Rick tossed Doug the keys to park his car. Doug jogged around to the driver's side. "Awesome Mustang!" Then before folding himself into the driver's seat, he leaned over the roof and said, "This is great, Christy! Everyone is going to be so surprised to see you."
"Yeah," Christy mumbled as Rick slipped his arm around her and led her into the restaurant. Everyone would be surprised, all right-especially Todd.
"So, who's that guy? Another one of your old boyfriends?" Rick asked.
"Doug? No, no, not at all! He's just a friend of..." Christy caught herself. "Tracy's. He's friends with Tracy. That's the girl who's having the party. They used to go out, but now they're just friends."
"And now he's looking for a new girlfriend," Rick said.
"I don't know. I don't think so." Christy could feel her heart still pounding as the hostess led them through the labyrinth of tables. Rick's questions weren't helping her calm down a bit.
"My guess is, he's looking for a new girlfriend, and you look pretty good to him."
The hostess stopped in front of a window table that looked out on Newport Bay. Rick pulled out a chair for Christy, and she seated herself. He pushed in her chair, leaned over, and whispered, "But you can tell Doug to give up, because you're already taken."
Christy gratefully accepted the menu held out to her. She opened it and hid her flaming red face behind its tall barricade.
I can't believe this is happening! What am I going to do? Why is Rick saying these things?
"What sounds good to you, Christy? You can't go wrong with any of the pasta dishes here, I've been told." Rick then rattled off a list of Italian names from the menu, complete with authentic accent. "Now this sounds good," he said, reading the name of another Italian dish. "What do you think?"
Christy shyly peered over the top of the menu and managed a weak smile and a nod. "Sure." Her voice came out cracked, so she cleared her throat and tried again. "That sounds good."
"Then that's what we'll have," Rick stated, snapping closed his menu.
What did I just order? It could have been squid brains for all I know! Everything is coming at me so fast. I want to go back to how things were in the car on the way here. I want to feel dazzling again.
Christy closed her menu and groped for the rose on her lap, automatically drawing it to her nose to sniff. Maybe its fragrance would bring back the magic.
Rick reached over, wrapped his hand around her wrist, and pulled the flower over to his side of the table. Taking a whiff, he smiled. "It's sweet, but not as sweet as you."
Christy felt charmed but not charmed enough to calm the frantic confusion raging inside. She wanted to move the conversation to a neutral subject. The view out the window, maybe. She turned her head and was about to make a comment on how pretty the summer evening light looked dancing on the water, but Rick had other ideas.
Still holding her wrist, he took his other hand and gently began to pick the lock on Christy's Forever ID bracelet. It was the bracelet Todd had given her last New Year's.
"What are you doing?" Christy asked, keeping her voice light.
Without looking up, Rick said smoothly, "You don't mind, do you?"
He'd already released the clasp and now held the gold bracelet in his fist. "Guys are funny. We like to know that when a girl goes out with us, she's not bringing along mementos from past relationships."
"It's not like that, Rick." How could she explain her relationship with Todd to Rick when she'd never been able to explain it to herself?
"Then what is it like?" Rick looked up, melting her with his gaze.
"Todd and I are good friends. We have been for a long time."
"But you're not going together, right?"
"Well, no."
"Todd goes out with other girls, right?"
"Well, yes, he has."
Rick took Christy's hand in his and held it firmly. "Then let me have a fair shot, okay? You don't mind not wearing that chain tonight while you're with me, do you?"
Rick laid the bracelet on the table and released Christy's hand. She knew the next move was hers. She knew what Rick wanted her to do.
Christy gingerly picked up the bracelet and slipped it into her purse. Looking up, she tried to echo the smile Rick beamed at her. Inside she felt overpowered, as if Rick had just burst into her heart and broken the lock on the treasure chest where she kept all her secret feelings. She didn't want him breaking in like that. But more important, she didn't want him to go away.
At that moment the waiter appeared, and the tension dispersed. Their water glasses were filled, and a basket of garlic bread was placed before them.
Christy eagerly began to nibble on the bread while she listened to Rick talk about his summer trip to Europe. As long as she kept chewing, she wouldn't have to answer. Rick seemed satisfied to keep talking as she smiled and nodded at the appropriate times. It gave her a chance to calm down and think.
By her third piece of bread, Christy had come to a conclusion. I'm being far too immature and emotional about all this. I am having dinner with Rick. I want to be here. Why am I worrying about Todd? Nothing has changed between us just because I'm not wearing his bracelet. I'm going to have a good time tonight, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's no reason I should be upset.
