Song: Baby Blue~ Dylan Conrique

                                      "I, I was doing fine
                                       Until you came along and wrecked my health
                                       Now I just want you to myself
                                       Baby you, you got me breaking rules"

My heart was racing---like 50 miles an hour. Oh, My Holy Cheeseballs. He asked me out. I cannot fathom-- what the heck? AHHHH. I am going on a date with Kayden Jackson this Friday. How? How did my life go from plain right boring and miserable to this exciting?

It has been 30 minutes since I told him the truth. 30 minutes since he has shared his story and explanation for everything that went down this week. 30 minutes since he asked me out on a date and dropped me off at the orphanage. No one was home though so no one really knew that I had fixed things with Kayden other than Lily. Whom I hadn't seen this happy since 8th grade. I don't know man, she's weird.

I just don't understand how Kayden could've been so strong for his mom and Jayden. In more ways than one could think, this boy had done it. This boy had done something no guy has ever been able to do. This boy made me like him. With his humor and his love for literature. With his sarcasm and beautiful smile. With his passion and love for his family, he had done it. And believe it or not, I'm not fighting it anymore though---I'm just letting myself be happy. Because he does that, he makes me happy. Don't get me wrong-- I guess I was still a little angry. But how could I possibly stay angry at someone who looked like Kayden Jackson? Most of the time, I don't mind his good looks but now they just make it hard to be upset at him.

 My thoughts bounce around in my head as does my excitement for Friday. We had Friday, the weekend, and all of next week off. It was Thanksgiving break and I was bubbling with nervousness and excitement. I didn't tell Kayden about Jason Owens. I don't want him involved in this mess. I just wanted to finish it. Find out what Owens wants and just give it to him. I'm sick of being beaten up and I'm sick of him ruining every good thing that comes into my life. Lettie had taken the girls for a movie meaning I was alone in the house so I decided to take a small nap before Lettie came back and called for dinner. 

My eyes drifted to sleep but my mind stayed awake because of the certain blue-eyed boy who never fails to make me smile. Surprisingly enough but not really, I wake up to someone sitting on top of me and soft brown eyes peering down at me. I smile up at Julia and she gives me a toothy grin in return. I pretend to yawn and then sneak my hands up to her stomach and start tickling her. 

She laughs and screeches and thrashes in my arms trying to get out but I wrap my legs around her to hold her in place.

"V! HEHE! AHHHH! V stop pleaseeee!" 

She manages to say through her giggles. I laugh and stop before carrying her into the kitchen where Addie and Em were setting up the table. Em had her cute little camera with her which she got last Christmas. I knew photography would be her thing; she loved capturing the moment and creating collages.

"Valeria! You wanna know something cool?" Em asked excitedly. I smiled at her and tied my hair up while nodding. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she squealed,

"Liam (Lilly's brother and Emily's Best Friend, for those of you who don't remember lol) finally agreed after so much convincing to start making a scrapbook with me!!!! Eeeee! I'm so excited!" 

Honestly, who cares if they are 12? If they don't grow up and get married I don't know anything anymore. I smiled at her sweetly and answered, 

"That's great Em! I'm so happy for you, it's gonna turn out amazing, I'm sure of it!"

 She gave me a cute smile and her brown eyes were lit with happiness and contentment. Lettie smiled and asked me to help her bring the dinner from the kitchen to the dining table. Once we were all settled and ready to eat, Maddie came down the stairs with her crutches from her extremely long nap, which was completely unneeded, but I mean, "She's sick. My poor little baby." I swear one more time Lettie fails to see she is absolutely fine, I'm gonna bang my head on the wall. We all sit down to eat dinner and I decide it's probably a good time to tell everyone why I won't be home tomorrow and that I have a date. Oh my- it sounds so weird to say that but at the same time pretty exciting too.

"Ahem! Can I please have your attention?" I ask dramatically. What? This is how we do it at New Hope Orphanage. I smiled at all of them around me. 

