Chapter 11 - Close Call

I slept for about six hours but it feels like two. Anyway, I don’t have much time to dull around. I have less than two hours to get ready and make lunch for mom.

Chance and I agreed to meet at 1 pm in front of the library. I don’t know what he has planned for us today but I hope it’s good.

Looking through my closet I decide to wear a dress so I take out my favorite sundress. I’m always in jeans or shorts. I need to mix it up and the weather looks generous enough for a dress.

I quickly take a freshen up and put on the dress. I throw on a black leather jacket. It would be enough to take me through the day.

I rush downstairs and make the usual for my mom. Mac’n’Cheese. I send it to her in the basement. She looks me up and down and then at the food.

“He’s gonna break your heart”, she smiles

“Shut up”, I smile back.

The look on my mom’s face suddenly changes. She looks shocked.

“Ruby, is that you?”

What kind of question is that?

“No, it’s the muffin man”, I say sarcastically. “Who were you expecting?”

Her face eases up but I could still tell she was worried.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine”.

She doesn’t say anything so I take that as my cue to leave.

At about 12:45 pm I start my walk to the library, praying this date goes well. Chance gets there about two minutes ahead of me which is great, not that I would mind waiting a couple of minutes. I didn’t know he drives. When I get there he’s sitting in the driver’s seat of a 2010 Chevy Impala. Cool ride.

He comes out to meet me in a warm hug and opens the passenger side door for me. To be honest, he didn’t have to but it’s the thought that counts.

“Thanks”, I say as he shuts my door and walks over to his side.

“My pleasure”, he smiles as he starts the engine.

“So where are we headed”, I try to make conversation on our way.

“It’s a surprise”, he smiles, “You’ll just have to wait and see”

“Yeah, well that’s what he told her before she ended up 6ft underground”, I mutter under my breath.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you”, Chance asks.

“Oh, nothing.”, I smile. ”Can’t wait to see where I end up”, I add quietly.

I hate surprises. The last time I was surprised, I slept and woke up in a new state.

After about twenty minutes of driving and listening to music, Chance stops the car in a park filled with cars and people laid out on the grass. There are shacks and stands set up around selling sweets, popcorns, toys, and accessories.

“We’re here”, Chance smiles as he notices me staring like a fool. “It’s the annual movie festival. At 6 pm, there will be a movie played here so, for now, we can just hang around and have fun”.

You can’t blame me. I’ve never been to an event like this before, not even the movies. I’m looking forward to today. I smile at Chance as I grab my purse and open my side of the door.

We alk around from shack to shack and got some cotton candy along the way. Chance is a really funny person. We talk about our lives not that there’s much to talk about when it comes to me. I told him my Dad passed away I live with my mom. Simple right. If only he knew.

I found out he has a younger brother who lives with his parents in Paris. He is bilingual; English and french. How cool. I’ve always wanted to learn french. He often goes there during the break to spend time with them. I also realized from our talk that his family travels a lot. He’s been to France, Spain, England, and Norway. I envy him.

As we’re walking I spot the toys stand and I pull us over there. We have to hit all 3 bottles at the far end with a dart gun to win a prize.

“I can do that with my eyes closed”, Chance brags as he asks the vendor for a price of a dart.

“A dollar for a dart”, the vendor smiles mischievously.

“I see, give me three”, Chance takes out three one-dollar bills from his wallet and hands it over.

“Ouuu, someone seems very confident”, I laugh. “You sure you don’t need more than that?”

“Don’t worry, trust me. I got this”.

“Your girlfriend has a point, you know”, The vendor laughs as he acknowledges my remark.

Hold on though. Did he just refer to me as his girlfriend? If he did, none of us bothered to correct him.

Chance shoots his first dart and it hits the middle bottle. This boosts his level of confidence. Little did he know that his luck ran out with that first dart. Twenty minutes, one layer of clothing, and thirty dollars later, Chance is still going at it. I told him to let it go but he is hellbent on hitting all bottles.

What happened to that sweet Chance I was used to being around? This Chance is very competitive and hot. How come I never noticed until he took off his hoodie leaving only a plain white tee? The way his biceps moved as he remained focused on hitting the bottles. Wow, did it get hot in here or what?

It is starting to get late and the movie will be starting soon. Besides that, I’m very tired from standing and walking for long.

