Nevertheless, this was important to me. I had to get it right.
“Where are we going?” Carly said.
“It’s a surprise.”
I hadn’t given her many clues besides telling her to wear something comfortable. I glanced over and saw what she was wearing. Perfect, I thought. A sexy, intelligent girl who listens. I’d noticed that she usually wore sundresses, but tonight she had on a pair of white shorts and shirt that really showed off her summer tan. She looked fucking amazing. I smirked because we looked like we belonged together. In honor of our first real date, I put effort into what I wore. Ironically I too was dressed in white. Part of my tattoo was visible. I remembered Carly mentioning something about wanting to see my tattoo because she thought it was hot, so I decided to show it off a little.
I packed a picnic basket filled with a variety of sandwiches and some homemade chocolate-covered strawberries. It wasn’t fancy, but she seemed the type of girl who’d appreciate it because I did it myself. I wasn’t much of a cook, but I knew how to make a sandwich, and I’d seen my mom make the strawberries plenty of times. I also snagged a bottle of white wine from my mom’s not-so-secret stash. My only concern was that Carly might mistake the wine as a sign that I wanted to get her drunk, which wasn’t the case. All I wanted to do was add another romantic element to our first date.
I was a little surprised by the nervousness manifesting itself in my sweaty palms as we pulled into the parking lot overlooking the private lake in my neighborhood. It was a good-size lake with a large dock, a small clubhouse, and a playground. My family and I stored a canoe here, just like the majority of our neighbors. I hadn’t been down here in a long time, but I thought it’d be a cool place to take Carly. A quiet Wednesday evening, I knew the coast would be clear, once again adding to the romance. This was more a weekend locale for families, children, and the occasional tweens who may or may not have tried to sneak down a few guzzles from stolen bottles of hard liquor.
“Are we in your neighborhood?” she asked, looking out the window.
“Yeah, but I live at the other end. This is Carrington Lake. Anyone who lives in this development can come here and chill. Lots of people use the clubhouse for family reunions and graduation parties. Have you ever been here?” I wasn’t sure if Carly was friends with any of the other kids who lived in this neighborhood.
“No, but Becca’s neighborhood has something similar.”
“Come on, I’ll show you around. I brought a picnic, but let’s go check out the lake first.”
I unlocked our canoe and Carly helped me carry it down to the water’s edge. It was a perfectly calm evening. The lake looked like glass. We carefully stepped into the canoe. I paddled out about halfway. And I’m not going to lie, I was flexing the entire time. I even caught Carly stealing a few glances at my toned biceps and tat. The conversation was light. I teased her here and there, and every time Carly laughed, I could sense our connection growing stronger. On the way back, I rowed slower.
After stowing the small boat, I spread out a blanket on the dock along with the picnic. Carly looked like she was about to cry. Oh no! What did I fuck up now?
“What’s wrong, Girly?” I asked, almost afraid to speak.
“Nothing … I just … no one has ever done anything so sweet for me,” she said. I was relieved to know that these were happy tears glistening in her eyes.
“Well, get used to it,” I said, kissing the tip of her nose.
I was learning more and more about Carly every minute. I learned that she preferred turkey sandwiches on whole grain bread. She loved strawberries, especially ones dipped in chocolate. Last but not least, she loved things made from scratch, just as I had done.
“Everything was delicious,” she said, eating the last strawberry.
“I’m glad you liked it.”
Chocolate clung to her bottom lip, an invitation for me to lick it clean, which is exactly what I did. Her lips tasted sweet and I knew the rest of her would too. I gently pushed her down onto the blanket until she was lying beneath me. I ran my hands all over her exposed skin, memorizing her soft curves. I kissed her mouth long and hard. She moaned as I trailed my tongue down her midsection. I could feel her hard nipples through the thin fabric of her shirt and it was almost my undoing, but I managed to keep my promise and maintain control. Although I longed to move my tongue across her nipple, unbutton her pants, lick between her thighs, and discover the treasures of her extremely hot, seductive body, I held back. When it happened, it happened, and it would be perfect.
We spent the next hour kissing and talking. This girl had gotten under my skin and I wanted to prove to her how much she meant to me, which I was doing by taking things slow. Carly was more than a quick bang in the back seat to relieve pressure. She was the grand prize.
The sun began to set and we silently watched the beautiful colors spread across the sky. Tomorrow, I’d try to recreate this scene in front of me—Carly wrapped up in my arms watching the sun descend. We stayed until the sun was gone and the last bit of color vanished.
“We should probably go,” I whispered. It was a moonless night, the sky dark. Not wanting our date to end, I suggested we head back to my place. My mom wouldn’t care if we hung out and watched a movie. Plus, I suddenly had a sudden urge to show Carly something.
When we got to my house my mom was watching TV in the family room. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hi, Gavin. Oh, Carly, nice to see you again,” my mom said. “Hi, Mrs. Johnson,” Carly replied, blushing. She met my mom the night I found her running away from Ed’s cousin’s party.
“Carly and I are going up to my room. I want to show her something.”
