42) I Hate Clichés

I've never been good at finding things.

'I spy' was me saying random words that started with the letter hoping that I'd be right.
Where's Wally was always a struggle with the book making me go cross-eyed. Did you ever think that Wally didn't want to be found for a reason?

I gave up on even attempting to find misplaced things. If my mum couldn't find it then I just accepted I will never see it again.

Let's not even get into hide and seek because that's just a horror story by itself.

Now trying to find a living human being that has driven away in his car and could be anywhere right now is going to be almost impossible to find. I have never been put in this type of situation before.

How am I supposed to find a person that probably doesn't want to be found?

Unsure of how to approach the situation I sit in the driver's seat of my mum's Sudan for five minutes pondering if I REALLY need to go find him. After having a very in-depth argument with myself I decide it is in my best interest to find Sam.

My search doesn't last that long though.

"What do you mean chocolate syrup is extra? Since when did this count as an extra or as a luxury item? This is a conspiracy I tell you!" I throw my hands down on the counter in outrage. The teen behind the counter with a bad case of acne jumps at my outburst. With any luck, this will be his first day.

"Listen here, Timmy. I have exactly $4.20 which is the price of one scoop plus choice of one topping. After collecting your said ice-cream concoction you usually pump your own syrup on top and walk off into the sunset. That's how life works around here Timmy."

"W-we have a new manager a-and they have raised the price of everything and made the syrup an extra 50c."

"Well, I don't have an extra 50c. I'm broke and I want ice cream. I could have gone to the supermarket and bought a giant tub of ice cream for the same price but did I? Nooooooo. I decided to support the local business and buy overpriced flavoured frozen cream from here." Sighing dramatically I give the cashier a pitiful look. He's probably a newbie and has no idea how ice-cream ethics work. "See this is why I like frozen yoghurt better. You can put as many toppings on top as you like and you pay by weight. Plus they have a rewards program which is a bonus."

The poor kid looks cluelessly around, most chance trying to find somebody else to replace him or an escape route, "Uhh we don't have rewards but we do send out a voucher for a free scoop on your birthday," he suggests, sliding me a pamphlet.

"Sign me up. But it still doesn't mean that I'm happy about my ice cream."

"Do you still want the syrup?" He holds out my small cup of partially melted ice cream.

"Of course I do! I just can't afford it which should be against my customer rig-"

A hand comes from behind me and hands Timmy a $5 note which he takes happily. The hand takes my ice cream and puts a swirl of syrup on top before giving it back to me.

I murmur a quick thank you before making my way out of the shop. A pair of footsteps falls in sync with mine as we wander along the sidewalk. I quickly tie my hair up to stop the sea breeze turning it into a birds nest.

"How did you know I'd be here? Did you follow me?" Sam asks keeping his eyes on the path ahead.

I have to hold back a moan after taking the first spoonful of delectable ice-cream, "I had no clue where you'd be so I drove via your house to check for your car than went to the soccer field because I'm not sure if you're the type of person to take their feelings out through physical activity. Obviously, you weren't at the there so I thought I might take a break and decided to come here. I was going to text you later to make sure you were alive. I don't think your parents would appreciate you coming back in a body bag."

He slowly nods his head, "I had no clue where I was going until 15 minutes ago when I saw a sign for the shop so I took a page out of your book and decided to eat away my feelings. It's a bad habit I really shouldn't get into." He laughs to himself "Why do you think I work at the froyo place?"

"Because it's the second happiest place on earth?" I suggest.

"It's actually because I always need to be around something sweet. I find being in the presence of something with that much sugar calms me down. That's why I've been hanging around with you."

I want to say 'I'm not sweet I'm an evil mastermind.' But I take the compliment anyway.

We settle into a comfortable silence as we keep walking down the poorly lit path. Someone could be following us right now and we wouldn't even know. Okay, stop thinking negative thoughts, Mackenzie. It's a wormhole that will only lead to paranoia.

Sam asks a very good question. "How exactly did you get here? I doubt you would've walked this far."

Finishing off the last scoop, I savour the sweet taste of butterscotch I toss my cup into the bin, "I drove a car and don't give me that look. Yes, I've got my licence. Yes, I can drive. If I can drive well is debatable. I just don't do it very often unless it's an emergency."

"Am I an emergency?" He looks at me with humour dancing in his eyes.

I playfully shove him to the side, "I meant food but whatever makes you feel better about yourself. I also found change in the cup holder which gave me a good excuse to come here."

Reaching the end of the path Sam takes my hand and leads me towards a side bench.

"So," Sam says.

"So," I say back.

We lapse back into a Silence where neither of us know what to say.
"We should probably talk about it, shouldn't we?"

