Page 24 of Already Falling

I can see Reid standing at the pier. His arms are at the edge as he is leaning over, looking down at the water. He looks deep in thought, and I almost don’t want to disturb him. I want to take his picture, but that’s probably weird, right? Eh, I’m going to do it, anyway. I try to be discreet and take a quick picture. It’s weird to put it as my phone wallpaper, right? Yeah, definitely weird.

Is it too late to turn around and leave? Right when I think that, he stands up and looks over at me. Damn, I’ve been spotted. I somehow manage to get my legs to move and walk over to meet him, ready to live the date my childhood self has always fantasized about.

TEN

REID

I am no expert in date planning but this date is going great so far, and Annika hasn’t even shown up yet. I slept great last night and woke up just after eight and walked to the coffee shop a few dorms down from me. I saw that guy who Annika’s friend, Chloe, is dating there. I gave him a big wave that was met with a blank stare. I picked up veggie sandwiches from this great walk-up sandwich spot near the beach and laid out the spread of goodies over a couple of blankets.

Even though it’s a little cooler today, the sun is out, and the beach isn’t too crowded. I decide to walk up to the pier to wait for Annika so she can see me when she arrives. Nothing is worse than meeting up with someone and having to look frantically for where they are. I was too excited and might have got here an hour early. But apparently, Annika was too because I see her walking towards me a half hour before noon.

She’s quite possibly the coolest person I’ve ever met. She’s wearing an oversized denim jacket and big sunglasses. She saunters over to me and pushes her sunglasses up on her head, pushing her hair back. She has little black flicks on her eyes and rosy cheeks.

She is taking her sweet time walking to me. “Hurry up before the seagulls eat our food!” I shout over to her and then decide to just jog toward her.

“I thought you said you were a professional beach picnic goer? You should know how to wrangle a seagull.”

“I never said such a thing. But don’t fret. The food should be safe in the picnic basket.” We stand about a foot apart, just looking at each other for a full minute. “I’m glad you actually showed up.” I interrupt the silence. “I was worried you’d cancel on me.”

“I may have drafted a few cancellation texts, but I couldn’t pass up a veggie sandwich on the beach.” She rewards me with a little half-smirk.

Motioning over to the stairs to the sand, I say, “Shall we?” And kick off my sandals.

I jog over to the spot I picked to make sure the blankets haven’t shifted since I laid them out. It’s the perfect distance from the water so we could dip our toes in, but not too far, so we can keep an eye on our things. I plop down next to the picnic basket, enjoying the view of Annika walking over. Her breezy cotton pants make her look like a goddess floating over to me. I can tell she is examining my setup as she picks a spot on the other blanket.

If I’m being honest with myself, the date is starting off a bit slowly. We eat the sandwiches and exchange a little chit-chat. She’s studying marketing, and I get the idea it’s probably not her favorite thing. I wonder if I’ve just hyped up this moment in my head too much. I wanted it to be perfect, and maybe that is ruining the vibe.

“Can I ask you a random question?” Annika says to me as she’s finishing up her lunch, interrupting my intrusive thoughts.

“Of course,” I say, clapping my hands to dust off sandwich crumbs. “Ask me all the random questions.”

“If the zoo was giving away an animal, what animal would you take? All supplies included.” She leans in, squinting a little. I can tell there’s a wrong answer to this question.

“Penguin,” I say with zero hesitation.

“Ahh, that’s a good answer, small, cute. Probably cuddly.” I can’t help but smile at her analyzing my answer in depth.

“What about you? What would you take?” I’m guessing she’s going to say some cat.

“A baby giraffe.” She’s clearly answered this question before because she doesn’t miss a beat.

I can’t help but laugh at her response. “An interesting choice. Definitely not small, but cute and maybe cuddly. Why a baby one?”

“They are clumsy and silly. Plus, I could raise it, and maybe it would think we are family.” My heart can’t take these sweet lines she keeps delivering and probably doesn’t realize it. She’s still so cute and I’d never admit that to her in fear of being met by her eye daggers.

“Okay, my turn to ask a random question.”

“Is that how this works? Otherwise, I don’t think I would have started.” But she seems on board with the back and forth because she starts rifling through the basket I brought and pulls out a bag of barbecue chips.

“What’s your weirdest hobby?” I ask, leaning back and digging my hands into the warm sand.

“Great question, but I don’t have one. I’m completely normal and not strange. Next question.” She flips her hair and pops another chip into her mouth.

“Ha! Yeah, right, everyone has a weird hobby. I’ll even share mine first.”

She rolls her eyes up off to the side and says, “Well, go on then.”

“I like watching a new movie once a month.”