The Bonnies by Nicole N. King
Chapter Twelve
The next morning when I woke up, my bags were packed and waiting for me downstairs. My mother wasn’t playing when she said she wanted me gone. I headed back to my room to get the journal and papers that I’d hidden, but they were no longer there. I must have put my whole arm in that vent, but they were gone. I didn’t have to a psychic to know my mother had something to do with this. She’d apparently left while I was in the shower. I didn’t put it past her to search my room. She knew more than what she claimed she knew, and stealing the journal just proved it. Now I was back at school and more determined than ever. I would get the painting and the person who killed my father. I owed him that much.
When I got to my room, Yuri was out. I sent her a text alerting her to the fact that I was back on campus and that I was ready to talk. I knew I would hear a mouth full from her first. Grabbing my key, I left out of my dorm towards Taylor’s room. No one answer the door. Retrieving my cellphone out of my pocket, I called her. The phone picked up on the first ring.
“Are you back on campus?”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“I’m working out with Kerry. Meet us at the bleachers behind the track.”
After agreeing to meet her, I disconnected the phone and headed towards the track. I ended up making it to the bleachers before them. I grabbed a spot at the top near the trees and sat in the shade. Removing a book I’d brought for home, I decided to catch up on some reading. As I turned the page, I noticed a slight shadow to my left. I looked up to see Micah standing there holding a sandwich and coke.
“Hi”
“Hi” He replied back. “You’re back.”
“I’m back.” I felt giddy to the fact that he had noticed I was gone.
Micah sat down beside me as I moved my bag out of the way. He placed his sandwich and drink on the other side of him. “What are you reading?” Micah read with a raised eyebrow.
“Anne of Green Gables. It’s one my favorites. I guess it because I often felt Anne and I were so alike.”
“So you’re a red headed orphan that’s always eager to please. Yeah I don’t see that.”
“Not that part.” I laughed putting the book away. “I mean the part of her being sent away and having to call another place home. Despite all of this, she remains this bright strong girl who has no trouble making friends. I admire her.”
Micah was silent as I turned to face him. He had been watching me with this unfathomable look and I knew why. I’d let my guard down around him again and showed a flaw. Clearing my throat, I decided to change the subject before things got too weird. “What are you doing out here? You usually eat in the cafeteria during the day or sit under the tree in the quad?”
“I can’t be in there around that Mark guy. He’s an asshole and so are his friends.”
I nodded my head. I couldn’t disagree there. Many people would put Mark and me in the same category, but I wouldn’t. Mark felt as if he ran this school and that everyone was afraid of him. He lived off that. I on the other hand, never wanted anyone to be afraid of me. Maybe it was because I knew once you were out of high school none of this really mattered. Sadly, Mark didn’t. He was the king inside the school and he just knew he would be the king outside the school. If only I could be there when he’s no longer surrounded by his group of immature friends and instead meets the real world.
“How did you know I don’t come out here during lunch?” Micah asked.
Busted. I moved around on the bench and turned my attention somewhere else so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “I just never have seen you out here that’s all.”
Micah looked at me a moment before smiling. “You were looking for me.” He stated instead of asking.
“No I wasn’t!”
“Yes you were! You were checking up on me.” He laughed. My cheeks flushed as he choked with laughter. “Don’t worry Autumn, I won’t tell anybody that you have a crush on me.”
My eyes got large. “I do not have a crush on you!”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
Micah’s smile dropped as he stared at me a little. The gaze was so intense that I felt my own smile drop. His dark eyes stared at me searching my face as I felt my heartbeat speed up. Moving closer he said, “I think you do.”
“Do what?” I asked lost in his eyes.
“Have a crush on me”
I said nothing. I only stared at him. Had I been too obvious? There were times when I would stare at him across the room and knew he was about to turn my way. I thought I’d turned away in time so he wouldn’t have noticed.
Things were getting awkward and I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be meeting Kerry and Taylor. They hadn’t arrived yet but I had no problem going to look for them—anything to get me out of this atmosphere.
“I have to go.” I gathered my purse and headed down the bleachers.
“Go on a date with me?”
I turned around puzzled towards Micah afraid I was hearing things. He didn’t make it no better just staring at me in the same position. Did he even open his mouth? Was I imagining him asking me out on a date?