“Hey”, I say as I tap Chance on the shoulder.

As soon as he turns I smile and dump everything I’m holding in his hands.

I tie my hair up and ask the vendor for 3 darts. I load the gun and aim for the bottles. My first shot was a miss but I made the second and third shots. I turn to see the vendor and Chance staring at me and I know what they’re wondering.

“I have no idea how I did that”, I answered their stares.

I chose a big sloth hanging from the corner as my prize.

“I still am shocked about how good your aim is”, Chance says as we walk back to his car.

“Wait, were you expecting my aim to be bad?”

“Oh no, I didn’t mean it like that. I-I was just trying to say-”

“Relax, I’m just messing with you”, I laugh as I nudge him in the shoulders.

We get to his car and realize it's almost time for the movie to start but we have got no popcorn. Chance volunteers to go and get one for us.

As I wait for him in the car I reflect on the events of the day and so far so good. I look around at the people walking by and my eye lands on Chance carrying a bag of popcorn walking towards me.

A smile starts to creep up on my face but quickly fades when he is crossed by Avery and Maya. How are they also here? Did they plan this?

Chance stops to talk to them and I duck immediately I see him start to point towards the car. I don’t need this in my life right now. Why am I trying to hide?

It didn’t take long for Chance to join me in the car and I am really thankful for that.

“That took a while”, I say, pretending that I don’t really know why.

“Oh yeah, I’m sorry about that”, he smiles.

“That’s fine”. I thought he was going to give me more than that. Me and my curious brain.

“You wouldn’t imagine who I met on my way back”.

There it is, what I’ve been waiting for.

“Yeah? Who?”, a small smile creeps upon the corners of my lips.

“Aver and Maya. I didn’t expect to see their sorry asses here”, he says as he laughs.

Well, I guess they didn’t plan it then.

“Cool”, that’s all I could think of to say.

“They invited us to hang out after the movie but I told them I’d ask you first.”

This is a bad idea but I don’t want to miss this chance to talk to Avery. I need to get this dream off my chest.

“Yeah sure. That’d be fine by me.”, I say now regretting wishing I knew what they spoke about.

“Great! The movie is about to start”, he said while putting the popcorn between us.

The movie being played is “Dirty Dancing”. Although most people over here have probably seen this movie because it is an old movie, I haven’t.

I’ve read a lot of books but have never been one to commit to watching a movie. This experience was fun and eye-opening. I got to say, I have been missing out on a lot.

The movie was very interesting. They were really “Dirty” dancing but it was romantic. Somewhere during the movie, where the song “Time of my Life”, I think, started to play, I felt Chance’s fingers at the back of my neck, just lingering.

He’s a sneaky one, Chance. Now hear me out. I don’t think I am the type to get swooned by a guy easily but due to my inexperience and this being the first time I’ve gotten this close to a guy who isn’t Avery. The car begins to feel very hot and my heart starts to race. I don’t know if this is normal or I am about to have one of those moments where I blackout and don’t know what is going on.

Chance starts to close the gap between us by leaning towards me, staring straight into my eyes, and from the green reflection in his eyes, I could tell they were glowing.

Omg, this is happening, my first kiss. What do I do?

“Lean forward dumbass”, the voice in my head scolds me. “Go for it, you know you want it”.

That is absurd, how can I know I want something when I haven’t even had it before.

“Just shut up and do it”, the voice persists. “You probably would never get this chance ever again in your life”.

I start to lean forward until we get so close I can smell his cologne. He smells so fresh and liberating. I can also feel his hot breath on my face, I don’t like that though, it smells like butter. Probably from the popcorn.

Our lips almost met when Chance’s phone went off. Couldn’t have picked a better time than now? We stay glued in front of each other, not moving an inch until the third ring.

“You should get that”, I say as I smile apologetically.

“Yeah”, he says but doesn’t move away. He looks into my eyes one more time and plants a kiss on my forehead before reaching away for his phone.

That is the sweetest thing a guy has ever done to me. Not like any guy has ever done something to me. Slow your thoughts.

I stare at him astounded. My mom always told me that boys always take advantage of girls and I shouldn’t trust them but this felt different. I think this, whatever it is, could work out between us. Just this single gesture has made me like him more.