Tyler Herman had lost a bet proposed by his friend Emily Price and spent the day as her chauffeur. He was suspicious about the places she requested he drive her to, because they were all common locations for dates: the aquarium in the morning, the movies in the afternoon, and the park at dusk. He thought of the day as the date he had longed to ask her on for the last six months, and he wondered if she thought the same. But because physical contact was kept to a minimum and they each paid for their own tickets and food, he had his doubts.
Now Tyler sat beside Emily atop a hill overlooking the thousands of earthbound city lights, with the waning gibbous moon above the only celestial light. He thought such a setup was clichéd in films, but now that he lived such a scene, he had no complaints.
He pulled out his cellphone and checked the time: 11:52. For the next eight minutes, anything demanded by Emily was to be granted. He considered himself lucky so far today: The worst order was driving to each location in the most inefficient order possible. But he had worried all day if Emily had stashed some ignominious order up her sleeve. To pad out the time, he said, “I still can't believe I chose the wrong person as valedictorian.”
“You've been going on about that all day,” Emily said.
“I just can't get over it,” Tyler said while shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders. “How was I supposed to know that the would-be salutatorian was going to turn in some extra credit that would boost her score just enough?”
“I don't know,” she said slyly.
He pondered for a minute of what to say before asking, “So, did you enjoy today?”
“You bet'cha!” Emily said, a thumb erected. “Some of the most fun I've had since the Christmas party.”
“Really?” he asked, eyebrow raised.
“Really, really.”
“You make it sound like the days since Christmas have been a bore. And I remember you having so much fun at the party that I thought it was one of the best days of your life. Especially when we exchanged presents.”
“What can I say?” Emily asked. “I love presents.” Her eyes flicked to Tyler's wrist, and she said, “Speaking of presents, I've noticed that you've worn my present to you everyday.” She pointed to his wrist.
Tyler held up his wrist to inspect the orange yarn-woven wristband. “Of course I've worn it. I wasn't going to put it on my shelf to gather dust.”
“Almost everyone else stopped wearing theirs months ago,” Emily said.
Tyler toyed with his wristband and said, “True, but this is the first thing any friend of mine made specifically for me.”
“You must not have had any good friends before transferring.”
“None quite like you,” Tyler said.
“Aww, thank you,” Emily said, eyes closed, head bowed, and fingertips over her heart.
Tyler spun his wristband faster as he said, “Sooo...” Slowly, he said, “You said something about noticing my wristband everyday?”
“Why wouldn't I? That's like seeing you wear the same shirt everyday.”
“This tiny thing?” He flashed his wristband.
Emily held up a finger and said with a wink, “You'd be amazed at the things a girl notices.”
Tyler chuckled nervously, said, “Right,” and pondered what sort of “things” she'd noticed about him.
She slapped his back and said, “Relax, it's not like I've noticed something I can use to blackmail you.”
His curiosity blurted out, “Then what have you noticed about me?”
“Wouldn't you like to know?” She remove her phone from her skirt pocket, and her face shone blue as she said, “Three more minutes until your time as my slave is up.”
“Is that how you've thought of me today?”
“What else would I think of you as?” she asked innocently while pocketing her phone.
“I don't know. Something...nicer?”
“Ha! You're funny,” Emily said with a grin.
“Yes, I'm aware of this,” Tyler mumbled while turning his head away and rolling his eyes.
“Before I release you from your shackles, there's...” She brought her knees up to her torso. “...one more thing I want you to do.”
“Which is?”
The tips of Emily's shoes took turns bouncing. “I...I...hmm, how do I put this?” she mumbled.
“This isn't something bad, is it?”
“No.”
“Horrible?”
Emily shook her head, a small smile brightening her face. “No, not at all. But...” She made a frustrated sound, then stared Tyler straight in the eye. In the pale moonlight blanketed over Emily's face, Tyler could see the red flood attacking her cheeks. Her eyes bulged as she spoke each word slower: “I want you to kiss...” Rapidly, she spat, “...me here.” She touched the tip of her nose.
Heat scorched either of Tyler's cheeks. Though Emily's presentation for this final order had been ridiculous, he could tell that she was earnest as could be, if in her own goofy way. The thought of holding her hand or kissing her had been a frequent daydream, but with an opportunity to live his fantasy, he found his mind shouting a message familiar from the times when he told him, “This'll be the day.”
Get out of there, kid! You're better off playing it safe.
His heart pounded like the drum set of a drummer lost in his own playing. “O-o-okay,” he mumbled. Though his mind shouted, Abort! Abort! he told himself that this one gesture would be quick and painless.
Emily's eyelids were squeezed tight. “We don't have all night, you know.”
“Right, right. Sorry.” The urge to check his phone and procrastinate until Emily's order expired was overwhelming, and it was the second most popular idea in his mind, first place belonging to the option of running away. He gulped, inhaled, gave himself some prep talk, inhaled, then eased his face toward Emily's, his eyes closed.
The gap closed slow, slowly, so slow that Tyler cracked an eyelid to ensure that Emily was still present and not replaced with the nearest small animal: She was still there. He sealed the crack and pursed his lips ever so slightly.
Contact. A torrent of thoughts rushed through his mind: How long should I do this? Is this good enough? What am I supposed to do after t—
Emily's nose fled from Tyler's lips. As he opened his eyes to check on her, he found her face in his, head tilted to the right, her lips pressed against his. His eyelids ripped back from his eyeballs, and her hand cupped around the back of his head was the only thing that kept him from peeling away from the abrupt gesture. As her hand slid down his neck, across his jaw, and up his cheek, he closed his eyes and savored the moment.
And before he knew it, the moment was over. Emily pulled away, and Tyler found her expression a blend of several emotions: embarrassment, nervousness, shame. She straightened her posture and buried her mouth in her knees, which she hugged.
Tyler stuttered some sounds, but his mind drew a blank when it came to intelligible thoughts. He also wasn't sure of what to do. Touch her, maybe? Where?
“Sorry,” Emily muttered in her knees. Her lone world was so quiet that it took Tyler a second before he understood.
“For what?” The burning in Tyler's cheeks had diminished, but some heat still lingered.
“For taking advantage of you like that.” She looked at him with the most sincere eyes Tyler had ever seen on her.
“No, don't be,” he said shyly, unable to maintain eye contact. “It was part of our bet.” He fished out his phone: 12:01. Showing Emily the time, he said, “Guess I'm not your slave anymore.”
“Guess not.”
Tyler put his phone away, then toyed with his wristband. “Just out of curiosity...” He spun his wristband faster and faster, its body twisting until it fixed itself in a series of rapid flips. His cheeks burned like a wildfire now as he asked, “Does this mean that we're...” A drumstick pounded his heart. “...dating?”
Emily giggled, then, with the brightest twinkle in her eye, said, “I don't just kiss random guys, you know.”
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