I walk out on the porch, hoping I wouldn’t slip on the ice that was left over from the small snowstorm we got over night. I cross my arms over my chest, if I wait inside my mom would figure out that I was going with a boy. And that’s saying a lot, since she doesn’t usually notice things.
I almost go back inside to hide under my blanket, embarrassed that I’d been stood up. When Cory pulls up in the driveway. I walk over to the car door, and instead of being overly nervous I feel calm. I open the door and smile at him, and I immediately smell the cologne he put on. It isn’t strong and it reminds me of summer, of heat.
“Hey, you ready to go?” Cory asks while biting his lip, he’s nervous. Which is good, because now I don’t feel like a total idiot. I smile at him.
“Of course! Let’s go.” Hopefully the night would turn out better than I’m thinking it will.
'~'
“I haven’t had cotton candy in so long! Thank you for buying it for me, but you didn’t have to.” My cheeks turn a little pink. I didn’t have any money since there wasn’t any time for me to work, as I was always watching Alice.
“Just the look on your face when you saw it was so worth five bucks. But you’re welcome.” Cory was in a leather jacket, which probably wasn’t keeping him very warm. But all guys had a built in heater, it seemed. So I’m not too worried for him.
“Yeah, well. Your happy dance is way worse than when I get excited for cotton candy.” For a second, I think I see him flush a little bit.
“You’re just jealous. Gosh, Iris, you’re such a hater.” Cory grins at me and then stops, which forces a couple of people to go around us. I yank on his arm. His eyes go wide and it looks like we just stopped in front of Disneyland.
“What are you looking at?” I follow his gaze to see the biggest and prettiest Ferris wheel I’ve ever seen before. I guess sometime while we were walking around it started to get dark. Which kind of scared me, where did the time go? The middle was lit up with bright lights, and the cars attached to it were different colors. Like purple, blue, pink, red, and so on. It was awesome looking, but I was scared of heights.
“We have to go on that! Come on!” He takes my hand and starts dragging me. I get kind of freaked. It’s not like I’m going to have an anxiety attack, but I was pretty nervous. I figure I shouldn’t tell him, I’ll go on it and I can get over my fear. And tell him while we go around a couple of times, he’ll be proud of me for getting over such a little fear.
I was so nervous that I couldn’t enjoy Cory’s hand wrapped around mine. I didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing so I didn’t say anything. We waited patiently in line for five minutes before we were called up to a bright yellow one. I felt a little better with the bar down in front of us. I let out a shaky sigh and look down as the wheel start moving. We started going backwards, which scares me even more. I tried not to let the fear show on my face, and either it worked or Cory was too busy looking down at everyone else. You could see everything in town, not that it was much to look at in the first place.
The wheel suddenly halted, and since I wasn’t expecting it; I gasped. “Cory! I can’t do this, I need to get off! I’m terrified of heights!” There was a panic I’ve never heard in my voice before. The seat we were in was slowly rocking back, you could hear the creaking. Like it was taunting me, it was the only thing from keeping me from falling. I started to hyperventilate a little. It was intense and scary, I could hear my heartbeat like it was a too loud iPod.
Cory looks worried and puts my left hand between his warm hands. Since my hands were clutching the bar, the sudden movement of when he grabbed my hand rocked the seat even more. “Don’t move. You’re okay. Look at me, eyes on me. Don’t look down.”
I stare at him, trying to calm myself down. I must really look like an idiot. What was I thinking? I mean I didn’t think that my fear of heights was this bad. But what did I expect it to be like? My heart calms down some, and not looking down is actually helping. When it starts to move again I remove my hand from Cory’s quickly. And secure them back on the bar. I smile at him and he smiles back.
“Want to go get something to eat before I take you back? I think there’s a good pizza place here.” Cory commented, I was about to tell him I wasn’t hungry when my stomach growled. I glance over at him, he didn’t hear it. I shake my head, pizza is good and all but I know a better place.
“Conner Bake Shop, that’s where you going to want to go. They have the best cupcakes.” I felt a lot calmer, which was great because I didn’t want to ruin the fun time we were having.
“Oh? Does someone have a sweet tooth?” Cory looks over at me with a knowing look. I would be embarrassed but I knew that he enjoys sugary foods as much as I do.
'~'~~~'~
“This is so good!” Cory says while trying to shove the rest of the dark cupcake into his mouth. I laugh at him; I didn’t want to look like a pig in front of him so I ate mine slower than I normally would.
“I told you.” I smile hugely at him. It’s ten at night, and I’m not sure if I was supposed to be home by now or not. And I’m not worrying myself with it.
“Hey, when are you supposed to be home?” Cory is now finished with his cupcake and he’s glancing at me. He also shifts his gaze to the counter, like he wants to go get another but he’s not sure.
“Whenever you get tired of me! Oh, and go ahead and get that third cupcake. You know you want it.” I tease him, and watch him shake his head. Still deciding, eventually he gets up and goes to the counter. He pulls up his wallet and buys two more. He comes back and passes one to me before slowly devouring one of them. I couldn’t help watching him eat a vanilla cupcake this time, and I try not to laugh when he gets a little white frosting on his top lip.
“Thank you.” I tell him before I eat mine as fast as Cory ate his last one. I figure he could see worse things than me eating fast.
“You know, they don’t really have cupcakes in Russia. They have these fruit cake type things. No frosting, and there’s actually fruit in them!” His almost rough accent makes me laugh along with his shock.
I made a gagging noise. “That’s just horrible. How did you live?” I wink at him and finish my last cupcake. He shakes his head and shrugs, like he has no idea.
“Let’s get you home then!” Cory scoots back in his chair and holds his hand out, smiling I take it as we walk back to his car.
~
The lights are still on when I get home and I check the time on my phone, eleven on the dot.
“You’re not late, are you?” Cory asks me worriedly. I guess he assumes that I have some strict father or something that is going to be mad at him for keeping me out so late.
“I don’t think so; my mom didn’t really give me a time.” I shrug and look at him. “I really had fun tonight. Thanks for taking me, and paying for everything.”
“Anytime. I really mean it. I’m glad I met you on my first day here, and didn’t have to beat around the bush looking for someone awesome. Just call me anytime you want to hang out.” He smiles at me brightly and his eyes are shining so bright.
I lean in for a hug, but it’s hard to do in a car. Especially a little one. I hug him for a few seconds, and he smells good. Before I can pull away he kisses me on the cheek. I blush a little bit, I didn’t see that coming. I feel a little happier when I see a light blush on his cheeks, which is almost hard to see since it’s dark out.
I get out of the car, waving at him before I turn to walk up the steps. I almost fall, but save myself. I open the door and my mom is sitting there with a beer in hand. Her boyfriend is on the couch, and they both have their eyes set to the television. When I shut the door they barely glance at me. My mom has gotten drunk so many times that I think her tolerance for alcohol is messed up. She doesn’t get stupid drunk anymore, she get’s I-don’t-know-where-I-am right now but it’s alright drunk.
“Alice has been crying for the past thirty minutes.” My mom croaks to me in a voice filled with ash. I roll my eyes slightly. She believes in letting a baby cry it out for a while, at least while she was under the influence. I can’t find it in myself to be pissed at her or even annoyed really because I still have a smile on my face that could light up this run down town.