Chapter 16

“Eeep!”

Laughing at Saige’s reaction, I pulled the phone away from my ear until I could hear she had calmed down. “Come on Saige, it’s not that big of a deal.” I replied a couple seconds later, “It’s not like I won the lottery or anything.”

“No,” she replied excitedly, “But you finally kissed Parker! And even though I shouldn’t be enjoying this because he’s my cousin, which makes this whole thing a little bit awkward for me, I’m so happy that you finally made a move.”

“Actually, he kissed me first.” I admitted shyly, twirling my hair around my finger nervously.

“Well,” she stated teasingly, “Don’t you sound love struck.”

I couldn’t think of how to reply, as her comment made my heart skip a beat and a blush creep up my neck.

“He asked me out.”

The silence that followed my confession was enough to make me bite my lip in anticipation. I knew that Saige supported me with my crush, but I hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about Parker and I actually dating.

And at the thought of Parker and I possibly becoming official, the blush that had started to fade crept back onto my cheeks.

The silence, however, didn’t last all that long, as Saige suddenly screeched through the receiver. “OH MY GOD JILLIAN!” she exclaimed giddily, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”

“Saige,” I started with laughter, “Calm down a bit.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she mumbled, “I’m just excited! I’ve seen you guys dance around each other for months, and I was starting to lose hope that you guys would ever get together. What, did he finally ask you out because he was dared or something?”

Even though her remark was meant to be a joke, a jolt of uneasiness pulsed through me before I shook it away. Parker wasn’t the type of guy who would take advantage of me in anyway, and after uncovering aspects of his past, I trusted him as much as I hoped that he trusted me,

“He wouldn’t do that.” I mumbled, more to reassure myself than anything else.

“Of course not,” she said in a hurry, her voice filled with guilt, “I was only teasing Jill.”

“It’s okay,” I breathed out, shaking my head before stopping, realizing she couldn’t see me. “It’s just that I’m a little bit nervous for tonight. I just really want it to go well.”

“Jill, everything is going to be fine tonight.” Saige said, trying to reassure me. “Like I’ve said a million times, you two are perfect for each other, and there’s nothing to worry about. Besides, haven’t you technically already been on dates with him?”

“Not really…”

“Okay,” she continued, although I could hear the sarcasm leaking through the phone,  “First of all, I’m pretty sure I remember you telling me something about a bowling alley and some ice cream…”

“That wasn’t a date, it was two friends hanging out.”

“Did he pay?”

“Um yea, but,” I started, but couldn’t continue as Saige was quick to cut me off.

“Then it was a date!” she exclaimed. “And I know for a fact that you guys have been hanging out by yourselves since then, so why now, all of a sudden, are you getting nervous about it?”

“Because, I didn’t think it would actually go anywhere before.” I admitted shyly. “Besides the few times that we almost kissed, he’s never made a move or hinted that he liked me as anything more than a friend, so I guess I just drilled it into my head that that was all we were.”

“You guys almost kissed a couple of times. That in itself should tell you that he liked you as more of a friend.”

“Well I’m not always good with these things.” I said. “My first and only boyfriend was a guy that was on the track team with me back home. He basically kissed me out of nowhere one day after practice and then asked me out, and I said yes. We dated for probably three months before I realized that I really didn’t like him and I dumped him.”

“You dated a guy for three months and you didn’t know if you liked him?” she asked in disbelief, but I could also tell she was trying to tease me a little bit.

“I said I wasn’t good with guys, and I’m not!”

“Okay, okay.” she said, chuckling slightly as I sat sulkily waiting for her to continue. “So, do you know where he’s taking you tonight?”

“No…” I admitted.

“Alright,” she said slowly, “Did he give any sort of hints as to what it could be or at least tell you what to wear?”

As I slowly realized the answer was a no, the nerves in the pit of my stomach that had started to subdue suddenly grew stronger again, as doubts about tonight started to cross my mind.

