Long Distance Love

6

We drove for about 30 minutes just talking like we did before. Talking to Luke was just so easy. We went back and forth asking questions about each other and laughing. It's almost as if I had known him for years.

"So what's your biggest fear?" He asked me as he looked over at me for a split second, and looked back at the road.

"Hmm. That's kind of a tough question. I'm actually kind of scared of a lot of things. Heights, clowns, frogs. But I think the thing I'm scared most about is growing old alone."

"I guarantee that you'll never grow old alone."

Not knowing what he meant by that, I just kept looking down at the daisies in my lap. This was the first time anyone had every gotten me flowers.

"So where are we going?"

"You'll see. We're almost there."

We sat for the next five minutes in oddly comfortable silence. We ended up in this little town about 45 minutes away from where I live. He pulled up to this restaurant called Kay's Goods. He turned off the car, ran over to my side and opened the door for me, and we walked inside, him dragging me with one hand, and my flowers in the other.

"Hey look everyone, it's Luke!" Said a man who looked to be in his mid forties. He had already began to bald around the top of his head, but he had a full beard to make up for it.

Luke was greeted by some of the people in there, others just smiled. I could tell that everyone loved him here. Was this his family?

"Hey Kay. Could I get the usual, please?" He started talking to this woman with brown hair and brown eyes. Her hair was up in a bun, and she was wearing a blue button down shirt.

"Of course. Anything for our favorite guy and his lady friend." She winked at us, and I could feel myself start to blush.

"This is my date, Emily." He did a small smile, and she looked at him as if she understood and he didn't have to say anymore.

Luke led me to a table in the corner of the barely filled restaurant. The wall was filled with Polaroids of different couples, and they looked so happy. It made me wonder what being in a relationship was like, because if it's anything like what it looked like in the Polaroids, it must be pretty great. I stopped thinking about it when I felt Luke's eyes on me.

"Your smile gets crooked when you get interested in something."

Never having someone notice that before, I got nervous and looked away. We spent the rest of the night laughing, talking, and eating sandwiches. 

"Umm, Luke? No one else is here now." 

I looked around trying to find another soul in the deserted restaurant, but there wasn't a single one. 

"I guess the owner went home. It's okay. We're friends. I've done this before." 

He's done this with other girls? Of course he has, Emily. He's a popular, outgoing, good looking guy. Of course he's going to have brought other girls here. Don't feel special.

Even though I told myself not to feel hurt because he's brought other girls here, I can't help but feel a little disappointed. I thought this was special, because he made it sound that way. We got in the car, and I pretended to be asleep so I wouldn't have the pressure of making conversation. 

"Emily? We're at your house."

I guess I really did fall asleep. Luke looked at me and pushed my hair behind my ear.

"You really are beautiful, Em." He looked at me differently. I've only seen guys look at girls like this when the guy is about to kiss the girl in the movies. I started to blush ferociously, even though I tried to fight against it. 

"Thank you. Thank you again for taking me out to eat and for giving me these flowers. I had a lot of fun." I gave him a small smile before I started to open the passenger door. I got out and hurried to the door and didn't look back. 

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a tall cup and filled it with water. I put my flowers in the vase, and took them up to my room. I put them in the window, and walked to my dresser to get my pajamas on. I undressed and put on a big tshirt and leggings, out my hair up into a bun, and took off my makeup. I crawled into bed, and looked at my flowers. And for the first time in a long time, I fell asleep happy.