The Boy Next Door

ｅｌｅｖｅｎ

Rachel

Colton parked the car in front of a small local coffee shop. He opened his door and stepped out of the car. He was about to close the door, when his head poked back inside the car "Aren't you coming?" he asked.

"Yes I am, but I can't get the seat belt undone." I struggling to get the seat belt undone. It was probably my nerves getting to me.

He chuckled. "Here I will help you."

I let go of the seatbelt and let him take over. He pressed the red button, and the seatbelt popped out.

"How do you do all of these things so easily?" I said once I got out of the car.

"I think the real question is why can't you do these things." I looked at him blankly, saying nothing. "I was kidding, Rachel," He said, grabbing my hand and walking me towards the door. He let go of my hand to hold the door for an older couple coming out. They thanked him and he continued to hold it open for me to go inside.

"Thanks."

He nodded.

The smell of coffee and baked goods filled my nose.

"Do you know what you want?" He asked me.

"Hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, please."

The lady working the register asked if we were ready to order.

"One hot chocolate with extra marshmallows and one white chocolate mocha." he said.

"What were the names on those?" she asked.

"Rachel on the first one, Colton on the second."

She nodded while writing on the cups. "Your total comes out to $8.03." He handed her the money. "Your change is $0.97," she said, handing him the coins. He dumped them into the tip jar.

"I hate carrying coins around." he said to me.

"I should have those ready in a minute." She said.

We nodded and walked over to a table and sat down.

"Thank you." I said. "You didn't have to buy that for me."

"It's no problem." He shrugged.

A man working behind the counter called our names. Colton took the cups from him and walked back towards me. He handed me my cup. Instead of sitting back down, he walked over to the door.

"You coming?" He said before opening the door.

I stood up and followed him back to his car.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's a surprise." He said.

There were too many possibilities to think about. I like to know exactly what I am doing and where I am going.

"Ugh, I hate surprises. Can you please just tell me?"

"Nope."

He pulled out of the parking lot and we were on our way to wherever we were going. We drove for what seemed like a long time but was only about 10 minutes. To my surprise, he was actually a very careful and good driver. We ascended as we went up a curvy road I had never been on. He pulled off of the road on a fair-sized dirt pull off. We both got out of the car. He opened the trunk and pulled out two blankets. It had stopped raining but you could feel a cool mist in the air. Between two tall trees lies a thin dirt path. He offered me his hand and led me on the path through the trees. The thick canopy of the trees shaded the ground. I could see a larger opening that brought in more light in the distance. At the end of the trees was an open field on top of a small hill. The hill overlooked the city. Colton laid one blanket on the ground. He sat down on the blanket, then motioned for me to sit next to him.