TRUE LOVE [Chapter 4: Double Date]

  

The drive with Cameron only lasted about twenty minutes before we pulled up to my house.

“Can you turn off the headlights?” I asked him

“Sure.” He said leaving only his parking lights on

“Thank you for the ride.” I said

“Anytime. I’m here if you ever need anything.” Cameron said

“Really?”

He nodded in response.

“I am too.” I said

“I’m glad you came to the dance.” He smiled

“Me too. It was pretty fun.”

Our small talk was interrupted by Cameron’s cell phone ringing.

“Hold on.” He said looking irritated by the interruption as he dug into his pocket for his phone.

He answered his phone, “Hello?” with a slight coldness, “Oh, hey Nat. Everything okay?” he asked his sister

He smiled on the phone and looked at me, “Sure. Here he is.” He handed me the phone.

“Hello?” I answered

“Oh My God! You will never guess what happened?!” Natalie said with enthusiasm over the phone

“What’s going on?” I asked trying to sound excited as well

“I asked out Phillip.” She said in a loud whisper

“Really?! That’s great Nat.”

“Yeah. We have a date tomorrow night at Sand Dollar Pizza. But…” she hesitated

“But? What’s wrong with that?” I asked

“Can you come too?” she asked in a plead

“Oh. Nat. That will be really weird. I don’t want to be a third wheel.” I said

From the corner of my eye, I could see Cameron turn his head looking at me when I said that.

“Oh you won’t,” Natalie said, “Jasmine would love to go on a date with you too. We can double!” she said with excitement

“Oh. Nat. That’s a little soon for me. I just met her…plus, this should be about you and Phillip.” I tried to weasel out of it

“Please Joey!” she whined

“Okay, okay. But I’m only going as a friend to Jasmine. Nothing romantic will come out of this, I’m telling you.” I said with confidence

I could hear Cameron chuckle under his breath.

“You never know.” Nat laughed, “okay, let me to talk to my brother. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

I handed the phone back over to Cameron. He quickly ended his conversation with Natalie and hung up.

“So you got sucked into a double date huh?” Cameron laughed

“Yeah.” I said with a sigh

“You’re a good friend to Nat.” Cameron said looking at me with a crooked smile

“Well, she’s been really good to me too.” I said honestly

“Why couldn’t you see yourself with Jasmine? She’s pretty…don’t you think?” he asked

“Uh…” I began to find the right words, “Well, yeah, she’s pretty…but. I’m not sure if she’s my type.”

“Hm.” Cameron pursed his lips, “I know the feeling.” He said

We sat in silence for a few seconds, not knowing what else to talk about.

“Well, I should get going. I know you are a tired, and I forgot that you still have a long drive home.”  I said

“I don’t mind. Unless you want me to go.” He said with a chuckle

“Um.  Well, I just didn’t want you to be to sleepy. Don’t want you to fall asleep at the wheel.” I said now looking straight ahead, feeling a little uncomfortable

“That’s very considerate of you.” He said leaning towards me

I flinched. My jump scared him as well.

“Are you okay?” he asked

“Um. Yeah. I…” I didn’t finish

“I was just going to get my phone charger.” He laughed

“Yeah. No, I know.” I lied

He sat back and gave a small smirk.

“What?” I asked
“Do I make you uncomfortable?” he asked

“No. Of course not.” I lied again

“I can tell when you aren’t being totally honest with me.” He said seriously

“What? I am being…”

“Joey.” He stopped me

I sat in silence and finally said, “Thank you again for the ride.” As I unbuckled my seatbelt, so did Cameron. He sprung out of the car and ran around the front towards my door. He opened it for me and gave a small bow.

I laughed and said, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled

“Goodnight.” I said beginning to walk towards the front door

“Night. Talk to you tomorrow?” he asked

“Yeah.” I smiled

I walked inside to find my parents sitting in the living room watching television. They immediately swarmed me with questions. I couldn’t even answer them; my mind was still in daze from the ride home with Cameron.

“It was fun.” I finally answered and ran upstairs to my room. I got up in time to see Cameron’s car tail lights disappearing into the thick tree’s that surrounded our property. I could hear his car rev off down the street.

            I woke up the next morning not event remembering when I went to sleep. I did however find myself in bed completely naked. A little unusual for me. I’m not one to sleep in the nude. The day dragged on as I tried to mentally prepare myself for the double date of doom. I agreed to meet Natalie, Jasmine and Phillip at the pizzeria, which meant I had to figure out a way to get there.

“Mom, Dad. Is it okay if either of you drop me off at the pizza place in town? I’m meeting a couple friends.” I asked as they sat around the breakfast bar as my mother baked brownies.

“I don’t think so bud.” My dad said calmly

“Oh. Um. Okay.” I said in shock, but before I could even react further my dad continued

“How about you get yourself there.” He said with a smile

“Um? Huh?” I asked confused

“Why don’t you take my jeep?” he said tossing me the keys

“Really?!” I asked

“Yeah. In fact…why don’t you hang onto those keys.” My dad said

Wow. I was in total disbelief. I mean, I did have my license; I just didn’t have a car. My dad never let me drive his jeep solo. I ran and hugged him and my mother. This was such a great gift.

