I sat in the passenger seat and watched the trees and brambles speeding past us as Ansel drove down a long, dirt road in a woodsy area just outside of town. I stuck my arm out the window and let the cool, damp, morning air rush past me.
"Why won't you tell me where we're going?" I protested.
"Because it's a surprise! Haven't you ever heard of those?" Ansel said, and I stuck my tongue out at him.
Suddenly, we pulled off on the side of the road, and I wiped my slightly sweaty palms on my gray sweatpants.
"We're here," Ansel announced, turning the car off and unlocking the doors. He climbed out and grabbed a bag from the backseat.
I got out cautiously and glanced around. Other than the canopy of trees overhead and the little cleared pathway in front of me, there was nothing around us.
"OK, now is when you need to close your eyes," Ansel told me, the car doors locking with a beep.
"Oh my gosh, why?" I exclaimed.
"If you won't do it yourself, then I will!" Ansel chuckled. He used one hand to cover my eyes, and the other rested on my shoulder to guide me in my sightless state. He led me down that little path as I stumbled over rocks and exposed roots, making us laugh every time. We climbed a little hill after we got off the path, and Ansel uncovered my eyes. "We're here."
The trees cleared here, and I found myself standing at the edge of an abandoned basketball court, draped in morning mist.
"Why are we here?" I asked.
"Because you can't be my girlfriend and not know how to play basketball," Ansel told me, pulling a ball out of the bag he'd brought. He dropped his bag and dribbled the ball on the court.
"You know you want to!" he shouted to me, sinking the ball in the net.
I jogged out onto the court and snatched the ball. I grabbed it with both hands and threw it as hard as I could at the net, missing it completely.
Ansel threw his head back and laughed. "We've got a lot of work to do."
I glared at him and punched him playfully in the arm. The ball came bouncing back towards us, and he sauntered over to me.
"OK, here's what you're gonna do. You're right-handed, correct?" Ansel asked. I nodded, sticking my right hand out.
He placed the ball in my palm. "Your right hand is gonna be underneath the ball, like so. Your left hand is on the left side of the ball," he explained, placing my hands where they needed to be.
He showed me where my feet should be and how I should shoot the ball to make it go in. I tried about fifteen times, and it barely missed the backboard. I kept shooting, and I chased the ball around the court like a madwoman whenever I missed. I ended up trying to dribble the ball around the court, and I stayed right outside of Ansel's reach the entire time.
I had barely missed Ansel swiping for the ball, and I stopped right below the net and shot it in.
"Yasssssss!!!" I shouted, and Ansel high-fived me and picked me up in a big hug. He showed me how to dribble, and even though it took me a while, I felt like I improved a bit more every time.
Ansel had brought water bottles for both of us, and we decided to take a water break and chill for a bit. (I just noticed this... water break and chill ;))
The ground was covered with Monday morning dew, but we decided to lay in the grass anyways.
"How did you even find this place?" I asked Ansel.
"Well, I got bored on Google Earth one day, and thought, 'Hey, it would be really cool to see that basketball court out in the middle of nowhere.' So I drove out here with a basketball one evening, and it's been my little safe haven ever since. Whenever I'm stressed out or need to get away from everything for a little while, I come out here," he told me.
I paused. "Google Earth? Really?"
We both laughed. "What? I love Google Earth!" he protested.
"You're a goofball," I giggled.
"Well, I don't have your brains, so I've gotta have something going for me," he retaliated. "Besides being a brainiac, what do you enjoy doing?"
"I read, I watch a lot of Nexflix, I listen to music... sometimes I doodle when I get really desperate," I responded.
"Do you like any sports?" Ansel pressed further.
"Uh, not really. I play croquet with my family sometimes,"
"Oh my goodness, croquet is not a sport!" Ansel exclaimed with a laugh, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Yes it is! It has a ball, therefore it's a sport!" I argued. "We always play it during our 4th of July family get-together."
