We sat down outside to eat. It had been a long time since I last had human food. I loved the smell and the taste. Everything in the human world I had fallen in love with, the skies, the smell of the water, and the sounds of the birds and the water. You wouldn’t be able to find that anywhere near where I came from. I was sitting by Rider. He was eating his hamburger and drinking his pepsi. I had a mountain dew and a hamburger. And Braylie had a hotdog and water. I was done with my food before the others even got half way. I went over to the park bench and sat down my thoughts on how I would be able to make it in this world for two years. Rider walked over and sat down beside me. I leaned against him and put my head on his chest. His heart was beating faster than normal. “What’s wrong?” I asked. Rider looked up at the sky. His eyes followed the clouds as they passed by. “I’m terrified Arrai. What if I fail and I lose you or Braylie. I wouldn’t want to live with myself if you or Braylie died.”
The look in his eyes was sad. He was really worried and I could sense that he was about to cry. I gave Rider a hug and looked up at him. He put his hand on the lower back of my head. “Arrai, I don’t want to lose you. You're my life now.” He said. I put my hand on his cheek and quickly leaned up and kissed him. We hadn’t kissed since we were back at the meadows. It felt good to kiss him again. “Hey Arrai?” He said after pulling away. “Yeah?” I didn’t know what he was about to ask but I knew it was something about us. “I know that we just got here and everything and I don’t want to rush things since we are both tired but… would you like to go to dinner tonight?” Rider asked. Every inch of my body tingled. I was really happy.
“Yes, I would love to.” I answered. It was getting dark later that day and Rider walked me home. “I’ll see you in a few hours.” He said leaning in to kiss me. I walked into the house and my sister ran up to me and gave me a hug. My sister was a little younger than me. She had long black hair and she was wearing pink and green. My brothers were in their room playing video games and they were both a year younger than me. “Hey Kaybrie. Where is mom and dad?” I asked my little sister. “In the front room watching TV.” Kaybrie said her sweet little voice was heart melting. I walked into the front room and my mom--Brindy-- and dad--Josh-- were watching TV. Well at least my mom was. My dad, Josh was reading the newspaper.
“Hey mom. Dad.” I said leaning over the back of the couch giving them a kiss. “Hey darling. How was school?” Josh said. “It was awesome!” I said giving them both a hug. Brindy looked at me like there was something wrong and I sat down in front of them. ”Is there something wrong mother?” I said. “Oh no darling nothing is wrong.” She said with a smile. I got up to go to my room. “Hey mom, dad. So I will be going out in a couple of hours I probably won't be back till late.” I said. Josh looked up from the newspaper and looked at me. “Your 17 years old you can do anything you want from here on out. You don’t have to run anything by us.” I smiled and walked to my bedroom. I went through my closet and found a dark red mini dress. I pulled the dress out and put it on the bed. Grabbed my makeup and put it with my dress. And went to go get in the shower. The water was warm. I wasn’t used to getting in the shower with warm water. Justin had hooked the water up wrong at the house so we didn’t have warm water.
I sat in the shower for a half hour. I got bored and got out. I threw the dress on and fixed it so that it didn’t look wrinkled. Kaybrie walked in and sat on my bed. “Hey sis? Are you going on a date?” She asked. “Sure am.” I turned and smiled at her. I started putting my makeup on and after I didn’t recognize myself. I looked even prettier than I already was. I threw my hair up in a bun with my bangs hanging. “You should curl your bangs Arrai.” Kaybrie said going through my closet looking for shoes for me to wear. I took out the curling iron and started curling my bangs. “Found them!” Kaybrie shouted. She walked out of my closet with red high heels.
I was ready for my date with Rider. I was getting nervous. Really nervous. I walked out to the front room expecting to see my mom and dad watching TV. Instead my mom was in the kitchen cooking dinner. I walked into the kitchen to show Brindy how I looked. When she turned and seen me her hands shot up to her mouth. “You look beautiful!” She started crying and gave me a big hug. I smiled and hugged her back. The doorbell rang while my brothers and I were talking about school and other stuff. “Katie! Jake’s here.” My mom said. I walked to the door expecting to see Rider in jeans and a t-shirt. Instead he was in dress pants and a white dress shirt.
He took my hand and leaned in to give me a kiss. Josh cleared his throat as if to interrupt me and Rider’s moment. “Don’t have too much fun.” Clove said while we were walking to Rider’s car. We got in and he started the car. “You look nice tonight Rider.” I said, breaking the silence. “Thanks, you look beautiful.” He said and smiled. He pulled up to a restaurant, got out of the car, and opened my door. I looked at him while he helped me out of the car. We walked into the building and went up to the person in front. “Excuse me miss. Table for too please.” Rider said like a gentleman.
“Right this way.” The lady said picking up two menus. We followed the lady and sat down as she put down the menus. “What can I get you to drink?” She asked pulling out a small note pad. “I’ll just have water.” Rider said. “Mountain Dew for me please. Thank you.” I said. She wrote down our orders and walked away. My phone started vibrating. I pulled it out and looked at it.
Katie there is a girl here that says she knows you?
It was a text from my little sister, Kaybrie. I texted back.
It might be Luna. Just tell her that I am not there. Thanks.
I put my phone on my lap and looked at Rider. “What’s wrong? You have been like this all night.” I asked. “I’ll be right back.” He said while getting up. He walked up to the front of the restaurant and talked to the waitress. I couldn’t really see what he gave her but he gave her something small. He said thank you and came and sat back down. What was he planning? I was starting to get nervous. “What’s wrong Rider?” I asked. He grabbed my hand and looked at me. “Nothing is wrong I just have stuff on my mind that is all.” He said and gave me a gentle smile. I didn’t know what he was planning but I knew that considering it was Rider he wasn’t planning anything bad. I knew that whatever he was planning, it was going to be something good. The waitress brought out a tray of rolls and Rider gave her a big smile. What was going on? I got up out of my seat and went to the bathroom. I was crying by the time I got into the bathroom.
I was fixing my make up when the waitress that brought out our rolls came in. “Miss? Your boyfriend had me come in to see if you were alright.” She said. “I’m not happy with him right now.” I cried. “Why?” The waitress asked. I looked at her name tag with said, Nadallie. “He is keeping secrets from me and he smiled at you like he does with me.” I said. “He just smiled at me like that because I brought out the rolls. And he was smiling like that when you two walked in.” Nadallie said. “Oh.” I looked down at my feet and whipped away the tears. It seemed as though Nadallie could tell what I was thinking. “Don’t worry he has something very special for you tonight.” She said with a wink. My eyes lit up with happiness. I hurried out of the bathroom and sat back down where Rider was sitting. He smiled and took my hand from across the table. “Arrai?” He asked. I looked at him and he got down on one knee. My hand shot up to my mouth. “Will you marry me?” He asked me. The whole restaurant turned and looked at me waiting for my answer. It took me awhile to answer him. I choked back the tears and went to talk when my voice cracked. “Arrai? Sweet heart are you alright?” He said. "Yes! Rider! Yes! I'll marry you!" I said. Rider stood up and kissed me. The whole restaurant started clapping and Nadallie came over with the ring. Rider put the ring on my finger and I smiled and hugged him.