I looked down at the picture of my summer camp group that was taken 8 years ago.
I was sitting right in the middle of my friends with a toothy smile and my crazy curls. Oscar walked over to me, took the frame into his hands, and pointed to the kid sitting next to me with a similar toothy grin.
"That's me."
"What!" I eyed him over, trying to mentally age him from that little boy to the man he was now. "How did I not recognize you?" I baffled. He definitely had a glow-up over the years but thank god that one dimple smile has stayed the same.
"Would you honestly recognize any of the other kids in this picture today?"
I shrugged my shoulders, "I would like to be able to say yes, but we both know that's not true apparently."
"Well, we only knew each other for that week, but it was the week that changed my life," he nudged me with his elbow, "do you remember sneaking out of the cabin to go stargazing?"
"Yes! I remember feeling like such a rebel. It was the first time a blatantly ignored a rule," I admitted.
"Same here," he scooted closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "but the other great part about that night was that I knew I had found my best friend." He squeezed me closer still, and my stomach flitted with butterflies. "I was so shy back then," he continued, "but you were the one person that I felt like I could really open up to. You were so kind and warm; how could I not become your number one fan?"
I felt a blush creep up into my cheeks at such a heartfelt admission that I had to look away.
"So, on the last day of camp, I had planned to get your house phone number or something so that we could have play dates," he released me and ran a hand through his hair, "but by the time I had convinced myself to do it, your mom had already picked you up."
He put the photo back on the dresser gently and walked me over to the bookshelf. He pulled out a photo album and opened it. There were pictures from that summer put neatly into the plastic sheets, "my mom had let me take a disposable camera with me," he explained, flipping through the different memories from that week.
"Hold up, I want to look at these," I said, reaching for the book.
He handed it to me but flipped it to the last page where there was a piece of paper tucked into one of the photo pockets, "first, I want to show you this," he pulled out the piece of paper and unfolded it.
"This is the contact roster for all the kids. The minute I realized I had missed my chance of getting to ask for your number, I swiped this off the head councilors desk."
"You're kidding," I laughed.
"Nope! I don't know what came over me, but suddenly, there was nothing that mattered to me more than getting your number. Sadly, all you had written down was your email address." he looked down at the paper, lost in the past.
"So, does this mean the email you sent me wasn't by accident?"
He scratched behind his neck again and looked away for a second to collect his courage, "I've known that I was talking to you since the first time I sent you an email," he finally admitted. I couldn't believe it. He had known who I was this entire time.
"Why the hell didn't you just tell me who you were then!" I didn't mean to raise my voice, but he had lied to me for the last 7 years.
"I was 11. I had crippling social anxiety. It was the only thing I could think of that helped me break the ice. I really did want to tell you after the first month, but I was stupid. I had buried myself into a hole I couldn't climb out of. Eventually, I just gave in to the lie I had created. I didn't mean to hurt you, Lana. You have to understand that," he grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
"I don't know, Oscar," I slipped my hand out of his and closed the album, "it's a really shitty thing to do, pretending not to know me when actually you did," I said while I placed the photo album back onto the shelf. I planned to look at it later.
"I know, I know," he ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "after the first year of talking to you, though, I realized that eventually, this day would come, and I was going to have to start making it up to you."
"How do you plan to do that?" I asked, trying not to smile. I wanted him to sweat a little, but I knew that I was going to forgive him. I would be a hypocrite if I didn't. I understood first hand how hard it was to speak up when you know you should, and I'm 18.
He had only been 11.
"Well, don't judge me for this but let me show you something I have been working on," he walked over to his closet and flicked on the light. He reached up for a cardboard box sitting on top of the shelf and brought it down to place it on his bed. I wandered over next to him to see what was inside.
He lifted the lid and placed it on the floor, and stepped aside so I could see. "Are you kidding me?" I laughed, picking up a full piggy bank with my nickname on it, "you actually have my name on piggy banks?" I asked, dumbfounded.
"Yup, one for each year that I've known you. I have no idea why I started this, but I think it will come in handy in the future," he smiled, picking up one and handing it to me.
"You can't possibly use this money on me. I won't allow it," I placed it back into the box. There was no way I would let this idiot save all this money just to waste it on me.
"I can and I will," he smiled, "I've already used one bank to buy a plane ticket to your competition next week. The others are for something else."
"Like what?" I asked, lifting the box off the bed and placing it on the floor. I laid down onto his soft covers and sighed. This whole situation was a lot to take in, and I felt like my brain was starting to go into overdrive. Oscar laid down next to me but left about a foot in between us.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," he smirked.
His floppy surfer hair covered his eyes, and he ran his fingers through it to clear it. He looked up at his ceiling and sighed, "thank you for giving me a chance to explain everything."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything," he turned his head, and his blue eyes pierced into mine, "I promise, I will not keep something like this from you ever again."
