Carter
I woke up on top of something hard and warm. It smelled good, which just made me snuggle in closer. A soft sigh escaped my lips as I pressed my face into the soft material my face was against. If only I could sleep this well and wake up to something to warm and nice smelling every night, I’d never get grumpy from this kind of sleep.
Going in and out of consciousness, I wasn’t aware of a heavy arm draped across my waist holding me down, nor the warm breath on my neck. I was in a cocoon of warmth and I was not going to leave the bed any time soon.
“Hey, Gage, you ready to go to the gym—What the hell is going on here?” someone suddenly shouted. I jerked upwards blinking rapidly. The person—Wait, person? Looking over to my left, I saw Gage sitting up rubbing his eyes.
“Did you two?” Dylan asked, gesturing between us. I finally looked at Dylan who had busted right into Gage’s room, scaring the shit out of us. He was staring wide-eyed at the both of us before he suddenly shielded his eyes. “Please don’t be naked!” he yelled with his hands now over his eyes.
“Dylan, you just saw that we had clothes on,” Gage muttered, his voice thick with sleep. And it was honestly the sexiest thing I had ever heard in my life. A guy’s morning voice was a gift from God.
“Oh, right.” Dylan chuckled to himself as he uncovered his eyes. “What do we have here?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at us. I couldn’t help but blush at what he was insinuating. I had forgotten I slept over here last night, in the same bed as Gage. Same bed!
“Dylan, get out,” Gage grumbled, still waking up.
“Did something happen between you two?” Dylan asked, totally ignoring Gage.
“No.”
“Get out!” Gage and I said at the same time. Dylan just rolled his eyes at us but backed away.
“Just going to remind you guys to always use protection, wash the sheets, and be aware that I am in the house as well.” I didn’t even see Gage lean down and grab his shoe until it was flying in Dylan’s direction. Thankfully he moved fast enough and jumped out of the room and slammed the door shut, the shoe hitting the door with a thud and falling to the ground. I could hear Dylan laughing as he moved away from the door.
I couldn’t help but giggle softly. I leaned back against Gage’s headboard and next to me Gage sat up, finally awake.
“There goes Dylan ruining the moment,” I said, breaking the silence between us. It was kind of awkward as we both sat here in bed together. I wasn’t sure of what to do or what to say, really.
“I don’t even know why I put up with him.”
“Because you secretly love him and know that without him, your life would be one big lonely mess,” I offered, smiling. He rolled his eyes at me and stood up. My eyes stayed on him as he stretched his arms above his head, his white t-shirt riding up and showing me a strip of skin. For the life of me I couldn’t pull my eyes away, not even when he put his arms down and he was once again covered.
“What time is it, anyway?” he asked, slowly moving toward the door.
“Uh…” I looked over at his alarm to see the time. “Nine.”
“Stupid Dylan waking us up,” Gage muttered under his breath, but I only caught some of what he said. “Let’s make some breakfast.” He held open the door for me and waited. I flung the covers off and stood up, doing some stretching of my own. That literally was the best I’d slept in a long time.
When I headed toward Gage I almost tripped, making me remember I was wearing a pair of his sweats that were huge. The ends had come undone while I slept and were now all wrapped around my feet.
“You look so small in my clothes,” Gage commented, laughing softly at the fact I looked like a drowned rat.
“Maybe you are too tall,” I countered, bending over to roll the pants up so I wouldn’t keep tripping. “Ever heard of being a normal height?” I asked, leaning back up. Maybe because I was so short he seemed so tall, or maybe he was just freakishly tall.
“This is a normal height. It is you who are too small to be normal.” I followed after him as we walked down the hallway to the kitchen.
“I am not that short!”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not.” When we reached the kitchen, I noticed Dylan leaning against the counter drinking a sort of yellow drink, maybe an energizer. “Dylan, tell him I am not that short.”
“Gage…she is that short.”
“Hey!” Both guys just grinned at me. “Just gang up on the short girl, I get it.” I pouted as I took a seat at the bar. “Know that I won’t stick up for either of you next time.” I stuck my tongue out at them.
