After Rosie’s, our adventure had taken us out of West End and into Chesapeake Hills to a thrift store I never knew existed. We each picked a random number and then in that aisle number we had to buy something.
I had ended up picking the candle aisle, which was a win for me, easily choosing a light and airy bamboo scented candle.
Wyatt had chosen the kitchen aisle and ended up walking out with a vegetable chopper. It had several attachments to adjust to different veggies and was actually pretty cool.
My dad would have been jealous.
“Okay, next adventure choice,” Wyatt said as we waited to get to the front of the line at a four way stop sign intersection. “Straight, right, or left.”
“Straight.”
He saluted me, then at the stop sign, went straight.
We didn’t get far down this road, before we were faced with more decisions. He pointed to his left. “That looks like a park and playground.” Then he switched to the other side. “And over there is a farmer’s market.”
“Hmm. You pick.”
“Park.”
I nodded, and he signaled in that direction. Once we parked, I hopped out and waited for him in the front.
“Walk the trail or go to the playground equipment?” I asked.
“Hmm, walk then swing?”
I giggled. “Okay.” The temperature had risen since our breakfast stop. I pulled the scrunchie off my wrist and tied my hair in a loose bun. It wouldn’t crease if I took it out later, but it would keep it off my neck and be cooler from the weight of my curls.
Something flitted through Wyatt’s expression as I did, but he didn’t say anything.
I resisted the urge to squirm. It made me nervous not knowing what he thought when he looked like that. Was he annoyed? Although that didn’t make much sense to me, but what else could he be feeling?
We set a slow pace, walking shoulder to shoulder around the circular trail on the outskirts of the park.
“Favorite band or artist?” Wyatt asked.
I groaned. “That is so hard and I feel like you’ll judge it.”
He placed his hands, palm outward. “Never. Music should speak to you. If it doesn’t, then what is the point? I won’t judge anyone for what speaks to them. It isn’t fair.”
My stomach twisted. “Billie Eilish.” I stared at his expression, but true to his word, it didn’t hold judgment. “What about you?”
“Favorites are hard for me. I have moments. Artists I like in certain moods I guess you could say. One Republic, Imagine Dragons, or The Weeknd. But I also like to dabble into older artists like Elvis and Johnny Cash. If it speaks to me, then I’ll listen to it.”
“That’s cool. How do you have such an eclectic mix of music you like?”
“Just around. Not really sure actually. My mom and dad listened to some of the older stuff. As for the newerish stuff, just random playlists I stumble on or I hear it when we play covers at other places. All over. Claire is always bringing new music to practices too.”
“How did Claire end up in the same circles as you and Jack? I just can’t picture that happening.”
He cleared his throat. “I saw her at a party, remember?”
“Yeah but seeing and becoming bandmates is a little different.”
“Jack and I both flirted with her a bit. She pushed Jack away quickly, but we went on a date.”
My brows rose. “You did?” My stomach lurched waiting for his response.
“Yeah, but it was clear we were supposed to be friends.”
“Ah. Lucky that you all stayed close then.”
“It could have gone south, probably would have if it was Jack’s ex. He doesn’t end things on good terms mostly. Either the girl leaves him high and dry or he ghosts.”
I giggled. “I could picture that.”
Wyatt’s mouth pulled into a slow smile. “The worst case was this girl that followed our band in the early days. She liked our stuff and came to shows. He went out with her for a few weeks, then we did a slightly out of town show. He didn’t know she was coming to surprise him. She caught him with his arm around another girl. She was so mad.”
“I can imagine. She was probably hurt too.”
“Yes, definitely. He shouldn’t have done that, but I’ll never forget his face. Claire and I mocked it mercilessly for weeks. Imitating it until we had it down perfectly.”
“I can’t imagine he enjoyed that very much.”
He chuckled. “No, he didn’t.”
A family with two young children walked by us. The young boy and girl galloped around their parents, who looked exhausted.
Wyatt peered over to me. “How did you and Sage become friends?”
“In middle school we joined several of the same clubs and instantly clicked. We’ve been friends ever since.”
“I wouldn’t have expected her to be into the same things as you.”
I laughed. “She would take that as a compliment. Her style changes so much. Something I like about her. I wish I didn’t care what others thought.”
“It’s definitely not easy.”
My brows scrunched. “But being a musician must feel good by their comments though, right?”
He adjusted his beanie. “Depends.” He glanced at me then focused ahead. “You yourself had an opinion of me in the beginning.”
My lips twisted to the side. “Only because of what Mr. Andrews had said.”
“So, you never heard that I was a lazy musician or a free loader? Or even dumb?”
I shrugged my shoulder. “I may have heard it, but I didn’t put much thought into it.”
“Well, it goes both ways. People judging based on what they see never feels good when it contradicts what you see as who you are.”
“But sometimes what they say is true.”
Wyatt stopped walking.
My eyes widened realizing he thought I still meant him. “I don’t mean about you. I meant about myself. I know I get called a nerd and prude and a geek. I do like school and math and those things make me a geek, so while I agree with those interests, they tend to be right about their comments.”
Wyatt faced me, searching my gaze. “You don’t really think that’s all you are, do you?”
