This Can't Be Good

Chapter 28

It was mid Saturday afternoon. The house was quite since I was the only one home. Trevor and Cassadee had taken Lexis to see his parents, Jayden and Miranda were out for the day, and Parker was out at Max's house. Tonight was the night he took me on our first date. I was freaking out, and that was an understatement.

It was around two and our date was scheduled for five. After jumping in the shower, doing my hair and my make up it was three thirty. Giving me less than two hours to pull myself together. I paced my room trying to figure out what to wear. After staring at my closet for another half hour I sighed in frustration. I decided I needed to know where I was going. I grabbed my phone and then remembered I didn't have Parker's number, I texted Max instead. Max was no help. He wouldn’t tell me where he was taking me.

I screamed in frustration. I now remember why I don't bother with this whole dating thing. Not to mention my stomach was in knots. I decided, after another twenty minutes of deliberation, to call Ava.

She picked up on the second ring. "Quick, what do you wear on a date?" God, I sounded so desperate.

She chuckled. "Where are you going?"

"No clue. I texted Max so he could ask and all he said was dress normal. What the hell does that even mean?" By this point I was in panic mode. It was almost four thirty and I still wasn't dressed.

"First calm down. Second just wear something casual. Oh and don't forget to have fun."

After getting off the phone I finally decided on a pair of skinny jeans and a sweatshirt type thing that said No Regrets on it. I touched up my make up one last time and pulled on my shoes.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I finished putting away my things and headed down to answer the door. Parker was standing there. He was wearing a normal shirt and jeans, his eyes glistened even more than usual. How did this happen?

"Why are you knocking on the door?" I asked, its not like he didn’t have a key.

He smirked. "Sorry for trying to be a gentleman and pick you up at your door step."

It was my turn to laugh. Under his popular exterior he really was a giant dork. "Why thank you," I said. He then took my hand in his and lead me to the car.

Once inside his truck we headed off to our unknown destination. Seriously, I could not get it out of him. I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't a very patient person. "Where are we going?" I whined causing him to chuckle. I glared.

"Don't worry about it." He continued going straight, passing all the usual date spots.

After aimlessly driving for another twenty or so minutes, we stopped. I looked around and noticed we were on the actual beach. I got out of the car, and, being the five year old I am, kicked off my shoes and felt the freezing cold sand hit my feet. Freezing was an understatement, it was December in Massachusetts after all. After I finally calmed down I climbed into the trunk of the truck where Parker was sitting.

"Having fun?" he asked shyly. I nodded my head.

"Why here?" I asked.

"Well, I figured we couldn't be seen around town, I mean with this being a secret and all. I wanted a place to just talk and the beach seemed like the perfect place."

"Its lovely,” I said sounding like an older women. Seriously who says lovely?

A comfortable silence arose between the two of us. I stared out toward the beautiful winter horizon while Parker loosely put his arm around me. I moved in closer to him.

"Are you aware we've known each other forever and don't know much about each other?" He looked out onto to the horizon when he asked.

"Yeah I guess that's true. What's your favorite color?" I asked figuring this would give him the permission to ask me things.

He laughed. "Blue," after pausing he continued. "Yours?"

"Purple,” I said as if it wasn’t obvious. My entire room was purple.

After a couple more minutes of pointless questions we should have already known, things started to get interesting. Right now I was trying to figure out the answer to his question. He asked me why I hated him so much.

"Its complicated. I didn't want to get hurt, or give you that power. It was my way of coping. What about you. Why did you play along?" I asked truly curious with his answer.

He sighed. "After the guys dared me to push you in and I did Jayden pulled me aside. He said that I made you cry after you fell in and if I ever did that again he'd never forgive me."

My brother is an ass. I can't believe him. Why does everyone think I can't handle myself? "He's such a-"

"Stop. No, he's not Jos. He loves you and you know that. He's protective."

"I was eight! I mean its only gotten worse! After everything that happened freshman year," I trailed off forgetting no one officially knew that story. I was a girl of secrets.

Parker didn't question instead he changed the subject. "Who'd you think the letters were from? Were you disappointed when it was me?"

Crap. "Honestly, I had no clue. Miranda and Cass saw a couple of them and they would hint at people but I don't know. There were tons of signs that pointed to you but I didn't believe it. When I saw it was you it, in all honestly scared me." I paused. "I thought it was some kind of joke but after you started talking I knew it wasn’t. I was just so shocked. I’d kept my feelings repressed for so many years that I didn’t know what to do in that moment. It was like some crazy scene from a book."

After I spoke those words he kissed me and I kissed him back without a second thought. I was finally free. Free to live and kiss the boy of my dreams.

"Wanna know a secret?" I shook my head. "You've been my only one always. Let's face it, those other girls they were nothing compared to my best friend's little sister. I was afraid but I'm not anymore. Jos you get me, even though we wasted all those years hating each other. You can't deny those moments when we were civil weren't amazing. Jos you're the definition of my perfect girl. I know you didn't want to move fast or anything, but, uh, Josylne please be my girlfriend. In secret or in the open I don't care but I need you."

In that moment, nothing mattered. I finally had the boy of my dreams and no one was going to take him from me. Every feeling I had hidden was now in full action.

Was I ready to let everyone know? Not quite. Was I ready to give us a chance and risk losing my heart? Absolutely.

We drove back in silence. He had one hand on the steering wheel and the other intertwined in mine. It was perfect. I couldn't ask for a better moment. When we got home thankfully no one was home. We pulled into the driveway and sat in the car for a couple more minutes.

"How are we going to do this?" he asked. "I mean do you really think no one is going to find out?"

I shrugged. "They'll find out in time. For now let's keep it cool. For one thing, as much as I hate giving it up, I doubt you can sneak into my room." I wasn't looking at him, I could feel my face blushing.

"What if I need to hear your voice?" he asked in all seriousness. I laughed and looked at him. I didn't care if my face was red.

"Call me," I said. I grabbed his phone and put my number in it and he did the same. "How have we never had each other’s numbers?"

He laughed. "Its a wonder what Disney World can make you realize," he kissed me and then we both walked into the house.