Finding the One

Chapter 3

Friday came along pretty fast. I spent some time thinking about Cole, but I decided to
actually put an effort in school. I didn't want my grade to be lower than an 'A'-- I needed to stay in honors for math!
Anyways, I went shopping once with my mom to find an outfit to wear, and I chose a black top with some white floral edges on the bottom, along with some light blue ripped jeans. Once I had tried it out at home, I was sure that I was going to look great in it. Although, that was Wednesday-- now it is Friday, and I'm questioning my outfit. Now I feel that the pants don't match my top at all, and I was really confident about this day until this came up.
Lately, everything seems to be revolving around this day, since I'm so excited for it.
Although, nothing is going my way, I've had so many problems this day alone. This morning, I got late for the bus, and I couldn't wash my hair for the date. Afterwards, at lunch, I spilled some of my soup on my pants, and my white ones-- the soup isn't coming off. Lastly, I embarrassed myself in front of Cole by running into a door.
It's 3:00 now, and I'm in my pajamas watching television, not getting ready. My makeup is all smeared, and I have some ice cream on my lap that had spilled beforehand. I didn't want to go on the date with Cole, but I didn't want to hurt him like that. I had to go.
I had to go.
No, no, I didn't have to go, I wanted to.
Yes, I want to go on a date with Cole.
With that in mind, I got up very quickly, and ran up the stairs. I rushed into my room and ripped open my closet and pulled the outfit that I wanted to wear. I ended up with just wearing the black top and ripped jeans, since everything else I had wasn't right for the occasion. I quickly changed into the clothes, and checked my phone for the time.
4:00.
That left me with thirty minutes to put on makeup and do my hair.
I quickly sat in front of my mirror, and pulled out some blush, lip gloss, and eyeshadow. I decided to put on a little bit of everything, since I didn't want to seem too 'extra'. After that, I took out a hair brush and went through all the knots in my hair. That was tough, but to help out, I just ran a straigtener through my hair to hide them.
I was finally ready.
I grabbed my phone, and ran down the stairs.
"Mom! I'm going out! I'll be back by 7-- I think..." I shouted towards the kitchen.
"Sure hon! Go have fun!" she replied.
I opened the door, and started walking to the park. I was almost old enough to drive, but I needed to wait a little longer-- for now, I was walking and riding my bike. Once I got close to the park, I spotted Cole in the distance.
"Cole! Hi! Over here!" I screamed as I waved over to him.
"Hey Em! Here sit down over here!" he replied while patting a spot next him on a picnic blanket.
I walked over and sat down quickly, making sure to take my shoes off first.
"So, Em, would you like anything to eat from my well-prepared picnic basket?" Cole questioned while pointing at a coffee colored basket that was over flowing with food.
"Well, Cole, if you want to be a gentleman, you should probably give me my options first!" I exclaimed.
"Oh, right, that. Um, the options are sandwiches, and um that is about it for food. For drinks, lemonade, Fanta, or Sprite. Oh, and the sandwich options are cheese, ham, and um yeah actually that's it..." he stated.
"Well, I'll have a cheese sandwich, with um Fanta!"
Cole gave me my sandwich, and tossed me a can of soda. He took the same for himself, except for the soda, he took Sprite. I took a bite into my sandwich, and decided to start the conversation.
"So, we need to get to know each other better. Okay, um, have you had any girlfriends in the past?" I started.
"Um, well, in 6th grade, there was this girl name Tiffany, and we went to the dance together-- if that counts as dating. And then in 8th grade there was this girl named, um, Sarah, and well, um, we were together for a while, but then she cheated on me. I didn't really care so..." Cole said.
He had a girlfriend only 2 years ago! It seems to me as if their relationship was pretty serious-- he said they hung out for a while.
"Well, for me, I've had tons of boyfriends. You know, since, at my old school, I was popular. I had this guy name Steve in 6th grade, it wasn't really a serious thing. I had another guy named Harry, and we dated during 7th and 8th grade. After that, I think I had this one guy named Rick who asked me out to the 8th grade graduation dance-- after Harry and I broke up. We dated over the summer, and a little into 9th grade." I recited.
I hoped Cole didn't think that I was that 'player' type of girl-- because I really wasn't. I wanted to date Cole, and I hoped he would ask me to be his girlfriend.
"Oh... that's cool. So, forget about the past, let's focus on us." he stated while urging me to stand up.
I put my food down and stood up on the blanket. He did the same. I felt confused, but I let Cole do what he was trying to do, since I was curious.
Suddenly, Cole got down on his knee, and asked, "Emma Gareb, will you be my girlfriend?"
I felt a rush of adrenaline go through my body as my hands started to tremble. The world seemed to be moving too fast all of a sudden, and I was very confused. As I made more sense of what was happening, I quickly pulled myself together.
"Uh, um, yes! Yes, Cole, yes!" I exclaimed.

Our picnic went on, we ate for about a hour, and then we decided to just wait until the sunset. It was getting chillier, and, unfortunately, I forgot my jacket at home. Cole and I just sat, shoulder to shoulder, talking about ourselves, getting to know each other better-- the usual.
I was really excited about having Cole as my boyfriend, and I couldn't wait to tell Stacy! As I thought about all that had happened within the last hour, Cole interrupted me.
"Hey, Em, are you cold? You seem to be shivering slightly! We can start walking home if you want to...." he asked.
"Cole, there is no need to go home, I'm fine! Just a little chilly, but nothing else. I want to stay with you! Don't worry about me-- please?" I stated.
"Em, you are actually shivering! Here," he said while taking his jacket off and handing it to me, "have my jacket."
Cole offered me his jacket! His jacket! He said I was cold!
Aww! He is so nice! What a perfect boy! I thought to myself quickly while absentmindedly taking Cole's jacket.
"Thank you so much Cole!" I exclaimed while putting on his soft, brown, leather jacket.
"Anything for you, Em." he ended.
Suddenly, I found Cole and I staring at each other deeply-- very close. I gazed into his blue eyes, and he stared into my brown ones.
Then, he slowly leaned in.
I followed suit.
All of a sudden, our noses were touching...
And he kissed me.
His soft lips were gently touching mine, and we were kissing passionately.
It was amazing!
We both pulled away, and Cole laid his hand on mine, and turned towards the beautiful sunset.
"Cole--" I started.
"Shh, Em, shh." Cole hushed.