23

Late the next morning, the cool September air swirled through my open window. The quiet was shattered when Everly burst through my open door, camera hanging from her neck.

"Are you so excited?" she asked. If I wasn't before, I certainly was now. The excitement was pouring off of her, and it was hard not to be excited, too.

Of course I am.

"Hold this," Everly said, handing me a green floral dress before going back into my closet. She pulled out my pair of cowgirl boots and handed them to me.

"I have the perfect necklace! Put these on."

She closed my door behind her, and I changed into my new outfit. I was trying to figure out what to do with my hair when Everly knocked on my door to make sure I was ready. She smiled when she saw me and draped a silver necklace over my head.

She'd told me to leave my hair down earlier that morning, and my curls were hanging perfectly. She pulled a few back from my face with bobby pins and stood back to admire her work. She clapped her hands together, jumping up and down a couple of times.

"Call your boyfriend and tell him to meet us downstairs," Everly said.

"He's not —"

"I know, I know," she winked.

I looked at my phone to see a few text messages from Tyler and Sierra.

Tyler: What does Everly want me to wear?

I looked up at her. "What is he wearing?"

She looked me up and down. "Jeans, a plaid shirt if he has one. Maybe a jean jacket?"

I relayed the message and looked at my messages from Sierra.

Sierra: Make sure you send me pictures!

Sierra: I had better be in your wedding

Sierra: Seriously, have fun. You deserve it. Love you!

She also sent a kissy emoji.

I texted her back, and Everly and I headed out to meet Tyler downstairs.

We drove ten minutes to a meadow in Promise and started walking toward the pond. The sunshine filtered through the trees and reflected off the water. A slight breeze blew through the long grass.

I kept sneaking glances at Tyler, wiping my sweaty hands on my dress. My heart was starting to flutter in my chest and my lips were dry.

Halfway to the pond, Tyler spontaneously took my hand and twirled me. He started dancing with me, and I couldn't stop laughing. I had never seen him smile so much, and there was a sparkle in his eyes that I had never seen before. Everly was laughing and just snapping pictures.

"You two are perfect!"

We stopped to catch our breath and walked toward the trees, hand-in-hand.

Everly walked behind us, snapping more pictures.

She had us wait near the pond while she scoped out the perfect spot for our photo shoot.

The breeze gently lifted my curls and twirled my dress around my legs. I looked up at Tyler and he smiled at me, squeezing my hand.

Everly called us over to a tree that had split at the trunk. She had Tyler lean his back against the trunk of the tree with his feet spread.

"You sure you're up for this?" she whispered in my ear.

I looked away, watching a butterfly flit away, aware that I was violently blushing. "Let's just do this."

I saw Tyler smiling at me, holding his hand out to me. I walked toward him and tripped over something, hurtling me right into his chest. He immediately put his arms around my waist to catch me, and Everly started snapping more pictures. Once I caught my balance, he loosened his grip, and I looked up at him. He gently brushed a lock of hair behind my ear as I pushed off of his chest.

"Where do you want me?" I asked Everly, trying to recover some dignity. I couldn't make eye contact with Tyler.

What am I supposed to do?

What if I mess this up?

What if he doesn't actually want to do this?

Maybe this wasn't the best idea.

"Here." She adjusted my feet and placed his left hand on my waist. She put his right hand on the back of my neck and stepped back to check her work. I could feel his eyes reading my face, but I was too nervous to meet his eyes.

"Alexia, loosen up" Everly sighed, and I stepped closer to him.

I put my hands on his shoulders and stuck my tongue out at her. She had a stupid grin on her face and put the viewfinder to her eye. I looked up to Tyler at last. He smirked and raised his eyebrows twice at me.

Before I could change my mind, I stood on my tiptoes, wrapped my arms around his neck, closed my eyes, and kissed him. His lips were soft and tasted faintly of mint gum.

Am I really doing this?

Please, don't mess this up.

I was about to pull away when he pulled me closer, deepening the kiss.

The spell was broken by Everly squealing. I groaned and leaned back on my feet. I shot her a look that she ignored.

"Put on his jacket," She practically jumped up and down as she instructed.

I stepped away so Tyler could take off his jean jacket and I could put it on. Tyler laced the fingers of both of his hands through mine and pulled me back toward him, giving me a soft smile. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him again.

When we pulled away, I rested my head against his chest, and he wrapped both arms around my waist, holding me close. He kissed the top of my head, and I heard Everly continue snapping away.

"Oh, no," Everly said. "I forgot to bring extra batteries and I think these just died."

She took the batteries out, flipped them over, and put them back in. "I knew this was going to happen," she muttered, unsuccessfully trying to turn her camera back on.

We eventually stepped apart, and the three of us began walking back to Everly's car.

"I'll start working on editing these as soon as we get back. Some of these turned out so well!" Everly gushed. She kept squealing and showing us her favorites.

I was glad I was able to help my friend with her project, but it was hard to pay attention to anything she was saying.

We made it back to the dorm, and Everly was still chattering away. In the Commons area, Everly started walking toward our floor and I stayed back with Tyler.

"Well, that was nice," I said quietly, glancing up at him.

A small smile spread over his face, and he took my hands in his and pulled me toward him. He gave me a small kiss on the cheek, and let my hands go.

"Good night, Tyler," I said, turning to walk down the hall.

He smiled at me, and I headed up to my room.

Sierra called me as soon as I stepped into my room.

"Spill."

"What do you want me to say?" I put her on speakerphone as I closed my door. I started to put my stuff away and change into a shirt and shorts.

"You just finally had a date with the guy that you've been obsessing over for months! I want details!"

"I don't ask you for details between you and Tyeshia."

"Alexia. Don't make me drive myself up there and pull it out of you."

I threw myself on the futon under my open window. "It was fine, I guess."

"Oh, you are such a bad liar. Besides, Everly already sent me pictures."

Of course, she had.

I sighed. "It was pretty amazing."

"I knew it!" she yelled, startling me. Then, she asked more calmly. "So, what are you going to do about it? You're obviously interested. I think he is, too."

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens. After what happened with Brock, I'm not going to rush into anything ever again."