“You love us,” Dylan said, grinning. “Anyway, what are you making us for breakfast?” I looked at Gage and then back to him.
“Who are you talking to there?”
“You, of course.”
“Me? Why do I have to cook?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Because you are a girl,” he replied in a “duh” tone.
“What makes you think all girls can cook?”
“Don’t you guys have a mandatory thing where you know how to cook, sew, and clean?” Dylan sounded really confused, which just made this even more funny.
“You seriously think all women are taught to cook, clean, and sew?”
“Yes? Help me out here, Gage.”
“You are all on your own for this one,” Gage said, leaning his forearms on the counter and looking between us with an amused expression.
“Hate to burst your bubble, but not all women can do those things.”
“That is stupid.” I arched my eyebrow at him again.
“So, are men taught to be sexist, jackasses, and players?” I asked, tilting my head to the side and staring at him while I waited for an answer.
“Uh…I…” Dylan trailed off, looking flustered and embarrassed. “I-I didn’t mean to be sexist.” I kept a stern look on my face for another minute before I smiled at him. Dylan literally looked like I had kicked his puppy. I couldn’t keep messing with him; he was too precious.
“Dylan, I am playing with you. I know you aren’t sexist.” He let out a sigh of relief and smiled at me.
“Good, I don’t want to piss you off. Short girls are terrifying.” Dylan said the last part toward Gage, who nodded. Rolling my eyes at the two of them, I stood up from my stool. It was clear neither of them were going to make breakfast, or they didn’t know how to, so it was up to me. I looked like I was dragged through a tornado, and my stomach was growling, letting me know it needed food, so no going out to grab something.
Passing Dylan, I shoved him to the side.
“What was that for?” he whined.
“I’m going to make breakfast, so you need to get out of my way,” I said over my shoulder as I went toward the fridge.
“What if I want to help?” I straightened up and looked at him, then at Gage who was now standing up and looking right at me.
“You want to help?” I asked the both of them. They shared a look and shrugged.
“Why not?” Gage said, the corner of his lip tilting up.
“I’m a great helper, Carter!” Dylan smiled and placed his hands on his hips. The sight of him made me hold back a giggle.
“Okay, yeah. You guys can help.” Dylan did a mini fist bump in the air before coming toward me, rubbing his hands together. Gage followed a little slower behind him.
“What are we making, Chef Miller?” Dyl asked, glancing around as if there were already food out.
“Well, what are you guys in the mood for? Eggs, toast, bacon? Or pancakes? Or what do you have that is breakfast-related?” I guess it would be smart to find out what they had to eat first before deciding.
“We have”—Gage moved over to the cabinet near the fridge and opened it up—“pancake mix and syrup. We also have bread for toast, and I know we have bacon because Dylan loves that shit.”
“Okay.” I leaned against the fridge for a second, thinking before nodding. “Okay, we will make pancakes with bacon. Sound good to you guys?”
“That’s all?” Dylan whined.
“We all aren’t fat-asses like you,” Gage said, nudging his friend.
“You’d be a whole lot happier if you were,” he shot back. I couldn’t help but high five him for that comeback.
“So let’s get started!” I clapped my hands together. “Dylan, since you love the bacon, you can cook that. Gage, you will help me with the pancake batter.”
“Bacon!” Dylan yelled, opening the fridge and getting it out.
“You know how to make it, right?” I asked, eyeing him. I wasn’t so sure if it was wise to have Dylan man a hot pan.
“Duh, I do. You get the pan hot, place the bacon in it, and bam! It is cooked!” I stared at him for a full minute before I slowly nodded.
“Be careful,” I said still worried about him, but let him do his part. He wanted to help. Turning to Gage, I told him to get a bowl and a spoon while I got the mix. I found it cute that the boys wanted to help me with breakfast. Who knew two big bad fighters could be so sweet?
“What we are going to do is pour some of the mix into the bowl and slowly add water until it is thin enough to make pancakes,” I instructed.
“Shouldn’t we use a measuring thingy?” Gage asked.
