•Tyler•

My car is packed, and I head over to Jenna's just as the clock strikes noon. Her house is literally two streets away being that it's right on the other side of the woods. Five more hours of sleep was about all I could manage after Jenna and Josh saw me back home.
Fingers drumming the steering wheel anxiously, I pull into her driveway and put my car in park. I reach in the back and grab the bouquet of flowers before walking up the stoop and ringing the doorbell. I adjust my white button-down shirt before Jenna answers.
"Hey, Tyler! Did you manage to get any more sleep?"
"Only about an extra five hours," I say, shrugging. I take in Jenna's outfit: a bright yellow blouse with blue skinny jeans and sandals. "You look lovely," I stutter.
Crimson colors her cheeks. "Thank you."
There's a slight awkward silence until I remember that I'm holding the bouquet of flowers behind my back.
"Oh!" I say, whipping the flowers out. "These are for you. I picked them myself this morning."
She takes the small blue flowers from my hands and holds them up to her nose. "Forget-Me-Nots! They're beautiful. Although, I expected roses." She chuckles, and I freeze like I've made a mistake. "But these are even better!" I release a breath. The date is going okay so far. "I'll go find a vase for them." She leaves the doorway, and I step inside, closing the door behind me. I hear her opening and closing cabinets in the kitchen.
Returning, Jenna walks out of the house and to my car as I hurry to the passenger side to open the door for her. She smiles as I turn on the engine.
"Why forget-me-nots?"
"So you don't forget about me." I wink and glance over to see her camera hanging around her neck. "Good! You brought your camera! I was hoping you would."
"I take it with me pretty much wherever I go. It's basically my child."
"Same with my ukulele," I say.
"So, what do you have planned for me today?" Jenna says, turning in her seat towards me.
I turn down another street. "I am taking you to the park where we can have a nice picnic and get some good pictures. It's also a great place for me to serenade you with my ukulele."
She giggles, her eyes squinting in a cute way. "Sounds like fun. I can't wait to arrive."
"The good news is that it's only five more minutes."
Can't wait," she says, grinning.
Turning into the park's parking lot, we climb out, our arms loaded with a blanket to sit on, the picnic basket, and ukulele. I lead Jenna down the main paved path, passing the playground bustling with children trying to savor their last few days of summer until we come to a nice shade tree.
Jenna helps me unfold the picnic blanket, and we sit across from each other atop it.
"Let me guess....Taco Bell?" Jenna asks smirking as I open the wicker basket resting on my lap.
"Actually, no."
"I'm surprised."
She reaches out for the wrapped packages I hand her. "I hope you like chicken salad sandwiches and fruit salad." I give her a nervous smile. I also place two bottles of Sprite between us.
"Sounds delicious," she says. We unwrap our sandwiches and tap our Sprite bottles together in a toast with a clunk.
"So, where did you move here from?" I ask in between bites.
"Northern Ohio," she says around a bite of her sandwich. "I think we'll be going to the same high school."
"What grade are you in?"
"I'm a senior."
"Oh my gosh, same!" I exclaim. "Josh is, too, and Mark! We'll all be a big friend group!"
A grin plays on her face. "Sounds fun." We continue chatting about whether or not we'll be going to college, and I told her about how my parents want me to play basketball.
"Well, what do you want to do?" She asks, leaning forward and looking deep into my eyes.
I pause. "I don't really know. I like my music a lot, and our band already has one album out. I haven't had any gigs lately, though."
"I like your music," she says. "You should continue it." Sticking a strawberry from her fruit salad in her mouth, she says,"Your songs are really inspiring."
Heat floods my face, surely tinging it red. "W-want to hear another?" She nods, and I stand up, grabbing my ukulele. "T-this song isn't really meant for a ukulele," I stall.
"That's okay."
I take a deep breath and strum.
"You say things with your mouth,
Cobwebs and flies come out.
I hear a second voice behind your tongue somehow." I gaze around as I strum. A few nearby people have noticed us and have stopped walking on the sidewalk to gaze at us.
They don't want you here. You're being too depressing.
I shake my head quickly and continue, louder this time. If Jenna wants a song, then she's getting a song.
"Luckily I can read your mind.
Flies and cobwebs unwind.
They will not take you down.
They will not cast you out.
O-ow-ow-Out."
A small crowd gathers around us and starts clapping a rhythm.
"Dear friend, here we are again pretending
To understand how you think your world is ending.
Sending signals and red flags in waves.
