Chapter Twenty-Four: Far Too Long
I laid sprawled across Lani's bed. It was a queen-sized four-poster canopy bed with a black duvet, similar to the rest of her room with her black walls, and black furniture. We both had the day off from guarding and decided to spend it together. We were on hour two of girl talk, and I was having a hard time containing yesterday's events from her.
I knew if I told her, she would throw a fit as she wasn't Mitchell's biggest fan, to begin with. After I told her the whole story of how we used to be best friends, how he blocked me on everything and never said goodbye, it was safe to say she was thoroughly unimpressed.
And when I told her his reasoning of being young, stupid, and immature, she still was not satisfied. "That's bullshit," She had said, "Complete and utter bullshit... but whatever, as long as you're happy, so am I."
Lani was across the room- her room was ginormous- sitting on her black leather couch, right under the wall of her gymnastics trophies and medals. When I asked her why she hadn't taken them down, she told me it was because they were a reminder of her old life and who she used to be.
"So Hallie, how are things going with Mitchell?" Lani asked me, and I sat up on her bed to look at her.
"Umm, they're good, yeah." I answered with a smile. "Things are good."
"Are you sure?" Lani asked suspiciously.
"Yep, all good. Things are great." I replied, putting on my best convincing smile.
Lani simply raised her eyebrow questioningly and my facade broke.
"Okay fine, so maybe there are some things- one thing- going on, but otherwise, things are good." I replied, this time more convincingly because I was telling the truth.
"Spill," Lani said with a wary look on her face, and so I did. I told her all about everything that had happened yesterday, omitting the number of times I had pushed on Mitchell's chest to get him to stop.
"-but he was super understanding of it. He held me in his arms, and he told me it was okay. I just don't even know what happened." I finished, looking at her for advice.
"Wait, so the two of you were kissing on his bed, and things were getting serious, and then you told him to stop, and you apologized to him?" Lani asked.
"Well yeah, I mean I always used to do that type of stuff- and more- with Connor, and I never had any problem with it. I don't know why I felt so weird yesterday." I replied shrugging my shoulders.
"Hallie, you shouldn't ever apologize for telling someone to stop, and if something feels wrong and you can't put your finger on it, there's usually a reason." Lani told me seriously, getting up from her spot on the couch to come sit next to me on her bed.
"But there really was no reason! I mean everything about Mitchell and I is just so right." I replied, shaking my head. I knew there was nothing wrong, and there was no reason.
"He wasn't upset when you made him stop, was he? And he stopped when you told him to?" Lani questioned me further, still looking concerned and not quite buying my response.
"No, he wasn't upset at all, a little surprised maybe." I replied, looking down and thinking back to what happened yesterday, "He was perfect, it was my fault really."
"You didn't answer my second question," Lani said lowly and my head shot up to meet her gaze, "Did he stop when you told him to?" She asked, this time more slowly and pronounced.
"Well, I pushed on his chest a couple times lightly, but as soon as I said stop he did." I told her, quickly adding, "Like the second I told him to stop, he backed away from me."
The corners of Lani's mouth pulled down into a frown, "Hallie," she said slowly as she shook her head.
"It really wasn't a big deal, if anything, it was my fault. I wasn't clear, he didn't know what I meant." I further defended him as Lani gave me a look.
"Hallie-" She started.
"Please Lani, can we just drop it? You weren't there okay? You don't know what happened." I asked her in a pleading tone.
"Fine," she replied to appease me, "But just know, that what happened yesterday wasn't your fault, and maybe it didn't feel right because it wasn't the right person."
Though I was glad she agreed to drop it, her last comment got me thinking, and it stayed in my mind as she changed the subject, asking if I wanted to watch an episode of Criminal Minds and then go get burgers from the BurgerShack.
I had known Mitchell forever, and I had liked him for just about as long. Even in the past few years when I hadn't had any contact with him, a part of me never forgot him, and that was how I knew that Lani was wrong, Mitchell was the right person me.
+++
"What's up, Leo?" I asked cheerily as we walked up to the BurgerShack. He looked at me, grumbled something under his breath, and rolled his eyes.
"Hallie Johnson, been a while." He replied with a smirk hidden behind his frown.
"Far too long." I replied grinning.
Lani and I gave him our orders and walked to the picnic tables adjacent to the shack. It was super hot and super humid, but the food was worth it.
"I was on guard yesterday and this group or pre-pubescent boys would not stop staring at me." Lani complained, dragging a fry through her ketchup, "God, it was so annoying. They kept coming up to ask me for sunscreen, or vinegar spray for their 'jellyfish stings', it was gross."
"Hey, it's better than the old divorced men that come to the beach specifically to hit on the teenage guards." I replied back, "I had one of those yesterday."
"How'd Mitchell deal with that," Lani asked with a snort.
"He told him to go away," I replied with a laugh.