“Professionals don’t do that, so we are eyeballing it today.” Behind us Dylan giggled at my words, making me roll my eyes.
“Now you pour some of the mix in, and I am going to quickly go and pull my hair back up so it is out of the way. You okay?” I asked him, not sure if he should be alone with Dylan in the kitchen.
“I’ve lived on my own for a while now, princess. I think I’ll be fine.” He nodded at me. Giving him a nod back, I quickly went to the bathroom and re-pulled up my hair. It was like a bird’s nest and was hanging out of my ponytail I put it in last night. Once it looked better, I left the bathroom and headed back to the kitchen. When I entered, I froze.
In front of me was Gage covered in white powder, as well as Dylan who had a huge grin on his face. Gage’s brown hair was all white now, as well as his face, so all you could see were his eyes. Dylan didn’t look at bad as Gage, but the front of his shirt was covered and some of his face. The ground and the table were covered as well.
“What…what happened?” I finally asked looking between them, placing my hands on my hips.
“Nothing,” both boys said at the same time. I stared at them feeling like a mother scolding her kids.
“I can’t leave you two alone for one minute, can I?” Neither boy seemed sorry for what they’d done. Shaking my head at them, I moved further into the kitchen. “You two will be the death of me,” I muttered as I moved around them.
“Did any even get in the bowl?” I asked, picking it up only to see a small amount of pancake mix inside. I looked at them both.
“There’s some in there.” Gage shrugged. I had nothing to say to that.
“Let’s just finish up.” Dylan turned back to his bacon while Gage came back over to help me finish the pancakes. I was pouring whatever was left in the box of pancake mix just as Gage stood over me and shook his head, making white powder rain down on me.
“Gage Harper!” I snapped, wiping away whatever got on my face.
“Just making you fit in better.” He grinned down at me before moving around the kitchen to grab a pan for the pancakes. They didn’t have a real maker for them, so a regular pan it was then.
“I will not make you any pancakes if you keep it up.” I pointed the spoon, which was dripping with mix, at him.
“That means more for me.” Dylan cheered.
“You wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” Gage asked, moving toward me until his front was pressed to my back. His hands came around and rested on the counter, caging me between him and the counter. “You wouldn’t deprive a growing boy of food, right?” His head dipped down so his breath fanned against my neck, making me shiver.
I was at a loss for words. No words would leave my throat, and I felt my face turning bright red. Goosebumps lined my arms.
“Didn’t think so,” he said, his voice lower than before. Gage knew exactly what he was doing to me. When he finally moved away, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I forced myself to stop blushing, but it did nothing for my body feeling like it was on fire.
Trying to get my mind back on track, I blindly finished the pancake mix before going over to the other burner on the stove that Dylan wasn’t using. Gage had a satisfied look, clearly knowing what he just did to me a second ago.
“I want shaped pancakes!” Dylan said as he stood over the pan of sizzling bacon. Gage and I shared a look.
“You are the artist. You make the shapes,” Gage said, thrusting the bowl at me.
“You can make a circle as well.” I pushed it back toward him.
“But I want them from Carty!” Dylan whined. It was like I was cooking with a pair of five-year-olds. Grumbling, I took the batter while they high-fived. See? Five-year-olds. |
As I got to work trying to make the pancakes into something other than circles, Gage leaned against the counter beside me watching, and every couple of minutes Dylan would yell, having gotten grease spatter on him. No matter how many times I told him to take a step back so he wouldn’t get burned, he never listened.
With pressure from both boys, a few of the pancakes didn’t turn out how I wanted, but soon I kind of got the hang of it. I made heart shapes, flowers, a not-so-pretty Mickey Mouse, and I even made some that looked like bacon, per Dylan’s request. All in all, they didn’t turn out bad at all, and I was quite proud of myself. I had done this before only once for Luke, Ethan, and Macey, but never for anyone else.
