had in recent weeks.
“That sounds like a threat,” I said. Demi smiled.
“Oh it is,” she said.
Apprehensive
You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf.
Joseph Goldstein
2007
“I bet you twenty bucks that I could beat you in a race,” I said to my best friend, Lauren James. She smiled and held out her hand.
“You’re on Carson Lucas,” she said. I shook her hand before slipping my goggles on.
“First one to finish three laps wins,” I said. We climbed up onto our blocks and dived in. I knew halfway through the second lap that I was going to win. Lauren and I had both been swimming since we were three but I had always been faster. I was urging Lauren to finish so that I could gloat my achievement to her when I saw him. He was walking toward me but looking in the other direction. I’d stared at him often enough in class so I knew who he was immediately.
“Earth to Carson,” Lauren said, splashing me. She followed my gaze and grinned. “You might want to put your tongue back in your mouth, Cars.” I turned to glare at her.
“Whatever, Lauren,” I said. “You owe me twenty bucks.” The smiled dropped off Lauren’s face immediately. She turned and swam toward the steps. I couldn’t help myself; I snuck another look in his direction as I climbed the stairs and followed Lauren to the table where we had left our bags. Lauren dug around in her bag as I sat down.
“Here,” Lauren said, shoving twenty dollars under my nose. I glanced down at the money.
“You don’t really have to pay me twenty bucks,” I said. Lauren reached into my bag and fished my wallet out.
“You can use it when you finally decide to ask Devon on a date,” she said as she tucked the money in my wallet.
“Lauren, Devon Lee could have any girl,” I said. “Why would he want to go out with me?” Lauren glanced away for a second.
“I don’t know,” she said as she saw something that made her eyes light up. “But you can ask him yourself. He’s heading this way.” I followed her gaze and gasped. Devon was walking in our direction, wearing an easy smile, his black hair falling in his eyes.
“What do I do?” I whispered. She rolled her eyes.
“Here’s a rash thought,” she muttered. “Talk to him.” I smiled at Devon as he reached us.
“Afternoon, Lauren,” he said, whilst keeping his eyes on me. “Hello, Carson.”
“Hello,” I said. “How are the holidays treating you?” He shrugged.
“Fair,” he said. “What about you?” I opened my mouth to reply but Lauren beat me to the chase.
“For Pete’s sake, Devon,” she said. “I know you didn’t come over here to just make small talk. What do you want?” I glared at Lauren but she pretended not to notice. Devon shifted his weight.
“Carson, are you busy tonight?” he asked. I shook my head.
“No, I don’t have any plans,” I said. “Why?”
“Would you like to catch a movie?” Devon asked. “Maybe get some dinner?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’d love to.” Devon smiled.
“I’ll pick you up at six,” he said. I waited until he was out of earshot before turning to Lauren.
“I have a date with Devon Lee!” I squealed. “I can’t believe it.”
“Should I wear my hair up or down?” I asked Lauren. It was quarter to six and I had spent the better part of the last hour asking Lauren dozens of questions about what I should wear and do on my date.
“You should wear it down,” Lauren declared as she studied my shoulder length straight blond hair. “It looks good down.”
“How do I look?” I asked. I was wearing denim shorts and a blue striped singlet that Lauren said brought out the blue in my eyes. Lauren looked me up and down.
“Fantastic,” she said. “But we forgot one thing.”
“What’s that,” I said. Lauren smiled and glanced at my feat.
“Shoes.” I looked down at my feet as Lauren headed over to the box where I kept my shoes. She pulled out a pair of white sandals.
“Perfect,” I said as I slid them on. I slipped my phone into my pocket just as I heard a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it, Mum,” I called as I opened my door and walked downstairs. By the time I reached the front door, Mum was already there and talking to Devon.
“So what grade are you in at school, Devon,” Mum was asking as I approached them. I bit my lip to keep from groaning.
“We better go, Mum,” I said. “We’ll miss the movie.”
“Be home by nine,” Mum said.
“Don’t worry, Mrs Lucas,” Devon said. “My father is going to drive us straight home after the movie.” Mum smiled.
“You two have fun,” she called as Devon and I walked down the front path to his father’s car.
“Evening, Mr Lee,” I said when I climbed into the backseat of the car with Devon.
