Gauntlet Rite of Ascension Read Online Free PDF Page B

I liked Italian?” She asked looking at me, curious.
    “Two months ago. You said you and your dad went to this great Italian place on a road trip, I think you went to visit your aunt.” I said, pulling out from the curb and heading into town.
    “You remember something I said two months ago?” She asked, a look of thoughtful admiration on her face.
    “Yeah, well. I have a good memory.” I said, trying to hide the fact that I was totally in love with her and had been hanging on her every word since our first week together.
    “Hmm. That’s good to know.” She said. Turning back and looking out the window.
    We drove for a few minutes in silence, neither of us feeling the need to fill it with talking. It was nice. Finally, she said, “You really surprised me yesterday. I thought you’d never ask me out.”
    “I surprised myself. I had wanted to for a while but never felt the time was right. It was weird, but something came over me and I couldn’t wait any longer.” I said.
    “Whatever the reason, I’m glad.” She said and reached over and took my hand.
    We drove the rest of the way to the restaurant like that. I was in heaven.
    It wasn’t far and soon I had parked and opened the door for Sara, she got out and we went inside to eat.
    Linguini’s wasn’t a four star place, hell it wasn’t a three star place, but it was cozy and the food was amazing.
    The owner was named Guido, I’m not kidding, and he was an immigrant who brought his family recipes with him.
    The place was decorated with lots of red and white checkered table clothes and soccer memorabilia. The booths had tall backs that allowed each one to feel as though they were all by themselves. A lone pendant hung down over each table, giving every booth a coziness that was great for making the customer feel as though they were the only ones in the place. There was a bar with a few TVs on. A few people were sitting on stools and the restaurant was beginning to fill up as customers came in for a good meal on a Saturday night.
    A hostess led us to our booth and gave us menus. We looked at them for a minute, but I already knew what I wanted. I set mine down and studied Sara as she thoughtfully scanned the menu, carefully taking each item in consideration, before rejecting it and moving on to the next one. It was adorable.
    The waitress came over a few minutes later and took our orders. As she left Sara, with her chin in her hands, said, “Georgetown, that’s a pretty big deal.”
    “I haven’t made it yet. I still have to get through this summer without violating their morality clause.” I said sarcastically.
    “Morality clause? What’ll they take away your scholarship if you watch an R-rated movie or something?” She asked.
    “Something like that. I have to uphold the standards of decency and morality.” I said, quoting from the requirements.
    “Sounds pretty vague, what if you meet someone and have pre-marital sex, whatever shall you do?” She asked, smiling mischievously, obviously enjoying making me squirm.
    A deep crimson rushed to my face.
    “I doubt I’ll have to worry about that.” I said sheepishly.
    “The night’s still young.” She said, teasing.
    “What about you? You never really mention what you’ll be doing after graduation.” I said, trying to change the subject.
    Her smile reduced to a small smirk. She knew she had made me back down and accepted the change of course.
    “I don’t know. I was thinking of maybe going overseas for a while, visit Paris, Madrid, Rome, you know all the big art meccas. My dad’s been pushing me to go to Penn State in the fall. They have a pretty good art program, but my dream is to go New York. The in state tuition at Penn is a major magnet for my dad.” She said.
    “Wow, New York huh? That’s big time. I didn’t know you were into art that much. I mean I’ve seen some of your drawings, and they are great, but I didn’t know you loved it that much.” I said, truly intrigued.
    “Yeah