27 | 𝐼𝑛 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑙𝑒𝑠ℎ

My eyes studied the yellow sign, slightly faded by time. Nevertheless, the black letters were still  legible, despite the sign being puckered out of the ground with a splintered wooden pike.

AVENTURINE

I should've prepared my physicality rather than my kissing skill with Victor. I knew nothing about a zipline park, but here we were. Straight from school and wearing the worst attire. In my defense, Sullivan told me he'd prepare me to know what we were doing, but it was only fifteen minutes prior to us leaving the school building that I found out where we were going.

Of course I couldn't say no to something as simple and spontaneous as that. Especially on the first date. This was the first impression, the real impression that mattered. Therefore, I was left stranded in my gray cropped sweatshirt with a pink flower centered on it and black leggings.

I surveyed the wooden planks twenty feet off the ground, saturated in rainwater, but my attention deviated from the gorgeous blond and green eyed guy who explained how he'd come here often, to the overwhelming zip lines connecting wooden poles together.

"Do you need help?" Sullivan inquired, gesturing to my harness. "How about you go get an employee and then I'll meet you by the start line?" he suggested, making me get flustered again. I spun on my heel, hurrying to a blue plaid shirt with the Aventurine logo spread across his shoulder blades.

"Excuse me, Sir?" I inquired, intrusively peering over his back. He pivoted abruptly and I recognized him immediately, the baseball cap revealed the small slice of pizza embroidered along the lip. I whispered hissingly, "what the fuck are you doing here, Victor?"

"I say the same to you!" he remarked, scanning the field of ziplining equipment and customers. "Shouldn't you be on your date with Sullivan?"

"I am on my date with Sullivan!" I snapped.

"Why the hell would he take you here?" Victor tugged me aside and his shirt was stained in that greasy pizza smell with a faint trace of roasted peppers. "This place is a grime filled pothole."

"Since when did you start working here?" I retorted, staring down at his nametag with the 'Hi, My Name Is' above it.

He threw his arms up in an exaggerated motion. "For not even a week but more importantly, you can't even walk down the hallway without clumsily tripping, how is he trusting you twenty feet up in the air?" He gestured to the floating beams of wood.

"I'll be fine!" I snapped. "Now, help me with this harness--"

"You better not die," he warned. "I'll kill him." His hands wrestled with the straps along my stomach, securing them in place before jerking me towards his torso, making me stumble into his build.

My heart stuttered at the faint taste of his breath in my mouth. "I have to go back to my date, Vicky," I grumbled.

"Hmm... you don't sound so happy--"

"Riyah!" A voice called from across the lot, I gave one last brief smile towards Victor before juggling the straps and metal clasps in my hands as I met by his side. My heart quickened in pace as the instructor described what we needed to do. After getting most of the instructions engraved in my brain, we started on the course.

Sullivan and I were at least six' feet up after a few mini safety-practices. His metal hook was clasped on the thin line. He looked at me with a smile. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah!" I beamed, but I was struggling. I noticed he was having a blast. Seconds after I responded, he snapped his second clasp on the string and pushed off the wooden board, yelling in excitement as the zipper sound prolonged in my ears. His feet pounded to the opposing side of the line, shouting for me to come over.

"Come on, Riyah! We aren't even that high up!"

I anxiously stood atop the wooden plank, snapping my clasp onto the wire. I looked towards him, but he was already heading onto the next obstacle. I hesitated, pursing my lips and fumbling with the hook in my hand, but I became easily frustrated. I went to call out for Sullivan to help me, but he'd disappeared and when I turned around, I noticed three people were beginning to form a line behind me.

Shit, shit, shit. Azariah! Get this right! People are waiting.

I frantically tried to get the hook to clutch the wire, but when I saw that it clipped the top of the string, I leapt off the plank impulsively just to keep the line moving. I expectantly waited to soar through the air like Tarzan but was started with a rigid drop. The wire bent as I was dangling by one singular hook keeping me attached.

I heard the three girls call for help as my cheeks darkened shades of red. I scrambled to reach the string and the hook, but before I knew it, somebody's hands were positioned at my waist, releasing the tension of me hanging there weightlessly.

"Take notes, Rhy. Clasp the second hook on the cable," he directed, and I knew that voice... and the nickname.

Shit.

I clamped the second hook slowly onto the wire before his grip loosened on me. His hand grappled the strap wrapping around my back as he outstretched his arm, dragging me across the wire till I reached the opposite side.

I stood on the wood, stabilizing myself as he instructed, "Now release that hook--" He pointed to the one and I did as told, releasing myself.

"Vicky--"

"Don't thank me." He narrowed his eyes around the wooden obstacles. "Where's your boy toy?"