I used to think that only blood could be family; I pushed everyone away when I first came here for that reason. I just couldn't let go so instead I held on tighter. I held on to hope that my dad would come back. That my dad would apologize and we could go back to being a family. When I realized it was time to let go, the girls helped me build a new life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Fate has weird ways of bringing the people we love together. But it's beautiful because in the end, it's what keeps us all tied together. It's what keeps us all grounded to the people we love and the people that hurt us in the past become faint memories like a bright star that's lost all of its light. Memories that don't haunt us anymore because we have the people we love fighting for us by our side. I snap out of my little reverie when I realize that everyone is staring at me. Then the doubts start to creep in like little spiders that are so totally unwanted. 

You know... They might not like him or the fact that you even have a love life. They might think you are too young. My brain voiced its very unnecessary and unwanted opinion. 

I ignored it though because I knew that it was time to stop keeping secrets. If there's anything I've learned so far in my life is that secrets ruin everything. Though sometimes you have to keep secrets to protect the people you care about. 

"So I've been meaning to tell you all that I am going on a date tomorrow night with Kayden. If you have any objections please state them now. But just know that he makes me really happy guys. I've never felt this way with anyone before but I can tell him everything. He makes me feel safe." I say the last part softly while blushing. Lettie gasps in fake surprise and chuckles softly before responding, 

"Valeria, honey, I think that's wonderful! I can't say I haven't noticed how happy you've been since we came home compared to your miserableness these past few days. Did he apologize at least? I mean what he said was really rude."

 I shake my head and explain why he did what he did. Once we cleared dinner out and finished up all our chores I went upstairs to hang out with Maddie, who's on break from all forms of work because of her very broken leg. I opened her door to find her on the phone with someone from school so I made my way to my own room to finish my huge pile of homework. I start with my English essay on logical fallacies and how it is used in real life. It's quite boring if you ask me but oh the things we do to get into a good college. 

After I finished all my other math homework (which required a facetime call to la math expert, monsieur Kayden) I decided to get studying for the dreaded SAT. All six of us were scheduled to take them in January and I had been so stressed I started preparing since September of last year. Try Hard? Yup! That's me! At around 11:30 I finish everything and head to bed letting the tiredness of the day finally take me over. 

__________________________________________________________________________

I wake up around 8:30 the next day since there is no school, I sigh in contentment as I get up out of bed and head to take a shower first. I finish my live concert in the shower and by 9:30 I am dressed and ready to roll. I walk downstairs and realize literally no one is awake. Not even Julia who starts crying at approximately 7 every morning. She's like my alarm clock these days, except you can't turn her off. I make myself breakfast and spend the rest of the morning practicing singing and playing the piano. 

I missed the feeling of my fingers flying across the keys. I didn't realize how much I really needed it until I went a week or so without it. I play for around an hour and after that decide to help the girls with their homework so they would stop whining about it. 

At 3:00, I head up to my room after a relaxing day realizing that I had no idea what time Kayden was going to be here to pick me up. I panic. 

Dude your so dumb. He probably told you and you just forgot cuz well you're you. My brain taunts. If I could throw it against a wall I so would without thinking twice. I pick up my phone to ask Lilly what I should do when it starts ringing and Kayden's calling me. I answer click answer and softly respond, 

"Hi you" 

"Hi back. Listen I need to know. Would you rather something romantic and expensive or would you rather have an amazing date the Kayden way? I-I just want it to be perfect for you."

 My heart literally melts at his words and I already know the answer. 

"Well Kay, I did agree to go on a date with you, so I would love to do it the Kayden way." I reply sweetly. 

"Great. That's what I was hoping for. Dress comfy and casual, I'll pick you up in an hour, bye!"

 He ends the phone call before I can even argue. 1 hour? Oh God, I need Lilly or I'm screwed. I call Lilly over and she's there in exactly 5 minutes and I'm sitting on my bed chewing my fingers off.

"Oh My Goodness Valeria. Your date is in 55 minutes and you are just sitting there. GET UP! Get started on your hair while I find you something to wear." She yells. 

