Chapter 11 - Alexia

The date was going great. Hey, that rhymes.

We talked, laughed, shared some stories. It was really fun. I usually don't open up to people easily, but I felt pretty confident that Luke was the right person to trust.

After visiting Third Street, we walked to the pier.

By the time we got there, it was already 5.33, so the sun was already setting. With the sun melting in the ocean, the flashing colors of the roller coasters, and seagulls flying everywhere, it was one of the most beautiful views ever.

"Wow," Luke said as if reading my thoughts.

"Yeah," I said back.

We stood there, staring at the sunset.

After a while, we were able to move along. We walked to the end of the pier and back. Again, it was amazing. We talked about our trips, and I found out that Luke went, like, everywhere.

"Hold on," I told him. "Where have you been, exactly?"

"You really want me to start over?" I nodded. "Fine. I've been to Brazil, Japan, Australia, Switzerland, France, Germany, Namibia, and Greece." He paused. "Yeah, I think that's about it." He looked over, "What about you?"

"Me? I've actually never left the country. Never left California actually," I pointed out.

"Really? Like, never?"

"Why are you so surprised?" I asked.

"I don't know. You just look like you travel a lot," he said.

"Nope."

"Okay, you are definitely coming with me to Switzerland. My mom and I are going during the Christmas holidays. It should be nice," he offered.

"What? No, no. I don't want to be in the way or-" I said.

"Don't worry about it. It'll be fun to be with someone other than my mother. You can even bring your parents," he said.

"Parent," I corrected.

"What?"

"Just one parent. My dad, he's… dead," I said.

"I'm so sorry. When?"

"Five years ago. He worked at night, and one morning my mother woke me up and told me about the car crash," I explained. Again, I didn't normally share these facts of my life to anyone. But Luke… he was special.

"Oh," Luke said.

I swore in my mind. By bringing up my dad, I made things awkward.

"Sorry," I said, "I didn't mean to make things embarrassing. What about your parents?"

"Divorced. My dad cheated on my mother," he admitted.

Silence.

"Wow, that didn't help at all," Luke joked.

That did it. I burst out laughing and so did Luke. After we got it out of our system, we decided to get some dinner. We just ordered two burgers.

I have to admit: even if the burgers weren't that good, even if a homeless guy came and asked us some money, even if there was a horrible smell, with Luke there with me, it was one of the best moments of my life.

He accompanied me home.

Luke actually came to my house to drop me off. I couldn't believe it. I mean, I've seen it in movies, but I never actually thought that it would happen to me.

"This is me," I said as we arrived. My home was a little house, with a small garden out front, and a porch with two chairs. It wasn't much, but it was all I had. And it meant a lot to me that Luke saw it.

"Oh," Luke said. "Nice place."

"Thanks," I said smiling.

We stood there for a while, without saying a word. It was awkward.

"Okay." Luke said suddenly, "I don't really know how this works, but I think I should go."

I laughed. "Yeah, okay."

He smiled. Then he did the thing I expected the least.

He leaned in.

I panicked. Confession time: I've been actually thinking a lot about how our kiss would be. But, then, as he leaned in closer to my face, I realized that I wasn't ready. I was scared, shy, terrified, choose whatever word you want. I couldn't do it.

And I did the stupidest, dumbest, lamest possible thing ever.

I hugged him.

Do you know when you meet a relative that you've never seen before? And you give them one of those really awkward, uncomfortable hugs? Yeah, that was the hug I gave Luke.

When we broke apart, he looked at me in the eyes. He was smiling, but I could tell he was disappointed.

"Bye," he said.

"Bye, see you tomorrow," I said back.

He turned around and walked away. When he couldn't see me anymore, I ran into my house and shut the door behind me.

"That bad, huh?" my mother asked. She was lying on the couch, looking at the TV.

I groaned. "I did something really, really stupid."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No," I said. "Sorry, I'm just so tired, I just want to take a shower and go to bed."

"Okay, don't worry about it," she said. That's one of the things I like about my mom: she never pushes me into saying things. Much.

"Goodnight," I told her.

I went upstairs and took a quick shower, all the while thinking at that stupid, stupid moment. But the worst thing was that I had to see Luke again. We had the same damn schedule! It was obvious we would see each other.

I changed and washed my teeth. It was 9.12, so I decided to read a book. But I wasn't really reading. I kept thinking at that awkward hug. I had to re-read the same page three times before I gave up.

I went to sleep, already dreading the next day.