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“It’s too close to pick up time. You don’t want his first glimpse of you to be with you carrying a bag do you?” She takes the bag from my arms. “You’ll tell me all about it tomorrow?”
“First thing.”
She smiles and disappears down the steps, so I sit on my bed and wait.
At exactly six o’ clock the doorbell rings and I jump.
I hear Virginia’s voice rise several octaves as she greets him.
“Well, hello!” She exclaims. “Who are you?”
I can’t make out what he says, but I’m sure his charm is working because she hasn’t said anything for several minutes and she can usually never shut up.
“Emerald!” She calls up the steps. “Your um, your boyfriend is here to pick you up for your date!”
Boyfriend?
I grab my clutch and take a deep breath before walking downstairs, telling myself that I’m going to have to address this “boyfriend” thing.
The second I step into the living room, Carter’s eyes widen and he slowly looks me up and down—looking as if he can’t believe it’s really me.
There’s a bouquet of red roses in his hand, and a smaller bouquet of white lilies in Virginia’s.
“You look stunning!” Virginia grabs me by my shoulder and spins me around. “Can I borrow you for a second?” She tugs me into the kitchen before I can reply.
“Something wrong?”
“Not at all,” she says. “He seems like a nice young man—only a true gentleman knows to bring two sets of flowers.” She smiles. “I take it you’ll probably be out with him all night?”
“Probably.”
“Okay, well...” She sighs and opens a cabinet, pulling out a brown box. “I’m not sure if Leah ever had the talk with you or not.”
Oh my god...
“I know how kids your age act when they’re out on dates, and we all slip up and sin sometimes but...Be careful.” She pulls three condoms out of the box and hands them to me.
I look at them and realize that the packages all read, “What Would Jesus Do?”
With a dead-ass serious face, she tells me to “make the right decision” before leading me back to Carter.
Grateful that Henry isn’t here to question him and further embarrass me, I give him a look that says “Let’s go” and he thanks Virginia for allowing him “the pleasure” of taking me out tonight. Once he gives her a hug, he slips an arm around my waist and leads me outside.
“Cinderella.” He hands me the flowers before opening the door for me.
“You’re not supposed to call me that...”
“Get in the car before I fuck you in the driveway.”
I smile and slide into the seat, laughing as he speeds away from my grandparents’ house.
“You look beautiful tonight.” He places his hand on my thigh.
“Thank you.” I look down at the roses in my lap. “Do you normally give flowers to the women you take on dates?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Flowers are special. They’re only for people I actually care about.” He pauses. “You’re the first.”
That fluttering returns to my stomach and I bite my tongue to prevent myself from saying something stupid, something like “I want to be your first in a lot of other ways too” or “Can you just pull over and fuck me right here? You’ve done enough for my first real date.”
“You do realize that you say your thoughts out loud sometimes, right?” Carter looks over at me, grinning.
I bite down harder on my tongue—feeling absolutely mortified.
He turns the radio up and we slowly drive out of Blythe and into Mobile. Then we slowly approach the smaller towns that lead to the Gulf Shore beaches.
I’ve never thought to venture here—mainly because I had no one to come with, but if I had known how beautiful it was, I would’ve escaped here every day that I could.
The ocean’s waters are lapping against the bottom of the bridge we’re crossing, sparkling in the dwindling lights of the sunset. A small set of seagulls are flying low overhead, and in the distance I can see a strip of bistros and hotels that are all flanked by a huge stretch of white sand.
I can see couples holding hands and walking near the shoreline—kissing and holding onto each other, and I hope I get to experience that by the end of the night.
“Something wrong?” Carter parks the car in front of a small white wooden building.
“No. What makes you say—”
He cuts me off and kisses me, leaving me gasping for air when he finally stops. “I just want to make sure that your first date is everything you want it to be.”