“Consider it an early birthday gift.” He smiled hugging me again

“Thank you so much dad. But wait. What are you going to drive?” I asked with sincerity

“I got my eye on a car at a local lot. I’m just so proud of you, Joe. You’ve really adapted to this place, you made friends, you have been such a good kid and we’re blessed.” He said almost teary eyed

“Dad. Thank you. Am I okay to drive it now without insurance?” I asked

“All taken care of. She’s got a full tank of gas. She’s all yours, but drive safe and don’t go crazy down these mountain and cliffside roads.” My dad said

“I won’t, I promise.” I smiled and ran out the door

I jumped into my new toy; I started her up and headed down the gravel path towards the main road. I considered myself a good driver, obviously my parents trusted me anyways. I drove down the windy road of the mountain towards town. I had a smile from ear to ear as I drove. As I pulled up to the pizzeria I saw Natalie, Phillip and Jasmine about to walk in. I honked and they all saw me pulling into a parking spot.

“Joey?” Natalie said with a smile

“Hey!” I yelled back

“You’re dad let you drive his Jeep?” she asked

“My Jeep. My parents just surprised the hell out of me and gave it to me as an early birthday gift.”

“Wow! That’s so awesome! Suits you!” Phillip said shaking my hand

“Hi.” Jasmine smiled at me

And then my joy disappeared.

“Hi.” I suddenly remembered that I was there on a double date.

We all walked in and got a table. Jasmine kept finding ways to touch my arm or scoot closer to me. I ignored her antics and would join in the laughter that Phillip and Natalie shared. Our double date was then interrupted by a loud obnoxious voice.

“Go get us a table, babe.” said Nick to his girlfriend, who I assumed was Stephanie

A group of his jock friends joined them with their girlfriends. Not far behind them was Cameron. As he walked in he began scanning the room. He noticed our table and looked directly at me. He smiled. I smiled back.

“Fuck.” Phillip said irritably

“You guys want to leave?” Jasmine asked

But before we could answer, Nick pulled up a chair and sat right next to Natalie.

“Hello.” He said calmly

“Hi, Nick.” Natalie said with distaste

“So, who said you fuckwads could sit at our table?” he said with a horrific grin on his face

“Nick, leave them alone.” Cameron said laughing as he pulled up a chair between Nick and Natalie

“What are you doing here?” Natalie asked with coldness

“Came for the pizza.” He smirked

“I got us a table.” Said Stephanie standing behind Nick

“Hi, Stephanie.” Natalie said with kindness

“…Hi.” Stephanie responded short and cold, “Babe, are we going to eat or what?”

“Alright, alright…damn woman.” Nick snapped getting up and tossing the chair back to its original table

“Cameron, you should go join them.” Natalie suggested

“Oh come on. You don’t want big brother around?”

“NO THANKS.” She snapped

“Jeez. Alright, I’ll go. If anybody wants to join…you are more than welcome to.” He said as he looked directly at me

The remainder of the night was okay except for the fact that Nick would toss croutons at our table, trying to aim for Natalie and Phillip. Meanwhile, olives were being tossed at Jasmine and me by Cameron, who I think was just trying to be funny. We decided to call it a night. The four of us headed outside to the parking lot and I waved goodbye to them as they drove off in Phillips SUV. I was about to get into my Jeep when I noticed Cameron standing by the front door.

“Nice ride.” He said with his arms crossed, “So you had a car, but you just wanted to ride with me last night?” he smiled

“No.” I blushed, “I just got this today, well, it was my dad’s but he gave it to me as an early birthday gift.”

“Oh, sweet. Well maybe, this time you can give me a ride?” he asked

“Oh. Um, yeah. I thought you were hanging out with your friends?”

“I am…you.” He smiled getting into the passenger side of the jeep before I even got in

I laughed and got in as we pulled out of the parking lot.

“You know where I live?” Cameron asked

“Oh. No. Sorry. I just started driving.” I laughed embarrassed

“It’s okay. I don’t mind you taking me for a ride…its how it should work right?”

“What?” I asked confused

“You know…I take you for a ride….you take me for a ride.” He chuckled

“Sure.” I wasn’t sure what he meant

He gave me directions to his house. As we were driving, he got a text on his phone. He ignored it.

“You can answer that.” I said

“I know.” He laughed, “I just don’t want to.”

“Oh.” I said not sure if he was irritated

He must have felt like he offended me and gave an explanation, “It was Nick. Asking why I left? I just don’t like the way he acts sometimes, especially towards you.” Cameron admitted

“Why would that bother you?” I asked

“Because you are my friend. A much better friend that I think I deserve.” He looked at me

I smiled and just accepted the compliment.

“So why did you go to the pizza place? Really?” I fished for an answer

“Because of you.” He said with confidence

“Huh?” I slightly swerved

“Oh jeez.” Cameron laughed, “Careful there…”

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, I mean. Last night I could tell you didn’t want to be there, so I thought I would help you out.”

I took a quick glance at him. He was looking right at me when he said that.

“Remember, when you need someone. You just turn around and I will be there.” He said with a smile

“That almost sounded creepy.” I laughed, trying to lighten the conversation

He joined in the laughter, but I knew he meant it in a sincere way.


© 2015 Copyright J.M. Casas Jr. Royalty Novels / True Love Saga. All Rights Reserved.