We had enough pancakes to serve an army, and the same amount of bacon. I wasn’t that much of a breakfast person, big surprise since I loved food, but I knew the boys would eat all of it. Dylan put the bacon on a plate while Gage got plates for the rest of us. I made sure that Dylan made some of the bacon extra crispy because I hated if it was fatty and floppy. So gross. But I also found out Gage liked his bacon the same way I liked mine.
We all sat at the bar with Gage on the corner, me in the middle, and Dylan on my left side. The plate of bacon and pancakes sat in front of us. I had barely sat down before both of them were already eating a pancake each. Boys will be boys, I guess.
The first few minutes, we were all quiet as we ate. The pancakes tasted really good, and it made me smile seeing how nice the shapes came out. The silence didn’t last too long, as Dylan started talking.
“So, may I ask what happened here last night?” he asked, shoving a forkful of food into his mouth and looking between Gage and I.
“Nothing happened. We came back here, watched a few movies, then went to bed,” Gage answered, shrugging. And that was true; nothing else happened between us, although a small part of me was saddened by that.
“You sure?” He wiggled his eyebrows at us. I sent him a look.
“Where were you last night?” I asked instead, changing the subject. “We went to bed pretty late and you weren’t home. When did you get in?” I placed my arm on the table and propped my head up so I was looking right at Dylan.
I was more than surprised, and I bet Gage was too, when Dylan stared to blush. Yes, Mister I-am-such-a-badass blushed at my questions! Even the tips of his ears were turning a soft pink.
“Nowhere,” he mumbled, stuffing his mouth with bacon. I glanced over at Gage, who sent me a half smile before turning back to Dylan.
“Nowhere? You sure about that, Dyl?” I pressed, leaning closer to him. He was clearly hiding something from us, and given his reaction, I wanted to know what it was. If he hadn’t blushed, I would have let it go, but not this time.
“Gage, tell your girl to stop looking at me like a creeper,” he said, looking at Gage.
“Where were you last night?” Gage asked, leaning forward as well. Both of us were teaming up on poor Dylan. With the looks we were sending him, it didn’t take long for him to crack.
“I was with a girl, okay?”
“Dylan with a girl? Is the world ending?” I asked Gage with wide eyes.
“I think so.”
“Ha-ha, so fucking funny,” Dylan mumbled.
“Who’s the girl?” Gage looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow, trying to figure out if he had seen Dylan with any girl.
“She’s no one.” He kept his gaze down on his plate. I couldn’t help but feel bad, so I placed a hand on his arm.
“Dylan, you can tell us if you want to but if not, we respect that. We are just joking with you.” He was quiet for a moment before he opened his mouth.
“Her name is Johanna, but she goes by Anna. She’s in my geography class and sits right next to me. She seems really quiet and shy but she isn’t, and she has these really cute glasses that take up half her face, I swear,” he said, smiling. He seemed to have forgotten we were right here. “She didn’t like me at first, and even surprised me by being rude and ignoring me.”
“Did you take her out on a date last night?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He smiled at me. “I finally convinced her to go out with me. It has taken almost a month, but she said yes.” The way he was talking, I knew he had a crush on this Johanna girl. I wouldn’t call it love, but he sure liked her. She didn’t seem like the type he would go for, but I liked that. I liked that he wasn’t going after the usual tall, blonde, big boobs, airhead type of girl. Dylan needed someone to put him in his place once in a while, and it sounded like this girl did that. It made her perfect.
“Dylan, I am saying this as your friend, okay?” I softly squeezed his arm. He nodded, waiting for me to continue. “Don’t mess it up. She sounds perfect.” I smiled at him. His smile brightened at my words. It was actually nice that he finally had someone, since the rest of us did.
I went back to my plate and grabbed a piece of bacon. Gage caught my eye as he shook his head at me, but he had a smile on his face. I stuck my tongue out at him and continued on eating.
About five minutes later we all leaned back, groaning. All of the pancakes and bacon were gone. I ended up eating more than I thought I would, and I felt like I was going to burst. Even more shocking was that the boys were finally full for once. The sound of a phone buzzing broke the silence, and all of us looked over at Dylan, whose phone it was. I watched as his face lit up like a Christmas tree. Must be his crush.