Taking my silence for what it was, a shameful and silent reply to her question, Saige gasped. “Jillian!” she exclaimed, “How am I supposed to help you with this date if you don’t even know what it is?”

“So what,” I started to ask, wringing my fingers nervously, “Should I text him and ask him?”

“Actually,” she said, pausing for a second as I heard rustling and bustling from her end, “I have a better idea.”

As confused I was for a second, when I heard Saige call out Parker’s name, my eyes widened as the puzzle pieces clicked together.

“Saige, no.” I hissed embarrassingly down the phone, however, when I heard her talking with Parker, I figured she had moved the phone away from her ear.

“What?” I heard Parker ask.

“Somebody actually wants to talk to you.” Saige said, and the way she said it teasingly made me roll my eyes as I heard the phone being shuffled around.

“Hello?” Parker said, sounding slightly confused as his voice rung clear through the line.

“Umm, hey Parker.” I said nervously, “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” he replied awkwardly, “So, Saige said you wanted to talk to me.”

“Yea, I guess, umm… I was just wondering what we were doing tonight?”

As his laughter spilled through the phone, I couldn’t help but feel a tad embarrassed, as I felt my ears turn pink and a blush spread across my face. “Oh,” he started, still chuckling as he spoke, “So you guys were gossiping about me huh?”

“No…” I said, trailing off inconvincibly.

“Well, I’m not going to tell you where we’re going, because that’d ruin the surprise,” he admitted, “But, I can tell you that I’ll be at your house around seven tonight. Oh, and dress warm.”

“Okay,” I mumbled shyly, “Then I guess I’ll see you at seven.”

“See you.” he replied, making me smile as the phone started to rustle once again as he passed it back to Saige.

“There, problem solved.” Saige said smugly.

I sighed, rolling my eyes as I tried to understand the way her scheming mind worked. “Thanks, I guess.”

“Not a problem, but I actually have my own life to get back to, so have fun tonight, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” she continued teasingly.

“Bye Saige,” I replied, laughing lightly as I hung up the phone and tossed it towards the end of my bed. Sighing, I rested my head back against my pillows and smiled.

Tonight I had a date with Parker, and I was praying with every fiber of my being that it would be the first chapter in the never-ending story of us.

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As the hands on the clock turned and the hours passed, seven o’clock slowly snuck up on me, as did the nerves that had kept themselves hidden in the back corner of my mind for the majority of the day.

My hands shook slightly as I applied a light coat of lip-gloss before looking at myself in the mirror. I wasn’t sure what Parker meant when he said dress warm, I mean, did he mean bundle up with three or four layers, or did he mean wear comfortable and lined clothes? What I had on now was a long sleeved grey dress with a pair of black fleece tights, a pair of black ankle boots and a heavy black parka. I wasn’t completely sure about the outfit, but I thought it looked good enough with my hair loosely curled that Parker wouldn’t be completely repulsed.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to release my nerves, and as I started to calm down, the doorbell rang loud throughout the house. Quickly, I shoved my phone into my coat pocket and headed downstairs to answer the door.

Opening the door, I was met with a burst of cold as the air temporarily vacated my lungs. Parker was standing there in dark jeans, a heavy-weight jacket and a beanie, and it didn’t matter that his clothes were incredibly average, because he still managed to look insanely attractive in my eyes.

“Hey,” I smiled nervously, opening the door wider so he could step inside. “You look cozy.”

It was as if the sound of his laughter was just the thing I needed, as I instantly felt the nerves I had been battling fade away at it’s sound. “Thanks, so do you.” he replied, smiling back at me as my heart started to beat twice as fast. “But,” he continued, spying my old toque and scarf in a basket under the coat rack, “I think you might need these tonight.”

Picking up the hat and scarf, he quickly tossed the scarf around my neck and settled the hat lightly on top of my head. “There,” he said, adjusting my hat before poking my nose teasingly, “Cute as a button.”

