Wow, I updated again! Yayayay! I couldn't go to sleep for nothing, so I just decided to type up the next chapter. But I really am about to go to sleep now... it's 6:00 in the morning :0. Crazy. Well, here's Ben and Allison's first date! The chapter is long, but I think it's pretty good. And a special thanks to ajstar for favoriting! Welcome to the story! Enjoy!
MzMickey0014: Haha I know :( but it's his job. What can you do.
Hmm what could've happened to her? Any ideas? The mystery shall be solved soon!
And I hate making people wait! I want to get this story out there and I update as soon as I possibly can and as often as I can!
My music taste is pretty bangin, I do have to say... ;D Glad you agree! Thanks so much for the review! :)
Chapter 17
On his way to Allison's house, he had butterflies in his stomach. A lot of things rushed through his head at once. He hadn't seen her since Sunday and he wondered if, somehow, she had forgotten about the time they had spent together. He wondered if there would be an awkward silence between them or if they would fall into easy conversations that they had had just a few days before. He pondered these questions all the way to Allison's house.
As he pulled into her driveway, he saw a woman across their yard in her garden. He then saw Alison appear from behind the house and walk over to her mom and start talking to her. He guessed she hadn't seen or heard him pull into the driveway. He smiled and took a deep breath and got out. She turned around and saw him and smiled. She jogged towards him and he stopped walking. When she reached him, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled and caught a trace of the perfume she had used. She stood back and he looked at her, thinking that she was even more beautiful than he remembered. She was wearing a pair of jeans with a black cardigan over a white tank top. She smiled at him and said, enthusiastically,
"Hi!" He grinned,
"Hey."
"You look nice."
"Thank you, you look nice, too." He cleared his throat,
"Beautiful, actually." She smiled and put a stray piece of hair behind her ear,
"Thank you."
Her mom turned her attention towards them and walked out of her garden. He looked at her mom and the similarities between her and Allison were outstanding. She had on a sun hat and a pair of working gloves. Like Allison, she had brown hair but, instead of it being straight like Allison's, it was wavy. She smiled and took off her gloves,
"Well, who is this?"
"Mom, this is Ben Carter." Her mom smiled again and extended her arms toward him. She gave him a hug and he hugged her back.
"It's nice to meet you, Ben. I feel like I know you already; Allison's told me so much about you." He looked at Allison and smiled,
"Oh, really?" She smiled as well and shrugged her shoulders. They talked for a minute; her mom asking him about being in the Air Force. She asked him a couple of other questions before Allison butted in,
"Okay, mom, I think you've pestered him long enough."
"Oh, Allison, stop it, I'm just trying to get to know him." He laughed and nodded,
"Yeah, it's okay."
Allison smiled and shook her head and they continued to talk for a few minutes. Though he would have rather agreed to what Allison said so they could leave, he didn't want to be rude to her mom, especially since it was his first time meeting her. She eventually said,
"Well, I guess I'll let you two head on, then."
"Okay. It was really nice meeting you, Mrs. Johnson." Her mom smiled,
"You too, Ben, you too. You seem like a nice young man."
"Thank you. Is there a certain time I need to have Allison home by?" Allison looked at him and smiled as her mom shook her head,
"Nope, I trust you to not let anything happen to her."
"Thank you, ma'am, I appreciate it." She smiled and gave him another quick hug and went back to her garden. Ben and Allison were left standing alone and she looked at him and smiled.
"What?"
"Nothing, you ready to go?" He nodded and motioned in front of him,
"After you."
There wasn't an awkward silence between them at all as they drove to Carolina Beach. He asked her how her past couples of days were and she told him all about the family reunion. She had spent the entire Monday helping set up the auditorium where they were holding the reunion. They had balloons and streamers and they had to set up several tables and get enough chairs for well over a hundred people; saying her family was big was an understatement.
There were only five of them setting up, which was why it took them all day to get ready. A lot of the family was coming in Tuesday morning from out of town, which was why their set-up crew was so short-handed. That Tuesday, she sat with her two closest cousins the entire day. Had she seen most of the people randomly on the street, she would've had no idea they were related. She didn't know three-fourths of the people there, but was nice whenever someone came up to her and told her how grown up she had become since the last time they had seen her. She couldn't tell you their name if her life depended on it, but she was nice and smiled to everyone that came up to her.
