Presley

Yes, I'd laid in bed for two hours after I dropped her off, unable to turn off my brain. I kept thinking about how Magnolia looked at me, and how her lips felt against mine. If I had any guy friends, they'd be making fun of me right about now. But I was in so deep. My heart was hers, and she had the power to break it, so easily. I hoped she wouldn't. I prayed she'd protect it the best she could.

   I woke up a bit after 10A.M. and took a shower, still thinking about Magnolia. Was she real? Had it all been a dream? No, she was real. The way she laid her head back onto my chest. The way she looked at me, practically begging me to kiss her.

   How was I going to pass by this day? I knew the seconds would feel like hours. Downstairs, I practically smashed into my dad as I turned towards the kitchen. He was tall and broad, a football player back in his day. I'd always been the opposite, and had zero interest in sports. And to my dad, that was okay.

   Now he smiled, moving out of my way. "Woah, there. Why such a rush?"

   "No rush," I said quickly. "Just wasn't paying attention."

   He stayed there in the doorway, watching as I grabbed the cereal from the cupboard. I would kill some time eating breakfast, at least. My back was to my dad as I reached in for the milk, when he spoke again.

   "So, how're you doing?"

   "How am I doing?" I repeated.

   "Yeah. Uh, mom mentioned that you went out last night. She tried to stay up to wait for you, but she passed out by midnight. I went to bed an hour later and you weren't-"

   "I'm eighteen," I reminded him, pouring milk into my cereal.

   "That's true. I'm glad you're home safe, that's all."

   "Dad, c'mon."

   "Okay... mom asked me to make sure you were okay," he admitted, finally.

   "Yes. I'm good. I'll talk to her when she gets home," I answered, then started eating.

   He nodded, but still didn't move. I tried to ignore him but he was watching me eat, and it was weird.

   "So, you were on a date?"

   "Dad, oh my god." I dropped my spoon again.

   He let out a muffled laugh. "Sorry. This is just.. it's new. We might be excited."

   I looked up at him and tried to keep a straight face. "Yes. I was on a date."

   "After 1A.M. is pretty late -"

   "We were at the drive In. Double feature."

   He nodded again and left it be, thank god. when he finally left the kitchen, I finished my breakfast in peace. Sort of. Now I couldn't stop thinking about Magnolia again. My parents were excited that I was dating and hers would tear us apart if they knew. The situations couldn't be more different. As I finished up, I realized that I had to make her know that she was welcome at my house, always. My parents would accept her. They would even love her, I just knew it. She needed a place to feel safe and to be herself, and she could have that, with me.

   It was mid afternoon when I texted her. I had waited and waited and couldn't put it off anymore. I knew it would make me seem needy but at this point it didn't matter. I couldn't stop thinking about her.

   Do you want to come over to my house tonight?

   She didn't text back for what felt like forever. I tried not checking my phone every two minutes. I tried distracting myself by watching a movie. But I was close to getting in the car and driving over to her house - bad idea, I knew that - before she finally replied.

   Sorry my phone was charging. Uh... Sure. We can do that.

   Me: I want you to meet my family.

   When she didn't reply again for awhile, it felt like I'd scared her off. Was I going too fast? Maybe she didn't want to meet my family already. Dinner time came and when my mom arrived home with pizzas, she called me down from my bedroom, where I'd been sulking and feeling sorry for myself. Had I ruined this already? I moving too fast, telling her that I wanted to bring her home. I should have just let it be.

   Mom was in the kitchen, opening the pizza boxes, when I stepped into the room. It smelled good in there and I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I reached for a plate before saying hi to her. She stepped aside and let me check out which pizzas had what toppings, before she spoke.

   "Presley, honey..." she said slowly.

   I dropped a piece of pizza covered in meat onto my plate. "Hi."

   "Talk fast, your sister will be down soon," she snapped, then smiled at me. She wanted to know all about it, and I just wasn't in the mood to talk, now.

   "Date went well. We did the double feature at the drive in, that's why we were late. Um, she's really cool," I said anyway.

   "Where did you meet? School?" she asked, then nibbled the end of a veggie slice.

   "No, um, the college fair?" I said, but it sounded more like a question.

   "You met her at the fair?"

   "She goes to SCH." I didn't look up at her as I said this.

