Under the Lights

Chapter 10: A Date

Chapter 10

I sat in the truck, nervously tapping my fingers on the steering wheel as I waited for Carly to come out of the diner. 

Maybe she forgot?

Maybe I got the date wrong?

Was I late?

Was I too early?

A million questions were going through my mind right now... 

A million doubts were appearing everywhere. 

But they all went away as soon as I saw Carly walk out of the diner. She was wearing a little white sundress and pink flats, with her backpack from school still on her back. 

She saw my truck and a smile spread across her face. 

“Hello beautiful.” I smiled, reaching over to open up the door for her. 

“Hey.” She grinned. “Sorry I’m late I had to change out of what I wore to school.” 

“No worries.” I said with a smile, taking her bag for her and stuffing it in the small space behind the seats. 

“So where are we going?” She asked sweetly. 

“We are going on a good old Texas date.” I told her with a smile. 

Carly raised her eyebrows. 

“A Texas date? What’s that?” She laughed, an excited look in her eye. 

“You, Miss Michigan, will just have to wait and see.” I said as I pulled out of the parking lot.

“Ooh I love surprises.” Carly laughed, her eyes on my while I drove. “I like your shirt.” 

“Thanks.” I said. “It feels really weird to not be sweating my ass off in this.” 

I was wearing khakis and a button up shirt, it was light pink. But whenever I wore this much stuff in Texas, I’d be sweating buckets before I even turned on the car. 

“Michigan is too cold.” I laughed. 

“You crazy? It’s warm for this time of year. And considering the winter we had last year...” Carly shook her head, amused. 

“Well it’s warm enough to be outside, I guess.” I told her as I pulled into the parking lot of one of those nature park thingies. 

“What are we doing here?” Carly laughed, getting out of the car. 

“We, my friend, are going on a picnic.” I said happily, pulling the picnic basket out of the bed of my truck. 

Carly raised her eyebrows. 

“An actual picnic? Like in the movies?” She asked excitedly, her eyes widening. 

I nodded. “Like in the movies.” I laughed, locking the car behind me as we started walking down the path. “Brian and I came and looked for a good spot to eat. And there’s one right by this cute little stream. It’s all grassy and really pretty.” 

“You made your brother come out here with you?” Carly laughed, amused. 

“Well obviously. He’s the one who’s got a girlfriend. He knows how to impress girls.” I replied with a shrug. “I knew I had to do this right.” 

Carly just grinned. 

“Well already this date is amazing.” She told me, walking close to me. 

I smiled down at her. 

“Well then I hope it gets better.” I smiled, nudging her shoulder.