"Not my boy toy," I muttered. "My date, and he's a little ahead--"

Across the adventure park, a prolonged scream echoed through the obstacles and lo' and behold, Sullivan Crobett was ziplining down a cord on the far end of the course with his arms outstretched to the sky. "This is awesome!" he screamed, his voice transpired into quietude when he reached the opposite end of the line.

"Is that so?" Victor implored with a lopsided grin. "How about you let him finish and then come back with me to the restaurant? I should be working right now anyway," he expressed, motioning to the cabin, glowing from the inside with orange tainted lanterns.

"I would like that," I said. He raised his arms and with hesitance, I sat myself down on the wooden board and lowered myself into his arms. He situated his hands on my ribcage and brought my feet to the ground, waving the three girls on to go.

After slipping off my harness, we started across the flattened soil till we reached the awning of the restaurant with the blue and yellow logo 'Alven Quartz.'

"Wanna sit outside?" he wondered. "This is my section--"

"You really think that's a good idea? You, waiting on my date and I?" I rephrased, wrinkling my brow in a futuristic distaste. He stifled a laugh, motioning with his head to a circular wooden table towards the back of the porch, it was at the edge of the railing, looking onto the obstacle course. I quickly walked towards it, pulling out the wooden chair and sitting myself to watch the zip-line course.

"Can I get you anything to start?" he asked me in a sophisticated sounding tone.

I stared at him, rolling my eyes and looking down at the menu placed before me. "I'll have a Sprite, please?" I gave a cheesy grin which he scoffed at.

"Don't do that innocent act on me," he warned with a superstitious smile. "What do you think Corbett would want?"

"I don't know." I looked up and sure enough he was going across another cable, his voice booming throughout the park. "I think a water will be fine for now," I replied, seeing him wink before descending inside.

I cupped my hands, leaning over the wooden surface with my elbows matted to the ligneous table. Placed before me was my drink and I was only tending to my phone, taking hesitant sips to pass the time, and ever-so-often I would glance up to see Victor dressed in a checkered blue flannel, baseball cap, and generously ripped black jeans.

Whilst I was on my phone, I checked over my online homework updates which Mrs. Allen piled onto my lockscreen. The project was due in two weeks, and to say the least, Sullivan and I barely started.

My chin tilted up towards a familiar voice as his muscular build was clad in a long sleeve army green cotton shirt with loose fitted jeans. He jogged up the small ramp up to the porch and neared my table. His arms were outstretched with a wide smile. "Where did you go, Riyah?"

I shrugged lightly. "Oh... you know. Just needed a drink--"

He drew out the wooden seat and smiled brightly at me, showing off his pearly white teeth and pink tinted lips. I so badly wanted to bring my mouth to his.

When I went to open my mouth to speak, a presence met us at the end of the circular table with a notepad in hand. "What can I get for you today?" he asked with a brief grimace on his lips. His black hair peeked out of the lip of the baseball cap.

Sullivan was studying the menu when he announced, "I'll have the number twelve." When he met the waiter's eyes, he gasped. "Vislocky?"

"In the flesh," he grumbled. "How would you like it cooked?" He paused and asked, "and what would you like on the side of that?"

Sullivan thought hard then muttered, "medium rare with french fries." He motioned toward me. "And she will take?"

I pursed my lips and implored, "could I have the winter squash raviolis?"

"The half serving," Sullivan finished, catching Victor's eyes over his notepad. Sullivan collected the menus, holding them out for Victor.

Damn. I was hungry too. It would be awkward if I corrected him.

"Azariah," Victor started, his tone husky. "What would you like--"

Sullivan interjected, "we already-"

"Rhy," he growled lowly, facing me with a sharp glare in his eyes. "I asked you a question, didn't I?"

I swallowed thickly, flickering my eyes to the menu in fear that I wouldn't remember the food properly, but I suddenly said, "the squash raviolis?"

"Serving size," he deadpanned.

I shamefully gazed down. "Full."

"Okay, food will be up in a lil' while," Victor chided sweetly, packing his notepad and pen set in his flannel's top pocket by his shoulder.

Sullivan faced me once the menus were taken. "What was that about?"

I shrugged lightheartedly, repressing the smile on my lips. "No clue," was all I responded with as Victor winked at me on his way before disappearing inside the restaurant. "So... Sullivan, what's your favorite drink?"

He raised a brow. "When did you first sleep with Vislocky?" He paused to add, "you don't have to tell me--"

"No," I interrupted, my heart swelling at the idea of him being self-conscious around me. He was genuinely nervous, but I thought of the time when I'd stumbled into Victor and if we slept that night. "November eleventh."

"Wait a minute," Sullivan began with squinted eyes. "That was the night that I had a house party."

"Yeah, Vislock--Victor and I met that day." I was hoping that the conversation would avert from Victor to a better one about my interests, or even better, himself, but I was slightly disappointed when Sullivan continued.