“Gavin, you know the rules. No girls allowed upstairs.” My mom looked horrified by my statement. Does she really think I’d try to have sex with Carly while she’s in the house and could walk in at any minute?
“Mom, it’s not like that.” Out of the side of my mouth, I repeated, “I just want to show Carly something.” I pierced her with a look that said you should know what I’m talking about, but she just stared at me with a blank face.
“Gavin, just forget it,” Carly pleaded, tugging on my hand.
Her beautiful face was striped with confusion and embarrassment. I’d never seen anyone blush such a deep shade of red. She must’ve been worried that my mom would think she was some sort of slut that I’d brought home. I hadn’t stopped to think how my words might make her feel.
“Shit!” I declared, running my hand through my hair. My outburst made my mom gasp; she didn’t approve of cursing. “I wanted to show you my drawings, which are in my room. I wanted it to be a surprise. You’ll understand when you see them.”
Understanding finally dawned on my mom’s face. “Oh. Sorry, Gavin, I should’ve known what you were talking about.”
“Can we go upstairs now? Please? I’ll keep the door open.”
“Sure. And here, take this.” She offered her scarf that had been loosely draped around her neck.
I stepped forward and took it from her. “Thanks,” I said. Standing behind Carly, I whispered, “I’m gonna cover your eyes with this, okay, Girly?” She nodded. “This way it can still be a surprise.” I carefully tied the scarf over her eyes. “Can you see anything?”
“No.”
“How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Three.”
“I thought you said you couldn’t see!”
“I can’t.”
My mom and I laughed. “I’m only kidding. I had two fingers up.”
I carefully led her over to the stairs and then up. She didn’t seem scared about not being able to see where she was going. Besides, I’d never let anything bad happen to her. When we reached the top, I stopped.
“Okay,” I said. “Now, turn to your right and take six steps.” She held on tightly as we made our way down the hall. “I’m going to take the blindfold off now,” I whispered.
She opened her eyes. My room was not your typical teena
ge boy’s room. No trophies, no posters of half-naked girls or rock bands. Rather, the walls were divided in half by a chair rail. The bottom half was painted a dark red and the top portion was a giant collage of black and white drawings, some large, others small. The subjects varied.
Carly inched closer. As she wandered about the room perusing my work, I could see the amazement in her eyes. At that exact moment, I wish I had the gift of being able to hear exactly what she was thinking, like Mel Gibson in What Women Want. How did Carly like this side of me? I can honestly say that this was the longest I’d ever held my breath.
She finally turned to me, practically speechless. “These are amazing,” she said. “When did you do them all?”
I pulled her down onto the bed next to me. “I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. Some of these are pretty old,” I said, pointing at the golden retriever I’d drawn as a kid. I was eight or nine when he died. “Others are more recent.” A manga drawing of a girl with dark hair who looked a lot like Carly surrounded by beakers and test tubes took center stage. I wondered if she noticed the resemblance. I was sure she did. She didn’t say anything about it, but that was probably because she knew it wasn’t necessary. “My dad never approved of me spending so much time drawing. When he walked out on us two years ago, I was so pissed off, I painted the walls red and added the corkboard with my drawings just to spite him. At the time, I had no idea how much I’d grow to love it. It’s the only place in the whole house that feels like home to me.”
“I can see why,” she smiled. “You’re really talented.”
“Thanks.”
“Which one’s your favorite?”
“Hmm …” I took my time studying one wall, then another. “That’s a tough one, Girly.” I stood and circled the room, while Carly waited patiently on the edge of the bed. “This one.” I pointed at a drawing of the same manga girl with dark hair, only this time she was being held by a boy who looked a lot like me. The key to the entire drawing was the obvious love that shined in their eyes. It was like they’d been made for each other. By choosing this drawing, I was putting my feelings out there clear as day for Carly to see. I’d decided that this would be the one chance for me to truly reveal how I felt about Carly.
It reminded me of the times when Coach would draw up the last-second play, hoping that his team would execute to perfection and win the game. These drawings were my starting five, and the one I’d pointed out was my star player. In order to be successful you had to execute, and I was really hoping I wouldn’t fall flat on my face. Talking about anything, especially my feelings, was not my forte. My heart raced, waiting for her response. I did something I’ve never done before—shot a prayer upstairs. I always laughed when athletes did that on the court, but for some reason, it felt necessary in this situation.
“Why did you pick this one over all the others?” she asked, her voice raw with emotion.
“I think it’s obvious—don’t you?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, looking at me with the same love-struck eyes as the girl in my drawing. She held her arms open and I closed the distance in one giant step.
I immediately sat back down on the bed and kissed Carly with the same intensity I imagined the boy in my drawing would as he kissed his dark-haired angel. Ours was no ordinary kiss. It was intimate and powerful. If I could draw a kiss like this, it would instantly become the new skin-a-max logo (which I was guilty of watching every now and again, but what guy wasn’t?). Carly was doing something to me that I couldn’t explain. Nevertheless, I wanted to keep the promise I’d made to myself, so I pulled away.
