**Chapter Twelve**
The next day, Juliana and I walked from our English class to the main corridors outside to meet up with Dillon. Everyone except for me was very much hung over from yesterday at the bar. I knew I was the smart one for not being into drinking. Now they all had to slug around campus getting from class to class. While I was well-rested and ready for my day.
Juliana and Dillon both had classes left to finish while I was done for the day. My focus was going to be on the paper I had to write another draft for. I’ve been pretty well in that class and to me, it was important. I couldn’t be a writer if I didn’t have the basics down. Before I could focus on that, I had to tell them about my time at the bar last night. It was all too exciting not to share.
“Keegan? Keegan told you to put your phone number in his phone!” Juliana exclaimed. She couldn’t believe it.
Dillon looked on confused, caught on rather quickly. “You mean that hot bartender? He was total eye candy.” It’s safe to say she was proud of me.
“Yes, and I didn’t make a fool of myself so round of applause,” I said. “Now we play the waiting game.”
Juliana looked at me, flabbergasted. “What do you mean, the waiting game?” She asked. “You didn’t take his number?”
I shake my head. “No, but he was busy. I didn’t have time.” I explain.
Personally, I didn’t mind waiting for him to text me. I did still need to attend school, and he worked at a bar. Typically, one would work there overnight, so he may be tired. There’s also the fact that he is a bartender. I’m sure he gets hit on all the time working there. I wouldn’t be shocked if he forgot about me, but it would hurt a little.
The point was, I talked to a good-looking guy without sounding nervous or afraid. I gave him my number, and he seemed interested enough in me as well. Even if he decided to never use my number, that was a step in the right direction for me. Pretty soon I’ll be able to talk to any guy I wanted without fear of coming across as awkward. I’d say it was a successful night for me. Even Dillon had to agree.
“Next time, take his number, Anna,” Juliana said. “It’s ok for girls to make the first move, you know.”
She had a point. “Maybe, but I’m confident that’ll hear from him in no time,” I say.
It’s true, I would not be desperate, eagerly waiting for him to reach out. Whenever he did, I would be happy to indulge him. It was a great way to take my mind off Drew. That way, whenever he was intimate with Juliana, my mind wouldn’t have to worry about it. The only thing I had to worry about is making sure things go well between Keegan and me. If it went bad, then I’d be back at square one. He was an older guy and I doubt he’d have any interests that I did, but we’ll see. I’ve been surprised before.
In the meantime, Dill and Julie had to head to their next set of classes while they left me all alone. Like clockwork, Drew magically appeared again, making me think he had eyes on me. The reason he popped up was because we had plans that I completely forgot about. My mind was so preoccupied with thinking about Keegan that it slipped past me. Good thing Juliana already left, but I’m sure Drew knew that.
“Hey, Annabelle.” He says, still wearing my hat. Did he ever take it off?
I smiled. “Hey, Drew, what’s up?” I asked, happy to see his smiling face.
He chuckled. “Did you forget we had plans today or what?’ He teased.
My face went to that of embarrassment. “Oh, shoot! I did, I’m sorry. Let me go put my book away and then-”
“Nonsense, you can leave it in the car. Come on now!” He said, dragging me with him.
Car? Where could he possibly be taking me that we need to ride in a car? Of course, I didn’t question it because it was Drew. Wherever he would take me would be fine. I knew he would not hurt me. It only gagged me. We had to do a bit of traveling. I thought we were going to hang out somewhere on campus, not off. Regardless, I was happy to do anything with Drew. We got to be alone and really get closer to one another. That was more than I could’ve asked for back in high school.
Getting to his car, more like an SUV, I was astonished to see he drove a Range. That didn’t seem like his type of car, given everything else I know about him. It was a pretty red color too, with a black interior. It looked like he took good care of it as well. There was always more than what meets the eye with Drew. He had so many levels to him; I liked him even more. Let it go, girl.
Taking a deep breath, I smiled walking up to his car. “I didn’t peg you to be an SUV driver,” I say, happy to get in.
He shrugged. “No one does, but I don’t just let anyone in my car either.” He pointed out. “You’re the lucky fourth passenger.”
I laughed. “Who are the other three, might I ask?” I climbed into the passenger seat, putting my seatbelt on.
Drew got in on the other side before answering. “Let’s see Juliana, Dre, and my mom.” He put his belt on, starting up the car.
My mouth fell agape. “What about Dillon?”
He scoffed. “Please, like I’d ever let that pig get in here. She would destroy it!” He yelled.
I laughed some more than we pulled out-of-school grounds. This was the most comfortable I’ve ever been with Drew. We talked like normal and I didn’t get all shy like I usually did. My favorite is that I get to ride in his car. It was early in the afternoon, so taking a drive didn’t seem too out of the realm. It’s still a mystery where he wanted to go, but it didn’t matter. We were starting our friendship off on the right foot.
After about 15 minutes of peacefully driving down the road, we came to a stop, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I looked around to see if I noticed anything. I didn’t see any landmarks anywhere nearby, but Drew looked like he knew what he was doing. Following his lead, he stopped at the back of the car, opening the trunk. He pulled out two bags and told me to grab the blanket sitting there.
After doing that, he lead me down this steep hill where I would have fallen if he didn’t take my hand. Once we got down there, there was this lake that was calm but the sun reflected off of it beautifully. We spread out the blanket and sat together with the plastic bags in between us.