“What?”
“Go on a date with me, this Saturday.”
My mouth went dry as I fought the trembles that were making their way up my body. Did he really want to go on a date with me or was he playing with me. I didn’t think my heart could take him making a joke about the strange feelings I had for him.
“Okay.”
“Good. I’ll see you Saturday”
“Okay.” I smiled. “Bye.”
Turning on my heels I walked off with a huge grin on my face. My grin dropped once I spotted Kerry and Taylor making their way up the hill with Yuri. I glanced back to see if Micah was still on the bleachers, but he wasn’t. Good. I didn’t have to worry about him overhearing anything. We stopped in front of each other as Taylor and Kerry greeted me. Yuri turned her head away, her stance letting me know that she was upset.
“How did it go? Did you find anything?” Kerry asked.
I shot a look at Taylor as she shrugged her shoulders. “I tried to get her to wait until you returned, but she’s very persistent.”
I told Taylor that it was okay. I had no problem discussing what I’d found out. I filled them in on the things I found in my father’s office. I also told them how before I left, I tried to see if there was anything the key would fit in the office, but there wasn’t. Throughout it all the girls listened. Yuri’s stance changed once I started to talk about my mother. She wanted to comfort me, but she was still upset with the fact that I’d ignored her and then left without telling her.
After I finished, Taylor discussed what she’d found. According to her surveillances cameras in the museum, there had been a flood of activity with extra security on one particular wing of the hall. She’d also tapped into one of the Queen’s private phone calls. She overheard the Queen talking to some mystery man about bringing in a duplicate. The phone call wouldn’t have seemed suspicious, but then Taylor heard the Queen say the painting needed to stay hidden for the sake of human survival. She tried to hear more, but she received an alert that home security had caught on to the fact that there was someone else on the line. She’d quickly disconnected and got rid of any traces that would lead them back to her. She’d also showed me the messages Yuri and her had received while I was gone. Yuri’s message had said “It seems like she no longer trusts you,” while Taylor’s was more threatening. The person wanted her to give up helping me, or they would alert the police about her father’s private parties held in the basement of his mansion. Taylor hadn’t gone into details about her father and I didn’t ask her too. She said she knew how to protect her father so she wasn’t worried about the theat.
“It’s clear now. They are afraid of how close we’re getting to the truth. I realized my father wouldn’t have left this information behind for anyone to find. He would
have taken it with him when he left to go find the painting. I think he made copies and hid the originals in the floorboard hoping that I would find it. I think my father knew that he would be killed. Whoever he met in those secret meetings, he did not trust, just as they did not trust him. My father had discovered something and in order to shut him up, they killed him. They just didn’t count on me having suspicions about his death or the fact that he’d talked to me about the painting.”
“So what do you want to do?” Yuri said. It was the first thing she’d said since they arrived.
Looking around at the girls, I stared at their faces as they looked at me. It was no longer about getting the painting for my father. It was about finding the truth. “We’re going to find the person who killed my father, and then, we’re going to take the one thing he wants the most, the painting.”
Saturday came and I was full of nerves. I spent most of the morning off campus preparing for my date by getting my hair and nails done. Kerry decided to accompany since she needed things from the city. As the two of us traveled through the city, I couldn’t believe that the two of us never hung out until now. I knew most of it was my fault. I came off sometimes with a standoffish attitude that seemed to not invite anyone in. Plus, there’s the fact of the popularity pyramid and me being at the top. It made me hard to approach, like a celebrity.
Once our errands were done, the two of us decided to grab some tea at this family owned cafe near the school.
“I heard you got Paige for a lab partner?” Kerry said grabbing a seat across from me.
“It’s like Mrs. Baldwin has it out for me. Last year I was partnered with Mark, who’s a total dick I might add, and now I have to be partnered with another person I don’t care too much for.” I said as I thought back to the unfairness of it all.
“Well, look at this way. At least she didn’t get partnered with Micah.”
She was right. I think I would have hated that even more. It had been torture to see them all over campus together. I knew Micah claimed that they were nothing more than friends, but it was pretty clear that Paige was trying to be more. Thinking of Micah made me think about our date tonight which sent a bunch of nerves through my body.