I flinch at her loudness and pull my hair out of its signature low ponytail. I let my fingers quickly braid a french braid in the middle and leave the rest of my hair out. I look at her for approval and she nods at me. I start digging through my closet with Lilly as well but nothing cute but cozy

"Ahhh Lilly what do I wear?" I whine almost ready to give up and just cancel. 

"Found it, ha! I knew you had it in here somewhere." She smirks as she pulls out my brown teddy bear jacket as I like to call it.

 My eyebrows furry in confusion. What was this girl doing? She then proceeds to pull out a cute white shirt with a slight turtleneck and my black jeans with my signature belt with my black and white sneakers. My jaw drops in awe at how fast and efficiently she just picked out the perfect outfit. 

"Honestly Valeria you now have 20 minutes, stop standing there and get going!" She screams. I pout and run to the bathroom to change. 

When I come out and stand in front of the mirror I actually like the way the outfit looks on me. I smile to myself and Lilly comes out from behind me with another necklace with a golden circle on it and puts it around my neck. And just like that I'm ready. I look at Lilly and smile shyly. 

"Look at you! Oh my god you're gonna make me cry. You look beautiful V and you're about to go on your first ever date! Eeee! How do you feel?" She squeals happily. 

"Honestly, I'm a little nervous but in the end, it's Kayden. We've become so close and he makes me feel so nice so I don't think I should be that worried." She nods in agreement just as the doorbell rings. She pushes me out the door and wishes me good luck.

 I walk downstairs with my bag and Lettie gets to the door before I do. Uh oh this cannot go well. I hurry behind her to catch up to her before she says something embarrassing. She opens the door and my stomach releases the butterflies and they flutter. He is in a white shirt too with black jeans and his signature black jacket. I smile at him and he gives me a soft smile back, his blue eyes shining with a new sense of adventure and hope. 

"You must be Kayden." Lettie acknowledges. 

"Yeah that's me! It's nice to meet you again but this time I know who you actually are." Kayden says jokingly. Lettie smiles and nods before letting us go with a final statement,

"I want her home by 8:30 or 9 please." I roll my eyes at her pretense as playing the angel but the truth is that she sleeps at 9:30 and she just wants to know everything that happened before she sleeps.

 I laugh nervously and put my hand in Kaydens' intertwining our fingers for warmth as we start walking through the bustling streets of New York.

"Nervous?" Kayden asks looking down at me, smiling. 

"A little" I answer honestly.

"No need to be." He comforts and I give him a smitten look. He didn't look nervous. He actually looked calm as ever. But then again maybe that's just his aura. We start to walk and he buys us both a coffee warning me that if I ever try to pay for anything while I'm with him he would not stand for it. 

"Where are we going?" I ask curiously, not recognizing the street we were walking in. 

"It's a surprise, patience is key." He replies, rolling his eyes. I pout and he smiles at me, his stare filled with admiration. 

"Let's play 21 questions." I suggest and he chuckles but nods nevertheless as we continue to well wherever he's taking me.

"Favorite quote?" I ask. We connect a lot through books and literature but it occurred to me how I didn't even know his favorite quote. He thinks for a minute before responding, 

"But without darkness we wouldn't know the warmth of the light." I gasp. I had never heard that quote before but it suits him so well. 

"It's beautiful and so true." I respond softly tugging at his hand in admiration. He laughs and it makes me feel bubbly inside. 

"We would never understand the warmth and beauty of the sun amidst the clouds and the sky without seeing the darkness of the night. We would never know the importance of hope without the dread of pain and misery. There is truly no light without dark. Nothing exists without its opposite. " I think out loud. 

"Exactly, Cupcake. You understand me in ways no one else does, that's one of the reasons why I like you so much. I don't know if I told you, but you're beautiful and your cute laugh literally made my day." He compliments. I blush and his thumb gently brushes my cheek leaving me smiling stupidly at him. 

You're so smitten, it's disturbing. My brain comments. Ugh it just won't let me happy, god. 