“Thank you for breakfast, Car, but I am going to go, um, make a call,” he said before slipping out of his chair and heading for his room, his head down and his fingers flying over his phone.
“I want to meet the girl that has him all in knots,” I said, looking after him.
“It is a first, that is for sure,” Gage said.
“I like it,” I said, smiling and standing to clean the dishes.
“It is weird.”
“How is it weird?” Gage followed after me with his own plate.
“He’s practically giddy. Dylan doesn’t do giddy.” The way he said it was like it was the worst thing in the world.
“Men and their whole ‘men have to be men’ type thing. It is okay to have feelings and to cry once in a while, you know.” I put the plates in the sink and started washing them.
“I don’t care about that crap, but it just is weird seeing Dylan like that.” He grabbed a towel and waited beside me to dry off the dishes. I held back a smile at that.
“Better get used to it I think.” He was silent as we continued washing, and the closer we got to being done, I didn’t know how to bring up what happened next. I needed to go home, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to leave yet. Yes, I was already making myself at home here.
“So…” Thankfully he broke the silence first. “You owe me a date still.” I handed him the last dish to dry and leaned against the counter with my hip.
“Do I now?”
“Yes, and expect it to be an awesome date by the way.” He flashed me a smile.
“Who says I will even take you on a date?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
“I do. And today is the perfect day to.” From the corner of my eye I could see it was a little after eleven, so it wasn’t too late to do something. I might have slightly forgotten about the bet we had, so I had no clue what I would do for this date.
“Uh, yeah, okay, let’s do it,” I answered before I could really think about it.
“Really?” He glanced at me, almost surprised I said yes.
“Why not? I need to go home to shower and change, but we have plenty of time.” I shrugged. I would just be sitting around at our dorm all day not doing my homework, so might as well do something with Gage.
“Okay. Sounds good to me.” I grinned as I placed the hand towel by the sink. “I better head home then.”
Since we were done doing the dishes and putting them away, I headed back to Gage’s room to grab my clothes. I bundled them in my arms and slipped on my flats, looking absolutely ridiculous in my outfit, but I wasn’t going to change into my clothes from yesterday. Plus Gage’s clothes were soft and warm.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you home?” Gage asked for the tenth time in five minutes.
“Yes, I am fine. You need to get ready anyway,” I said, going to his door.
“But—”
“Gage, I will be fine. I’ll even text you when I get there, okay?”
“Okay, fine. But do text me.” I smiled at his concern for me. Even if he didn’t admit it, Gage cared somewhat for me.
“I will. I’ll be back to pick you up for our date.” It sounded funny, saying that I would be picking him up for a date.
Saying a goodbye to him, I headed out of his building, a bright smile on my face and my mind full of ideas.
***
“Take him go-carting.”
“But, Mace, we have already been there before.” I leafed through my closet trying to find the perfect outfit. “Remember, it has to be unique and fun.”
Macey was lying down on my bed while I tried to find something to wear, and giving me ideas on where to take Gage. I didn’t tell him when I’d pick him up, but it was already a little after twelve, so I had to get going.
The moment I got home, Macey asked me where I’d been, and she told me she tried calling me but I didn’t answer. After I told her I stayed the night at Gage’s, she basically flipped and almost jumped on me to learn all about my night. When I told her I didn’t sleep with Gage, she calmed down a little but still made a huge stink about it.
“Where have you and Luke gone on your dates?” I asked, getting desperate. While she thought about it, I finally just grabbed an outfit to put on. I didn’t think Gage would care what I was wearing, since I looked like shit this morning. I was just going to go casual and try not to worry about how I looked.
“Let’s see. We’ve gone to a movie, laser tag, oh, and the best one was going to the aquarium. There he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was the best date ever. Why don’t you take him there?” she suggested.
“But isn’t that a little cliché, though? My parents went there for their first date, got engaged there too, you and Luke went there, and now us. I’m not so sure.” With her distracted by her cellphone, I quickly pulled on a pair of capris; well, they kind of looked more like jeans since they were longer on my small frame. Along with that, I pulled on a long-sleeved white shirt. It was super casual, but it was the best I could do on short notice; plus I didn’t really feel like dressing up too much.