“Are you nervous about the date?”
“Is it obvious?” I said rubbing my sweaty hands on my jean shorts. “Kerry, I have never been like this over a guy. I’m usually confident and suave, but when I’m with him, I don’t know. It’s like sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe and I start twitching as if I’m on something.”
“Maybe it’s because he’s your first love?”
“I don’t love him.”
“Yet.” Kerry said. She sipped some of her tea as I stared off to the side. Could she be right? Was I falling in love with Micah? The two of us hardly knew each other. Kerry finished off her tea and glanced over at me. “You’re ready to head out. I’m supposed to meet Taylor to go shopping for the mission.”
“Yeah. I’m ready.”
The two of us headed back to school and went our separate ways. The day seemed to stretch long and I spent most of it hiding out in my room reading books. It was one of my best calming effects and it seemed to work. However, when it got time to get ready for my date, the nerves came back. Thankfully, Yuri came back to the room to help me get ready. Once I was done, I headed out the dorm towards the front of the campus where the gate was located. As I walked towards the gate, I spotted Micah leaning against the brick wall with all the other guys waiting on girls for their dates. The whole scene was so weird that I couldn’t help but to laugh. Hearing my laugh, the boys turned to me as they all gave me lustful glances. I ignored them and headed over to Micah as he made his way towards me.
“Hi.” I said shyly.
“Hi.” He smiled back. “Is it too cliché of me to say you look beautiful?”
“Nope.”
“Well Miss Jones, you are one beautiful young lady.”
I think it was impossible for me to cheese any harder than I was. Micah gave my outfit a smirk as if he was having a private joke. When he wasn’t looking, I took a quick glance down at myself, but I could not see anything wrong. Grabbing my hand, Micah led me to a taxi that was waiting outside of the gate. I could hear all the people behind us laughing but we ignored them. Though I was shock to see that we would be traveling in a taxi cab, I found that I didn’t really mind. I slid into the back of the cab as Micah followed. The taxi pulled off as the two of us made small talk in the backseat. It wasn’t long before we finally made it to our destination.
Getting out of the car, I stared at the place where we were having our date and felt a sense of unease. We had stopped at what appeared to be a farm. There were several parked cars as people headed inside the gates dressed in couple outfits. I glanced down my outfit and looked back over at the field. Now I get Micah’s secret smirk. I was way too overdressed for this.
“What are we doing here?” I said glancing over at Micah.
He was wearing a sneaky smile that once again said that he was having his own private joke. “You’ll see.”
Micah grabbed my hand as he led me down the hill to the entrance of the barn. He filled out our information on a clip board as the lady behind the booth handed us two pink couple shirts. Micah slipped his on as I maneuvered mine over my dress. Once I was done, we entered the gates as a big sign displayed overhead that read “Annual Couple Competition.”
The Annual Couple Competition included things from relay games to karaoke. At first, I was a bit put off with the date. I was wearing an outfit that didn’t scream athletic gear, but after losing a couple games to a snobby couple, my competitor side broke out. It was long before I kicked my heels to the side and was competing as if my life depended on it. Micah and I ended up winning the last four games even though we still didn’t win first place for best couple. We came in third, and I was fine with that. After we were done, Micah suggested that we go pick some peaches since it was my favorite fruit.
I found the whole idea to be very heartwarming. No guy had ever thought to do anything like this for me. Most of my dates always took me to some fancy restaurant and then back to the dorm. But Micah, he was different. I was beginning to like different.
We changed into a pair of gardening boots and bought our supplies before heading out to the fruit field. Together the two of us harvest the peaches along with apples, oranges, and lemons. While we worked, we talked about the different things we could make with the fruits and how we would eat them together. Once we were done, we returned our items and took a picture with the owners. The owner remarked on how it was nice to see young people taking an interest in something that wasn’t dealing with technology. He then went on to remark how we made a gorgeous couple and told me that I had a good young man.