We continue playing and laughing making jokes about how Lucas and Parker should be in a mental institute for their stupidity. A good 15 minutes later Kayden pulls us to a stop in front of a building and wraps his arm around my waist. 

"Let the adventure begin... Cupcake." He leans down to whisper in my ear making me blush crimson red. He smirks. Cocky jerk. 

I look up at him confusedly now knowing what he's talking about. He smirks and pulls me into the building. It looks like a hotel building, what the heck were we doing here? I wondered. He didn't even glance at the front lobby and just pulled me up the stairs. We took the stairs up to the top floor and he opened the door leading to the rooftop of the building. 

"What are we-Oh my god!" I exclaim as I take in the sight in front of me. The roof is decorated with fairy lights There are two skates hanging from a string with a note attached saying, Ready for Adventure #1? ICE SKATING!!I grin in excitement and screech in excitement.

"How did you know? Rooftop ice skating. Kayden, it's awesome!" I scream. 

"Well believe it or not I actually listen when you talk, cupcake. I know how much you admire the Eiffel Tower and how your favorite part was that they had rooftop ice skating on top of the tower, so I decided to recreate that for you." He says confidently.

 I gasp and my heart flutters at his words. I grin in excitement and throw my arms around him. His chest rumbles against mine in laughter and his blue eyes are shining with happiness just like I know my green ones are. 

"Come on! What are we waiting for! You have to teach me though, I only know how to roller skate." I squeal. He grins cutely and we sit down to put on our ice skates. 

He takes my hand and he skates backwards while I keep my focus on going forwards. He kept his hold on my hands and we skated somewhat gracefully until he slowly started letting go of my hand. I fiddled for his hands but he smiled and nodded for me to try myself. Bad Idea. I let my feet move to the rhythm of the song that was playing which was Fallin all in you by Shawn Mendes.

 I quickly lost my balance when I tried to stop and stumbled before falling on my butt. "Ouchie" I whine. That hurt. Like a lot. Not only did it hurt but it also was very embarrassing. I look up at Kayden who actually has the audacity to laugh right now. I glare at him and pout so he reaches his hand to help me up.

"You're adorable when you pout." He commented. Once again my stupid cheeks heat up and I'm blushing like there's no tomorrow. I smile to myself as we skate around laughing and making jokes for another half hour or so. Once we get too tired to even get up we sit on the cute little bench on the rooftop and I admire the view from up here. 

"Everything looks so small." I wonder aloud. He smiles playing with my fingers. 

"Yeah it does. Every other day we're just one of those people, completely normal and invisible. It's amazing really how some people think they're all that but instead they're just another one of those tiny people who no one notices." He adds on looking at me. 

"It's true. We go around trying to impress everyone when the only person that matters is yourself because in the end of the day that's all you're going to have. Everyone else is just another tiny person." I continue. 

This is why I like Kayden. He's an easy person to talk to and having deep talks with him doesn't make me uncomfortable because he actually understands me. He stands up offering his hand and I hold it while he pulls me up and to the edge of the roof. He points to the sky which is turning a dusty pink due to the sunset. The beautiful red cloudless sky mixed with the blue made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The sun was slowly bringing itself down and the night was coming in. 

"Isn't it beautiful how darkness and light can come together and look invariantly equatorial mixed with the gorgeous sunset?" I ask looking at him.

 But he wasn't looking at the sky like I was instead his steady gaze was on me. That was when I started to notice the lack of distance between the two of us. His hand was still curled around my waist and he pulled me closer so my chest was pressed against his. Very softly his left hand caressed my cheek and he pulled his lips to hover over mine while my eyes fluttered shut. Then a thousand magic fireworks erupted inside me when his lips gently touched mine. Goosebumps showed up on my arms as he rubbed them and my blush darkened when he chuckled and moved a piece of hair out of my face. We stood like that for a while; foreheads touching, smiling like idiots, and staring at each other. 

"Come on, part 2 of this adventure is