5.4: Spring Fling Festival

   "Ready to head home?" I smiled.
   "I'm fine. My sister is coming to get me, soon. I'll stay with her for a bit." Alani had ended up in the hospital for two weeks after her collapsing; she was finally being released. She couldn't handle that much stress; it ended up causing her body to go into overload mode.
   "I'm sorry."
   "It's alright, sir."
   "No, it isn't. She was insane. I shouldn't have...you know."
   "Sir, this violates my friends at work only thing."
   "I wanted to make sure you where okay. And give you a gift." I had bought her some balloons and a bear. Hospital gift shop items where the least I could provide, considering what happened. I still felt guilty.
    "And the gifts are adorable. I had one of those bears as a kid. The bear in a bunny costume one."
    "Is it okay, if I ask you something?"
    "What is it?"
    "Just...do you feel alright?"

    "Yes." She stood up, proving her statement.
    "You should rest."
    "I'm fine."
    "Do you want to celebrate, you being better?"
    "How?"
    "By going to the Spring Fling Festival with me. You where to stressed out and some fun might do you some good." She was quiet. "I mean it's next week, so you have time to think."
   "Okay."
   "Huh?"
   "Sure. As a friend."
   "Of course. Friend." Totally. Because I like you more than that, but friend works. Totally. Why do I feel like I'm back in high school? "Oh yeah, that reminds me."

   "Of what?"
   "Well..." I pulled flowers out from behind my back. "That any gentleman brings flowers."
   "Aw! That's so sweet. And completely friendship-ish."
   "Exactly."
   "Awww..."
   "Aw what?!" Maybe she had a change of heart...
   "Nothing." She laughed, blushing. "Nothing." Nothing? It wasn't really nothing, was it?


Alani's POV...


   I stood on his front porch, knocking on the door. I was nervous. I glanced at my dress. It wasn't too much, was it? Why wasn't he answering? Did I mess up. No. I mean. Friends. Totally. I grew u[ in a sheltered home. Maybe that caused me to be socially awkward and shy.
   "Hey." He smiled, answering the door. "You look beautiful."
   "Thanks. Beautiful? Wow... it isn't too much for an outdoorsy park, is it?"
   "No, why?"
   "I just, love your outfit. You're very, very," How many verys did I plan on adding? He was hot. I knew it. I worked with him, though. I couldn't like him and then we date and other people whisper how I was sleeping with the boss and that that was why I was being promoted. That was shunned here in Appaloosa Plains. I had to be the perfect small town girl my parents wanted, like my sis Jazlyn Parrott was. Married with two boys. And Haliey... she was roommates with a few men. I didn't know the status. Still had her maiden name like me, though. "Handsome."
   "Thanks." He looked at me kind of odd. It was odd, right? I mean...very?
   "I just- er. Park. Yeah let's do that."
   "Great. I can drive, if you'd like."
   "Sure." I nodded.
   We arrived at the park after a few minutes of silent driving. I played with the radio, he focuses on the road. It was a weird moment. Very awkward. Luckily, I'm good at awkward. I've been practicing.

   "So.... come here often?" I joked with him.
   "All the time."
   "Really?"
   "Never in my life."
   "When I was a kid, four times a year for the holidays. As an adult? Pfht. Never. I do love the memories, though."
   "Cool. So you grew up here?"
   "Yeah." I glanced down. "You're not from around here, are you? I mean I've heard stuff."
   "Stuff? Like what?"
   "Well... when you first came, you moved in the crazy cat house. Rumors say the owner was ate by one of her kitties and found days later. And nobody knew who you where when you moved in, so it seemed like ya where a ghost or something. So like, you where the ghost haunting the cat lady home that the cat lady haunted."
   "Sounds like the start to a bad supernatural romantic horror comedy."
   "Yeah...you move din like years after she died, though. When I was a kid you didn't do near that home cause of the stories. On Halloween though, everybody dared everybody else to like climb through the window and see if they could spot the ghost."
   "I'm a bit...disturbed."
   "So, where you from?" I tried smoothing over the conversation.
   "Bridgeport, New York."
   "Ah. See, city slickers think they know everything, so the real estate people full a lot on 'em."
   "Like selling them haunted houses?"
   "It wasn't actually haunted."
   "That's good, I suppose."
   "Hey, you wanna do something stupid?" He looked up to me, eyes wide. What did I... oh. Last time I said that sentence, I was in high school with the neighbor guy from my senior math class. We sneaked out to his dad's barn where he kept the horses (it was summer though, so all of them where in the fields)  and...one of us rode the other like they where a horse. Needless to say, it was the first and only time in my existence I had... had intercourse- did that sound like I was a prude- with anyone.
  "Sure." He said, carefully.
  "I didn't mean like that." I saw his smile lessen a bit. "But...uh. It's stupid."
  "No it isn't."
  "Well, in high school after the Valentine's Day dance, we always went to the Spring Fling and competed fro Spring King and Queen. Then, we'd use the love machine to see who we where suppose to be with. It was like before the Internet and sites that did it for ya."
   "That doesn't sound dumb."
   "Well...since this is just bringing memories back, I thought maybe we could try it."
   "We aren't- sure."
   "Like, friends did it too." Grrr. if guys think about that stuff 24/7, did that sound suggestive?
   "Okay." We walked over the machine. I pressed a few buttons, fed it some quarters, and waitied for the results.
    "You found your soul mate." I read. Great. This was just awesome. Just horrible. "Ridiculous." I laughed. I believed it, tough. In high school the ancient machine claimed our relationships would fail and they did. It was an odd sense of trust I had put into the thing.
    "...Totally." He disagreed. I could tell. Dang.

    We ate a bit and played horseshoes, he won, until it was nightfall. I felt like I'd grown closer to him. We had chatted and I learned about his childhood and he learned about mine. Favorites and dislikes were said. Everything felt like it was on the table; we had been honest and trusting. Only I didn't tell him why we couldn't date.
    "Will you go steady with me?" Out of the blue, he asked me.
    "What?!"
    "Well, we can date, right? Nothing physical. I buy you flowers and we'll go dancing or something. Nothing other than cuddling."
    "Sure."
    "Really?"
    "No kisses, no....anything. Got it? We work together."
    "Alright." He nodded his head. I was dating him. But was it really dating? I mean...I didn't expect sex at any time. He didn't (if he ever had, he defiantly didn't now).   I suppose it was. I liked him a lot. He liked me. Sure. Why couldn't we be dating? If we didn't do anything... it's fine. Really.