date and she replied with "have fun and be safe." I plugged my ipod into my dock, spending the afternoon on a classic rock shuffle. I ate a granola bar and got in the shower.

Picking out date clothes is surprisingly difficult. We're going to a bar, I thought, so is that casual or dressy? I decided to play it safe and where clothes that were cute, yet something I was comfortable in. I decided on a blue dress, my leather jacket, white converse. I curled my hair and put in a white bow. I kept my makeup classy, some eye makeup and pink lip gloss. 7 o'clock rolled around quicker than expected. Jase knocked at 7:01. I opened the door, revealing the tall boy in a black SnapBack, a white shirt, a blue flannel, black skinny jeans and some suede Chelsea boots.

"Wow. Look at you." He said and I felt my cheeks get warm.

"Same to yourself." I followed him to his car and we were off to the bar. Apparently Seth's band was quite popular, actually a band people wanted to listen to. I was impressed. The bar was filled with skimpy college girls and shady looking bartenders. The band was walking on stage when we arrived.

"You want a drink?" He yelled over the music.

"Just a soda. " I replied and he grabbed my wrist, leading me to the bar. He ordered us both sprites and we sat at the bar, watching Seth and his band shred on instruments and make 21 year old girls squeal like 14 year olds. After about 5 songs, I looked over at Jase who was on his phone. Clearly, he was as bored as I was.

"You want to head out for a little bit?" He asked. This time, I didn't hesitate to say yes. We drove through town for a good 20 minutes, scanning the radio for a good song.

"Jesus, I hate when radios stations can't play a decent song. It's so stupid." I nodded in agreement as he pushed the buttons, trying to find a tune. He stopped on a fall out boy song I had heard on his poetry cd.

"I love this song!" He said, turning the dial up to 11. He tapped along to the song, practically screaming every word. It was amusing.

"Oh come on, Carter. I know you know this song."

"I do. "

"Then sing with me!" He yelled, one arm flying out the window. Normally I wouldn't sing for anyone, not even my mother. But for some reason I found myself screaming along to the tune, tapping on the rim of the open window. The wind was flying through our hair and we both wore smiles that could probably light up the city more than the skyline itself. The city looked beautiful at night. I felt extremely happy. The song eventually went off, and instead of an awkward silence, we both just laughed. After another 10 minutes or so, Jase slowed his car down and pulled over to the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" I yelled unintentionally. Need I mention we were stopped on a bridge.

"I see a photo-op, ms. Photographer. " He smiled, getting out of the car, and stepping over a railing.

"Jase, you're insane. "

"What? There's another railing here. We won't fall in. Now come on. Climb over. I want to show you something." my gut had an off feeling about climbing over a railing and standing on the edge of a bridge, but I grabbed his hand and climbed over.

"Now before you take a picture, I want you to stand right here," he positioned me, "open your arms, close your eyes." I obeyed his orders. The wind was just barely blowing.

"What do you feel?" He yelled.

I laughed. "I'm flying!" I yelled. I opened my eyes and he was smiling at me.

"We're flying!" He yelled, and I was certain all of Boston could hear him.

"We're flying!" We yelled in unison. We took pictures and we laughed and eventually we sat on the edge, our legs dangling between the bars. He told me about the houses he's lived in and all about his childhood best friends. I listened, my hands wrapped around the cold bar for support.

We had to leave eventually. The ride back to the bar was spent looking for a song as usual. Jase gave up quicker this time. He knew he'd never find a song as good as we felt. So we leaned against the frames of the open windows and let the sound of the wind be a reminder of the time we flew.