It's hard to tell the difference between blood and water these days.
I'll pray that one day you see
The only difference between life and dying
Is one is trying, that's all we're called to do,
So try to love me and I'll try to save you."
I breathe hesitate for a brief moment. Jenna nods at me encouragingly.
"Won't you stay alive?
I'll take you on a ride!
I will make you believe you are lovely!
Won't you stay alive?
I'll take you on a ride!
I will make you believe you are lovely!"
The song gradually comes to a close, and the crowd claps and cheers. It breaks up, and the people resume their normal, everyday lives.
"That was beautiful!" Jenna exclaims, causing me to blush.
"Thank you," I reply quietly.
She's lying to you just to make you feel better.
   She wouldn't do that, I reply in my mind. She's too perfect to lie.
Don't trust a perfect person.
  "Ty?" Jenna's voice snaps me back to the real world. "You okay?"
  "Yeah," I say after a brief moment. "Do you want to take a walk?"
   She nods, and we gather the blanket, basket, and ukulele up to take back to the car. We load them in the trunk, then I proceed to lead her down a paved, tree-lined path. Her hand closest to me swings freely at her side, enticing me to grab it. However, I'm too shy to.
   Jenna's head turns toward me as we stroll down the path. Her eyes squint as she looks at me. I avoid her gaze, trying not to look suspicious or nervous. We're just taking a walk. It's supposed to be relaxing.
   "Are you sure you're okay? You seem quiet, and I don't think that's a good thing for you."
  I stare into the ground, kicking a stray pebble until it skids off the pavement. The rush of wind from a bicyclist sweeps over us as they pedal by. Dog barks and children noise fill the air. It takes me a moment to register what she said.
   I stop and sit at a bench, putting my head in my hands and running them through my hair. "I'm sorry," I sigh. "It's just these voices. I thought they'd shut up for our date, but they haven't. This is not what I had planned." She places a gentle hand on my back. "I'm sorry," I repeat.
   "Hey," Jenna says softly. "It's okay. Not all of us are perfect. We all have our demons."
   I bet she doesn't.
   "What do you want to do to help get your mind off of them?"
   Kill my mind. "I don't know. We could go to the music store. It's in walking distance."
   Jenna beams. "That sounds like a great idea. Let's go."
   Walking back down the path, we head to the parking lot and down the sidewalk. The store is literally at the street corner.
   "Why didn't you talk to me the day you saw me at the store?" Jenna asks as we approach.
  "I was too shy to, and I wasn't 100% sure you were the girl in the locket. Plus, that may have never lead to us meeting in the woods."
   "True," she muses.
   "You're pretty good at piano."
   The blonde girl grins and blushes. "My mom forced me to take lessons back when we had a piano. We had to sell it, though." Her face contorts to a frown. "I want another one, but they're so expensive." Her eyes catch her camera. "Hey...," she says suddenly,"Could you stand over by the ukulele rack and pick one up?" I nod and walk over to the rack, picking one up. "Now, act like you're playing it." I do just that and see her camera raised out of the corner of my eye.
   "Perfect! Now it's like I have a picture of you the day I first saw you!"
  I motion for the camera. "Now it's my turn. Act like you're playing piano." She hands the camera over and starts to actually play. I snap a few shots, then hand it back to her.
   "This is fun!" She exclaims as she snaps more photos. "We should do this more often!"
   "Yeah," I say.

    We exit the music store, and I show Jenna various shops nearby. A bell chimes as we enter a small boutique nestled into a nook among the line of shops. Lana's Boutique.
   I secretly admire Jenna trying on various accessories in front of a mirror at the back corner of the store. My eyes keep wandering over to her as I mess with some travel mugs sitting on a shelf against the wall.
   "You have a very nice girl there." I jump, fumbling with the mug in my hands. An elderly woman with a kind, wrinkled face smiles at me. Her name tag reads Denise. "I can already tell from looking at her that you don't want to lose her. She's a good catch." She winks at me.
   "Thank you, ma'am." I set the mug back on the shelf and follow the woman's gaze to my date.
   "You know...you ought to get her something," Denise murmurs. Man, is she good at selling stuff. I can already tell.
   I laugh. "It's only our first date."
   "Oh, that doesn't matter. My husband got me this necklace when he took me out on our first date." She grasps a chain around her neck and holds it out to reveal a silver rose charm. "Get her something. She'll really like it, I promise. It's the way to a woman's heart."
   I smile. "Okay, I'll give it a shot."