"Probably," I look down at our entwined hands knowing that we can't avoid this any longer

"Before I say anything I need to do something first." I stand up and yell at the top of my lungs "Eat on that cliché endings. Look, nobody has to get drenched in water confessing their feelings or die suddenly to get a revolutionary happy ending," I sigh, happy to get it off my chest.

Just then it starts to rain.

Throwing my hands in the air seems like the correct reaction to this random act of cruel nature "You've got to be kidding me. I hate Mother Nature. I hate clichés." Kicking a rock out of anger isn't the best decision as it is sharp and cuts my toe.

"I know," a soft voice says from behind "come on let's get you cleaned up before you get beat up by a tree." He tugs on my arm to get me to walk back to his car but I stand firm.

"No!"

"No?"

I shake my head fed up with everything "We are doing this right here right now!"

"But your toe-"

"Is fine. It's merely a flesh wound. I want to talk to you about this now, not because it's raining or because I chased after you when you drove away.
Not because people are telling me that we are meant to be together or because every stupid darn sign in the universe wants us to be together. There are more important issues in the world than us being together. It shouldn't be taking up so much of my time thinking about you but it has. So I'm here because I can't keep ignoring these feelings that I may have towards you. In this moment when we are surrounded by spontaneous rain, I can't deny what matters is us. You and Me."
I'm not sure if it's a good or bad sign that Sam hasn't interrupted me. But I am on a roll and I'm not stopping now.

"I am not the best person with words. And I know that I can sometimes make things sound overly complicated so let me sum everything up for you," I take a shaky breath "I have strong feelings towards you that aren't hate," I look at Sam who is staring back at me with almost black eyes. Or maybe it's the dark playing with my own eyes. He hasn't passed out or ran away yet which is a good sign.

The sound of rain hitting the pavement is the only thing that is calming down my racing heart and stopping me from fainting from the build-up of suspense. There's an excruciatingly long silence before Sam makes any sign that he is still conscious.

He takes a hesitant step forward before taking my hands and rubbing circles on my wrists. "I kind of like you too," he says softly with a small smile.

The sigh of relief that comes from me sounds like I just ran a marathon.

"This is when you're supposed to say something heartfelt back to me preferably between 100-150 words."

And because good old' Mother Nature has a great sense of humour the rain stops and the clouds clear to reveal a star-filled sky. I guess we know who Mother Nature's favourite person is now.

"Come on," Sam just chuckles at my frustration fit. "Let's get out of here before a freak cyclone hits." I start to walk away but I'm tugged back.

"Wait, I want to make one thing clear before we go back. I don't love you." The smile drops from his face in an instant as he gives me a serious look "Let me finish before you run away and get all sulky and drown in self-pity. I want to explain about charades," I motion for him to go on "when I saw the words 'I love you' written on that scrappy piece of paper I started to freak out. It didn't feel right to make you say something like that when we were in our little 'situation'. I know I was overreacting but when you said it I went into system overload and panicked. I didn't expect it to affect me but the way you said it," He pauses and shuts his eyes recalling the events that unfolded "I needed to get out of there before I did something that I regretted."

"Your parents were worried. I was just plain confused" I pull my wet coat tighter around me.

"Sorry again for that. I don't think that we know each other that well or deeply enough to say 'I love you' yet. Love is a very strong but delicate word at the same time. It takes time to truly love somebody, to make that bond stronger and more intimate. Love is knowing somebody inside and out especially their flaws. It's talking through disagreements, being supportive through ups and downs. It's knowing you can count on somebody when the world fails you," he carefully tugs me forward. "I'm not saying that we will never get to that stage, I just think that we're not there yet. And I'm completely fine with that. We can take it as slow as you want to. I'll be happy as long as you're by my side."

I'm stuck for words. I was most definitely not expecting that. "Wooahh how long did it take for you to memorise all of that?"

"I believe the phrase is 'speaking from your heart' " his smile is so sweet I almost melt.

"Hey Sam," I rug the toe of my sandal into the grass nervously.

He loops his arm through mine and pulls me back up the path "Hmm."

"There's a tiny part of my heart, pretty much microscopic if you ask me, that cares about you and hoped that you didn't end up dead in a ditch. It's really nothing but you know," I shrug indifferently "it's there."

He shakes his head. That happens a lot when I overwhelm people with my positive reinforcement "We'll work on the sweet talk and encouraging words another time."

We continue along the path until we see the ice cream shop ahead. "Where do we go from here?" Sam pulls me closer and I almost trip over my own feet.

I smoothly catch myself before anything catastrophically embarrassing happens "Honestly, I didn't really think my plan through very well. My only plan for tonight was to hopefully find you, we give each other the knowing nod that says 'we cool' than go home and sleep. It was a great plan."

