do you remember?

ii

Dear Ashton,

Do you remember our first date?

You took me roller skating, and as cliché as it is, I genuinely enjoyed it. It was nothing like the time we met; this time it was awkward for us both because we had barely learned anything about each other from the last time.

On our date, I figured out some things about you. For example, how you came to New York from Australia. You explained to me how you had to leave your family behind to pursue your dream of becoming a drummer, and that everything was slowly falling in to place. You told me you missed your brother and sister terribly, and wanted to go back home soon.

Another thing I learned about you was how you always try your hardest at things you're passionate about. You were really passionate about music, but frankly, you must not have been too passionate about roller skating, because you gave up after the fifth time you fell.

Every time you fell, you would lie on the polished floor and spew out curse words under your breath as you attempted to return to your feet. The adults around us glared at us like we were wounded, and some even escorted their children out of the rink. When you finally gave up on skating, we both slowly shuffled out of the skating rink with our arms interlocked. Despite your efforts to stay up, you fell for the sixth time that evening. You were pissed because you couldn't stand for more than four minutes, so I helped you up and we sat down near the edge of the rink and watched everybody else for hours.

Needless to say, it was the best date I'd been on.

Later that night I texted you until 3 a.m., which didn't work out to well with my father. Turns out I had somewhere to be that morning, and I missed it because I was still asleep. My parents gave me a stern 36 minute lecture about it, and I had my phone taken away for the rest of that day.

My father returned my phone the next morning with a warning not to stay up all night again, or they would take my phone away for good. I promised I wouldn't, but who said I would keep my promise? ;)

Love always,
Vanessa.