“You may be right. Oh wait! How about taking him to that race car track where you drive the expensive cars!” I remembered the place she was talking about, but it was too expensive.
“That may be too much money for us.”
“You once said he enjoyed astronomy. Why don’t you take him to the museum downtown? You can actually sit in a room that shows the stars right above you.” I stopped at that idea. It actually sounded fun and was unique. I remembered Gage helping me at the party a month back and sitting in an empty field talking about stars and planets. Maybe this would be a great idea.
“Mace, you are a genius.” I beamed at her as I grabbed my white Converse.
“I know I am.” She grinned back and me and flipped her hair. “I’ll look up the address and send it to you while you finish getting ready.” Thanking her, I hurried to the bathroom to finish getting ready.
Because I washed my hair just a little bit ago, I let it air dry and hang down my back. I only put on a little bit of makeup today because I was literally too lazy and rushed to do much more. With a swipe of mascara and some lipstick, I was good to go. Thank the Lord my face was cooperating today and I wasn’t left with a huge zit on my face. Making sure my hair was brushed and looked okay, I was ready to go.
I grabbed my shoulder bag, putting plenty of money in it, my ID, and my phone and keys. My phone lit up with a text from Macey telling me the address of the museum. Giving Mace a quick hug and a bye, I was out the door in minutes.
Almost giddy and with a bounce to my step, I walked to Gage’s dorm building. I was just hoping he would like where we were going, and I was going to keep it a secret until we got there. I wasn’t sure if he had ever been, but I just hoped he didn’t find it stupid.
I knocked on his door and bounced on my heels as I waited for him to answer. The door opened a minute later, revealing Gage. I was surprised to see him in something other than his normal jeans and white t-shirt. Instead he was wearing a blue and black shirt. The sleeves were long, hiding his strong forearms and tattoos, but they seemed to make his arms bigger. He was also wearing blue-washed jeans. He looked just as hot as he always.
“Hey.” I breathed out.
“You know I expected roses,” he said looking at me expectantly.
“Roses?” I echoed back, confused.
“It is customary that when a person picks up someone for a date they have roses or something to give to the other person,” Gage explained. “So…where’s my roses?”
“I got to say that at least you are sexist,” I commented because I had nothing else to say to that. I knew he was joking with me, but with the way he said it with a straight face, I wasn’t so sure.
“Anyway.” I clapped my hands together. “Let’s get this show on the road.” I was once again giddy.
“Someone is excited,” he pointed out as he shut the door behind him and followed after me as we headed for the stairs.
“Because you are going to love where we are going.”
“And where is that exactly?”
“Can’t tell you. It is a secret.” We headed in the direction of the parking lot, where I’d parked my car. Since I knew where we were going, I was going to drive this time. And my car needed to be started, since it hadn’t been in almost a month.
“What kind of date is this?” he asked, but he was smiling.
“A unique yet fun one, just like the deal said it would be.” I wanted so bad to grab his hand, but I controlled myself as we reached the parking lot. When I started in the direction of my car, Gage got confused.
“My car is that way.”
“I know. I am driving this time.”
“I’m not driving?” The look on his face was like I just insulted his car or something.
“Please tell me you are not one of those men that just always has to drive or else their masculinity is in jeopardy?”
“I’m not! I am just surprised you are driving. That’s all.” I knew I dented his ego a little bit, but I let it slide as we came to my car.
“And here she is.” I beamed and gestured to it.
“How do you know ‘she’ is a she?”
“Because she is awesome and girls are awesome, so there you go,” I reasoned, although it made no sense at all. We got in and buckled up, and I had to admit it was weird sitting in the driver’s seat with Gage in the passenger’s seat. We had only ever driven in his car.
“This is actually a nice car,” he commented as I pulled out of the parking lot.