Rolling my eyes, I couldn’t help but laugh at his childish actions, however, before I could reply, I saw my dad round the corner and I tensed up slightly. I knew that my dad hadn’t exactly reacted the best when he realized that I had feelings for Parker, due to the fact that his past was slightly more colourful than ours, but I also remember him telling me that he wanted to see me happy.

And I was happy with Parker.

Parker, who had clearly noticed how I had stiffened up, looked at me with a confused look on his face, not having seen my dad yet. “What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly, looking me up and down.

I pointed stealthily behind him where my dad was standing, “Umm…”

Turning around, Parker’s eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of my dad standing there, looking somewhat intimidating. “Oh,” Parker coughed nervously, hiding his hands behind his back where I could see him wringing them together. “Hi Mr. Thomas.”

“Parker,” my dad nodded in acknowledgement, raising an eyebrow at the two of us, “I heard you were taking my daughter out tonight.”

I ducked my head in embarrassment, fiddling with the bottom of my dress, as I could physically feel the nerves radiating off of Parker.

“Yes sir…um, I won’t have her out to late.”

Whether it was the shakiness of his voice or the way he was still fidgeting with his fingers that made my dad crack a smile, it didn’t matter. Letting out a quiet breath, I lightened up as my dad nodded once again. “Have her home by midnight son,” he said, with only a tad of conviction behind his voice, before he turned to me. “And you, young lady, be safe tonight.”

I rolled my eyes. “I will dad.”

It didn’t take long after that for Parker and I to head back into the cold, the door closing loudly behind us. “So,” I said as we walked down my driveway and past my car, “Where exactly are we going?”

“I told you it was a surprise,” he replied cheekily, slipping his hand into mine as he stepped closer to me, “But I do have one question, how do you feel about taking the bus?” he asked.

“The bus?”

“Yea,” he shrugged, “I don’t exactly have my license, and I didn’t want my aunt driving the two of us around all night. Plus, if you were driving, you might figure out where we’re going as I gave you directions.”

“In that case,” I said slowly, squeezing his hand tightly as he continued to walk, “I don’t mind at all.”

And in all honestly, taking the bus wasn’t that bad. We didn’t have to wait long at all, and once we shuffled on and found a free pair of seats, we just sat there talking until the bus pulled over near the edge of town.

“This is our stop.” Parker said, standing up beside me.

A burst of curiosity swirled around in my head as I followed him off the bus and stood beside him on the snow-covered sidewalk as it pulled back onto the road.

“And where exactly is here?”

Looking around, I vaguely recognized the area from driving around a couple of times, but I couldn’t see anything that would give me a hint as to what Parker had planned. The only thing I was able to see was the suburban neighbourhood that we were standing in. Various houses stood side-by-side everyway I looked; their Christmas lights flickering as the moon rose slowly in the sky and the wind picked up.

“It’s just around the corner actually,” Parker said, nodding down the street as he took my hand once again, “Come on.”

Falling into step beside him, we spent the next ten minutes or so walking, making me glad that Parker had given me my hat and scarf to keep me warm.

Coming to the end of the subdivision, I didn’t understand where Parker was taking me until I saw that the last building on the street wasn’t a house, instead, it was a full size indoor arena.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope.” Parker smirked, pulling me forward as he walked faster across the near-empty parking lot. “Come on,” he continued, pulling me through the sliding doors, “It’ll be fun.”

“Fun for you maybe,” I muttered under my breath, “But I haven’t been skating for the past five or six years.”

“That’s not a problem, it just gives me an excuse to hold your hand longer.” he said cheekily, squeezing my hand as a swarm of butterflies slowly started to flutter in my stomach.

A blush swept across my cheeks. “Shut up.” I mumbled embarrassedly.

It seemed as though nobody else had the same idea as Parker tonight as the arena was almost empty. There were a couple of middle school boys playing around with the candy machines in the lobby, but other than them and the girl behind the rental counter, there wasn’t really anybody here.

“Size?” I heard, snapping out of my thoughts to see the woman behind the counter looking at me, as though waiting for a reply.

“What?” I asked confusedly.