After we left there, we headed to the second pit stop on our date which was a fortune telling store. I only gave Micah a curious glance before walking into the building. Micah had told me that there was a myth that couples who got their palms read together would live happy lives as a couple. It seemed to convince me, and the next thing I know, my palm was being read by a stranger. I soon came to realize that dating Micah was so much fun. He took me places that I would have never thought to go. We snuck into a private party and went swing dancing, we went to a karaoke bar and sung our hearts out before taking pictures in an old photo booth. We stopped by an arcade and battled each other in every game we could and then ate dinner at a hot dog bus before taking a city bus to play bingo. We didn’t win anything, but it was still fun. We finished the night up fishing at a nearby pond which was quite nice. Since I was allergic to seafood and Micah was still full from the hot dogs we’d eaten, we ended up taking them to a soup kitchen to serve to the homeless.
Arriving back to school, we checked in at the gate and Micah walked me to my dorm. We came to a stop outside the doors as I turned to face him
.
“I had an amazing time tonight.”
“Really, the date wasn’t too weird for you.”
“No. I like weird.”
Micah smiled at me as his eyes dropped to my lips. My breath caught in my throat as he leaned closer to me. Closing my eyes, I waited patiently until I felt his lips on mine. The moment his lips touched mine, I felt my heart speed up as my body suddenly flushed with heat. His lips were soft against mine to the point they felt more like a caress. Micah took his time kissing me as if he was in no rush and wanted this moment to last forever. Call it cliché, but I could have sworn there were cupids surrounding us sighing with awe. All too soon, it was over. As I stepped back, I noticed a strange look in Micah’s eye. It spoke large volumes of shock and I’m pretty sure mine mimicked the same.
Clearing my throat, I told Micah goodnight and headed into my dorm. The whole trip to my room, I walked in a daze. I don’t even know how I managed to scan my key card. Entering my room, I could hear the shower running and knew Yuri had made it in. Plopping down on my bed, I laid my head against my pillow. With a trembling hand, I reached up to touch my lips that were swollen from the kiss. Like a projector, I replayed the kiss in my mind. I kissed Micah. Micah and I had our first kiss. Giving into my emotions, I let out a scream of glee as I kicked the bed wildly. The door for the bathroom suddenly opened as Yuri came stepping out, a white fluffy towel around her body.
“Are you okay?” Her face was etched with concern. “I heard you scream.”
“I’m fine.”
Yuri stared at me before shaking her head. “God help me. Autumn is in love.”
She walked back into the bathroom closing the door as I stared into space. It was true. I had fallen in love with Micah, and it didn’t seem like I was stopping anytime soon.
The next morning when I woke up, my bags were packed and waiting for me downstairs. My mother wasn’t playing when she said she wanted me gone. I headed back to my room to get the journal and papers that I’d hidden, but they were no longer there. I must have put my whole arm in that vent, but they were gone. I didn’t have to a psychic to know my mother had something to do with this. She’d apparently left while I was in the shower. I didn’t put it past her to search my room. She knew more than what she claimed she knew, and stealing the journal just proved it. Now I was back at school and more determined than ever. I would get the painting and the person who killed my father. I owed him that much.
When I got to my room, Yuri was out. I sent her a text alerting her to the fact that I was back on campus and that I was ready to talk. I knew I would hear a mouth full from her first. Grabbing my key, I left out of my dorm towards Taylor’s room. No one answer the door. Retrieving my cellphone out of my pocket, I called her. The phone picked up on the first ring.
“Are you back on campus?”
“Yeah. Where are you?”
“I’m working out with Kerry. Meet us at the bleachers behind the track.”
After agreeing to meet her, I disconnected the phone and headed towards the track. I ended up making it to the bleachers before them. I grabbed a spot at the top near the trees and sat in the shade. Removing a book I’d brought for home, I decided to catch up on some reading. As I turned the page, I noticed a slight shadow to my left. I looked up to see Micah standing there holding a sandwich and coke.
“Hi”
“Hi” He replied back. “You’re back.”
“I’m back.” I felt giddy to the fact that he had noticed I was gone.
Micah sat down beside me as I moved my bag out of the way. He placed his sandwich and drink on the other side of him. “What are you reading?” Micah read with a raised eyebrow.
“Anne of Green Gables. It’s one my favorites. I guess it because I often felt Anne and I were so alike.”
“So you’re a red headed orphan that’s always eager to please. Yeah I don’t see that.”
“Not that part.” I laughed putting the book away. “I mean the part of her being sent away and having to call another place home. Despite all of this, she remains this bright strong girl who has no trouble making friends. I admire her.”