It was becoming increasingly harder to control my sexual desires. This was especially true because I’d just put all of my feelings on the table with the drawings, and Carly had accepted me. However, the last thing I wanted to do was put her in an uncomfortable position. “I could kiss you all night, but I’m pretty sure my mom will be up in a few minutes to check on us.” We sat quietly for a moment waiting for our temperatures to return to normal. “I should take you home now.”
I stood and Carly followed me out of the room. My heart was swelling in my chest. Today had been the best day of my life. I accomplished the goal I’d set for myself, to let Carly know how I felt about her without mixing it with sex in order to show her that I was interested in more than a good time. The truth was, I was falling in love with her. Hard. And more importantly, it looked as if she was falling in love with me too.
Chapter Fifteen
Carly
My eyes were focused on the floor as I walked into my lesson with Mrs. Wang, carrying purplicious. It felt like a million pounds. It wasn’t my arm that was breaking, it was my heart.
“What is this?” Mrs. Wang asked.
I handed her the borrowed violin without meeting her eyes. It was hard to breathe. “I’m not in the band anymore. I wanted to return it. Thank you.”
She waved it off. “Why don’t you keep it for awhile? I don’t need it right now.”
“No thank you.” I didn’t want the reminder of what could have been. My situation with Karma wasn’t going to change. I looked at Mrs. Wang, pain filling my face.
She sighed, “Okay. If you ever need it again, just ask.”
I nodded.
I took out my own violin, I’d carried it in my other hand, and the lesson began.
“I know last time we talked about your senior recital and preparing something. Have you given it any more thought? Do you have a piece in mind that you’d like to start working on? Nine months will go by fast.”
“About that,” I paused. I ran my fingers over the wood on my violin. “I’m not going to have a senior recital after all.” I’d choked at Karma’s gig. How was I supposed to put together and perform a recital? I couldn’t do it. I’d already told my dad to cancel everything.
Surprise registered on Mrs. Wang’s face, but she quickly recovered. Her voice was steady when she said, “There is an ancient Chinese proverb called, ‘The Red String.’ Have you heard of it?”
“I don’t think so.”
“It goes like this: ‘An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.’ The proverb extends to everyone we meet.”
I sat quiet, absorbing the words. I wondered if it could apply to purplicious. It was more than a violin to me. She was a friend. “I hope you’re right, ” I said.
Chapter Sixteen
Gavin
It seemed strange that Carly and I had only been going out a week. It felt like longer, and I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I felt close to her in the way couples did when they’d been together a long time. I’d fallen hard and fast. She was at Finkbauer today and was coming over later. I had some loose ends to tie up between now and then. I got ready and headed out.
A few minutes later, I rang Connor’s doorbell. I didn’t tell him I was coming over. I wanted the element of surprise. I didn’t want to give him the chance to think about how he was going to respond to my questions. I’d thought he’d be more honest if he didn’t expect me.
“Hey, Gavin,” said Connor. “What brings you by?”
“I wanted to talk.”
“Come on in,” Connor opened the door wider and I followed him inside. His little sister and a group of her friends were watching TV in the family room and his mom was cooking in the kitchen. I followed Connor though the house to the back patio. “We can talk out here.”
I didn’t waste time with small talk. “I’m dating Carly. I wanted you to know. I’d heard you went out a couple of times.”
Connor laughed. “Carly and I are just friends. Nothing more.”
I nodded. Carly had told me the same thing, but I had to be sure. It went back to me having trust issues. “I know the last time we hung out I was a jerk and blew up when you brought up Carly’s name. I should’ve told you then I was interested in her. I didn’t because I didn’t think I was good enough for her. I
still don’t, but she wants to give this thing between us a try.”
“If you’d spoken up, I would’ve told you that she had a thing for you. I never had a chance even if I’d wanted one.”
“She told you that?”
“No, but she didn’t have to. I pay attention. I see the way her face lights up when you’re around. But don’t hurt her, Gavin. She’s one-of-kind.”
“I know,” I took a deep breath. Hurting Carly was the last thing I wanted to do, which reminded me of the other reason I’d come here. Carly was hurting and I had to fix it. “I want know what happened with Carly. Why isn’t she in the band?”
“I’m sure she told you what happened.”
“Yeah, but I want your version. What she told me doesn’t make any sense,” I said.
“None of it makes sense. Brady just went off on her, and she left. Ask Nate.”
“I did. I thought maybe you heard or saw something. Why does he hate her so much?”
“I have no idea. But right from the beginning he was against her being in the band. I can’t imagine what his problem could be. As far as I know, he never even met Carly until the night she auditioned. And sadly, he never warmed up to her.”
“Weird,” I said.
“Yeah. Everyone else liked having Carly in the band. She made it fun. And she is super talented. It’s not the same without her.”
“We gotta change that. If anyone deserves to be in Karma, it’s Carly. And I know she misses it.”
“Do you have a plan?” Connor asked me.
“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”
“Let me know what I can do.”
“Thanks, man. I knew I could count on you.”
“Absolutely. I’m happy for you and Carly. It’s the only good thing to come out of all of this shit.”
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