"Yeah, I hung out with Kay that night."

Kay... or in better words, Kayla.

"That's nice," I attempted, but my mind was elsewhere, begging for the conversation to change. "You know... I've always wondered how you're doing now that football is over?"

He shrugged, crumpling the paper straw wrapper between his thumb, pointer, and middle finger. I was awaiting him to continue on with saying what he's been doing in his free time, or maybe anything about football, but he just continuously twisted the wrapper. His eyes weakly locked on the zip-line course.

"So..." I started again. "What are some of your other hobbies?"

He raised and lowered his shoulders carelessly again. "I like to watch football."

I nodded, my lips pressed snug together impatiently. "Yeah..."

"You watch too?" He seemed to perk up and though I knew not one thing, I nodded nonetheless. He asked, "Did you see last week's game?"

I bobbed my head excitedly, my eyes wide with fear. Damn, my inability to lie, because sarcastically, like always, I agreed, "yeah! Why wouldn't I?"

He squinted in question, but replied, "Number forty-six had a brilliant pass, and the striker... God, that was a beautiful game."

I heard 'striker' but I swore that was bowling.

"Yes, I agree with that." I pursed my lips again and gazed out onto the coarse, the yellow sign, and the set-up of rocks below it. Engraved into the stone was the name of the park and when it was first founded. "You know..." I began. "I like to read sometimes."

"Kay likes to read," he said into his glass of water.

"Yeah... she'd recommend me some books," I told him. "I like to watch these really cute Disney cartoons sometimes--"

"Oh, God. They give me so many headaches," he complained, laughing as the clinking ice cubes in his drinks rattled against the glass. "Why didn't you order me a drink?" he wondered, raising his hand to signal Victor over.

"I didn't know what to get you--" I started, but Victor had already arrived and I decided to stay quiet.

Victor's eyes were flickering with annoyance and boredom as he retreated to the table. "What can I help--"

"I would like to order a Root beer."

"Coming your way," Victor excused, distancing himself from the table with hands splayed out in front of me, exchanging a playful look with me. I tried to hide my chuckles.

Sullivan scoffed and grumbled, "I came here so much as a kid, but now they changed it all and the food here sucks." His voice was a little too loud for my liking as some of the customers looked over trepidatiously.

I nodded, but didn't reply. "I used to go to the park by my house," I noted and since I so desperately wanted to have an emotional connection with him, I branched off philosophically. "It was the place that my dead grandfather showed me. I sometimes go there to think over things." I recently had watched a romance comedy and they said something similar... I think.

I haven't been back since I was twelve years old, but Sullivan didn't need to know that. I had a faint smile, but he only nodded and looked out towards the zip-line park. I was going to restart the conversation to a more effortless one when Victor abruptly placed Liv's drink down on the table. Sullivan didn't say thank you so I did. I sipped my drink nervously, gazing up to his expressionless mien, and back to Victor who waited by the doorway of the restaurant, allowing people in with a somewhat welcoming grin. As welcoming as Victor could be. Though his attention deviated to something flirtatious as a redhead approached.

Urgh, that bugs me. Woah, Azariah. That's a strong word for something that doesn't make sense. You're on a date, with your crush. It can't get any better than this. I had to tell myself.

I was starting to wonder if this date would be easier if Victor wasn't here... but I didn't know why.

♡♡♡

I snagged his hand and shoved us against the mini, tight hallway with two bathroom door entrances. The toilet flushed as I questioned fiercely, "he wants to know what I want to be when I grow up."

"You mean... what you want to be doing in the next few months?" Victor inquired dumbly.

"Yeah... sure. But what do I say?" I pressed.

"The answer." He rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over the blue checked flannel tucked into his pants as the lip of the baseball cap pointed down on me.

"You don't understand," I protested meekly. "I don't know what to say."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "You don't have any idea what you want to be in the next few months?" He seemed shocked, squinting at me like a test subject. "Rhy, what colleges did you apply to?"

"Listen," I reprimanded, "making a decision like that is complicated and I'm not ready for it. Childish? Yes, but I will know when I feel it. Besides, well— that's about it. But I have time is all I'm saying."

Victor made a face. The face that told me I'm missing the biggest piece of information as it sits under my nose impatiently waiting to be unveiled. "Rhy." He sounded as a parent would. "Did I miss something or did you just come up with an answer to Sullivan's question?"

"I guess so— but what if it makes me sound like I can't commit to anything and a relationship is something out of my level of handling. What if he wants a stable woman, Vicky?" I urged as somebody walked out of the bathroom, giving us a quick, confused glare.