"Dude, 4th of July is this weekend!" Ansel exclaimed, sitting up.
"No way."
"Yes way! My family always has a cookout, you've gotta come!" Ansel told me.
"And you've gotta come play croquet with my family!" I said. We shook on it, and Ansel flopped back down beside me.
I turned to look at him. "Thanks for taking me out here. This is all really cool."
"My pleasure," he said softly, kissing the tip of my nose.
Ansel climbed to his feet, setting his water bottle down by his bag. "Ready to go back at it?"
We messed around for a while, with me teasing Ansel, him dunking on me, plenty of laughter, and so. Much. Hugging.
It was close to noon when Ansel dropped me off at home, and two pairs of icy eyes bore into me as I stepped in the front door.
"Okay, this whole 'running off by yourself and not telling us where you're going' situation needs to stop," mom said. "Where have you been going, and who have you been going with?"
I sighed in exasperation. "Ansel, mom. I've been going out with Ansel," I confessed.
Mom's eyes narrowed even more than they already were. "We have been over this countless times. That boy is-"
"My boyfriend. "That boy" is my boyfriend," I cut in. "We've been friends for a while now, and we made it official last Friday."
Mom opened her mouth to say something, but I beat her to it.
"The thing that you can't seem to grasp, mom, is that Ansel and I have bonded in a way that I never have with anyone else. You know how hard it is for me to make friends. It's weird, because I just seem to understand him, and he just seems to understand me. Ansel means a lot to me, and I mean a lot to him. And you cannot take that away."
I turned towards the stairs, then turned back to say: "By the way, I invited Ansel to the 4th of July party this weekend. Maybe you should try to talk to him. Maybe give him a chance."
I ran upstairs before they could say another word. I shut my bedroom door, then checked my phone to see that I had a FaceTime request from Rosemarie. I accepted.
"Girl," she began. "I literally haven't talked to you in a stinking. Month."
"Rosemarie, I've missed you so much! How's life been?"
"Pretty good, I guess," she said, fiddling with something to her left. She was sitting on her bed, as was I, and her hair was pulled back. "I've applied to a few different colleges, but haven't had any luck so far."
"Aw, why not?" I asked.
"I don't have much money. Either I need to get a scholarship, or I need lots of financial aid. I really don't want to get a bunch of student loans, then get myself in debt before I even get out of the house, y'know?"
"Yeah, I understand. What do you want to major in?"
"Well, I'll probably major in English, but I'd like to work to become a journalist," she said shyly. "Harvard, biotechnology, right?"
"Yup, that's me. And you'd be a great journalist!" I told her.
She grinned. "Thanks, girl! How've you been?"
"Pretty good. Ansel and I have been hanging out a lot lately."
"Oh, really? How's that going?"
"Good, really good, actually. He made this whole spiel about his feelings for me last Friday, and he called me his girlfriend today, so I guess we're dating? He has yet to actually say, "Oh, we're dating..." I don't wanna be one of those girls, that a guy talks to them and suddenly they're dating, y'know?" I told her.
"Aw, that's so cute!" Rosemarie squeaked, clasping her hands together. "Yeah, I know what you mean, and you're totally fine. Relationships are weird."
"They really are!" I said with a laugh. "How about you, got anyone special?" I winked.
"Nope, I'm still a single Pringle. And not quite ready to mingle," she replied.
"Ah, don't worry. You've still got plenty of time, my fabulous Pringle!" I declared.
My stomach grumbled, and both of us giggled.
"I probably should go get some lunch," I said.
"Yeah, don't starve to death!" Rosemarie said with a laugh. "I'll talk to you later!"
I waved goodbye, then hung up, on the prowl for some macaroni and cheese.
A/N: I don't really have much to say here... but thanks so much for reading! Don't forget to vote and comment, or even share with your friends, it means a lot! Love you guys! XOXO, -Serena :)