I only live ten minutes away from Nina, so I have about twenty minutes until Ryker picks me up by the time I get home. I am sitting on the couch talking with Valerie when we hear the knock on the door. Seth opens it, and I hear Ryker introduce himself. 

"What's up, man? I'm Ryker. Is, uh, Scarlett home?" He stammers, fidgeting on the doorstep and waiting for an invitation to come inside.

Seth gestures for Ryker to come in and leads him over to where Valerie and I are sitting. As I stand up, Ryker's green eyes widen when he sees me and Seth subtly clears his throat, giving a mini eye roll.

Clearly, he isn't impressed by Ryker's efforts for a first date.

Valerie stands beside me and whispers in my ear as I try to hide back a smile. "Not bad, Scarlett." 

Ryker is wearing a maroon T-shirt and black, skinny jeans, his hair slightly gelled, showing some of his blonde curls that touch the top of his ears, and his boots are cleaned up. Not bad, I think, silently agreeing with Valerie as I grin at my date.

"You look hot tonight," Ryker pays me a compliment in front of Seth and Valerie.

My cheeks are burning from the compliment, especially because it's in front of Seth, who at this point, lightly shakes his head as he plops onto the couch with his arms folded. I instantly picture my father doing the same thing, acting the same way as my brother. Would my parents have approved of Ryker?

I shove my thoughts to the side. "Thanks, Ryker. You ready to go?" I ask him, glad to take the attention away from me. He nods, and we leave the apartment, saying bye to Seth and Val.

During the car ride, Ryker was quiet, and I couldn't think of a single word to say. Halfway through the awkward silence, he turns up the music, filling the car with horrible rap lyrics. Is this how all first dates are? Awkward as shit? I groan internally as I avert my gaze out the window, hoping the rest of the night won't be like this. 

When we park, I notice that we have arrived at a small amusement park. 

Ryker buys two wristbands at the booth, passing me one as he slips the other one over his wrist before he takes my hand. 

"You hungry?" He asks as we pass the entrance.

Still surprised by his sudden gesture to grab my hand after the awkward car ride, I nod as he leads me to the row of food vendors.

There was a vast variety of food vendors and I had a tough time choosing, and since Ryker put me in charge of deciding for both of us, I went with the safe route. Once I decided on a vendor, we order our food and sit down at one of the tables in the back, placing the roasted corn in front of us. I take my first bite of the messy, seasoned corn and moan silently, thankful I'm not wearing white; though this might not have been the smartest decision on food choices for a date as a kernel falls on my lap. I quickly wipe it off, ridding of any seasoning that landed on my black attire.

We make small talk as we eat, getting more comfortable with one another. When we finish, and Ryker throws the food in the first trash can he sees, he confesses about a specific ride he wants to take me on and that it was the reason for his decision on taking me here for our date.

The butterflies in my stomach start to flare up with excitement, wondering what ride it could be. There are so many rides here that I secretly hope it's not one of those ones that leap into the air. I don't want to vomit on our first date. 

He leads me a pond surrounded by a vast amount of trees, tons of little lights decorating the edge. The many different colored trees illuminate against the dark night, reflecting in the pond, bringing a peaceful feeling. On the pond, I see several small, white boats floating elegantly across the water with faint music coming from the speakers attached to the flag poles in different locations around the pond.

"Are we going on a boat?" I ask Ryker and look down at what I'm wearing, definitely not appropriate clothing for a boat ride.

He nods and points to one of the little boats swaying gently in the water. "They are pedal boats though, is that okay?" He asks, gesturing to my brown wedges. I silently curse myself for wearing these dang shoes, but nod anyway, earning a smile from Ryker before he leads me to the booth. 

The bald-headed man greets us and checks our wristbands. "Boat 18," he says, pointing to the boat on the far end. 

I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat. Eighteen was my jersey number for softball. I need to come to the terms that no matter what I do, that day is going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

"Here, I will go first and help you in," Ryker says, breaking me out of my trance, as he hops in the boat, somehow managing to maintain his balance as it sways back and fro. 

I reach for his hand, nervous about joining him, in case the boat rocks and I might miss my footing. He grips my hand tightly as I step on to the boat gently, relieved it didn't move rigorously. I sit down and remove my wedges, placing them next to me. Once I get adjusted, we start pedaling out into the water.