“Wow, this is nice. It even smells good.” I say, looking out.
Drew agreed, opening one of the plastic bags. “It’s not what I wanted to show you, but I figured since it’s the afternoon, we could eat some lunch.” He said, pulling out the sushi he brought with him.
My eyes lit up at the sight. “Yum, sushi! There better be California rolls in there or else we’re going to have some problems.” I joke.
That made Drew laugh. “Don’t worry, they’re in there.” He said, handing them to me.
Gladly taking them, I didn’t waste any time putting a roll into my mouth. It was just as yummy as expected, as Drew followed suit. We sat silently for a moment, eating lunch and taking the scenery. This was a beautiful spot that he came to. Even though this wasn’t the original plan, it was just as good. I’m not sure what I would have liked more since I haven’t seen the other thing. Just being with Drew is nice.
We continued to eat, and Drew got this sour look on his face. A lot of things have been bothering him lately and neither of us could pinpoint why. Talking about it seemed to help, though. He was very vague when explaining, but I’m assuming it had to do with Juliana. Who else would he be talking about?
Sighing, he took in another roll before coming clean. “I’ve got to say, it’s nice being able to escape from my thoughts.” He said softly.
I looked over at him, confused. “What’s got your mind spiraling?” I asked, worried.
He shrugged, shaking his head. “I don’t know. I’m trying to process my feelings lately.” He was honest. “They’ve been all over the place, but interestingly enough, my worries disappear just at the right time.”
My eyebrow raised. “What time is that?” All I had was question after question.
His eyes looked up at me with a serious expression on his face. “Any time I’m with you,” he says like it wasn’t a big deal.
Looking him in the eyes, my heart raced when he said it. His worries disappeared when he was with me. What was special about me that I somehow eased him? Shouldn’t that have been Juliana’s job? It made little sense, but it warmed me up inside knowing he was taking notice of me. Of course, it ruined the moment when he opened his mouth again.
“I truly appreciate your friendship, Annabelle. I should have realized that sooner.” Yes, friendship.
I looked down, giving a tight-lipped smile. “I-I appreciate it too,” I say nervously.
Drew picked up on that, doing what he did at the gelato place. He placed his hand under my chin, lifting my face toward his to look me in the eye. The worried look on his face made me feel bad. I didn’t want to make him worry about me or my thoughts. I’m supposed to be getting over him, but Drew had this way of making my knees go weak no matter what he did. Why did he make things difficult?
Furrowing his eyebrows, he kept his hand on my chin, sort of pulling me closer. “Annabelle, are you ok? Did I say something wrong?” It was obvious he was concerned.
Unfortunately, I got lost staring into his eyes. The sun makes them a brighter green than they were before. Or were they always that bright? I don’t know, but I didn’t want him to let me go. Though, I also didn’t want to look like a fool for not answering him.
Shaking my head, I looked back at him to answer his question. “What? No, you did nothing wrong.” I reassured him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry.” I apologized.
He dropped his hand, smiling at me. “Nonsense, you don’t need to say sorry for any-”
He got cut off by the sound of my phone vibrating. I swear, if that were my dad calling again, I would kill him. This was my moment with Drew and he would be the one to ruin it. Although, I was completely wrong and instead it was my mom. She hadn’t called me since I started school, so she must’ve wanted something important. She was also video-calling me. My mom rarely did such things. It was best I answer it.
Drew saw who it was, leaning back for me to answer the phone. Once I did, my mom looked happy to see me out and happy.
“Anna, sweetheart, how are you doing?” she asked me.
I smiled at her. “I’m doing great, Mom. What’s up? I wasn’t expecting your call.” I honestly wanted to hang up and talk later. She’s cutting into my time with Drew.
She sighed. “We needed to talk about your father and why you’ve avoided his calls, young lady.” I knew she would scold me for it.
“Can that wait? I’m busy at the moment.” I didn’t want to talk about this in front of Drew. I didn’t want to talk about it at all, to be honest.
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What exactly are you doing that you can’t talk about family matters?” She was doing the classic thing all mothers do.
I rolled my eyes, not wanting to show her because she’ll embarrass me. However, if I did, she would continue to go on and on and I didn’t have time for it. Reluctantly, I showed her who I was with and her tune changed completely. She knew about my crush on Drew since I told her. We had a pretty close relationship as mother and daughter. I felt like I could tell her any and everything. The fact that she wouldn’t go around telling my secrets made it even more easy to talk to her about this stuff.
She did exactly what I thought, which was scream because I was with Drew. He smiled and waved at her because he liked my mom as well. It was awkward because of the circumstances. She didn’t know that I was getting over him. Hence her reaction.
Turning the phone back over to me, my mom understood what I was getting at. “Alright, I’ll let you go this time, but don’t think you’re getting out of this conversation.” She smiled. “I love you, sweetie.”
“I love you too, Mom,” I say before we hang up. Looking back at Drew, he laughed while I rolled my eyes. “That was embarrassing.”
He shook his head. “I love your mom. She’s fun.” He disagreed.
He was right as we continued our time here. Soon after, it rained, and we had to rush back into his car. It was raining so badly that he couldn’t see to drive. Waiting it out was stressful, but it gave us more time to spend together. More time than we should have had.