She classified the reunion a success; everyone had gotten along and there were no disagreements or conflict, which was rare in a group that large. After everyone had left, she stayed with her mom and aunts and uncles and helped clean up. She was beat when she got home that night and went to bed before 10:00.
"So, where are you taking me?"
"It's called the Deck House; it's down at Carolina Beach. Have you ever been?"
"No, but I've heard about it. I heard it's really good." The light turned green and he accelerated, passing through Monkey Junction.
"It is, I've been a couple of times with my family and I love it. Do you like seafood?"
"I love it." He smiled,
"Then you're going to love this place. It was actually a church before it became a restaurant."
"Really?"
"Yeah, when we get there look at the top and you'll see a steeple." She laughed,
"Okay."
They talked for a while before they reached Snow's Cut Bridge. He knew she would put her head down and, as he began to drive over it, he was proven right. When they were over it, she looked back up and he didn't say anything about it. He knew she was embarrassed by it, even though he told her she shouldn't be. She didn't say anything about it either and they rode for about five more minutes before he turned at a stoplight, then turned left into the restaurant parking lot.
It was almost full and it took him a couple of minutes to find a parking place. They finally found one and, as they got out, she remembered to look up at the top of the restaurant. She smiled as he met her around the side of the truck and followed her gaze.
"See? I told you." She smiled,
"That's weird. Why did they turn a church into a restaurant?"
"I have no idea. I think the church closed down so someone bought the place and turned it into a restaurant." She nodded and he motioned to the restaurant,
"You ready to go eat?"
"Yeah, I'm starving."
He opened the front door for her as they entered the restaurant. The hostess greeted them with a smile and asked how many and if smoking or non-smoking. They looked at each other and smiled, remembering that their first conversation was about smoking. They looked back at the hostess and Ben said,
"Non-smoking, please."
She grabbed two menus and led them towards the middle of the restaurant and put them at a table against the wall. They sat down across from each other and the hostess told them that their waiter would be with them in a few minutes. When she left, Allison looked around,
"This place is really nice, are you sure this is okay?" He smiled,
"Its fine, order whatever you want."
They opened their menus and their waiter appeared and took their drink orders. They ordered sweet teas and continued to look over the menu. When he knew what he wanted, he closed his menu.
"Do you know what you're getting?" She wore a serious expression and continued to look at the menu. He smiled as she said,
"I think so. What are you getting?"
"The seafood pasta; it's down at the very bottom of the menu."
"That's what I was looking at. Is it good?"
"Yeah, it's amazing; I get it every time."
"Okay, I'm going to get that, too."
They closed their menus and talked until their waiter appeared with their drinks. They ordered their food and, when the waiter heard they were getting the same thing, he said,
"I like you two; you are some easy customers."
Allison smiled and they handed hi m their menus as he went to go put in their order. They fell into an easy conversation as she talked more about the family reunion and asked him what he did the days that they were apart. He told her about cleaning up the house, but he basically lazed around. He didn't tell her about learning Misery Business and he couldn't tell her about going to the library because then he would have to tell her about his plan. He didn't want to do that.
They continued to talk for a few minutes before their waiter appeared with their food. She thanked him and Ben did the same as he walked off to help this other tables. She took a bite out of her pasta and he looked at her,
"How do you like it?"
"Wow, it's really good." He smiled,
"Good."
They ate their dinner and continued to talk. She asked him how his food was and he swallowed and said,
"Tell you what; you give me a bite of yours and I'll give you a bite of mine." She laughed,
"Okay, deal."
"You ready?"
"Let's do it." He stabbed at a couple of pieces of pasta with his fork and he fed her first. While he leaned towards her, she held her hand beneath the fork, careful not to spill anything. She took a bite and nodded,
"That's pretty good."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, I think mine's better, though." He laughed,
"Oh yeah?"
"Yep."
"Alright, hit me." She smiled and fed him. He nodded as he chewed it up and swallowed,
"Yeah, I think yours is better." She laughed,
"I told you."
