Parker's Island (10 page)

Molly and I planned everything down to the last detail.  I wasn’t only going to lie to my parents, but I was doing something I knew
just
didn’t feel right.  I was resolved to go through with it
,
however, and Saturday morning I packed my bag and
reminded
my
mom
I was going to spend the night at Molly’s house.

“Have a good time
,
honey
.  Delaney, you never did tell me about that boy.  Did you ever ask him out again?”
m
y mom asked sheepishly, not wanting to cause me anymore pain, but obviously interested.

“
No, I never
got
the c
hance
,
” I lied again
.
  I grabbed my bag and headed to the door, knowing Molly would probably already be out there waiting for me, not giving me any opportunity to back out.

“There are
a lot of fish in the sea
,
honey
.  Y
ou’ll find the right one.”

“I know
,
M
om.  Bye.”  I felt so guilty, but I had made up my mind and I was going
to go
through with it.  My very first date
.
I took a deep breath and headed to the car.

“We are
going to have SO MUCH FUN!!!!”
Molly squealed.

“I hope so.”

When we got to Molly’s house, sh
e grabbed my bag and emptied it
s contents on
to
her bed.

“Why did you do that?” I asked, irritated.

“UH HUH, just as I thought.  You don’t have a dress.  Just what did you plan to wear tonight?”

“I brought a dress,”
I said, picking it up off of her bed and
holding
it up in front of me.

“There is no way that you’re going to wear that dress to our party.”

“Why not?  I like it.”

“
Of course you do
.  I
t screams preacher’s daughter.  Well, it’s a good thing that I knew you were going to do this.  I bought a dress for you.  Don’t worry, it was on sale and you can p
ay me back later if you want
,
” s
he smiled a very
mischievous
smile that instantly made me nervous.

“NO WAY!  I won’t we
ar that dress
,”
I
said
when she pulled it out of her closet
.

“Just try it on…
please
!
”
s
he said, obviously ready for a fight.

“NO!
  There’s nothing to it.
”

“
Delaney
, you’re the one that said you were going to try to have fun tonight.  You said you were ready to start dating and move forward with your life.  You can’t dress in Sunday clothes forever.  TRY ON THE DRESS!”
  She held it out for me, daring me to refuse.

“Fine!”
I said, grabbing it and heading into the bathroom.

I slipped into the dress
,
or what there was of it
,
and then turned toward the mirror, certain I would hate it.  I stared at the young woman in the mirror for a second, not sure
that
it was
really
me.  I
actually
filled it out.  I couldn’t believe it. 

Molly walked in
then
.
“Wow!” was all she said.

“Is that really me?”

“Oh yeah, and with a little make up and
your hair done just right, you
’re going to
have
Brian and every other guy at the party panting after you!
  You can wear your graduation
earrings
from your parents
.
Diamond’s
will go perfectly with
the
dress.
”

I wasn’t sure it was the most appropriate dress, but I did think it was pretty and I was determined to try to fit in
tonight.
  “Thank you
,
”
I said, still amazed that I was able to fill
out
the dress.

“
You’re
welcome.  Bet you didn’t even know you had boobs
,
did you?”
s
he laughed at my obvious cleavage.

“Um, I guess I never paid much attention.”

“Trust me, Brian will
,
”
s
he grinned.

I stepped out of Molly’s car and Brian instantly
made his way toward
me.  He stopped about a foot from me and said, “OH
,
W
ow!  You’re so beautiful.”

I think I must have blushed, but was grateful for the compliment.  “You look very nice
,
Brian.  Thanks for meeting me here.”

“What?  Oh yeah, sure
,
”
h
e said, still staring at me in a very strange way.

He stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything and finally I said, “Are you re
ady to go?”

He said nothing, nor did he move.  He just stared at me.

“Come on Bria
n, take her arm and let’s go!”
Molly said, grinning at his obvious fascination with
the new me
.

The ferry ride was fine.  Neither of us could think of much to say, but I felt comfortable with him nonetheless.  Then Chad walked over, “
Hi Laney
.
I thought you weren’t coming to the party?”
h
e said with gritted teeth.

“Oh, well I hadn’t planned on it, but I guess I changed my mind
,
” I said, forgetting that he had asked me weeks ago and I turned him down.

