Amara Knight

Considering that I was going on my first official date ever with Ryan, I should be jumping like a bouncing ball, but instead, I was super anxious and was pacing back and forth in my room with my eyes trained on the floor, my left hand on my waist as I nibbled on my right-hand thumb.

I had to think up a lie to tell my parents so that I could leave the house and feel the pleasure of my first date. I couldn't have squarely told them that I was going out with Ryan. And I couldn't lie to them either.

That genius Son of Peterson and his luck! He did not have to think about making an excuse to his parents since they had to attend an urgent unexpected meeting. He out of a blue asked me out on a date and I did not want to cancel it.

Of course, I had phoned my crime partner, Drew, to frame something for me. But his beauty sleep was much more important to him than his friend in need. He hung up on me, not before formulating an excuse for me to give to my parents, though. But I was quite skeptical if that lie would work.

Plus, I couldn't decide on what to wear. Ugh!

Wish I had disclosed my relationship to Sia and Becky; they could have helped me in that matter. But I did not want to tell anybody yet because Ryan and I were in just the initial stage of our relationship and I did not want the whole school to gossip about us. I wanted to explore the euphoria of being in a relationship in peace. Besides, meeting secretly was fun and thrilling at the same time.

To test that teeny-tiny luck I thought I had, I nervously carried myself to my parents' room and knocked on the door. My ever-beautiful mamma opened the door and smiled widely upon seeing me. I wondered how did she manage to look fresh and energetic even after working all day long.

"Uh, mamma..." I hesitated, mentally praying for Drew's excuse to work. "Umm, we... friends have planned a night out. You know, movie, street food, fun and all."

A smile appeared on her lips, indicating that my lie worked, which relieved me a little because God knows how violently I was trembling within

"That's great, Amara. Have fun. Just be back in time, okay?"

I grinned. "Yes. Umm, one more thing, could you please help me choose an outfit? I can't decide what to wear."

She laughed, crossing her arms across her front as she leaned against the doorframe. "Since when do you need help with choosing outfits when going out with friends? Or there's something you're telling me?"

My eyes widened in horror as I looked at her teasing smile. I frantically replied, "What! No, I-I am not hiding anything from you. It's just I-"

Her laughter filled the corridor as she came out of her room, shutting the door behind her. "I'm just messing with you, my girl. C'mon, let's find you something good to wear."

She held my hand as we walked back to my room. "At what time is dad coming back home from work?" I asked.

"He's already on his way back home." She answered back.

I mentally prayed for dad to arrive after I had left to save myself from repeating the lie.

My mother picked out a short, thin strip floral dress for me, and I wore it with sandals. The attire was just what I had envisioned-casual yet stylish.
I was curling my hair when mamma asked something that had me shut my eyes in nervousness.

"So, who are you going with? Is Drew coming here to pick you up?"

Putting back the curler on the vanity, I turned to face mamma, biting the inside of my cheek. My right hand traveled up to the back of my ear as my eyes lowered to the floor. Suddenly, the usual, boring, shiny white marble floor of my room began to appear appealing to me. Only if I could admire the floor for longer to avoid mamma, but it was not an option.

I hesitantly raised my head. "Uh, umm, not Drew...uh, Ryan. He's coming to pick me up. We are going together."

The stunned, wide-eyed reaction I received from her was rather expected. I mean, who would have thought about Ryan and I going somewhere together, considering the endless arguments they all had witnessed?

"You two, together?"

She questioned in wonder as soon as she came out of her shock phase. I passed a tight smile, avoiding her gaze.

I heard her laugh. "Well, that's news to hear. Guess, the tutoring session is helping the two of you to maintain peace."

"Something like that," I murmured to myself and scrambled to pick up my sling bag and a cardboard pot carrier which contained a tiny pot with a flowering plant rooted in it. I then rushed out of my room with mamma following me.

I reached downstairs, only to find dad entering the house. He beamed when he saw us.

"Ah, here are the smartest ladies of my life." He embraced both of us tightly, then taking my hand in his, he swirled me.

"You look stunning. Where are you off to?" He questioned.

I cleared my throat. "Uh, out...umm, with friends," I replied reluctantly.