   She smiles, the wrinkles around her eyes crinkling, and pats my shoulder. "That's a good boy."
   I walk over to where Jenna is admiring a beige sun hat. "Like that hat?" I ask, placing a hand on her shoulder.
   She nods eagerly like a child. "I really like it, but I don't have any money on me."
  "I can get it for you," I offer, glancing past her to Denise, who meets my eye and nods.
  "No, no, that's okay," Jenna says hastily. She removes the sun hat from her head and sticks it back on a rack.
   "Are you sur—"
   "Yes. I'm fine." She turns away from the mirror. "Let's move on to the next store." She takes my arm and leads me toward the door. I hold back.
   "Hang on, I'll catch up. I have to use the bathroom. You can wait outside; I'll be back in a second."
  "Okay," she agrees, walking out the door. I wait a full ten seconds before turning back to the rack of sun hats. Grabbing the one she looked at, I beeline toward the register, where Denise is already waiting for me.
   "I can already tell she's going to love it," she says as she puts it in a gift bag.
  "Now, how come you're not working in the car selling business?" I say jokingly. "You could sell to a lot of people."
   Her eyes glimmer. "Not as many young lovebirds buy brand-new cars anymore." We both share a laugh.
  Unfolding my wallet, I pull out a twenty dollar bill to pay for the sunhat. Denise, however, pushes away my money when I offer it to her and sticks her own twenty dollar bill in the register.
  "You don't have to—"
   "It's nothing, honey. Just promise me you'll keep her."
  I nod. "Thank you." I walk toward the exit where I see Jenna waiting for me on a bench outside.
   I stick the bag behind my back as I open the door, the bell chiming.
  "And I thought girls took forever," she says, standing up and rolling her eyes. They land on my arms, hidden behind my back. "You get something?"
   "Close your eyes," I murmur as I slip the hat out of the bag. I place it on her head, then turn her to face the boutique windows. Her eyes open to see her reflection.
   "Tyler! Thank you! I love it!" She squeals, crushing me in a hug. I see Denise standing at the window, beaming and winking at me. I mouth a thank you.
   Jenna takes my hand, and we go to the other shops. 
  

     Her family knows that we'd be gone for a while, so we take full advantage and don't come back to the park until about fifteen minutes before sunset. Jenna walks toward my car, but I take her arm, pulling her back. "I have one more thing to show you," I murmur. "Follow me."
 

  We walk down the paved path for a few minutes, then I turn off to a faint trail. The trail is something I blazed myself about two years ago. I guide her up a slightly steep hill, and we walk until the trees start to thin out and daylight shows up ahead. "We're almost there."
    The tree-line stops as we come to a cliff. Jenna catches her breath as we get close to the edge. The sun is just starting to touch the horizon.
   A lone, small tree grows at the edge of the cliff. I sit down beside it, gently pulling Jenna with me. A river winds far below us, stretching out of sight. Part of Columbus lights up below us, like stars that have fallen to the earth.
   "Tyler, this place is beautiful," Jenna says.
   I place a finger on her lips. "Give it a minute."
   The sun dips behind a cloud, and suddenly the whole world is tinted in a blood red. Jenna holds up her camera and takes a few photos. We sit in silence for a few minutes until finally, the sun makes the hills it's grave. The stars come out, making the city lights look like a reflection in a pool of water.
    "How did you find this place?" Jenna whispers.
   "One day, I just decided to go off the trail, when I came across this. I come back often, and now I have a small path worn from coming here."
   "This is beautiful."
   I nod. "When I'm not at my treehouse, I'm here. This is my second most special place. It helps me think."
     She nods. "I can see why. It's so peaceful and serene here."
   "Yeah, although we need to get going, that way your folks won't be worried."
   "Yeah," Jenna shifts to stand up.
   I turn to face her. "Just remember: when I'm not at my treehouse, I'm probably here."
   "Okay."
   We walk back toward the park. I lead her through the darkness back toward the pathway. We eventually reach my car and we climb in and drive back to her house.
    Before escorting her inside, I turn to her in my seat. "I really liked our date," I say.
   "I did, too." She smiles.
   "Would you...would you be willing to go on another one with me?" The darkness of the car hides the color coming to my face.
   "Of course!" She exclaims. "I'd love to!"
    I grin, then get out and escort Jenna to the door. She walks inside as I briefly talk to her parents. It's the first time I've seen her dad. He gives me the Okay to take his lovely daughter out on another date. I drive home smiling. This girl is a keeper.