“I see.  Well, you look very…
nice
,
”
h
e said,
and then
strutted off, heading back toward Hailey.  I noticed she didn’t look very happy.  I couldn’t imagine being happy if I was with Chad
,
either.  He just gave me a bad feeling.  I turned back to Brian and smiled
, actually happy
that I was with h
im
.

“Chad’s wrong, you know.  Nice doesn’t even begin to describe how exceptional you look.  Every guy here is completely jealous of me tonight.  I still can’t believe you said yes
, b
ut I’m so glad you did.
  I’m the luckiest guy alive.
”

I didn’t know what to say, but when I looked into his eyes, I
saw a kindness there and I realized that
he really was a nice, decent guy.  And although my heart was somewhere else,
I realized I was almost having fun and I smiled at him and said, “I think I’m the lucky one.”

He took my compliment as a sign and leaned down to kiss me, but I pulled away, certain I wasn’t ready for that.

“I’m sorry.  You’re just so…
I’m sorry.”  He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and said, “I didn’t mean to rush you.  I mean, I hope I didn’t offend you.  I don’t want to scare you off.  I’m not expecti
ng…
anything
from you
.
..okay?” he said
apologetically.

“You didn’t scare me off.  I
’m just not r
eady for anything…
p
hysical
,
” I said, hoping he understood.

“
I promise I won’t ask you to do anything you’re not ready for. 
I’
m just
happy
you’re here with me.
” 

The ferry docked, and we were all ushered onto
Parker’s Is
land.  I had to admit, it was very beautiful.  I hadn’t been to the island in a few years.  I forgot how pretty it was.  It was dusk and the lights from the island were sparkling off the water, casting a romantic glow all around.  It was breathtaking, and I couldn’t help but feel it was almost magical.

“Shall we?”
Brian
aske
d, offering me his arm.

“
Yes
,
” I said
, smiling and taking his arm
.

The actual party was being held at
Parker’s
Inn. 
We had the entire hotel all night.  The last ferry was leaving the island at 2:00 am,
instead of the usual 11:00 pm,
in honor of the annual party
.  S
ome of the kids planned on staying over-night, having booked rooms at the hotel in advance.  I was wondering what they told their parents.  I assumed many of them lied, like I did.  But,
at least
I wasn’t staying
all night
.
I was taking the last ferry and going back to Molly’s house.  Suddenly I was a bit nervous, but excited at the same time.  Brian was really nice, and he seemed to actually respect my wishes.  I realized that I hadn’t even thought of Logan once since I stepped out of Molly’s car and saw
Brian
. 
Maybe I did have a shot at happiness
,
after all.

“Are you hungry?”
Brian asked, pointing to the enormous amount of food at the buffet line.

“No, not really.”
I was entirely too nervous to even think about eating anything.  “
But I’d love something to drink.” 

“Oh sure
.
I’ll be right back
,
”
h
e said, and headed over to the bar.

He brought back two c
ups of lemonade. 
“Is this okay?”
he asked.

“Yes, lemonade is great.” 

“So, would you like to dance?”

“I’ve never actually
danced before. 
I’ll probably step all over your feet.
  I probably should have told you that when you asked me to the party
,
” I said, feeling bad that I had to deny him
such
an important part of the party.

“You can’t hurt these feet
,
”
h
e said, lifting his pant leg and showing me an enormous foot.

“Wow.  Now that’s impressive
,
” I said, smiling.

“Yeah, you should see me trying to buy shoes.
  Then, how about a walk?
”

“
You’re obviously well equipped for that
,
” I grinned at him.

“That’s for sure.  How about you
,
though
?
  T
hose shoes don’t look very comfortable.  They look
great, but not very comfortable for walking.
”

“I think I’m okay to take a short walk.  If we walk on the beach
,
then I can take
these stupid s
hoes off.”

He offered me his arm and said, “Sounds wonderful.
  But, you
still
owe a
dance when we get back.
”

“You might be sorry.”

“
No, I
don’t think so
,
”
h
e said sincerely.

We walked along the beach together, talking about this or that
,
h
igh school and where we planned to
attend
college.  He
was offered a few
full
football
scholarships at
different schools around the U.S.  He
hadn’t made up his mind where he was going yet.  I told him I didn’t know where I was going yet
,
either.

As we walked along the beach, I looked up at the road and noticed what looked like the same car I’d been seeing around my house.  “It can’t be the same car
,
” I said quietly.

“Excuse me?”
Brian asked.

“Oh nothing, I’m imagining things
,
” I said,
and
then focused on the ocean shore.