The woman rolled her eyes as she picked up a pair of skates form the shelves behind her and sat them on the counter in front of Parker. “What size skates do you need?”

“Oh, seven I guess.” I replied awkwardly as she nodded and pulled a black pair of skates for me.

“Have fun guys.” she said with a smile as we picked up our skates.

“We will.” Parker chirped, pulling me with him as he headed towards the benches on the side of the rink.

Now, it had been at least six years since I’d last laced up a pair of skates, and even back then, I clearly remember my dad having to help me. Slipping my feet into both skates, I struggled with the laces for a minute or two before I heard a snort.

Glancing at Parker, I saw that he had an amused look on his face as he nodded down to my skates. “Need help?”

Looking down in shock, I saw that he had already laced up his own skates, and that they were tied in perfect knots. “How did you do that so fast?”

“Here,” he said, chuckling as he knelt on the ground in front of me, “Let me show you.”

As his fingers pulled the laces tighter and tied them, I managed to keep my embarrassment to a minimal as my blush subdued and I watched him concentrate. Just as he tied the knot on my second skate, he looked up at me with a smile. “There, all done.”

“Thanks.”

“Now,” he said, standing up as he rubbed his hands together in excitement, “Let’s get skating.”

Twenty minutes later, I was laughing hysterically as I tried to speak. “Parker, slow…slow down.”

After realizing that Parker was a much better skater than me, and by better I mean that he could’ve gave some hockey players a run for their money while I could barely glide a couple of feet without stumbling, I figured that maybe I should just sit while he had his fun.

He, on the other hand, had some another idea.

I don’t know why, but he had got it in his head that by the time we left tonight he would’ve taught me how to skate. He was currently skating backwards as he held onto my hands, pulling me along with him.

“Seriously, slow down.” I said, now worried as I looked down to see how fast I was gliding, only to see my ankles wobbling.

“Jillian, just trust me.” he said softly, slowing down as we rounded the corner and I tried my hardest not to trip. “Just put some of your weight on one leg and push forward with the other.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” he said adamantly.

Slowly and steadily I did exactly as he said, but just as I went to push myself forward I lost my footing and tumbled to the side. Clenching my eyes shut as I prepared for the fall, I realized it never happened. Opening my eyes, I saw that Parker had quickly wrapped his arms around my waist and caught me, preventing me from falling.

“Thanks.” I said softly, biting my lip nervously as I realized how close we were.

“Now, what kind of guy would I be if I let my date fall?” he asked jokingly, pulling me upright and holding on to me until I had regained my balance.

“I don’t know, what kind of guy takes a girl ice skating on their first date?” My reply, however, didn’t have the teasing conviction I intended it to have, as I momentarily forgot that I only had two thin blades holding me upright, and I quickly tumbled forward.

This time however, Parker didn’t have time to react as I fell forward into him, bringing him down onto the ice with me. Groaning, I realized quickly that I hadn’t landed flat on the ice; instead, I landed directly on top of Parker, who looked to be in a bit more pain than I was.

“Oh god,” I groaned, moving off of him as I sat down on the ice, “Please tell me you’re okay.”

He slowly sat up, leaning back on his elbows as he shook his head slowly. “Uh…I think I’m fine.” he replied, running a hand through his dishevelled hair before looking to me. “And to answer your question,” he continued, his eyes scanning every bit of my face before stopping at my lips,  “The type of guy that really likes the girl.”

It shouldn’t have shocked me, the fact that he leaned in slowly and kissed me, but I still couldn’t help the fact that my eyes widened slightly at the feel of his lips on mine before I shut them and sunk into him. This kiss felt different than our last two, for one, our lips were both cold and slightly dry from the arena air, and secondly, this kiss felt more permanent.

Our lips moved against each other, and as I felt him smile as I kissed him back, I couldn’t help the grin that slowly formed on my own lips. Parker’s lips slowed on top of mine, and although I could feel the ice melting into the bottom of my dress, I didn’t care. I had the warmth that was flowing through my veins from the power of this kiss, and that was enough for me.