Micah was silent as I turned to face him. He had been watching me with this unfathomable look and I knew why. I’d let my guard down around him again and showed a flaw. Clearing my throat, I decided to change the subject before things got too weird. “What are you doing out here? You usually eat in the cafeteria during the day or sit under the tree in the quad?”
“I can’t be in there around that Mark guy. He’s an asshole and so are his friends.”
I nodded my head. I couldn’t disagree there. Many people would put Mark and me in the same category, but I wouldn’t. Mark felt as if he ran this school and that everyone was afraid of him. He lived off that. I on the other hand, never wanted anyone to be afraid of me. Maybe it was because I knew once you were out of high school none of this really mattered. Sadly, Mark didn’t. He was the king inside the school and he just knew he would be the king outside the school. If only I could be there when he’s no longer surrounded by his group of immature friends and instead meets the real world.
“How did you know I don’t come out here during lunch?” Micah asked.
Busted. I moved around on the bench and turned my attention somewhere else so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “I just never have seen you out here that’s all.”
Micah looked at me a moment before smiling. “You were looking for me.” He stated instead of asking.
“No I wasn’t!”
“Yes you were! You were checking up on me.” He laughed. My cheeks flushed as he choked with laughter. “Don’t worry Autumn, I won’t tell anybody that you have a crush on me.”
My eyes got large. “I do not have a crush on you!”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
Micah’s smile dropped as he stared at me a little. The gaze was so intense that I felt my own smile drop. His dark eyes stared at me searching my face as I felt my heartbeat speed up. Moving closer he said, “I think you do.”
“Do what?” I asked lost in his eyes.
“Have a crush on me”
I said nothing. I only stared at him. Had I been too obvious? There were times when I would stare at him across the room and knew he was about to turn my way. I thought I’d turned away in time so he wouldn’t have noticed.
Things were getting awkward and I suddenly remembered I was supposed to be meeting Kerry and Taylor. They hadn’t arrived yet but I had no problem going to look for them—anything to get me out of this atmosphere.
“I have to go.” I gathered my purse and headed down the bleachers.
“Go on a date with me?”
I turned around puzzled towards Micah afraid I was hearing things. He didn’t make it no better just staring at me in the same position. Did he even open his mouth? Was I imagining him asking me out on a date?
“What?”
“Go on a date with me, this Saturday.”
My mouth went dry as I fought the trembles that were making their way up my body. Did he really want to go on a date with me or was he playing with me. I didn’t think my heart could take him making a joke about the strange feelings I had for him.
“Okay.”
“Good. I’ll see you Saturday”
“Okay.” I smiled. “Bye.”
Turning on my heels I walked off with a huge grin on my face. My grin dropped once I spotted Kerry and Taylor making their way up the hill with Yuri. I glanced back to see if Micah was still on the bleachers, but he wasn’t. Good. I didn’t have to worry about him overhearing anything. We stopped in front of each other as Taylor and Kerry greeted me. Yuri turned her head away, her stance letting me know that she was upset.
“How did it go? Did you find anything?” Kerry asked.
I shot a look at Taylor as she shrugged her shoulders. “I tried to get her to wait until you returned, but she’s very persistent.”
I told Taylor that it was okay. I had no problem discussing what I’d found out. I filled them in on the things I found in my father’s office. I also told them how before I left, I tried to see if there was anything the key would fit in the office, but there wasn’t. Throughout it all the girls listened. Yuri’s stance changed once I started to talk about my mother. She wanted to comfort me, but she was still upset with the fact that I’d ignored her and then left without telling her.
After I finished, Taylor discussed what she’d found. According to her surveillances cameras in the museum, there had been a flood of activity with extra security on one particular wing of the hall. She’d also tapped into one of the Queen’s private phone calls. She overheard the Queen talking to some mystery man about bringing in a duplicate. The phone call wouldn’t have seemed suspicious, but then Taylor heard the Queen say the painting needed to stay hidden for the sake of human survival. She tried to hear more, but she received an alert that home security had caught on to the fact that there was someone else on the line. She’d quickly disconnected and got rid of any traces that would lead them back to her. She’d also showed me the messages Yuri and her had received while I was gone. Yuri’s message had said “It seems like she no longer trusts you,” while Taylor’s was more threatening. The person wanted her to give up helping me, or they would alert the police about her father’s private parties held in the basement of his mansion. Taylor hadn’t gone into details about her father and I didn’t ask her too. She said she knew how to protect her father so she wasn’t worried about the theat.