"Didn't work out the way you thought it would?" He says teasingly.

"It worked out better," I stop just out the front of a large outdoor lamp and swivel to look at Sam who hasn't taken his eyes off me "So what does this relationship thingy entail? Is there a specific amount of time that I'm supposed to spend with you during the day slash week? When is it appropriate to hold hands? Do we text each other good morning and good night? Because if so I'll have to get messenger as I don't have enough credit to text you that often."

As you can tell I am a little inexperienced in the relationship department.

His smile grows wider. It is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, "Just breathe. We'll take it slow and just with the flow," his voice is only slightly calming. "Maybe we could get together sometime this week and talk or watch a movie."

"Yeah that sounds nice," I get a weird fuzzy feeling in my stomach. Is this going to happen more often?

The shops start to come into view. "One last thing. How about that thing that involves our lips touching for an extended amount of time?"

Sam lifts an eyebrow with a cheeky glint in his eye "You mean kissing?" He can only smirk at my shyness to the subject.

"Yeah, that. How does it work? Is there a specific time or occasion that it happens. Or is it more of a freelance go with the flow thing?"

He looks down at me in amusement and wraps his arms around my waist pulling me towards his hard chest "usually you kiss someone to communicate how you're feeling. Like when you're happy or," he leans down closer so our noses are touching. "When you have strong feelings that aren't hate."

"And when you kind of maybe like someone?" I quietly ask. Sam nods his head while tilting it lower so his lips are a hairbreadth away.

Not being able to ignore the tug anymore I lean up and close the invisible gap that separates our lips. His lips move slowly and sensually over mine in a way that lips do. I've got no experience with describing kisses. What do you think this is, a romance novel?

We slowly pull away so our foreheads are touching. I want to ask how you breathe while kissing if your nose is blocked but I think that's a question for another time.

I can't help but smile "I really hope we can do that again."

Sam shows he agrees by grabbing my face between his warms hands and bringing his lips back down to mine again.

I'm dizzy by the time our lips finally separate probably because he literally took my breath away.

"You owe me dessert by the way. I willingly came to look for you and sacrificed my slice of cake." I pull Sam in the direction of the shop. It's lucky they're open until 10 pm.

"That was very chivalrous of you, sacrificing your dessert for little old me. You are a cupcake in a world of muffins I'm truly honoured. Is this trying to hint that you want to go back to the ice cream place?

"How sweet of you. Maybe now I'll even consider buying you a wafer cone."

Sam shakes his head and drags me into the shop. He walks up to the counter and points to multiple flavours. When he comes back I notice he is holding two spoons. "You want me to share with you?"

"I'm the one who bought it. Have you ever heard sharing is caring?"

I guess I could consider sharing some "Fine but you stay on your side of the cup," I draw a line in the middle of the ice cream.

We pass the cup back and forth until Sam says that he can't eat anymore and gives the rest to me. I could definitely get used to this.

I agree to meet him back at the house as we get into our cars. I wind down my window and pull up beside Sam, "Race you home?"

"No that's dangerous. We're going to drive Slow and Serious. Like old people on motor scooters."

"I promise I would have let you win," my attempt at winking turns into an awkward blink.

He throws his head back and laughs "You're loopy."

"Yep and you're stuck with me forever."

"I wouldn't want it any other way" he revs his car and takes off.

***

We stand out the front of my door staring at the handle like it's going to open itself any second.

"What do you think they'll say?" I ask nervously.

"Macey they've been planning our wedding for the last ten years. They'll be ecstatic that their 20-year plan for us is finally on schedule."

"Do I even want to know?"

He shakes his head with a horrified look on his face. I'm not sure how our parents are going to take the news.

"Ready?" I squeeze his hand nervously.

Sam turns and gives me his heart melting smile that makes me feel slightly better "With you, always," He leans over and quickly pecks my lips.

That's when two high pitch squeals cone from the window and someone that soundly oddly like my dad says "Hand over the fifty Douglas."

Sometimes showing is better than telling.

Cupcake Theory #42
There are two very effective ways to express your feelings. Words and kissing. I prefer one more than the other

:):):)

1-2 more chapters.
We're so close to the end.
I nervous but excited because this is ending but I go my new book coming soon.
How have you been you amazingly smart person?

3 things that happened this week:
-11k which is BIGGGG
Like super big. I can't even do 11 push ups 
- I read a little bit to much
- I made vegan no-bake brownies which didn't taste half bad.

I bid you a good day

Lots of cute fluffy #MAM moments

Theforgottonone
This is Mackenzie and Mother Nature