   "A senior?"

   I nodded. "Yeah."

   "So you just asked her out? That's not really like you..." She let her voice trail off and went back to eating, but her eyes were on me. I could feel them.

   "Mom."

   "Presley."

   I wasn't going to tell her the whole story. Not yet anyway. It was personal, and it was our story. "I gave her my number. She texted... and we went from there."

   My mom finished off a whole slice of pizza before she spoke again, and then Jade was there beside her, reaching for a piece. She smacked my back and laughed, so I shot her a look.

   "Thanks for the help with Kylie," she said, sarcastically. "Not."

   "It's not my job to babysit Trina's sister. She's not even a nice person."

   "What is this about?" Mom asked, confused.

   "Nothing," Jade and I both said at the same time.

   Mom gave me a look of concern while I looked back down at my now empty plate. I was so sick of hearing about Kylie Cray and Jade thinking it was okay that she ever asked me to do that. Maybe some other time I would have done it. Maybe if I was that lonely, or was interested in Kylie, at all.  But I had Magnolia  now and I wasn't going to mess that up by taking another girl to homecoming.

   "If I do go to the dance at all, I'll be taking Magnolia," I said, realizing quickly what I had done.

   "Who the hell Is Magnolia?" Jade yelled, confused.

   "Language," mom said, but then smiled at me. "Magnolia?"

   "I have to go," I said, then went right for the door and slipped into my shoes. I was outside and walking down the sidewalk before I knew what was happening.

   I didn't know where I was going but I needed to kill time and I needed fresh air. I need Magnolia, too, but that had to wait. I'd walked all the way to the park that I'd taken her to before I realized how far I was. It was at least forty minutes later, and I was on foot, with only my phone with me.

   Buzz.

   I was hoping it was her, praying, but when I pulled out my phone from my pocket, I saw the text from my mom.

   You okay? Don't worry about Jade.

   I cursed under my breath and shoved my phone back away, then sat down on a bench, just inside the park. I saw the parking lot, where I'd pulled in, with Magnolia beside me, not even a week ago. That was where she told me her full name. It was where I told her I was a musician. It was when I knew there was something special about her. Now she wasn't texting me back, because I'd tried to move this too fast.

   I looked at my phone again and saw that it was almost 7P.M. I was supposed to be at her house to pick her up in ten minutes, and there was no way that was possible. Why had I walked all the way to the park?

   Hey. Are we still good for tonight? I sent her, still unsure how I was going to make this work.

   The three dots to say that she was typing back appeared almost right away.

   Yeah. I'm almost ready.

   Me: Okay, uh, are you okay with walking?

   Magnolia: Walking?

   Me: Long story. I'm not far from your house but I'm walking.

   Magnolia: Please explain when you get here.

   So she was okay with this. I was going to have to tell her that I left my house, frustrated. I would tell her that I told my mom about her. I'd tell her about my sister's ridiculous request. I could tell Magnolia anything, because I knew she wouldn't judge, or make fun of me.

   Five minutes later, I turned onto her street. I'd realized that I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, nothing "nice". My hair was a mess and I was sort of sweaty, from walking so far. Feeling self-conscious, I crossed my fingers that she would understand. As I walked up to her house, the door opened and she was standing there, smiling at me. She must have been watching out for me. Her hair was pulled back in a braid and her jeans and long sleeved blue shirt were just right. She wasn't dressed up, either. She wasn't wearing make up. The dress and the make up from the night before must have been Yasmin's idea, because this was definitely more "Magnolia".  Though I realized quickly that I liked her anyway she was, whatever she was wearing, make up or no make up.

   My heart beat sped up as I stepped up onto the deck and she pulled the door closed behind her, stepping outside. I'd spent hours with her the night before, but now, with her just a few feet away, it felt like I hadn't seen her in forever. I hesitated, because there was a little voice telling me not to rush her. I'd already made that mistake once, by asking her to meet my family. Now, I stopped, staring at her.

   "Hi," she said, her perfect voice making my heart skip a beat.

   "Hey," I said back, though it came out a bit rough sounding. "How was your day?"

   She smiled, hesitantly stepping closer to me. "It's better now."

   And after I recovered from melting into a puddle, I stepped closer and pulled her into my arms.