Transversals

XV. An Evening Out

The four of us--Will, Hanna, Dad and I--had a good lunch Saturday courtesy of me, after a lengthy talk about all the details of Will's spectacular date. I went upstairs afterward to knock out at least the introductory paragraph to my essay so Will could help me with it tomorrow. I said hi to Afton, who wrote that she was working on an essay too. We sat at our desks with laptops and typed for a little bit then, until we were both burnt out and lying on her floor, staring at the ceiling, talking to each other every now and then, laughing. Probably the most relaxed atmosphere I had been in since all the craziness started, and I really, really appreciated it. Plus, Afton was awesome.

Ben paid a "secret" visit and Afton got a text from Mattie to go to the library ten minutes later, so she left us to our own devices for the time being. Well, really she insisted we tag along, but Ben refused for both of us and said we had other work to do, thanking her anyway. The "work" was actually my chance to be the architect of my own dream and Ben the bystander, which was a lot harder than what he made it look. You had to have extremely good concentration, obviously a trait I don't posses in my DNA coding. I could barely stay awake in chemistry every day.

Eventually I had to get back to my dimension to get ready. Afton was back and helped me pick out a cute outfit of army green pants and a gray sweater over top, and I made sure to stuff my pockets with gloves and a hat, along with digging out the heaviest coat I had. I had recieved a text from Jeremy while styling my hair, explaining all the intricacies to say to my dad that hadn't been taken into consideration.

Lana'll stop by your house and drive you over to her flat. We'll go from there. See you soon! :) p.s., We're going to have to go through a Taco Bell bathroom to get there. Sorry. Maybe bring Febreeze.

A few minutes later I was softly going down the stairs, setting my coat and warm stuff by the door and going into the kitchen to grab a mint or two. "Dad, I'm going out with friends."

"You are?" he asked, busy making mac & cheese with Hanna. He held up the cheese-covered spoon. "Do you need dinner?"

"No," I said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and a playful tickle for Hanna perched on a chair by the stove. "We're going out for food."

"Whoa wait, friends?" he asked increduously, turning to me and putting a hand on his hip, head tilted ot the side. "You made more friends?"

"Er, yeah," I responded, backing up towards the door. Lana's cheery face was peeking through the window, giving me a thumbs up. I looked back to Dad's bewildered expression. "They're new kids."

He beamed, proudly. "That's wonderful, Lee." he turned back to the mac and cheese, still smiling. "Have a good time and be safe. No later than 9."

I did a double-take. "9?"

"Yeah," he sighed, letting Hanna take control of the stirring. "You're seventeen. It's time I stop pinning you down with curfew so much."

I stopped, then rushed to give him a tight hug. "Thanks Dad."

He hugged me back, laughing lightly. "You're welcome. Please be safe."

I said a last "I will," and was out the door in no time.

Lana greeted me almost with a hug, but remembered my personal space deal and just led me to the nice car I had ridden in once before with Ben, although it looked plain silly for her to be driving, listening to cheery pop music over the stereo.There was tension in the air between us, but I broke the ice with a question about how many times Will messed with his sleeves throughout the night that elicited a chuckle and lengthy talk about the date. It was entertaining to see both sides of it, how nervous Lana had actually been as well and how half the stupid things Will thought he had done went completely unnoticed by her, and even vice versa. It was strange; I actually did make another friend that night.