The Very Best

Chapter Eight

Hello, my beautiful readers! Before we get into the oh-so very late chapter, I wanted to explain a bit. I had to study for finals and finish up all of my assignments for the end of the semester. I wanted to write the entire time. So glad that's over with and glad to be able to write again! I absolutely love Mark's picture! The song is Come on Get Higher by Matt Nathanson.
Missed you guys,
~Supernaturally Awkward

I called Ian later to catch him up on the events of the day. He just laughed for a very long time.

"What?" I exclaimed.
"You're so awkward," he laughed. "'Is this just a one time thing?"' He said mockingly.
"Shut up. God, you're so rude."
"I'm not rude. You're just weird!"
"Whatever, I had fun."
"Good. You seem happy," he remarked. I realized the truth in his words. I was happy. A smile spread across my face. He had to leave thirty minutes into the call because his mom could be heard calling him to come get his laundry out of the dryer. We signed off and I turned out the lights. I stared at the ceiling replaying the events over and over again in the back of my mind.

I curled up in my bed and tried to focus my mind in on sleeping. I tried to convince myself that closing my eyes would be more interesting than following my thoughts further. I knew that I was kidding myself, but I had to try. I humored my heart by allowing my thoughts to drift to Mark. I hugged my knees to my chest. Imagining his face caused my complete bliss and I fell into a soft, deep, happy bliss.

I woke up to the sound of my dads watching something on the television. I got ready to begin my day and watched my phone, anxiously awaiting a sign of life. For nearly the entirety of the day, I was disappointed. I refused to say anything first as to not seem so desperate for his attention. After all, he could be busy or doing something that required no interruption. I knew that I was making up excuses, but I didn't care. I laid back on the couch, closing my eyes. My eyelashes fluttered, tired and bored, but unable to go to sleep or find something interesting to occupy my mind with. I ended up playing a mindless game on my phone, just waiting around for a text or a call. I didn't get either.

A knock sounded on the front door. My eyes widened in suspicion. I opened the door to see a delivery person. My face must not have properly masked my disappointment because he looked at me curiously.
"Is everything alright?" He asked.
I nodded, faking a small smile. I had undeniably gotten my hopes up that it was Mark. "Do I need to sign for it?"
"Nope," he said too quickly. I peered up at him in confusion. He shifted his weight nervously. "Well, have a nice day."
"Thanks. You too," I replied as I watched him leave. He didn't get into a delivery truck and instead climbed into a tiny car. I looked out skeptically. I shrugged. Closing the door, I sat down on the couch and looked over the package. My name had been handwritten at the top. I peeled away the edges and peered down into the box. Inside was a bouquet of red roses, and a snow globe depicting skaters and a frozen lake. I smiled at the contents. Lifting the items out of the box, I discovered a note:
If you can guess where we're going, call me.

I laughed in delight. Dialing the number, I shook up the snow globe. He picked up on the second ring.
"Hello?" He answered.
"Hey," I replied cheerfully. "I got your delivery."
"Oh?" He asked in mock surprise. "How do you know it was from me?"
I giggled. "So, are we going up the mountain to see the snow or what?"
"Ah, so you haven't figured it out. I guess it'll just have to be a surprise. Dress warm. Can I pick you up at three?"
"Absolutely," I said, my flirtatious voice surprising even me. We hung up and I squealed in excitement.

I opened my dresser drawers to sift through my clothing. I pulled out a pair of faded skinny jeans, a black sweater, and an ivory infinity scarf. I showered and dressed, spritzing expensive perfume on. Smiling at the outfit, I pulled on a pair of knee high black boots and gray jacket. Lacing the ruby necklace around my neck, I decided to dry my hair. I braided my bangs away from my face and pinned both sides back. I curled the remainder of my hair and applied my makeup. I focused mostly on my mascara, making my eyes look huge. For a final touch, I put on some light pink matte lipstick. I tucked my phone, credit card, and keys into my small, black clutch. I looked at my appearance and grinned. I felt confident. The door bell rang shortly thereafter. Before answering, I straightened my clothes. Turning the knob, I grinned to see Mark standing there in jeans, a gray hoodie, and a beanie. His eyes widened. He looked me up and down.
"You're breath taking," he said almost more to himself than to me.
I smiled. "Thank you."
"You ready to go, my beautiful date?" He asked, offering his arm to me.