“Hello, Carson,” he said as Devon joined us. “Are you both ready?”
“Yep,” we said. Mr Lee started the car again and checked behind him before pulling back onto the road.
“I’m glad you agreed to go out with me, Carson,” Devon whispered in my ear. I turned to smile at him.
“I’m glad I did too,” I said.
“So what movie are we going to see?” I asked Devon as we walked into the theatre. We had decided not worry about dinner since we both had to be home by nine.
“My sister told me that new movie, Enchanted, is really good,” Devon said. “Would you like to see that?”
“Yeah,” I said, a little surprised. I’d only seen ads for Enchanted but it seemed like a chick flick. Devon laughed.
“I have three sisters,” he explained. “I actually like girly movies.” I smiled and slipped my arm through his.
“Enchanted it is,” I said. Devon paid for our tickets and we headed toward the cinema.
“So, are you the only boy in your family?” I asked Devon as we waited for the movie to start. Devon shook his head.
“My mum had another son, Quigley, when she was sixteen,” he said. “He’s twenty-four now.”
“What are your sister’s names?” I asked. Devon smiled.
“Yasmin is my older sister,” he said. “She’s eighteen. My two younger sisters are twins, Xara and Unity. They just turned twelve.”
“You all have very interesting names,” I said. Devon smiled.
“Mum’s thing is the more the unusual the better,” he said. “But enough about me, do you have any brothers or sisters?” I turned away.
“I had an older brother,” I said. “Vincent. He was ten years older than me but he died in a car accident when I was eight. He got drunk with a couple of his mates and they decided to go for a drive. They all died.”
“I’m sorry, Carson,” Devon said. “I can’t imagine what that was like.”
“You weren’t to know,” I said. My voice shook and Devon reached over to squeeze my hand. I smiled at him as the lights dimmed. I turned my attention to the screen grateful for something to take my mind off my brother. As the first movie preview started, I felt Devon slip his arm around my shoulders and I rested my head on his.
“I had a really nice time tonight,” I said to Devon as we walked up the path to my front door.
It was now eight-thirty but because the movie had finished at eight, we decided that there was plenty of time to stop for ice cream.
“It was a good movie,” Devon replied. “I’m glad I saw it. And thanks for trusting me enough to tell me about your brother.” I nodded.
“I hope I get to meet your brother and sisters some time,” I said as we sat down on the swing chair by my front door.
“How about tomorrow?” Devon asked. “I know they’d love to meet the girl I’ve spent all holidays talking about.” I felt a blush creep over my cheeks.
“You’ve told your family about me?” I asked. Devon slipped his hand into mine as our eyes met.
“I really
like you, Carson,” he said. “I couldn’t help it. When I like someone, I talk about them a lot.”
“I like you too, Devon,” I said. Devon cupped my cheek in his hand.
“That’s good,” he said, his lips suddenly inches from mine. “Then you won’t run away when I do this.” He started to lean in to kiss me but I stopped him.
“Devon, I, I, I’ve never kissed anyone.” Embarrassed by my statement, I looked at my hands but Devon raised my chin so that our eyes met again.
“Then this kiss will be even more special,” he breathed. He softly pressed his lips against mine for a second before pulling away.
“That was nice,” I said. Devon laughed and kissed me again.
“Good night, Carson Lucas,” he said. “I will call you in the morning.”
“Good night, Devon,” I said and then I watched him walk back to his father’s car. I walked upstairs to my room and flopped onto my bed, wonderful memories of the night floating through my mind.
One Year Later
I was tempted to run away as I watched Lauren kiss her new boyfriend Archer Moore.
“Get a room already you two,” I said to them. Lauren stuck her tongue out at me and told me to:
“Stop being bitter, Devon dumped you ages ago.” I turned away. It had been nearly two months since Devon had dumped me after almost nine months together. I figured I was allowed some time to grieve because Devon had been my first serious boyfriend.
“Fifty six days,” I said. “Twelve hours and ten minutes.” Lauren finally pulled herself away from Archer to stare at me.
“You’re joking right,” she said. I smiled and Lauren threw her towel at me.
“Very funny, Carson,” she said. Archer sat up and ran his hands through his hair.
“You’ve got Nick Darke’s