He smiled and they continued to eat and laugh together. The waiter came by to refill their drinks and a couple of minutes later, appeared with their check. Ben grabbed it and Allison looked at him. He smiled and waved his hand,
"Don't worry about it."
"You're definitely spoiling me."
"Isn't a guy supposed to pay for his date?" She smiled,
"Yeah, but this isn't the first time. You paid for my dinner the first time we met, remember?"
"How could I forget?"
"You do that with all of the girls?" He smiled, but said, in a serious voice,
"No, you're the only one, Allison."
When they finished eating and Ben had paid the bill, they grabbed their boxes and got up, walking towards the front of the restaurant. While they were walking, an old couple was sitting down at their table and he heard them whisper to each other,
"Aww, they are such a cute couple."
He looked at them and Allison must have heard them because she turned around and smiled at him. As they walked across the parking lot to his truck, Allison looped her arm through his and smiled,
"Thank you for dinner, it was so good."
"You're welcome, I'm glad you liked it." She looked up at the sky,
"It's a beautiful night tonight." He nodded as they reached his truck. He opened her door for her and, as she got in, asked,
"Do you have anything else planned for the rest of the night?"
"No, why?"
"Because I have a surprise for you." She raised her eyebrow and smiled,
"A surprise?"
"Yep."
"Where at?" He smiled and shrugged his shoulders,
"I don't know; you'll just have to wait and see."
Allison was anxious as they drove. He looked at the time and saw that it was 7:00. He smiled again; they were right on schedule. It only took about five minutes to reach the recreation center. When he pulled into the parking lot, she looked at him,
"The recreation center? The surprise is here?" He smiled,
"Yeah, this is the place." She raised her eyebrow, then smiled and held up her hands,
"Okay, I trust you."
They walked across the deck, towards the steps that led down to the beach. When they were about halfway across the deck, he held out his arm to stop her,
"All right, stand right here and close your eyes."
"What? Close my eyes? What for?"
"You'll see; just do it."
She smiled and finally closed her eyes. He looked at her to make sure she wasn't peeking and ran back down the steps and across the empty parking lot to his truck. He grabbed the blanket, the thermos and the library book out of his backseat and ran back across the parking lot to the steps. He climbed them and slowly tip-toed past Allison, who still had her eyes closed.
After slipping past her, he ran all the way down the deck and then down the steps to the beach. He picked a nice, secluded but open, spot and began setting everything up. When he finished, he rushed back up to where Allison was standing. When he reached her, he stopped in front of her and said, sort of panting,
"Okay, are you ready?"
"Yeah, I'm ready."
"All right, keep your eyes closed; I'm going to guide you to the surprise, okay?"
"What? I have to keep my eyes closed?"
"Yeah, it adds suspense. You trust me, right?" She smiled and nodded,
"Yes, I trust you."
He smiled and just looked at her for a minute. She was beautiful with her long, brown hair and soft blue eyes. Though she was a natural beauty, the little bit of makeup she had on, added to the beauty that she already had. Her black cardigan and jeans looked beautiful on her and he realized that, even though she was beautiful on the outside, she was even more beautiful on the inside. He took a break from his thoughts and put his hands on her waist, leading her down the deck. He led her down the steps, one by one and led her to the spot where he had set everything up. When he stopped her, he moved towards her ear and said, in a soft voice,
"Okay, open your eyes."
She smiled and opened her eyes. Sprawled out before her was the big blanket he had grabbed, laying on the sand with the thermos and book on top of it. Her smile turned into a grin and he stepped in front of her and beside the blanket, extending his arms on both sides,
"What do you think?"
She opened her mouth to say something, with a grin still on her face, but she closed it and shook her head. Ben smiled and moved closer to her,
"Did I surprise you?"
"Yeah, this is definitely a surprise; I'm speechless, as you can tell."
He smiled and moved to the blanket and, before sitting down, motioned beside him,
"Come here, come sit down."
She walked over to him and they sat down on the blanket together. They sat close to each other and she smiled and turned to him,
"This is so nice, Ben."
"You haven't even seen the real surprise yet." She looked at him,
"What?"
"Yeah, we have about thirty minutes until it starts."
"Until what starts?"