"Good bread, isn't it?" Rick asked.
Christy nodded and realized she had emptied the basket.
"I'll have them bring some more," Rick offered.
"Oh, no, really, that's okay," Christy said quickly. "I should save room for the dinner. It is good though."
Feeling calmed and ready to pay more attention to Rick, Christy hoped he wouldn't ask her any questions about what he had been talking about while she did her soul-searching. She had no idea what he had said. Maybe it would help if they moved to a new subject.
"Tell me about school," Christy said. "When do you leave, what classes are you taking, and all that."
Rick jumped right in with a full rundown of all his freshman courses at San Diego State.
"You realize, don't you, that even though I leave on Tuesday, I'm only going to be an hour away. That means I'll be back in Escondido every weekend."
"That's good," Christy said absentmindedly.
"I don't think you catch my drift here, Christy. I'll be home every weekend, and I plan to spend every weekend with you."
Christy didn't respond.
Her face must have given away her surprise, though, because Rick laughed. "Yes, Christy, I'm asking you to go out with me. You know, 'go together,' 'go steady.' Or like my brother says about his girlfriend, I want you to be my 'significant other.'"
Christy still didn't have a response for him.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Am I doing this the wrong way? Wait. I know." Rick scooted his chair back.
Then, stepping over to Christy's side of the table, he dropped to one knee, took her hands in his, and said in a gentle voice, "Christy, I've waited a long time to ask you this. I've never felt for another girl the way I feel for you. Will you go out with me?"
Christy felt as if her heart had stopped beating and the whole world had come to a standstill, waiting for her to answer him. All she could feel was Rick's firm grasp enveloping her shaking hands. All she could see were his soft brown eyes pleading with her to say yes.
"Yes," she suddenly squeaked, and the world began to move again.
The couple at the table next to them smiled and applauded softly. Rick confidently returned to his seat. Leaning across the table, he said, "I was hoping that's what you'd say."
What just happened? I thought this would be a simple dinner. A one-date thing, and now I just said I'd go out with him! How did that happen?
Just then their salads arrived, and once again Christy could keep her mouth full so she didn't have to talk. Rick enthusiastically told her his ideas for their future dates.
Christy smiled and nodded and halfway listened. She only halfway did everything for the next hour. She had gone numb.
After dinner, Rick ordered a dessert for them to share and coffee for both of them. Christy loaded her coffee with cream and sugar and then took about three sips. She poked at the elegant chocolate dessert with her fork, eating only one bite.
The numbness didn't leave Christy until they stood outside the restaurant waiting for the valet to bring the car. Sure enough, it was Doug who brought Rick's red Mustang around to the front.
"Perfect timing." Doug hopped out and handed the keys to Rick. "I get off in two minutes. You guys want to wait a second, and you can follow me over to Tracy's?"
Christy shriveled inside. Oh, Doug, why did you have to bring that up? I was hoping Rick would have forgotten all about it "Sounds good." Rick opened the door for Christy.
In a few minutes Doug's yellow truck swung around in front of them, and Doug motioned with his arm out the window for them to follow.
"You know," Christy said, drawing up all the strength and courage she could find, "we really don't have to go to this party. You won't know any of the people there, and it's not like they're expecting me or anything. Besides, I have to be at my aunt and uncle's in about an hour and a half, so we wouldn't have much time there, and-"
"Hey, it's okay," Rick interrupted, reaching over to give her a little pat on the leg. "I know what you're trying to say. Some guys get freaked out when they meet all their girlfriend's friends. It won't be like that with me. You'll see. I've waited a long time to be your boyfriend. I'll make you proud of me. I promise."
Christy's grip on the rose tightened when he called her his girlfriend. When he said he had waited a long time to be her boyfriend, her tensed finger found a small thorn toward the top of the rose.
Then, with a bump, Rick pulled into Tracy's driveway. Without warning, the thorn sliced into Christy's flesh.
"Ouch!" Christy held up her finger. Just enough light shone on the cut for her to see a few drops of blood.
Rick turned off the car's engine. "You okay?" He pulled a tissue from a box under his seat, wrapped it around her finger, and examined the rose. "That's pretty cheap," he complained. "You'd think they'd know enough to cut off the thorns before they sell these things. Are you okay now?"
Without making any noise, Christy had been crying uncontrollably from the instant the thorn had pricked her. She couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks.