“It’s clear now. They are afraid of how close we’re getting to the truth. I realized my father wouldn’t have left this information behind for anyone to find. He would
“So what do you want to do?” Yuri said. It was the first thing she’d said since they arrived.
Looking around at the girls, I stared at their faces as they looked at me. It was no longer about getting the painting for my father. It was about finding the truth. “We’re going to find the person who killed my father, and then, we’re going to take the one thing he wants the most, the painting.”
Saturday came and I was full of nerves. I spent most of the morning off campus preparing for my date by getting my hair and nails done. Kerry decided to accompany since she needed things from the city. As the two of us traveled through the city, I couldn’t believe that the two of us never hung out until now. I knew most of it was my fault. I came off sometimes with a standoffish attitude that seemed to not invite anyone in. Plus, there’s the fact of the popularity pyramid and me being at the top. It made me hard to approach, like a celebrity.
Once our errands were done, the two of us decided to grab some tea at this family owned cafe near the school.
“I heard you got Paige for a lab partner?” Kerry said grabbing a seat across from me.
“It’s like Mrs. Baldwin has it out for me. Last year I was partnered with Mark, who’s a total dick I might add, and now I have to be partnered with another person I don’t care too much for.” I said as I thought back to the unfairness of it all.
“Well, look at this way. At least she didn’t get partnered with Micah.”
She was right. I think I would have hated that even more. It had been torture to see them all over campus together. I knew Micah claimed that they were nothing more than friends, but it was pretty clear that Paige was trying to be more. Thinking of Micah made me think about our date tonight which sent a bunch of nerves through my body.
“Are you nervous about the date?”
“Is it obvious?” I said rubbing my sweaty hands on my jean shorts. “Kerry, I have never been like this over a guy. I’m usually confident and suave, but when I’m with him, I don’t know. It’s like sometimes I feel like I can hardly breathe and I start twitching as if I’m on something.”
“Maybe it’s because he’s your first love?”
“I don’t love him.”
“Yet.” Kerry said. She sipped some of her tea as I stared off to the side. Could she be right? Was I falling in love with Micah? The two of us hardly knew each other. Kerry finished off her tea and glanced over at me. “You’re ready to head out. I’m supposed to meet Taylor to go shopping for the mission.”
“Yeah. I’m ready.”
The two of us headed back to school and went our separate ways. The day seemed to stretch long and I spent most of it hiding out in my room reading books. It was one of my best calming effects and it seemed to work. However, when it got time to get ready for my date, the nerves came back. Thankfully, Yuri came back to the room to help me get ready. Once I was done, I headed out the dorm towards the front of the campus where the gate was located. As I walked towards the gate, I spotted Micah leaning against the brick wall with all the other guys waiting on girls for their dates. The whole scene was so weird that I couldn’t help but to laugh. Hearing my laugh, the boys turned to me as they all gave me lustful glances. I ignored them and headed over to Micah as he made his way towards me.
“Hi.” I said shyly.
“Hi.” He smiled back. “Is it too cliché of me to say you look beautiful?”
“Nope.”
“Well Miss Jones, you are one beautiful young lady.”
I think it was impossible for me to cheese any harder than I was. Micah gave my outfit a smirk as if he was having a private joke. When he wasn’t looking, I took a quick glance down at myself, but I could not see anything wrong. Grabbing my hand, Micah led me to a taxi that was waiting outside of the gate. I could hear all the people behind us laughing but we ignored them. Though I was shock to see that we would be traveling in a taxi cab, I found that I didn’t really mind. I slid into the back of the cab as Micah followed. The taxi pulled off as the two of us made small talk in the backseat. It wasn’t long before we finally made it to our destination.
Getting out of the car, I stared at the place where we were having our date and felt a sense of unease. We had stopped at what appeared to be a farm. There were several parked cars as people headed inside the gates dressed in couple outfits. I glanced down my outfit and looked back over at the field. Now I get Micah’s secret smirk. I was way too overdressed for this.
