Chapter 9

I had thought long and hard about how I was going to get to the restaurant. I would never be able to drive since I was turned before I was sixteen. I didn't have a two-person mode of transportation that did not involve Tarleen having to exert herself in any way. I figured that running was the best option. I hoped she wasn't too afraid of the speed.

She didn't talk much during the run. However there were occasional shrieks of pleasure. She wrapped her arms tightly around my pale neck so that she wouldn't fall off my back. I was smiling through the whole run; this was the longest a girl had ever touched me in any way.

I stopped a few blocks away from the restaurant we were going to so that it wouldn't look weird. I mean, who wouldn't think it strange to see a young man carrying a girl. I held her hand lightly because of my nervousness, but she maintained a firm grip on my hand.

I opened the door for her and took out her chair. "Thanks," she said; a smile crossed her face.

A waitress came up to our table; she had a notebook and pen in her hands. "Hello, can I get you a drink before you order," she said with a wave of boredom saturating her voice. Her eyes were barely open.

"I'll just have water," Tarleen said simply. The waitress wrote something down. Just a few more weeks of this boring job and I'll finally have enough for half the college tuition, she thought. Wow, she was even bored in her head.

"I saw how you were looking at her," Tarleen said while smirking. "You were reading her mind weren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," I said; I was smirking as well.

"So what was she thinking?"

"You know how bored she looked?"

"Yes."

"She was even more bored in her head!"

"I wouldn't think that, that was possible."

I shook my head and chuckled. "I know that, but it's true."

The waitress soon came back with the water Tarleen ordered in hand. "Here you go," the waitress said in her same bored monotone. I wonder what she'd think if she ever actually looked at me and Tarleen. I chuckled at the thought of that.

After Tarleen ordered the waitress promptly left. "Why did you laugh a second ago," Tarleen asked inquisitively.

"You caught that huh?"

"Yes. Now tell me why you laughed!" She was smiling as she said this and laughing slightly.

"Okay. I laughed because I was thinking of what that waitress would think if she actually looked at us."

"That is funny to think of." She paused a moment. "A little funny anyway," she muttered. I chuckled.

"What's wrong," I asked. "You seem a bit perturbed."

"Well, you just seem interested in that waitress' thoughts," she began. "And the waitress is kind of attractive."

"You're jealous? I never thought it would be possible for someone as pretty as you to be jealous."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"I don't know who wouldn't."

"Since when have you liked me?"

"About since grade seven."

"Wow. I thought your friends were kidding when they said that."

"Why?"

"I'd think if they were real friends, they wouldn't make fun of someone in that way."

"Yeah, my friends are a bit… different."

"I could've guessed that."

After about an hour of talking and stuff, Tarleen had finished eating. As soon as we were a few blocks away where no one could see us I hoisted her onto my back. She wrapped her arms around my neck once again. I began to run quickly.

Tarleen looked to the left for a minute. "The house is that way isn't it," she asked hesitantly.

"I never said I was taking you to the house did I?"

"Then where are we going?"

"You'll see." I chuckled slightly. I turned my neck to look at her, still looking at where I was going with my peripheral vision. She was pouting because I wouldn't tell her where I was taking her. I was taking her to the meadow I had found.

I set her down on the grass. She took a look around to see where we were. It was dark so she wasn't able to see very well. She was dumbstruck. This place is beautiful, she thought. We both laid on our backs and looked at each other in the eyes.

To be continued…