The New Kid (Book 1)

Chapter 19

Elliot

I was just stepping out of the shower when there was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" I called out, wrapping a towel around my waist.

It was Mom's voice that answered. "You might want to hurry up. Colton's here."

"O-okay," I stuttered out. He told me he was coming over around lunch time, so unless I took an hour long shower, which I know didn't happen, 10:30 in the morning was not lunchtime.

As quickly as I could, I dried myself off and made myself presentable for my date today. It's been a while since he promised it to me, but we finally managed to have one day uninterrupted by anything that would cancel this date again.

When I was ready, I stepped out of my room and followed the sound of voices to the kitchen.

I found Mom sitting at the table talking to Colton. They both looked up when I walked in, Colton wearing a large smile, which I couldn't help but return immediately.

"Hey, babe," he said, standing up. "You look nice."

I blushed, tucking my head into his shoulder as he hugged me. "It's not that nice." Really it was just a polo and the only pair of jeans that still fit me, length-wise. Nothing special.

Lifting my head up, I gave him a kiss before changing the topic. "You're really early."

Colton shrugged. "I know. But I totally couldn't wait any longer." He took a step backwards, but grabbed hold of my hand. "Is that alright?"

I nodded my head quickly, which just ended up sending a little drop of water from my wet hair dripping down my forehead. Colton let out a little laugh before wiping it away.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked me.

I nodded again. "Yeah. Let me just put my shoes on."

He followed me back to my room so that I could finish getting ready. Then, after what should have been only a minute but really took five because he couldn't stop distracting me by giving me little kisses anytime I went by him, we were walking out of the house, hand in hand.

We walked for maybe ten minutes down the streets that I had grown up on. But by the way Colton was leading me, one might think that it was him who had lived here his whole life instead of me.

I hadn't forgotten that he was taking me on a picnic, although it hasn't been mentioned again since that day, but I had no idea where we were going. We ended up on a small street that I didn't know very well, with one side completely lined with woods.

I was just about to ask where we were going when Colton pulled me into those woods, which turned out to just be a thick layer of trees that hid a really cute little area with a small jungle gym and swing set.

Seeing the playground brought back a hazy memory. I think I have been here before, but it's been years.

I stopped walking, just taking it all in; the grass was a bit taller, the metal on the swing set starting to rust, but all in all, it looked the same as I remembered it.

Colton stopped walking as well, turning to smile at me. "Do you like it?"

I nodded. "It's perfect for a picnic."

He gave me a quick kiss before pulling me over towards a shady spot of grass. Placing his backpack on the ground, Colton knelt over it and started taking things out, starting with a blanket.

"Can you spread that out, babe?" he asked, holding it up to me.

I grabbed it out of his hand before laying it on the ground. When I finished, Colton had taken some bags of chips and a couple sandwiches out of his backpack, as well as a couple sodas for us.