As I leaned my head out the window, I feel my face start to hurt. All this smiling is getting to me, but I guess it can't be helped. My eyes begin to sting and it gets harder to blink in the 50 mph winds, so I pull my head back in the car and roll up the window. I feel my eyes starting to water, the moisture coming back as I feel a hand on mine.

"AA this is gonna be great, trust me," Sollux says, placing his hand back on the wheel, joining the other, for better control.

"Why won't you tell me what you're planning?"

"Because I don't want you to get too excited about it," he replies, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Fine, but that doesn't mean I won't start getting excited!" I exclaim, my smile not fading. I can't wait to see the vivid blue of the ocean. I've never been able to, and I'm so excited to walk on a beach. We've always been worrying about gas money in my family, especially since my mom has been in and out of jobs since I was little. My dad has been working for the air force for a while now, and at the moment he is stationed in Japan. We didn't want to move, but we Skype him whenever we can.

"Well I will tell you that you might not want to wear flip flops the whole time."

"Why not?"

"You've said they hurt your feet, but you'll still need them," he states. Even I've forgotten when I said that. Maybe it was last summer, or the summer after eighth grade, or something like that. I lose track of time a lot.

I turn and grab my favourite hat from the back seat. I got it from as a souvenir when I went with my grandpa to see Indiana Jones come out in theaters. That was probably six years ago, maybe seven… I dunno, it's just really old. It's an adventurer's hat and I've worn it on many "expeditions", mainly me just dragging around my sheep plushy in the mud and dirt at the local playground.

Turning the radio on, I flip through the stations that come in, trying to find one that isn't pop or other. An oldies station comes on and Sollux puts up his hand stating, "I think I might recognize it, isn't this what old geezers listen to?"

"I dunno.."

The radio blares:

"Well, I'm upper upper class high society

God's gift to ballroom notoriety

And I always fill my ballroom

The event is never small

The social pages say I've got

The biggest Balls of all"

"Dude, what is this? It's like some creeper wrote it!" Sollux exclaims incredulously. I just let out a giggle.

The song continues on saying:

"I've got big balls

Oh, I've got big balls

And they're such big balls

And they're dirty big balls" This elicits laughter from the both of us.

"And he's got big balls,

And she's got big balls"

"Dude, what?" I shout, utterly confused by this perverted song.

"But we're got the biggest balls of them all!" the chorus concludes. The song continues on, the two of us ending up in hysterical laughter at the end.

The radio host comes on the air and says "Okay, that was a little bit of AC/DC that someone requested. And no, get you mind out of the gutter, Patrick. It was about a dance."

"Hey, it ain't my fault I was raised in the seventies!" Patrick exclaims. "Anyways, Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks is coming up right after the break."

Sollux reaches over and turns down the volume so we don't have to hear the commercials.

"Okay, close your eyes," Sollux tells me, keeping his eyes on the road. I was wondering how much longer it would take.

"Why?" I question.

"Because we're almost there and it's a surprise," he states. I roll my eyes before closing them. So cliché. After a minute or two I hear and feel the vehicle pull onto a gravel area and then it coming to a stop. Not one of his smoothest stops, I should say. He gets out on his side and soon enough I hear my door open and feel an absence. Holding my hand, Sollux leads me over and adjusts me. I giggle. "Okay, you ready?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" I ask, as though it were obvious, which it is.

"I don't know? It's just something you say before you unveil something, or do something over the top drastic," he replies, and I can just hear the smile on his face.

"Can I open my eyes yet? It's a little disorientating not being able to see," I inform, starting to feel a bit dizzy, standing on uneven ground.

"Fine, geez. Go ahead, it's not like I can stop you."

"Well…"

"Just open your goddamn eyes, AA!"

I open my eyes to see a glassblower's shop. It's a small one, right off the highway. It doesn't look that big, but it looks to have a shop in the front. I utter a small astonishment before walking forward and opening up the door. I hear him saying something about calling the person in advance to make sure it would be open. He even paid for a class to take place. I smile back at him as I look at all the little works of art. There are multicolored paperweights, jewelry, vases, cups, and even cats and pumpkins! Some things are even over $50, but it's all the large or complicatedly exquisite items.

Ring ring! I hear Sollux ring the bell on the counter. A quiet expletive is heard from the other side of a door before it opens up and an older man opens it, his wife standing in the back. He looks at us for a second, then with a smile, asking, "Are you the two that wanted the lesson?"

"Yeah, we drove here over the cascade range and are spending the day here," he states.

"Well the lesson is free as long as you buy something over twenty dollars from the shop," he looks at me then back to Sol.

"Do multiple things count as long as the price is over twenty?"

"Yeah, I just suggest you don't load up on small things because they clack together and break, sometimes even with newspaper," he says. Sollux nods then walks over to me, asking what I want.

"The pumpkins are beautiful," I state, looking at the $25 price tag. "How do you make them?" I ask the man.

"Oh, I don't make those, my wife does. She's the artistic one, the one with talent. I just make the small things like paper weights and cups."

"Well still, you two do have a talent."

So, what do you think? The rest of their date will appear next week in part two, but this was getting a bit long. Constructive criticism is welcome because it makes my story more pleasurable for you. Tell me what you did/didn't like in the comment/review section below. Bye bye!