“What are we doing here?” I said glancing over at Micah.
He was wearing a sneaky smile that once again said that he was having his own private joke. “You’ll see.”
Micah grabbed my hand as he led me down the hill to the entrance of the barn. He filled out our information on a clip board as the lady behind the booth handed us two pink couple shirts. Micah slipped his on as I maneuvered mine over my dress. Once I was done, we entered the gates as a big sign displayed overhead that read “Annual Couple Competition.”
The Annual Couple Competition included things from relay games to karaoke. At first, I was a bit put off with the date. I was wearing an outfit that didn’t scream athletic gear, but after losing a couple games to a snobby couple, my competitor side broke out. It was long before I kicked my heels to the side and was competing as if my life depended on it. Micah and I ended up winning the last four games even though we still didn’t win first place for best couple. We came in third, and I was fine with that. After we were done, Micah suggested that we go pick some peaches since it was my favorite fruit.
I found the whole idea to be very heartwarming. No guy had ever thought to do anything like this for me. Most of my dates always took me to some fancy restaurant and then back to the dorm. But Micah, he was different. I was beginning to like different.
We changed into a pair of gardening boots and bought our supplies before heading out to the fruit field. Together the two of us harvest the peaches along with apples, oranges, and lemons. While we worked, we talked about the different things we could make with the fruits and how we would eat them together. Once we were done, we returned our items and took a picture with the owners. The owner remarked on how it was nice to see young people taking an interest in something that wasn’t dealing with technology. He then went on to remark how we made a gorgeous couple and told me that I had a good young man.
After we left there, we headed to the second pit stop on our date which was a fortune telling store. I only gave Micah a curious glance before walking into the building. Micah had told me that there was a myth that couples who got their palms read together would live happy lives as a couple. It seemed to convince me, and the next thing I know, my palm was being read by a stranger. I soon came to realize that dating Micah was so much fun. He took me places that I would have never thought to go. We snuck into a private party and went swing dancing, we went to a karaoke bar and sung our hearts out before taking pictures in an old photo booth. We stopped by an arcade and battled each other in every game we could and then ate dinner at a hot dog bus before taking a city bus to play bingo. We didn’t win anything, but it was still fun. We finished the night up fishing at a nearby pond which was quite nice. Since I was allergic to seafood and Micah was still full from the hot dogs we’d eaten, we ended up taking them to a soup kitchen to serve to the homeless.
Arriving back to school, we checked in at the gate and Micah walked me to my dorm. We came to a stop outside the doors as I turned to face him
“I had an amazing time tonight.”
“Really, the date wasn’t too weird for you.”
“No. I like weird.”
Micah smiled at me as his eyes dropped to my lips. My breath caught in my throat as he leaned closer to me. Closing my eyes, I waited patiently until I felt his lips on mine. The moment his lips touched mine, I felt my heart speed up as my body suddenly flushed with heat. His lips were soft against mine to the point they felt more like a caress. Micah took his time kissing me as if he was in no rush and wanted this moment to last forever. Call it cliché, but I could have sworn there were cupids surrounding us sighing with awe. All too soon, it was over. As I stepped back, I noticed a strange look in Micah’s eye. It spoke large volumes of shock and I’m pretty sure mine mimicked the same.
Clearing my throat, I told Micah goodnight and headed into my dorm. The whole trip to my room, I walked in a daze. I don’t even know how I managed to scan my key card. Entering my room, I could hear the shower running and knew Yuri had made it in. Plopping down on my bed, I laid my head against my pillow. With a trembling hand, I reached up to touch my lips that were swollen from the kiss. Like a projector, I replayed the kiss in my mind. I kissed Micah. Micah and I had our first kiss. Giving into my emotions, I let out a scream of glee as I kicked the bed wildly. The door for the bathroom suddenly opened as Yuri came stepping out, a white fluffy towel around her body.
“Are you okay?” Her face was etched with concern. “I heard you scream.”
“I’m fine.”
Yuri stared at me before shaking her head. “God help me. Autumn is in love.”
She walked back into the bathroom closing the door as I stared into space. It was true. I had fallen in love with Micah, and it didn’t seem like I was stopping anytime soon.