I was paying little attention to them, even Victor didn't give them the time of day. He pointed a finger at me and declared, "listen. You walk right in there-"

"You mean out there," I corrected. "He's outside and we're inside—"

"Wherever the fuck we are, you go and tell him you are waiting till you know it a hundred percent. You don't just want to wing something like this and you want to wait till it feels right," he deadpanned. "Oh, by the way. You owe me three-hundred dollars and that's me being nice."

I blinked rapidly. "What? Damn. This is an expensive restaurant—"

"Not the restaurant, but that--" Victor's voice trailed as someone subtly pushed past him to get to the bathroom. He quickly checked her ass out before eying me as if trying to remember what he was saying. She sealed the bathroom door closed after glancing at him over her shoulder and seeing his lopsided smirk.

I waved my hand. "The what?"

"San Francisco. I bought plane tickets---"

I yelled in a whisper, "you did what?" At hearing a bit of silence, I lowered my voice and hissed, "why did you do that?"

Victor shrugged blankly. "You don't have to pay me back this second, but come on, Azariah. I know you. You weren't going to let me suffer through this alone--"

"I mean, true, but--" I sighed exasperatedly, stomping my feet and flailing my arms. "I can't be here right now. I have to be on my date--"

The girl walked out of the bathroom and smirked towards Victor. His eyes followed as he seductively whispered, "and I have to go get mine."

I rolled my eyes, throwing my hand dismissively at him as I sauntered out of the restaurant> IO quickly greeted the ominous ash-gray clouds as they swam overhead of the zip-line course. I collapsed in the seat and smiled brightly towards him, but he was just contorted over his plate, inhaling his steak. I awkwardly picked at my ravioli with my fork, but I was full. I mean, there were only five left on my plate, but I could've gone for the half serving like Sullivan suggested.

"Do you want to take a walk around the property?" I wondered aloud.

He looked at me through his eyelashes. "Why?" He propped his fork up against the ledge of his plate and asked, "what would we do?"

"Talk?" I suggested with a weak smile and arms thrown up in a careless manner. "I mean, we're on a date."

"True." He sighed, standing up from the table. We'd already paid and were just sitting. After he stood beside the wooden surface, he hovered over the plate, raising his fork up to his mouth.

"If you're still hungry, we could--"

"No," he intercepted quickly, beckoning his head over to the ramp. We leisurely stepped off, our shoes crunching atop the shifting gravel as we distanced from the grill and pizza aroma. The lanterns decorated the outskirts of the property, leading the way to the forest perimeter. However, one thing that sort of killed the mood was the hoard of garbage cans beside us. The faint smell of rotten, restaurant food tainted the air.

"You know, I haven't mentioned this..." he began, his steps slowing. "But I'm so happy that you told me you liked me."

"Really?" I pressed, giggling quietly. "I thought you'd hate me--"

He spun swiftly around, his hands held out towards me and I suddenly became overly aware of how close we were. The orange hued fluorescent glow fell over his face and all I could see were his pleading eyes. "I could never hate you, Riyah."

My heart was in my throat, throbbing in continuous squeezing repetitions. I couldn't feel how light I became as he inched forward towards me. "Azariah--" The way he said my name wanted to make me melt. "I had so much fun today, and I want to go on another date with you."

Be bold, in Victor's words. I focused on exactly Victor's voice as he said them.

"I had so much fun," I agreed, my throat raspy and strained. My breath was caught on my tongue and tightening around my neck. "Liv..."

"Liv?" he repeated. "Like Olivia Marshall 'Liv?'"

Fuck.

"Is that okay?" I quickly smoothed over.

He nodded slowly, taking another step towards me, tilting his chin closer to my mouth. "As long as this is okay," he whispered warmly onto my lips. I could taste steak and french fries. I kinda wanted to puke.

"Yes," I returned. Within seconds, stars enveloped me in heat as his arms closed around my waist and tugged me closer to his stomach. His lips moved rapidly against my own, too fast for my mouth to keep up and his tongue, more so a sword in preparation to kill, swooped in and licked my own.

Ahh, this feels weird.

My heart paced and with haste, especially when I realized my eyes were still open. I awkwardly sealed my vision shut and tightly as my arms folded around his biceps. When he pulled away, he wore a dazed mien and his lips were glossed. He fluttered open his eyes, smiling towards me, making my body get a nice tingly feeling. Though, my first kiss wasn't exactly what I imagined, in fact, maybe the stars were dramatic, I didn't see stars, I didn't even hear fireworks. I feel ripped off.

Everybody romanticizes their first kiss, but when I separated from him, the only thing I liked was seeing his soft and sweet grin. I thought the first kiss is always perfect, but it was far from perfect when I tilted my head towards a person approaching us. He was hauling a black garbage bag over his shoulder and looking... hurt. His eyebrows were perfectly tilted in alignment with his pouty lips, deepening in a frown of disappointment.

And why did I want to apologize to him?

x