I nodded with a smile on my face that just didn't seem to go away and wrapped my fingers around his strong arm. He opened the passenger side door for me. I smiled in appreciation. He helped me up and closed the door. Mark pulled himself up into the driver's side and started up the truck. We drove for quite some time, enjoying one another's company. Somewhere a long the way, he linked our fingers and kept talking, although I became flustered and couldn't say much of anything. Finally, we made it to Chicago. I asked him where we were going, but he just said it was a surprise.

"Who was it that came to my door today?"
He chuckled. "My friend, David. He said you were a bit skeptical about the whole thing."
I laughed as he pulled into a parking lot. I looked up at sign, looming over the huge building. I gasped.
"We're going ice skating?" I exclaimed. He nodded and seemed to be taking in my excitement.
"God, you're beautiful," he said. I blushed and mumbled a 'thank you.' "Are you ready to go in?" I nodded enthusiastically. He came over to my side and had to hold me under my arms to help me hop out of his truck. He grinned at me as he set me on the ground and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I smiled up at him. He led me inside the building, where we borrowed some skates and sat down to put them on. He nudged me with his shoulder. In response, I kissed him on the cheek and stood up, walking toward the rink. With some kind of ungodly speed, he stood up and turned me around, cautious to not knock me over as I was unstable on my skates. He held me steady with his hands on my waist and he kissed me. He kissed me like no one had before. A swirl of emotions engulfed me and I wanted to stay that way with him forever. I linked my fingers behind his neck. He pulled back and kissed the top of my head, wrapping his arms around me protecting me from the people watching us. I pulled him towards the ice and watched as he followed me taking careful, thoughtful steps. Once he stepped on the ice, he seemed to relax. He laced his fingers with mine. I smiled at him and it was the frigid ice below us should have slowed us down, but we skated and we danced to the music playing over the intercom. It was obvious that we had both skated before and it was relieving that I didn't fall in front of him. Although, I'm not so sure he would have minded, as he seemed so quick to make sure that I was safe all the time and to help me whenever I needed it. When finally we had to leave, he drove us to a burger place that was called the best in town. We sat down at a booth. When the waiter took my order for a burger, Mark just stared at me with a look that could only be explained as a look of amazement and intrigue.

I asked him why he was looking at me like that. He grinned, ear to ear and said he was amazed by me. He told me that most girls that he knew were afraid to eat a salad on a date. I laughed and promised that the situation described would never be the case for me. I liked my burgers and I dared anyone to stop me from eating them. He chucked at the statement, probably because I couldn't intimidate him if I tried. Occasionally, he would get this look of adoration on his face as he watched me ramble on about topics that I didn't really care about and people that I didn't really know. It felt amazing to have someone just listen like that. He told me that he loved to watch me when I was just being myself. He listened and watched my every movement from the way I pursed my lips in between sentences to the way I would wring my hands if I talked about something that made me sad. He spared me no detail explaining how stunning he seemed to find my eyes. I laughed it off and told him that he was just a flirt, but he seemed adamant. After another circular conversation, where his mind seemed to be else where, he asked a question that was so calmly stated that I probably could have missed it and just smiled and nodded and moved on like I had heard him when we both knew full well that I hadn't. However, I was paying astute attention to his nervous behavior and caught the question before it could slip away unanswered.
"Will you be my girlfriend?"

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you haven't yet, leave a baby name in the comments along with a gender!
~Supernaturally Awkward