"Oh, you're crying," Rick said, as tenderly as if she were a small child. "Come here." He offered her another tissue with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her.
"I'm okay, really," Christy sniffed, pulling away so Doug wouldn't see them wrapped up together. "I'll go rinse it off in the bathroom."
Opening her own door and springing out, she hurried up the steps to Tracy's house. Christy glanced back and saw Doug standing by Rick's car, the two of them talking.
To her relief, Tracy's front door stood wide open. Christy slipped in without anyone seeing her. She knew right where the bathroom was and disappeared inside, locking the door behind her. As if she had reached her own private refuge, she let more tears flow.
What am I going to do? What are we doing here? I've messed things up so badly that they'll never be straightened out. What does Rick think of me? What will Todd think?
A knock at the door made her jump. She ignored it, hoping the person would go away.
"Christy? Are you okay? It's Heather."
Christy hadn't seen Heather since last Christmas vacation. But she wasn't sure she wanted to see her or anyone until she had her feelings figured out.
"Christy? Will you let me in?" Heather knocked persistently.
Christy gave in and unlocked the door. Wispy, blond Heather burst in, pouncing on her with a warm hug. Christy quickly locked the door behind Heather.
"Doug said you were here!" Heather said in her breathless, excited way. "And who is that guy with him? Have you seen him? He's gorgeous! You're crying! What's wrong? And what's on your finger? What happened?"
Wiping away the tears, Christy explained, "It's really nothing. It was a thorn. I should have realized it was going to happen." Christy looked away and stared at the shower curtain, talking as if Heather weren't even there. "With the rose comes the thorn. I should have known. I thought I could have one without the other, but it doesn't work that way. Why did I think I could just go to dinner, and it wouldn't be a big deal?"
"What in the world are you talking about, Christy? Are you totally freaking out on me here?" Heather tugged on Christy's sleeve. "Turn around and look in the mirror."
Christy looked and discovered that Katie's superb makeup job had dissolved into two rainbow rivers winding down her cheeks. At this moment she looked anything but the part of Rick's "Killer Eyes" girlfriend.
Heather giggled and handed her a washcloth. "You'd better wash that stuff off before it dries on permanently. Now explain to me how you got here. Todd said you couldn't come."
Plunging the washcloth under the running water, Christy said, "It's a bizarre story."
"Good, I like bizarre stories. Did you come with Doug?"
"No, I actually came with Rick, the other guy. We went out to dinner at the Villa Nova and just happened to see Doug."
"You mean you're on a date right now with that gorgeous guy? What's his name? Rick? Oh Christy, you have to be the luckiest girl alive!"
"Yeah," Christy said sarcastically. "I'm so lucky that I'm now going out with him."
"What?" Heather squealed, grabbing Christy by the elbow and squeezing it so hard that Christy dropped the washcloth. "When did this happen? Does Todd know?"
"No, of course not. Rick asked me tonight at dinner." Christy explained the whole situation as she washed her face and blotted it dry.
Heather listened to every word, wide-eyed and open-mouthed. "I was right. You're the luckiest girl in the world."
"I don't feel that way," Christy said with a sigh. "I feel like I'm in a huge mess."
"Why? Rick is a Christian, isn't he?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then what's the problem? Todd? Do you really think Todd would ever treat you the way Rick has-roses and dinner and saying he would wait until your parents would let you start dating? Think about it, Christy!"
"I don't know. I like Rick, but I've liked Todd for a long time."
Heather put her hands on her hips. "You are sixteen years old. A young woman. In some cultures, you could be married by now. You met Todd when you were fourteen, and you had a huge crush on him, am I right? A lot has changed since then. You've changed; Todd has changed. Face it, Christy. Todd is never going to be the kind of guy who takes a girl out to dinner. Don't let his blond, blue-eyed surfer looks fool you. He's not a normal guy. He wants to be a missionary, you know."
"I know."
"Todd is the kind of guy who'll probably never marry. He'll spend his life among the natives, sleeping in a hammock, eating bug larvae, and saving the souls of people in the jungle who have never seen a white man before. He'll probably win a Nobel Prize and die in some headhunter's stewpot."
"Heather!" Christy interrupted her dramatic friend with a laugh. "What is the point here?"
Heather looked Christy straight in the eye. "Don't you see? The point is, you want to go out with Rick. You want to be his girlfriend. Deep down, you've wanted it all along. Otherwise, when he asked you, your heart would've said no, and you would've turned him down. You said yes to Rick because you want to be his girlfriend. Can you deny that?"