Page 28 of Jake and Conner
But I was with Conner and Conner hadn't minded before so I tried to make myself relax. Sitting next to me was my childhood best friend. Whatever had happened between us, there was no one who knew me as well as Conner did. He'd known what he was saying yes to when he agreed to go out with me.
"Where are you taking me?" Conner asked.
"First, we're getting something to eat."
"Some fancy restaurant then?" Conner looked mildly surprised, because neither of us really enjoyed eating at fancy restaurants. I was happier with burgers and fries and pizzas, and the few times I’d taken Conner out to dinner, he’d poured over the menu forever, convinced that he shouldtry something new, even though he never really wanted to—and then he ended up either being disappointed with the new food or with himself for sticking to the same old.
And besides, eating at restaurants wasn’t really comfortable. Conner liked to read while he was eating, and I liked wolfing down my meal to drag him away from the table and his book. He would protest every time, but only until our lips touched. His complaints always turned into something else then.
"I'm not dragging you to a fancy restaurant. We're getting take-out," I explained. "From a place with a limited but excellent menu.”
"You got this day all planned out, huh?"
"Did you think I was gonna wing it?"
"You used to wing all our dates."
"Not all of them," I protested. There had been two or three I put a lot of thought into. Like our very first date. I'd been so nervous that day too. It wasn't even technically a date. How did you date someone you were used to seeing every day? Thing was that we were always being watched back then, one way or another, ever since we'd been caught kissing.
So I made some plans to get away.
~
The sun was high in the sky as we biked into the forest. Conner was supposed to be at a study group. I'd intercepted him on his way there. Conner told me I was being a bad influence, but he'd come with me, anyway. He asked me what I had in the basket on the back of my bike, but I didn't say.
"If you wanna know, you'll have to come with me," I'd teased.
And now we'd nearly reached our destination.
We were both sweating by the time we reached the little lake in the middle of the forest, lined by tall green trees and shining almost emerald itself. We were lucky--there was no one else but us. No other teens trying to escape their parents and no families here to disturb the peace. The road leading up here wasn't maintained well, which probably helped. The lake felt like our own little sanctuary now, as if it had been placed in the forest solely for us. I was egotistic to think that way, but what teen wasn't at least a little bit?
"Perfect," I said, getting off my bike and wiping the sweat off my forehead.
"This is where you wanted to take me?" Conner asked, eyeing the lake curiously.
"This is where we first met, don't you remember?"
"Nah, we first met on the way up here."
"Details." I waved him off. "Fact is, we met when Dean and Griff took us here to swim."
"I remember that." A faint smile tugged on Conner's lips. "I couldn't even swim."
"Yeah, but I showed you." While I spoke, I opened the basket on my bike and took out a dotted blue blanket that I spread on the grassy ground at the edge of the lake. I'd found it in the washroom closet and hoped that my dad wouldn't miss it. My dad thought I was out playing baseball with some of the kids from the neighborhood.
"I don't think I learned anything the day you tried to teach me how to swim," Conner said, watching me.
"No? But I tried so hard." I laughed and carried the basket over to the blanket, set it down. "You were super quiet. I didn't know what to do with you."
Conner shrugged. "I didn't know what to do with you either. You were super loud."
"Only to make up for your silence," I said easily, sitting on the blanket and taking various food items out of the basket. Bread, cheese, grapes, cherries, cans of soda... I can't remember what else. I wasn't really focused on the food. Conner had sat down next to me now. Almost instantly, the forest air smelled sweeter. I turned to him, trying not to inhale too enthusiastically. I couldn't help it. I loved the way he smelled.
"Are we having a picnic?" Conner asked, eyeing all the food.
"It's a date," I announced somewhat proudly.
"Oh, really?"
