the photographer. [zdh]

eighteen

"where are we going?" i asked zach.

he smiled. "i was thinking in-n-out first."

"first?" i said, grinning. "what's after that?"

"you'll see."

**

upon our arrival at in-n-out, zach told me to take a seat while he ordered our food. after a while, zach came back with two cheeseburgers, two drinks and one large fries.

"you remembered my order," i smiled at him. he nodded.

"of course. we're on a freaking date. i would obviously know what my date wants to eat."

as we ate, zach told me about some of the plans that they had for the band, and when i begged him to let me have a preview of their new music, he laughed and shook his head.

"you'll have to wait like every other limelight," he told me. i sighed.

after we finished, he grabbed my hand and led me out of in-n-out. we walked for about ten minutes before zach stopped us. reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a blindfold.

"what's this?" i asked.

he smirked. "i'm sorry, but in order to maintain the, uh, element of surprise, i have to blindfold you until we reach our destination," he said.

i groaned, but allowed him to tie the blindfold around my eyes. the sudden darkness was hard to get used to, but zach took my hand and guided me along the path. he had to prevent me from knocking into people several times.

"oof, sorry!" i exclaimed as my shoulder hit someone.

i heard the person say "it's okay" before zach dragged me off again.

after another five minutes, i was starting to get impatient. "are we there yet?"

"just a bit more."

suddenly, i heard loud music being played on speakers, as well as the laughing, chattering and screaming of a lot of people. i also smelled food. specifically, cotton candy and popcorn. putting all these together, i could already guess where we were.

"zach-" i began, but he stopped me.

"i'm gonna remove your blindfold. we're here."

as he removed my blindfold, i was hit by the bright and colourful lights of a carnival.

"zach!" i laughed, spinning around to face him.

"i remember you saying that you wanted to attend the fourth of july carnival when we were in fifth grade but you ended up not going cause your foster parents refused to let you go. i'm about seven years late, but we're gonna stay here until you want to leave, alright?"

"wow," i whispered, hugging him tightly. "thank you for remembering. it means a lot to me."

he smiled and hugged me back. "anything for you."

**

"what do you want to do first?" i asked leah.