Daniella drove Melissa home from school. She was happy to spend some time with Daniella, but she missed Gabriel.
As they sat at her kitchen table chatting, three beeps sounded from Melissa’s phone. A text message had been sent to her.
Picking up her phone, Melissa was shocked to read the text message from Gabriel. It said that his father would be out of town for most of the weekend.
They would not need to plan a double-date with another couple. They would not need to solicit favors from her friends. Gabriel and Melissa would go on an actual date. She was elated, overjoyed as she turned to Daniella and told her of the change of plans.
“Daniella, you’re not going to believe this,” she began. “Gabriel just texted me. His dad is going out of town for the weekend!”
“Get out! Really?”
“You know what this means right?” Melissa asked but didn’t wait for her friend to answer. “He and I can go out this weekend, on a date!”
“Oh my gosh! This is so awesome!” Daniella squealed. “But will your dad be okay with it?”
“I don’t see why not. I mean, Gabriel did pretty much save me…”
Melissa’s voice trailed off as she briefly relived the night of the bonfire.
“Melissa? Melissa? Hey! Are you okay?” Daniella was asking.
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just everything that has happened, and is still happening, gets to me. It eats away at me every day. It would be impossible except, well, I mean, except for the Gabriel thing.”
She could not adequately explain to Daniella how much it meant to have Gabriel in her life, doubted it would sound anything less than corny. But their relationship was growing, developing. It was far more than a shared dislike of Kevin Anderson. She realized it was never about that. She liked Gabriel. He was easy to talk to, open, honest. Though run-ins with Kevin often prompted their time together, they spoke of other things, anything; everything. Gabriel was intelligent and a good listener. He laughed easily and seemed to genuinely enjoy her company. And he was gorgeous. She felt fortunate to know him.
Daniella seemed to recognize the dreamy-eyed expression on her face and asked, “You’ve really fallen for him, haven’t you?”
Bobbing her head with an enormous grin, Melissa replied, “Absolutely!”
“That’s so great,” Daniella gushed. “Have you two kissed yet?”
“Nope, we were about to, but guess who came up and offered way too much information about her monthly friend?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Do I look as if I’m kidding?”
“Seriously? Please tell me Alexandra did not come up to you two as you were about to suck face and tell you about her period,” Daniella asked incredulously.
“Oh but she did,” Melissa laughed. “And it gets worse. She went on to tell us how constipated she was, also.”
Both girls grimaced before erupting into laughter.
“You’re telling me! But we love her!” Melissa managed, still laughing.
“We certainly do,” Daniella said between chuckles.
Blotting tears from her eyes, Daniella glanced at her wristwatch and sprang from her chair.
“Wow! I didn’t realize it had gotten so late! I have to get home and start studying for my calculus test tomorrow.”
Melissa stood and began walking her friend to the front door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Daniella said as she collected her keys and her purse from the kitchen table.
“Sure will. Oh, and do you think you could come over maybe before my date? I’m going to ask Alexandra to come too. I could use some serious fashion advice from the two of you. You know I’m challenged in that area,” Melissa continued. “I want everything to be perfect.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be here to help, not that you need it. You’d look stunning in a Hefty bag.”
“You’re the best!” Melissa said as she crossed the distance between them and embraced her friend.
Daniella left and the evening progressed uneventfully as did the rest of the week