When he finally pulled back, the two of us were slightly breathless, our breath visible in light clouds in front of us.

I smiled shyly at him. “I like you too.”

It didn’t seem possible for his smile to get any bigger at the moment, as he leant in once again, this time just to leave a quick peck on my lips before pulling back and standing up.

He grinned down at me, offering me a hand. “Then we better get back to our date.”

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“Well, that was fun.” I said, laughing as I slowly walked over towards the benches and started to untie my skates.

After many unsuccessful tries and a few more spills, Parker had managed to get me skating two laps around the rink with his hand intertwined in mine before I slipped or tripped up. When I had tried on my own, I had surprisingly gotten all the way to the other end of the rink before I had to clutch the boards on the side to keep me from falling on my ass.

And although I felt somewhat accomplished as I sat down, I couldn’t help but smile at my favourite parts of the night. Whenever I succeeded or didn’t fall, Parker would quickly peck my lips and make me smile, which sent my heart into a frenzy every single time.

“And it’s not over yet.” Parker stated, having already taken off his skates as he held them in his hands. “I’m just going to hand these in, just meet me out there when you’re done.”

Wondering what else he could’ve planned, I undid the laces as fast as I could and scurried into the lobby where Parker was waiting as he talked to the lady that had given us the skates.

“There you are,” he said, smiling as he took my hand after I placed the skates on the counter, “Are you ready to go?”

“Don’t we have to pay?” I asked, looking between him and the woman curiously.

The woman shook her head with a sweet smile. “Your boyfriend already paid, so just go, and enjoy the rest of your night.”

Looking at Parker accusingly, he simply smiled sheepishly before directing me away from the counter and towards the door of the arena.

“How much did that cost you?” I asked as we stepped out into the colder night air.

“Don’t worry about it Jillian.”

“But…”

“No, no buts.” Parker said, stopping to face me as he brought his hands up to cradle my face, “This is a date, and I really don’t mind paying for you if you’re enjoying yourself. Plus, it wasn’t the expensive anyways.”

Although I had an argument at the tip of my tongue, the way he was looking so tenderly at me caused me to falter. “Fine,” I sighed, “But next time don’t try to sneak around just to pay the bill.”

“Done, and done.” he replied jokingly, kissing me quickly as we headed across the parking lot. I noticed, however, that we were going in the opposite of where we’d come from.

“So… where does this road lead to?” I asked a few minutes later as we emerged onto a brightly lit street. It seemed, where the other road was made up of rows of suburban houses, this road was mostly comprised of little hole-in-the-wall stores and diners.

“Well, down there the shops slowly turn into more houses and apartment buildings,” Parker replied, pointing a long ways down the road in front of us, “But,” he continued, stopping after only passing one vintage jewellery store, “We won’t be going that far.”

Looking at the building he had stopped in front of, I took a quick notice of the red and yellow canopy hanging above us as I realized the name inscribed on the front of the building was illegible. “What is this place?”

“See for yourself.” Parker said, opening the door to the sound of a small jingling bell.

The smell hit me right as I stepped into the heated restaurant, and I instantly recognized it as one of my favourite.

“You brought me to a Chinese restaurant?” I asked, a huge smile on my face as I looked around at the décor. “How did you know that it’s my favourite?”

“Honestly?” he asked, raising an eyebrow as I nodded in reply. “I didn’t,” he shrugged, “I just thought it’d be a unique late night supper. So, are you hungry?”

“I’m starving.”

And luckily for me, this restaurant had a buffet. Once we were seated in a small booth near the back of the restaurant, we took off our coats and winter apparel before making a beeline to the buffet table.

Just looking at the vast variety of food they had laid out made my taste buds water, and I couldn’t help but pile my plate up high with a my favourites, adding a couple of new things to the sides.

“If you were starving you could’ve said something before.” Parker joked, nodding to my plate as we sat back down.