"Well, I don't know when you'll be able to lie about your identity again, but okay," I joked.
"You know what I mean," he poked me in the stomach, stirring the butterflies that have seemed to find a new home.
"Does Mia know about me?"
"Yup, she's the specific friend I said was probably more invested in this whole thing that I am," he laughed.
"Do you think she'll forgive me for Wednesday night?"
"Oh yeah, I'll call her once schools out and explain everything. She can be incredibly stubborn, but she is easy to forgive," he explained.
I rolled over on my side to face him and propped my head up with my hand, "thank goodness, I was worried I had messed up big time," I sighed in relief and ran my hand over the covers, smoothing out the wrinkles. "Now explain something to me. The night you came over to my house, how did Mia know I have a fear of alien movies?"
"I have no idea!" he chuckled.
I smacked him in the arm, "you literally just promised you wouldn't lie to me again."
He stopped laughing and swallowed, "you're right, you're right. I might have mentioned it to her a while back, and that girl has a steel trap for a memory. Just to clarify, though, it was not my idea to scare you. She thought of that all by herself."
"That's okay. Justice was served when you fell into my pool," I grinned, "besides, I got to see you in my clothes which was a bonus."
"Why? You like what ya see?" he motioned to his body and smirked.
I refrained from answering and laid back down so that he wouldn't be able to see my blush. Now that I was free to actually like Oscar without any guilt or questions holding me back, I can say for certain that I do, in fact, like what I see. There was no way I was letting him know that because that liar, liar pants on fire deserved to suffer a bit.
"Why did you think Guy was Austin?" Oscar asked after a moment.
"He had black converse," I admitted.
"That was your only reason?" he scoffed.
"Of course not," I sat up and looked down at him. "He had a friend with black hair, Drew. He kept asking me out without reason, which is why I thought he knew that I was Goofball. He was charming like you, and he was persistent," I said, holding up a finger for each reason. "Had I seen you wear a pair of converse, I might have dropped the hunch and saved myself from dealing with him further," I huffed and laid back down.
"Well, what do you think you will do about him now? About Brynn?" he asked, his brow crinkling in concern.
"I have no idea. I don't want to do anything at the moment because an act fueled by anger is usually a mistake. I think it would be best if I just let it go and stop talking to him. Icing someone out can sometimes be just as effective."
I turned to look at Oscar, and he was smiling at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing. It's just nice to know that you are still just as kind as the first day I met you."
He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, and my breath hitched. His face stayed close to mine, and I could see all the different shades of blue dancing in his eyes. Just when I thought he might kiss me for real this time, he pulled away and got up off the bed.
He held out his hand to offer me help up, and I took it. I hoped he couldn't feel my heartbeat through my palm because it would probably take me a while before my pulse gets back to normal.
"If it's alright with you, I think I should probably take you back to school now so that you can take your Vespa home before tonight," he released my hand and walked over to grab the vase with the flower in it.
"You said that you would be on the field tonight, but you don't play football," I said, accepting the vase. I was trying very hard not to think about the kiss we almost shared.
"I know, I'm in the marching band," he smiled and puffed out his chest, "who needs a football player when you have the hottest saxophonist in the world?"
"That may be true but do you even know of Duke Silver?" I asked, laughing at his antics.
"Fair point," he slumped, hair falling over his eyes in mock defeat.
He was too cute for his own good.
"So the plan tonight is for me to watch the game all by myself and wait for it to be over before we can go on our date?" I asked, touching the delicate flower with my finger.
"Mia, Trevor, and George will be at the game with you to keep you company actually," he led us back down the stairs and into the entranceway.
"Oh, thank goodness, I don't actually like football," I slipped on my shoes and watched Oscar do the same, "so, after the game, where are we going?" I smiled up at him, hoping I could charm him into answering my question.
"You know I'm not going to tell you that, right? I have been planing it for months," he smirked. "I will tell you that you can dress as cute as you want. Just make sure you dress warm," he kissed me on the forehead and left me to open the door. I shook my head and smiled, hugging the vase to my body to try and calm the butterflies.
"Okay," I smiled, heading back out towards his car in a daze.
As I buckled my seatbelt, I watched him walk around the car towards the driver seat. My mental image of Guy combined with my perception of Oscar in perfect harmony. He was charming, goofy, handsome, and kind. He was everything I imagined my best friends to be, and my heart swelled at just the sight of the stupid dimple.
I watched as he started the car and plugged his phone into the aux cord. He caught me staring at him and paused what he was doing to stare back, "what?"
"Nothing," I smiled, turning my head towards the window so that I could hide my grin.
Tonight might just happen to be my last, first date.
A/N:
I think I'm going to start including songs at the end of each chapter that helped give me inspiration for this story. I also love finding new music, so if you think of a song that would fit too, please feel free to leave your recommendation in the comment section!
Love and appreciate you all,
Karli