Dea Shattered

⎈Chapter 14: Finding Nemo

"Can I at least get a hint?" I laughed while looking out the window. The car drove past trees, shops, and the occasional annoyingly slow cars on the road. Kodhe kept his mouth shut and had been denying me any hints or clues.

"It's supposed to be a surprise date! I'm not about to ruin it!" He countered back with a goofy grin. I scoffed and playfully slapped him on the shoulder.

"Can I at least know how much longer?" I asked, "pretty please?" I leaned over towards him, fluttering my eyelashes. He glanced down at me, and a blush crept over his cheeks. Then he quickly set his eyes back on the road, but the faint blush still remained. I giggled and leaned back into the chair of the car. Kodhe owned a jeep, and it was surprisingly clean. Whether or not he cleaned it just for this or if it was always clean was still up for debate.

"Okay, so if you could be taken on any sort of date imaginable, what would it be?" Kodhe asked suddenly. I leaned my head back and thought for a second, there were a lot of places that I wish I could go on a date to.

"I would have to say I would want a date on the Eiffel tower, and we would have easels and chocolate-covered popcorn." Kodhe laughed at my answer but it was a kind laugh.

"Okay, so it's not the Eiffel tower. But I do like that you picture it being me with you up there," he grinned. "I hope you like my valiant attempt at a good date."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well... I hope you like animals." He motioned towards a large entrance to a zoo. The arch that went over the road had animals carved into it, all painted in colorful and vibrant colors.

"You said you wouldn't give away any hints!" I exclaimed as I leaned forward in the seat to look around.

"There is no pleasing you, is there!" He laughs,

He placed his one hand dramatically on his chest, which earned him another playful slap on the shoulder. Kodhe parked the car near the entrance and turned to face me, we met each other gazes and sat there for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

"I bet I can make it to the ticket station before you can," Kodhe said between wheezes. Then before I could respond he opened the car door and bolted. I yelled after him, struggling to unbuckle myself and catch up with his long strides.

"That's so unfair!" I yelled after him as we squeezed by families heading in and out of the zoo. Kodhe beat me to the station. He wasn't even breathing that hard compared to my pants as I finally caught up.

"You are such a little cheater!" I said between deep breaths. His eyes practically glowed with excitement. He then pulls out two wristbands that would function as our tickets.

I sent a playful glare at him and snatched my wristband, struggling to get it on my own wrist with one hand. Kodhe chuckled and took my wrist in his hands and placed it on for me, I couldn't help but flush.

He is a good guy.

Kodhe notices and his dimples appear. As soon as he had it around my wrist I hid my hand in my sundress and averted my eyes.

Kodhe chuckled again as we started heading into the zoo, we passed by areas full of exotic and beautiful animals. Tigers, Lions, Zebras, Penguins, and much more. Kodhe had seemed very taken with the Penguins and had waddled around when we were there. He had even gone as far as to attempt to talk to them in what he called 'penguin language.'

"Are you fluent?" I asked leaning against the enclosure railing. Kodhe was also leaning on the railings, but his focus was directed to a nearby penguin.

"Why wouldn't I be? My mother taught me as a wee baby." He said with a cheeky wink in my direction. I rolled my eyes but laughed along.

He linked arms with me and we continued walking through the zoo, the sun beating down on us. If Kodhe tilted his head just right, the sun hit his brown hair and made it seem like he had gold streaks.

"Let's go down to the aquarium, I want to see Nemo and Dory," Kodhe said cheerfully. I stalled for a second and he glanced down at me, concern flashing in his eyes. "Unless you don't want to," he trailed off respectfully.

"No no, we can go down there. Sometimes the water-," I bit my lip thinking. "It scares me if I'm being honest." Kodhe nods and pulls me closer to his side as we venture down into the aquarium. Passing by fish and coral, it was honestly beautiful. But the nervous tickle in my stomach continued as we ventured on, I couldn't help but jump at every noise.

We paused in front of a small tank where clownfish and butterflyfish swam around, Kodhe happily talked and exclaimed how cute 'Nemo' was. I glanced around at the decor that covered the tank, and I froze with horror when I laid eyes on a sunken ship decoration in the far back on the tank.

I could hear their screams and cries then, the countless innocent people. The gurgles as they slowly drowned. Girls and boys of all ages sinking into the never-ending depths of the sea.

"Hey, you okay," Kodhe asked, drawing me out of my thoughts. I glanced up at him with wide eyes and nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine," I lied. Kodhe leaned against the wall, biting his lip slightly.

"Why easels? During your imaginary perfect date, you mentioned easels." Kodhe asked suddenly. I blinked in surprise at him, I had nearly forgotten I had mentioned that.

"I used to paint when I was younger, my dream is to paint the view from the Eiffel tower one day." I rubbed the scar on my palm and shrugged nervously.

"Why did you stop? From the way you talk about it, you must have enjoyed it a lot." Kodhe linked his arms with mine again and continued to lead me through the aquarium.

"I don't really know, I just stopped." I shifted a bit and looked down. Kodhe had seen right through that lie also, I sighed and gave him the real answer. "A few years ago something happened, and ever since that day I just haven't been able to paint. It's like a deep dread fills me when I even look at paint."

I looked down at the scar in my hand, but Kodhe just squeezed my hand and led me back out into the sun. Leaving the aquarium behind.

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Published: April 23, 2020, 7:00 PM

Words: 1150