My neck tilted and I used my shoe to scuff the sidewalk. “I can’t change the fact I’m a nerd, Wyatt. Even if they mean it negatively, it’s not like I can deny it.”
Wyatt gently lifted my chin to meet his gaze. “That’s absurd. High school’s job may be to put everyone in a neat box in order to label us, reform us, then ship us into adulthood, but just because you’re given a box doesn’t mean you have to stay in it.” He exhaled loudly. “I mean, Marley, what the hell?”
“What? I’m not saying what they say about you is true. I don’t believe them. You’re not dumb or lazy. You work hard.”
His hands balled into fists, then he released them, but his jaw ticked. “I don’t just mean me, though. I mean you, too. You are not just some nerd. And it irritates me that you clearly believe that.”
I crossed my arms. “What do you want me to say, Wyatt? I’m not adventurous. I’m not a cheerleader. I don’t dance. I’m not musically inclined. I am suited for academics. I am logical. These are facts. Facts like the sky is blue and the grass is green. I can’t change those facts, even if our classmates wanted to see other things, those are still true.”
“But true doesn’t make it bad. You say it like it’s a badge of dishonor. We’re about to graduate, who cares if the kid in the student body thinks you’re one thing or even a cousin for that matter. We are eighteen. We get to write the next chapters of our lives. So, what do you want it to say?”
He faced the path again and walked ahead.
It took several seconds to process what he said before I could move again, but when I did things had felt like they shifted … again. I didn’t understand why he got so mad about a word describing me. It didn’t affect him, so why did he take it personally? It made no sense.
* * *
After our walk, but before we got back in his truck, we swung on the playground. At least until real kids ran to the swing set forcing us out.
It was almost three o’clock. We hadn’t eaten since Rosie’s and my stomach gurgled so much it sounded like I was stashing a gremlin under my shirt.
“So, it may not be the most immediate question, but I say we detour towards food.”
“Yes. Absolutely. I feel starved.”
He laughed. “I guess our walking wore off brunch.”
“I think so too.”
Wyatt pulled up his map app on his phone and enabled restaurants. He merely used it to steer us in the right direction toward food places, then we used our eyes to make final decisions.
We ended up choosing a fast food chain.
As we waited in line to order, Wyatt turned to face me. “Want to have one last adventure?”
“In regard to what? Our food?”
“Yes.”
“Like what?”
“We get whatever the car in front of us gets with a complete surprise.”
“What if it isn’t enough for us both?”
“We get back in line.”
I laughed. “Really?”
He nodded. “It could be fun. If we really hate it, we could always use the second go round to get what we want.”
“Okay, I’m down.”
He rubbed his palms together quickly. “Okay. Here goes.”
This was crazy. I had never left so many things up to chance at once.
Wyatt pulled up to the speaker.
“Hello, what can I get you?”
“Hi. I was wondering if we could get the exact order of the people in front of us? But don’t tell me what it was.”
“You want the same exact order?”
“Yes.”
“Twenty-two dollars and nineteen cents at the first window.”
Wyatt looked to me, then back at the drive-thru. “That at least sounds like it could be enough for us both.”
I giggled.
When he pulled around to the window, I handed him my card, then he handed it to the lady at the window. At the second window, a man handed us a bag of food and two drinks. One was yellowish and the other a standard brown. We used the receipt to figure out the drinks were lemonade and a Coke.
“If you don’t care, I’ll drink the lemonade,” I said.
“Sure.”
He pulled over into a parking spot and then parked his truck, while I pulled out all the food items from within.
“Looks like two chicken sandwiches, two fries, one cookie, and then the drinks.”
He nudged my elbow with his. “See? That worked out perfectly and you were stressed.”
“Yes, adventure master. I was wrong.”
He chuckled. “That killed you inside a little to say that, didn’t it?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, on occasion I can be right.”
“I doubt that it is simply on occasion. You think I give myself little credit, you give yourself too little credit in your abilities.”
He unwrapped one of the chicken sandwiches, while he ignored my comment. So instead of preparing another rebuttal, I took a few fries and popped them into my mouth.
I couldn’t believe that we had already done so much in one day for this date. Some activities I had never done, like going into a thrift store. At least at the end of this I could say I had gone out of my comfort zone, because even though I didn’t have a real boyfriend, I had done those dates like they were real, well minus the PDA.
Wyatt pulled his phone from his pocket and snapped our picture while I was midbite into my chicken sandwich.
Why did he always choose the strangest times to snap a photo?
“I think that was quite an adventurous day.”
I nodded. “One more date down.”
“Another one to go … tomorrow.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Tomorrow? So soon?”
“Well, I figured you’ll have me focusing on tutoring most of the week, so we have to get another date in this weekend. It’ll be fun. I promise.”
“Okay. Do I get to know anything about it, yet?”
“Only that you should wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.”
My eyes widened as I checked his expression. He was serious. “So old clothes that can be ruined?”
“Precisely.”
“Okay, but can it be in the afternoon? My parents and I have our traditional morning breakfast then family time in the morning.”
“Sure. I’ll pick you up at three?”
“Sounds perfect.”
We finished our meal, then he drove me back to the house. All the while, I couldn’t help wondering what we could be possibly doing on this date. And how could I like it if I potentially could ruin clothes?