"So, Ryker, tell me about yourself," I ask, needing to fill the silence that was growing in this boat. 

For some strange reason, he was more open to talking with people the other night when we went bowling. Now he is the polar opposite.

"Well, what do you want to know?" He smirks.

"Anything. Something not a lot of people know about you." I shrug, adding, "Your dislikes and likes. Things like that."

"Okay, uh, I play football, so I enjoy that. I dislike needy people and dishonesty. Something a lot of people don't know would be that I can't swim and that I like you." He grins, looking back at the water as it splashes gently while we both peddle. "What about you?" He asks, his voice softer, almost insecure.

My eyes widen, realizing I'm on a rinky-dink boat floating above an unknown depth of water with a guy that can't swim. "Wait, you can't swim, but you wanted to come out onto these pedal boats?" I couldn't help but be more nervous about his revelation. He nods, and then we both laugh.

"Okay, crazy boy, my turn. I like honesty, family, reading, and sports. I love playing softball." Well, loved. Past tense. "I like to cook, too. I don't like liars, and as embarrassing as this may be to announce, something a lot of people don't know about me is that you were my first kiss."

My cheeks grow warm as I blush, looking down at my feet, pedaling the boat faster, trying to avoid all eye contact because of that last bit of my confession.

Ryker stops pedaling and puts his hand on my knee. "You've never kissed anyone before? I mean before I kissed you the other night?" He asks, surprised.

I shake my head, still avoiding eye contact with him, though I can feel his shock radiating off of him as he remains silent, his feet still at a pause in pedaling.

"Wow, I feel pretty honored. Although, for never being kissed before you were an amazing kisser. You have some of the softest lips I have ever touched." Ryker places his index finger and moves it softly on my cheek, making me face him. I try to hide my embarrassment, but end up stuttering instead, "Th...thank you."

Thank you? Really, Scar? I internally facepalm at what I had said.

Ryker licks his lips and leans in to kiss me, taking me by surprise. His lips are a little rougher than last time as he presses them against mine, and he bites my bottom lip gently. The tip of his tongue swipes my lip, waiting for me to follow his lead. I think I know what he is trying to do, but I don't know how or where to start, so instead, I pull away. Ryker's eyes go wide as he looks embarrassed by my rejection.  

"I am sorry," I say, and I mean every word. 

Ryker looks at me with a weak smile and then says, "Hey, don't be sorry. It's okay."

We continue to pedal for another fifteen minutes before the night air became chilly, and we decide to head home.

Once I get inside my house, Valerie jumps up from the couch with excitement and starts asking for details about my date with the green-eyed boy. I tell her about the pedal boats, the kiss goodnight, and also the awkward attempt of a French kiss with Ryker. It was even more humiliating discussing it.

"I felt so bad, Valerie. Ryker looked so embarrassed when I rejected him, but I didn't know what to do. I literally told him seconds prior that he was my first kiss and then the crazy boy tries that. I wasn't ready."

Valerie gives me a soft expression as she hugs me around the shoulder for comfort. "Don't feel bad, Scar. Honestly, he shouldn't have tried that right away. When you're ready to try, just partially open your mouth to allow his tongue in, and well, basically it's like your massaging each other's tongue. Sounds gross but it is quite exhilarating." She boasts, and I squirm, my face scrunching up, grossed out by the image of her and my brother's tongues.

"Gross. I don't want to hear about my little sister putting her tongue down anyone's throat." I didn't even realize Seth was leaning against the wall, listening to every word.

I look at Valerie, and we both laugh as Seth puts on a disgusted face. d laugh with her. "Yeah, well, that makes two of us. I just imagined your guys' tongues, and eww." We all laugh together and Seth pulls Valerie in, slamming his lips to hers. I scrunch up my nose and stick my tongue out. "Well, that is my cue. Love you guys, night!"

I rush off to my bedroom, their laughs echoing in the distance. After a long and relaxing shower, I lay down in bed and turn on Netflix. I finally decide on "The Vampire Diaries," a show that I could probably quote at this point and end up drifting off to sleep, not even halfway through the episode.