"I can't tell you; you'll find out in about a half an hour." He picked up the thermos and they both took a sip of it as she looked up at the sky. He remembered the library book he checked out and looked around for it. Before he opened it up he looked up at the sky and asked, pointing,
"Do you see the Big Dipper right there?"
"Yep."
"Do you see those other two stars right around the edge of it?" She nodded and he continued,
"Connect those two starts with an imaginary line in your head and tell me what animal it looks like."
She smiled and looked at it, examining it for a couple of minutes before saying,
"Either a bear or a cheetah; something along those lines."
"You're first guess was right; it's a bear. The astronomical name for it is called the Ursa Major, or the Great Bear." She looked at him and smiled,
"How did you know that?"
"I don't know, I guess I'm just smart." He pointed towards another patch of stars to the left of the Big Dipper, smiling,
"Do you see those two really bright stars over there?" She followed his finger and then nodded when she found it,
"Yep, I see them."
"Those two stars are the brightest stars in the sky. They actually have names; the orange-ish looking one; his name is Pollux and the other's name is Castor. They represent the mythological twin brothers of Helen of Troy. If you look hard enough, there are two humans stretched out by them. They're marked by 'two roughly parallel lines of starts that are capped by two of the brightest stars in the sky.' Like I said, Pollux is the big orange one and its thirty-five light years away from Earth. Castor is fifty light years away from Earth."
After he finished talking, Allison looked at him. She continued to look at him, long after they had stopped talking. She finally smiled,
"How do you know so much about the stars and constellations?" He smiled as well and picked up his library book and handed it to her. She looked down at it and grinned as he said,
"I went to the library yesterday and checked it out. I've been reading and studying it ever since then." She grinned again,
"The Book of Constellations?"
"Yeah, I wanted to study it and try to impress you with my astronomy knowledge." She laughed,
"Well you definitely did. I had heard about Ursa Major, but I had never seen it. And I didn't even know about Pollux or Castor." He smiled,
"Well you've learned something new tonight, haven't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I have."
He smiled and she looked back up at the sky. He looked around them; they were the only ones on the beach. They were away from a lot of the lights so they could see millions of stars overhead. Though they were near a couple of lights, the majority of their light came from the moon. As they say in the moonlight, they could hear music coming from a restaurant down the beach. He looked out at the ocean and the waves breaking were a soothing sound. They sat for a while before she looked at him,
"So, when is this surprise going to start?"
"In about fifteen minutes. She smiled and nodded. He looked at her and she looked like she was debating whether or not to say what was on her mind. She finally looked at him and asked,
"Are you scared of anything?"
"Of course I'm scared of something; I'm scared of a lot of things actually."
"What are they?"
"Why? Are you planning on scaring me or something?" She laughed,
"No, I'm just wondering." He smiled and thought about it for a second before responding.
"Well I'm scared of snakes; I got bit by one when I was a kid. I was in the backyard playing and running around barefoot. One came out of the bushes and when I ran past him, he got me on the side of my foot. I still have the scar." He slipped off his sandal and brought his knee up to show her. She wrinkled her nose,
"Ouch. When was this?"
"I was about 11 or 12."
"Wow. I'm scared of snakes, too." He looked at her and nudged her shoulder,
"So, your turn; what are you scared of?"
"Well, I'm scared of spiders and alligators and, like you said, snakes. I'm sort of scared of heights, too." She took a deep breath and he knew she was forgetting a big thing. She must have read his mind because she looked out towards the ocean and said,
"And, of course, bridges."
He continued to look at her and he could tell by her expression that she was contemplating whether or not to add more. She finally took another deep breath and turned to him,
"You've probably been wondering why I'm so scared of bridges, right?" He nodded,
"I was, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." She gave a weak smile and shook her head,
"No, I want to tell you."
She took a deep breath again, then turned to him and began her story.
Ahhh! I know, i'm such a mean person :) I know I said I don't like cliff hangers, but I think they can be useful in certain areas. Like Ben said, it adds suspense! But, Heidi, there's still so many questions! Why is Allison so afraid of bridges? What's the big surprise Ben has in store for her? Will he finally gather up the courage to tell her how he really feels? Will they finally kiss? Alot of them will be answered next chapter, so stay tuned! BTW, how do you like the date so far? Review and let a sista know! :)
