matching haughtiness, they stared at our backs.
I smiled, kinda slow and la-dee-da like. He’s my date and not yours. Rotten of me, but I’d never done that before.
Glancing over to the Ferris wheel, I skidded to a stop as Chapling and the code we’d been tinkering with popped into my brain. “Wait, I have to write this down.”
“What is it?” David asked with a grin.
I ripped the notepad and pencil from my back pocket, flipped through pages and pages of code until I found my spot, and began scribbling.
“And that’ll circle back around to . . .” I mumbled and continued jotting. “But then if I go this route . . .” Feverishly, I wrote code before I lost any of it. “And then Chapling won’t agree so I’ll have to do this. . . .” On and on I scripted until I proved every single block.
There. Holding the pad away, I studied what I’d done. Chapling was going to love this.
I jerked my eyes up. David had moved us off the Boardwalk over to the beach. I hadn’t even realized we’d moved. “How long have I—”
“Ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? I’m so sorry. I saw the Ferris wheel, and it reminded me . . .” I closed my eyes and groaned. I was such a geek.
David tapped my forehead. “I think smart chicks are cool.”
He’d said the same thing to me twice before. I opened my eyes. Behind him the Ferris wheel slowly rotated, illuminating the night sky.
A moist breeze blew in from the ocean, and I shivered.
“You’re adorable.” Wrapping his arms around me, he gave me a tender kiss. “That’s thirty-seven.”
I smiled. “Wanna ride the Ferris wheel?”
“Definitely.”
And we did. We spent hours weaving our way up and down the Boardwalk. We rode rides, played games, ate cotton candy. David won me a tiny stuffed giraffe at a coin toss, and we had our picture taken in a photo booth. It was the best night of my life.
He linked fingers with me as he led me from the Boardwalk through the parking lot back to the truck. In thirty minutes it would be midnight.
“Yo, David,” a group of guys called.
He waved. I recognized them from the university.
“A couple of those guys are in my physics study group.” David brought our hands to his mouth and kissed the back of mine. “They’re so jealous right now.”
“Jealous?”
“Because I’m with the tall, hot, smart chick from the ranch.”
“Tall, hot, smart chick?”
“That’s what they call you.”
Nobody had ever called me a tall, hot, smart chick. “What do you call me?”
We reached the truck. David leaned back against it and pulled me into his arms. “My girlfriend.”
My heart pitter-pattered. He’d never actually called me that before. “Girlfriend?”
He squeezed me. “You don’t mind do you?”
I looked into his eyes and smiled. “Umm—”
Bzzzzbzzzzbzzzz.
[2]
bzzzbzzzbzzz.
David and I pulled apart. We both glanced down at our cell phones clipped to our jeans.
* * *. TL’s code to return to home base. ASAP.
David texted TL that we’d be there as quickly as possible.
I smiled a little to hide my disappointment. Sure our date was almost over, but TL’s text had cut it a little short. I’d actually been enjoying myself tonight and had almost forgotten my other world. Not that I didn’t like working for the Specialists, but I never really got a taste of what it was like to be a normal teenager. I felt like my life was always in mission mode.
David took my hand, obviously picking up on my bummed-out mood. “At least we just about made it through the whole date.”
I nodded.
David opened the passenger door. “This is our life, GiGi. I don’t know what else to say.”
“I know.”
I smiled, kinda slow and la-dee-da like. He’s my date and not yours. Rotten of me, but I’d never done that before.
Glancing over to the Ferris wheel, I skidded to a stop as Chapling and the code we’d been tinkering with popped into my brain. “Wait, I have to write this down.”
“What is it?” David asked with a grin.
I ripped the notepad and pencil from my back pocket, flipped through pages and pages of code until I found my spot, and began scribbling.
“And that’ll circle back around to . . .” I mumbled and continued jotting. “But then if I go this route . . .” Feverishly, I wrote code before I lost any of it. “And then Chapling won’t agree so I’ll have to do this. . . .” On and on I scripted until I proved every single block.
There. Holding the pad away, I studied what I’d done. Chapling was going to love this.
I jerked my eyes up. David had moved us off the Boardwalk over to the beach. I hadn’t even realized we’d moved. “How long have I—”
“Ten minutes.”
“Ten minutes? I’m so sorry. I saw the Ferris wheel, and it reminded me . . .” I closed my eyes and groaned. I was such a geek.
David tapped my forehead. “I think smart chicks are cool.”
He’d said the same thing to me twice before. I opened my eyes. Behind him the Ferris wheel slowly rotated, illuminating the night sky.
A moist breeze blew in from the ocean, and I shivered.
“You’re adorable.” Wrapping his arms around me, he gave me a tender kiss. “That’s thirty-seven.”
I smiled. “Wanna ride the Ferris wheel?”
“Definitely.”
And we did. We spent hours weaving our way up and down the Boardwalk. We rode rides, played games, ate cotton candy. David won me a tiny stuffed giraffe at a coin toss, and we had our picture taken in a photo booth. It was the best night of my life.
He linked fingers with me as he led me from the Boardwalk through the parking lot back to the truck. In thirty minutes it would be midnight.
“Yo, David,” a group of guys called.
He waved. I recognized them from the university.
“A couple of those guys are in my physics study group.” David brought our hands to his mouth and kissed the back of mine. “They’re so jealous right now.”
“Jealous?”
“Because I’m with the tall, hot, smart chick from the ranch.”
“Tall, hot, smart chick?”
“That’s what they call you.”
Nobody had ever called me a tall, hot, smart chick. “What do you call me?”
We reached the truck. David leaned back against it and pulled me into his arms. “My girlfriend.”
My heart pitter-pattered. He’d never actually called me that before. “Girlfriend?”
He squeezed me. “You don’t mind do you?”
I looked into his eyes and smiled. “Umm—”
Bzzzzbzzzzbzzzz.
[2]
bzzzbzzzbzzz.
David and I pulled apart. We both glanced down at our cell phones clipped to our jeans.
* * *. TL’s code to return to home base. ASAP.
David texted TL that we’d be there as quickly as possible.
I smiled a little to hide my disappointment. Sure our date was almost over, but TL’s text had cut it a little short. I’d actually been enjoying myself tonight and had almost forgotten my other world. Not that I didn’t like working for the Specialists, but I never really got a taste of what it was like to be a normal teenager. I felt like my life was always in mission mode.
David took my hand, obviously picking up on my bummed-out mood. “At least we just about made it through the whole date.”
I nodded.
David opened the passenger door. “This is our life, GiGi. I don’t know what else to say.”
“I know.”
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