“Yeah, it is. Paid for her myself.” I stroked the steering wheel feeling proud. “Well, I paid most of it and my parents helped out, but I worked hard to buy her and I got straight As for her as well.”
“You had a job in high school?” he asked, bewildered.
“Yes. Why do you sound so surprised?” I glanced over at him.
“I just didn’t picture you as someone who had a job.”
“Well, I did. I worked at an animal shelter for a little while before they couldn’t pay me anymore, but I still went in and volunteered very once in a while. Then I took a job at a movie theater for a little while.”
“Your dad let you work? He doesn’t seem like the type to let you do that.”
“He didn’t like it at first of course, but he realized that we needed to learn how to earn our keep and that nothing is handed down to you. You have to work hard to get where you want in life. Just because my parents are rich doesn’t mean we didn’t ‘struggle,’ as some might say. My brother and I know that if we want something in life, we have to fight and work hard for it. I like to work for what I want, despite my name,” I said, and I meant every word.
Just because I had money didn’t mean I flaunted it to others or used my name to get me what I wanted. Instead, I tried to shed my name so I could make a different one for myself. I didn’t want to be labeled as the spoiled rich princess for whom Daddy pays everything. No, I wanted people to see me as an independent person who worked hard to get the future she wanted, who didn’t use Daddy’s dime to get everything at the snap of her fingers.
“I am glad you were raised that way,” Gage said, gently placing his hand on my thigh. At his words I relaxed a little; at least he didn’t think I was some spoiled rich girl because I didn’t want him to see me like that.
“Okay, enough of the serious talk. Can you get google maps to go on my phone?” I handed him my phone as I kept my eyes on the road ahead. “I have the address in there already, just hit go.”
He did just that and a second later the woman’s voice explained the first set of directions to me. The museum wasn’t too far from my father’s work, so it actually didn’t take me too long to get there.
“Where are we?” Gage asked, looking around but not at the building in front of us that had the words Astronomy Museum along the front.
“We are at the astronomy museum!” I said as I turned the car off and looked at him to see his reaction. Instead of being excited as I thought, he looked confused.
“The what?”
“Astronomy museum. It is an entire museum dedicated to astronomy. You can go inside and see everything from replicas of Apollo 13, to a room that you sit in and can watch the stars.” I tried to come up with the best explanation, but it just sounded bad.
“I know it doesn’t sound fun, but we can at least go inside and see what it is about. I remember you saying you liked astronomy, and when we were sitting out on the field and looking at the stars, you said all these things, so I thought it would be fun.” I was stopped with a finger to my lips.
“I think it is a cool idea. I’ve never been here before,” Gage said, smiling at me. “Let’s go inside and see it.” He didn’t even wait for me to say anything as he got out of the car. I scrambled out after him.
Still smiling at me, he grabbed my hand and tugged me toward the front doors. I silently thanked myself for wearing Converse as he pulled me after him, my small legs trying to catch up to his long strides.
When we got inside, the place was white, like stark white. Our shoes squeaked along the floors, and it was quiet. It didn’t seem like anyone was even here. Going up to the counter, we had to ring a little bell for someone to come out. After a full minute a lady dressed in a very unattractive blue pantsuit came out.
“How may I help you?” she asked, sounding very bored already.
“We want to look around. How much to go inside?” I asked, cutting in front of Gage. If I was taking him on a date, I would be paying.
“It is free. You can go through there and go to each of the displays. At the end you may go inside the room and watch the stars.” She turned and walked away. Yes, she literally just walked away from us. Worst worker, no wonder no one was here.
“Well ain’t she a ball of sunshine,” I said.
“Someone loves their job.” I laughed with him as we headed in the direction the lady had mentioned.
The moment we walked through the curtains, we were met with space. Not literally space, but dark blue balls that made the place seem black. Little lights were placed along the walls, and the ceiling made them seem like stars. Little hues of purple, white, and even some yellow shined around us, and when you walked in, it almost felt like everything around you was moving.
“Woah.” I breathed out, looking around. This was even better than I imagined. Past the curtain was certainly a different atmosphere. That worker lady needed to be in here and she’d act better.
