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Chapter 8
Summer 2001
Willow
The ride was short, and as we pulled into Drifter’s, I laughed.
“Something wrong?” Russ glanced over at me as he cut the engine to the truck.
“No, not at all. Just surprised, I guess.” I shrugged while unbuckling my seat belt.
“We used to come here all the time. I thought it would be nice to make some new memories.” His grip tightened on the steering wheel as he stared out the windshield.
We sat there a moment as the tension between us built. Finally, I sighed and decided to bite the bullet, so to speak. “Hey, Russ.” I waited for him to look at me, but he didn’t. “Hey.” I nudged him. “Can you look at me? I don’t want to have to give you a black eye to match your nose.” I laughed, hoping that he’d relax. I was supposed to be the nervous one. He started laughing, and then grunted as he gently cupped his face.
“Ow,” He murmured. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”
“What are we doing here?” I turned to face him. “Like, what is this?”
“Dinner?” His head tipped to the side.
“You know what I mean.” I rolled my eyes before gently slapping his leg.
“Willow,” he rubbed his brow and closed his eyes for a moment, “I thought it would be nice to go out.”
“It is nice, but we’re friends, right?” I stared at him for a moment, and when he didn’t answer, I opened my door, and climbed down. I walked around the front of the truck, and started heading toward the front door, when I noticed he wasn’t following me.
I turned with my hands on my hips and glared at him still sitting in the truck. I could see his mouth moving as if he was talking to himself. I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward, as if that would help me read his lips. One would think that with my experience with middle schoolers, I’d see that he was trying to tell me how he felt without actually using words. “You coming?”
He mouthed something else, and then climbed out. He stood there for a moment, and then stormed toward me as if he was mad or frustrated, I couldn’t really tell. “This is a date,” he growled. “I like you, ok?” He yanked open the door, and motioned me inside. I grinned and pressed my lips together to keep from laughing.
The hostess led us to a table. After we sat, that’s when I looked him in the eyes. He was staring at a menu, and I just watched his facial expressions. I don’t know if he knew I was staring, but when he glanced up, he sure did. “What?” he snapped.
“You like me? Like, like me, like me?” I folded my hands on the table in front of me and grinned at him.
He balled his fists in his flustered state and huffed loudly. “Yeah, ok. I like you. Can we move on now?” He looked back down at the menu, but I continued to stare. There was a little scar right above one side of his lip where he’d cut it when we were ten. His hair was darker now, and the more I watched him, the more I saw his brother in him.
“You look like him,” I murmured. “At least the way he looked the last time I saw him.” I turned my gaze to the window beside us that highlighted a beautiful view of the sunset.
“Like who?” Russ scanned the menu more.
“Would you stop looking at that. We’ve eaten here like a thousand times. If you don’t know what they have by now, then you’re dumber than I thought.” I shook my head. “Casey. You look like Casey,” I clarified.
“Great.” He rolled his eyes as he fought with the menu to fold it. It was in that moment that our server came over. “We’ll have the steam pot for two.” He handed his menu over and then folded his arms in front of him. “Is that why you’re staring at me? Because I look like him? I’m not him, you know?” He seemed a little hurt that I compared him to his brother.
“I know. It’s just, you’ve changed.” I tried to smooth things over, but he just stared past me before a sadness washed over his face.
“I was hoping that your crush on him would be something you’d grow out of. I’m never going to be him.” He still refused to look at me. “I thought maybe now you’d see me.”
“See you?” I reached across the table and touched his arm. He leaned back and tucked them under the table in his lap. “I’ve always seen you.”
“No, you haven’t,” he grumbled. “I got used to it. I told myself being your friend was enough. When we were kids, it was. We’re adults now. When I saw you on the beach that first time, I knew then that you were it for me. You coming back here was a sign, but you need to tell me now if you don’t feel the same way. I’m not putting myself out there to be a fling, or whatever you think this is.” He waved his hand between us.
“She was right,” I muttered under my breath. “The bitch was right.”
“Huh?” Russ looked so confused.
“Aimee told me you liked me, and I was blind,” I mumbled. I looked back up at him. “So this is a date.” I nodded.
