Autumn Leaves and Teenage Dreams

46. The Next Step

"Try some," Aurora says. She gently hands me her cup of tea. I take a sip slowly, swish it around in my mouth, then slightly gag.

"All it tastes like is hot water," I say.

"I thought you'd really like that one," she complains as I hand the drink back to her. I decide to stick to my hot chocolate and stare upward at the sky as we sit outside on the coffee shop's patio. The owners have recently added heat lamps, allowing us to enjoy the outdoors, even as a cold autumn ushers in.

Aurora and I decided to get together for a quick coffee after school. It isn't much, and it certainly isn't an official date by any means, but we don't have the luxury of seeing each other every day anymore so we're doing our best to work our schedules so that we have time to meet up. It's strange. I almost feel lonelier now that we are dating. I would see Aurora every day if I could.

"You're free this Friday, right?" Aurora asks as she cups her palms around her warm cup of tea.

I nod.

"Let's go out somewhere, then."

"Like on a date?" I ask.

"Like on a date," she agrees. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know," I think. I'm already the indecisive one in this relationship. It took me ten minutes to figure out what I wanted to order, and the only options I was considering was hot chocolate and cider. I'm still not sure if I made the right choice.

"The pumpkin patch recently opened up. We don't need to go buy pumpkins or anything since that's expensive, but we could go take some pictures, go on a hayride, that kind of autumn stuff. What do you think?"

"Let's do it!" I exclaim.

"I'll drive us," Aurora offers.

"Are your parents okay with that?" I wonder.

"I have my own car now. Haven't you noticed it outside my house?" she asks. "I have to get to college somehow. I can't walk like I did with high school."

"Oh! Yay for that, then?"

"Unless you meant if my parents okay with us going on a date, and I told you already, they were a little bit shocked, but they were happy to know it was you, considering we know each other already. They did grill me about the two times you spent the night though..."

"We didn't do anything," I murmur grumpily. "You wouldn't even let me sleep in your bed, even though it's a double."

"Hey, I'm sorry! Sometimes my mom likes to send the cats into the room in the morning to wake me up," Aurora argues. "It's not like you invite me over to your house."

"Well, there's more people!" I argue.

Aurora giggles. "So pumpkin patch it is, then?"

"Yeah, it's a date," I agree.

Our fingers are interlaced as we walk back toward the neighborhood. I'm cold, probably because Aurora at least gets to wear whatever she wants and I'm in my school uniform, wearing nothing but a skirt and a light sweatshirt. Aurora seems to notice I'm shivering, and she pauses as we walk to shrug off her warm coat.

"Come on, you'll be cold," I argue.

"It's a ten minute walk, Callie. I'll be fine," she says as she drapes it around my shoulders. It's warm, I think, and as I put my hands through the sleeves, I realize it smells like her too. A part of me just wants to hold onto it for myself.

"I think I'm going to tell my parents today," I decide. "About us."

"How do you think they'll react?" Aurora wonders.