All around us were glass cases held different things. One was of a suit an astronaut wore; there was also dirt and sand that was bright orange from Mars, a replica of a shuttle, and tons of information on each item.
We moved hand in hand from one display to another. I found it really cool, but Gage was on another level. He read each thing carefully and was just soaking up information. He was trying to hold himself back from reading out in front of me, but I found it extremely cute how in love he was right now. I guess I did make the right choice in coming here.
It took us about twenty minutes to move through the first half before we finally reached the door the lady mentioned. It said Star Gazing, but when we went inside, it was not what I was expecting at all. I thought it would be fake stars that you just stand there staring at…no. No, this was even better.
Right above us, what looked like little white lights were flashing and pulsing. Some looked closer than others, and brighter. It wasn’t entirely dark inside, and you could see what looked like actual beds scattered around. Gage seemed to be in a daze, so I gently led him toward a bed that was near us. The both of us carefully lay down, our heads still tilted up to watch above us.
In the middle of the bed was a remote control. I looked at it weirdly before handing it to Gage, so he could see what it did. He played with it for a minute and suddenly, the sky above us changed. Instead of the stars being far away, they were closer and more defined. We shared a look, our eyes wide, before he pressed the same button.
The entire ceiling above us was made up of stars. What I thought was a fake image of stars turned out to be actual images from a satellite up in space taking pictures. The stars were actual stars that were twinkling and pulsing. Some looked like just bright balls of light, and with others, you could actually see the mass to it. It was by far the coolest thing I had ever seen.
Each bed that was spread around had a remote where they could change the sky. You could make the stars look closer and see what they were made of; you could make it go out farther so you could see the constellations; and you could even press a button of a “tour” of the sky where a loud speaker would tell you facts and move the images around so you could see everything. It was beyond amazing. And yes, the beds were so soft I could literally fall asleep in here.
Gage was so engrossed that he didn’t say a word. I looked over at him and smiled. He was really enjoying this, and I was glad. I was worried he wouldn’t and that I would just end up looking like an idiot.
Because it was dark in here, I could only see some of his face. If I moved closer I would be able to see him clearly, but I was okay with where I was at, at the moment. I was enjoying being around someone who was having a dream they didn’t know they had come true. The best part, I made this all happen.
After about five minutes of me going back and forth between staring at Gage and the stars above us, did Gage finally say something. He turned his head and looked at me.
“Thank you.” His voice echoed around us, since we were the only ones in this big empty room.
“Thank you for giving this a shot. It turned out better than I would have thought.” He continued staring at me and even moved a little closer. I could now see his face from the light of the stars. Seeing his brown eyes staring at me, I never realized just how much I loved them. I was never one for brown eyes; they just weren’t my favorite color of eye, especially when I only thought Ethan’s blue-green eyes were the best color. I was wrong. Gage’s eyes were the prettiest.
Up close, you could see the little specks of gold. I also noticed that they weren’t just a plain brown; they were really hazel. Brown eyes weren’t just brown eyes anymore; they were something way more. They were more beautiful than anyone gave people with brown eyes credit for. Staring at me was a new eye color I would love forever.
“Can I ask you something?” Gage whispered suddenly, breaking me out of my thoughts. I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak at the moment.
“Will you be my girlfriend?” At first, I didn’t hear him right.
“What?”
“Will you be my girlfriend? Not like the fake deal we had before, but a real relationship. We’d be together for real as boyfriend and girlfriend, no hiding it from anyone.” I stared at him letting his words sink in.
Did Gage Harper really ask me to be his real girlfriend? Was I going insane? Here I was wanting him to be my real boyfriend and not a fake one, when he felt the same way this whole time. I almost didn’t believe him, thinking I was dreaming and needed to be woken up, but I could see the hope and want in his eyes. I could see him waiting impatiently for my answer. Everything I had wanted in the last week—hell, in the last day since I was at my parents’ telling my mother just what Gage meant to me—was right in front of me. Gage really did want to be my boyfriend. I could only do the logical thing and say…
“Yes!”