I looked sheepishly up from my plate as I shrugged. “I wasn’t actually all that hungry before, but Chinese food is my favourite.”

“I can see that.”

The two of us laughed as we starting digging into the food. As soon as the first bite hit my mouth I knew that I would revisiting this place time and time again in the future. The sweet and sour beef was to die for, the chicken lo mein was delicious, and the mushroom fried rice was new and unique. I could’ve moaned at the tastes that started exploding in my mouth, but I kept my composure, deciding instead to inhale the food as fast as humanly possible.

“Woah there,” Parker said teasingly, removing my fork from my hands for a second, “It’s not like you haven’t eaten all day.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled embarrassedly, picking up my napkin to wipe my face before grabbing my fork once again, “It’s just really good.” I continued, twirling some noodles around my fork.

“I know,” he said, plopping a piece of chicken into his mouth, “But the slower you eat it, the longer it lasts.”

Seeing his point, I slowed down a tad on the food, but as I did so, I realized that a murky atmosphere of silence had slowly crept up on us.

“So…” I started, swallowing another bite of food before continuing, “Where did you learn to skate like that?” I asked, wondering how a guy who liked art became such a good skater.

He shrugged. “I played street hockey with rollerblades when I was younger, but I switched to regular hockey after my mom left. That pond that’s hidden near our houses freezes over during the winter and makes a great rink, so I used to go there before everything happened.”

Feeling bad for accidentally bringing up his past, I settled for an easier question. “That’s really cool,” I said, only to have him roll his eyes in response, “But when did you switch up the hockey skates for an pencil and sketch pad.”

“I didn’t really.” he admitted. “I mean, I’ve always been interested in art, but skating was just something I used to do with my neighbourhood friends when they were tired to get me out of my lonely artist phase.”

“But you never got out that phase.”

“Nope,” he replied, shaking his head, “And I don’t really care. I like what I like and if people have a problem with it, then they don’t deserve to be close to me anyways.”

“That’s really admirable you know,” I said with a small smile, clarifying as he gave me a weird look, “Not giving up who you are for other people.”

The side of his mouth pulled up into an adorable smile. “Thanks.”

“So, are you going to be going to university or college for art, or are you thinking about something else?” I asked, genuinely curious as to what he saw himself doing in the future.

It seemed odd to me that at the mention of college his shoulders tensed slightly, it was small but it was there. “I would like to go to university for art, with a minor in history so that I could become a teacher.” he replied.

“A teacher?”

“Yea,” he said embarrassedly, “I know it’s kind of stupid…”

“It’s not stupid,” I said, not even letting him finish his thought before I cut in, “I think it’s nice that you want to do something you love, and teach others how to love it to.”

“Umm… thanks.” he replied, although his tone had taken a complete turn as I noticed he looked, and sounded, incredibly sad.

“Hey, Parker,” I said, reaching my hand across the table to rest on top of his, “Am I missing something here? Is there something wrong with being a teacher and doing what you love?”

“No.” he shook his head, flipping over his hand so that our palms were touching and our fingers intertwined. “It’s just, depending on how my case goes, I might not get to ever do those things.”

And that was all it took for a pit of guilt and sorrow to bubble in my stomach.

“Oh god,” I whispered, clenching his hand for dear life, “I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he said shaking his head before smiling at me, “Let’s just enjoy this food before it gets cold.”

The way that he forced the smile and diverted away from the subject so fast made me believe he was genuinely worried about his upcoming trial, but I listened to him, changing the topic as to avoid destroying his spirits even further.

From that point on the two of us laughed together, talked, and kissed a few more times, and it was honestly one of the best nights I’d ever had. As he dropped me off at my door around eleven o’clock and gave me one final kiss goodnight, I swore to myself that I’d do whatever it took to make Parker’s dreams come true.

After all, he was someone that truly deserved the stars.

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So, it turns out that waking up early can actually help you be productive. Believe it or not, I wrote more than 2/3 of this chapter today, and have been writing for more than seven hours today. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I’ll try not to take so long on the next one!