"Well, as creepy as the old men are, at least they have the decency to not stare right at your boobs while they talk to you or talk about your 'nice rack' within hearing distance." Lani concluded, sighing and dropping her fry into the ketchup.
I felt my phone vibrate on my back pocket, and I pulled it out to see a text from Mitchell.
'date tonight? pick u up @ 7?'
A smile spread across my face as I typed my response.
'sure. can't wait ;)'
'dress nice'
When I turned my attention back to Lani, she was looking at me expectantly. "Mitchell asked if I wanted to go on a date tonight, he said to dress nice."
"Ooooh perfect. You can borrow something of mine." She replied with a smile.
"Are you sure?" I asked her hesitantly.
"100%," she replied, "I have so much stuff from my preppy days that I don't wear anymore, you're welcome to have any of it actually." She told me with a shrug.
"Aww, thanks Lani." I replied with a genuine smile.
We said goodbye to Leo and then headed back to Lani's place to begin getting me ready for Mitchell and my date.
I showered and washed my hair, then let Lani straighten and lightly curl it before applying a bit of light makeup and finally, a dress she picked out specially for me from her 'preppy closet.'
The dress was gorgeous. It had beachy vibes and fell about mid thigh. It had beautiful orange, pink, and coral colors along with a contrast of teal thrown in the mix. It was the perfect blend of casual beach vibes while still being appropriate for a fancy dinner.
True to his word, Mitchell arrived at 7 pm to pick me up from Lani's house, after a quick hug, we said goodbye and I walked out to my car which he was driving.
He looked especially handsome in a pair of khakis and a pastel blue button down shirt. It wasn't very often I got to see Mitchell like this, he was usually shirtless in his lifeguard uniform, and I honestly didn't know which one I preferred. Mitchell could probably make a plastic bag look good.
"You look beautiful," Mitchell said after glancing over at me, and then took off driving, "I have to drive a bit fast, our reservation is at 7:15." He told me with a grin.
"Mitchell, you didn't have to plan all this, the fancy dinner reservation, I mean. We could have just chilled at home." I told him, turning to admire my boyfriend's side profile.
"Yes I did, Hallie. I feel really bad about what happened yesterday and I wanna make it up to you." Mitchell told me earnestly, taking his eyes off the road for a second to make eye contact.
My heart melted at that. Any doubts that Lani had placed in my head earlier immediately evaporated. Mitchell was the right guy, the perfect guy for me, I knew that for certain.
I stared at him again, this time with a new appreciation for the boy in front of me. "Whatcha thinking about?" Mitchell questioned with a small smirk after a few seconds of me simply staring at him.
"You, us, how lucky I am." I answered truthfully.
He grabbed my hand and brought it to his lips, brushing them against the back of it slightly, "Believe me, I'm the lucky one." Mitchell replied.
+++
We arrived at one of the nicer restaurants in town. There weren't too many fancy places in a beach town, but there were two for special occasions, and it just so happened we were at Allouise's Waterfront Bistro, a fancy seafood place.
Mitchell and I walked in, and the host took us to a booth by a window with a view of the ocean.
"This place is so nice," I commented, looking across the table at Mitchell who smiled back at me.
"I'm glad you like it." Mitchell replied with a smile.
I'd been here once last year, but for a private event, and it hadn't been anything like it was now.
"So how was guarding today?" I asked Mitchell with a smile.
"Without you? Miserable. I think the old divorced dads were miserable too since there were no sexy young ladies to flirt with." He replied with a wink. "Seriously though, it was fine. Benji and I patrolled the beach together while Miles and Marco sat in the tower."
"Of course Miles sat in the tower," I said with a laugh, "he's so lazy."
Mitchell joined in laughing with me and continued on about his day, "Benji is great, I love him. He has some great advice about applying to college..." Mitchell stayed as the smile slowly feel from both of our faces.
It was like we had temporarily been ignoring that at the end of summer he would go back to the city and finish high school while I would move halfway across the country to go to college, and long distance relationships? Rarely ever worked.
As if realizing his mistake in mentioning applying to college, Mitchell quickly backtracked, "Damn, I didn't mean to bring that up- I just-"
"No it's fine, we can't keep avoiding it, we have to talk about it at some point, right?" I replied with a forced smile. "What are we gonna do when summer ends?"
"Hallie, I think-" Mitchell started, but then stopped abruptly as his gaze focused in on something- someone- behind me, and his eyebrows narrowed.
I knew that look, I knew who that look was for, and I knew this nice dinner at this very nice restaurant was about to get a little bit less nice.
However when I turned around, I saw something strange. Something a part of me was completely expecting, but also something I never would have dreamed of.
Connor and his family were at the front talking to the host, his whole family, as in him, his sister, his mother.... and his father.
The same father who had cheated on his mother that he never wanted to see, hear, or speak to again. And the broken look on everyone in Wilson family's faces except Mr. Wilson told me everything I needed to know.
This family was still broken, and they were not here together by choice.