"Oh, alright. Who are you going with?" He fired another question.

"Amara."

And the moment of truth had arrived. All of our eyes were directed toward the voice that called for my name; Ryan.

He stood at the door, looking drool-worthy handsome in his regular jeans, and white tee, paired up with a printed shirt. His eyes assessed me from head to toe, momentarily stopping at my bare legs before coming back to my face. I could see a hint of a smile knocking on his lips.

I hid my silly smile from my parents by avoiding Ryan's gaze when I read his lips, mouthing, gorgeous.

"Ryan? What are you doing here?" Dad questioned him, frowning.

Ughhh, Ryan didn't know what I had told my parents.

He answered. "Umm, I am here to pick Amara. We are going out together."

"You two, together?"

Dad was way more surprised than mamma was. His questioning gaze switched between Ryan and me. Suddenly, dad grabbed my shoulders, his face exhibited concern.

"I get it that you two have been getting along because of that tutoring thing and believe me this is a good sign. However, you both going out together is still a concern for me. You can't blame me for that, can you? Now, what I am going to do is I'll have someone drop you off, or better yet, I'll drive you wherever you want and Ryan can go on his own. Okay?"

Ryan, who had no idea what was going on, stared at me, waiting for answers. Before I could utter anything to dad, mamma spoke up.

"Xavier, let them go. Don't meddle in children's matters."

Dad frowned at mamma. "How can I not? I'm doing this only for them because God knows they both will end up bald by the time they reached the venue."

Wow, what a nice reputation we both had. Just wow. I wondered what would be their reaction when they'd get to know about our relationship. They'd probably have the shock of their life.

"Xavier!" Mamma's one look had dad dropping his stubbornness.

He huffed, throwing his hands in the air. "Alright. Alright. You always win." He then faced Ryan and gestured for him to come near. Confused with the situation, Ryan approached dad.

Ryan. Even though my daughter is strong enough to defend herself, I want you to prevent guys from approaching her so she won't have to expend energy driving them away. And bring her back unharmed, get that?"

Dad's overprotective behavior had me groaning. "Dad, stop it. I'm not five."

"And you, Amara." He pointed his finger at me. "You be easy on this poor boy. Don't eat up his head, okay?"

What?

This made Ryan smile slyly. Of course.
He replied with his amusing gaze fixed on me. "Uncle Xavier, you don't need to warn me about that. Rest assured, I'll not take my eyes off her and will keep her by my side all time."

What the actual fluff! Was he out of his tiny mind?

His casual response had me widening my eyes in horror. It was as if the ghost of Hitler died in front of me.

He did not just say that too boldly in front of my father. I was positive I'd sink into the sinking ship of embarrassment if dad glanced at me. Luckily, his gaze was trained on now Mr. Out-of-his-mind Peterson.

I threw a horrified glare in his direction, non-verbally scolding him for saying that. It was as if he was utterly unaffected because he kept his proud smile glued to his lips.

"Close. But not too close. And make sure to bring her back in time."

Anyhow, mamma had had enough of dad's behavior. She marched up to him and pulled him away from Ryan. "Enough of your over-protectiveness, Xavier. She isn't going out for the first time."

I butted in, scowling. "Yes, mamma, please remind dad that I am grown up now."

Though slightly mad at dad, I planted a kiss on his cheek and waved at mom before rushing out of the house with Ryan following me. However, I did not miss dad's last warning before going out.

"Both of you, be civil to each other."

I rolled my eyes and grumpily folded my arms across my chest as I stood by Ryan's car.

"What was that? You lied to them? You could have clearly told them you were going out with me." Ryan frowned, stopping by me, imitating my stance of the crossed arm.

I gaped at him. "And throw ourselves in a lock-up to be questioned by them for straight two days? Did you not see my dad's reaction?"

He sighed. "Still, there was no need to lie."

"Well, I couldn't have just told them I am going on a date with their dear good boy Ryan Peterson. Lucky you that your parents are out and will be back late at night; you didn't have to make reasons to go out." I scoffed.

"They'll eventually get to know it." His shoulders bobbed up as he said that. "But I guess you're right. This is not the right time to tell them."

An inaudible gasp left my throat when he suddenly pulled me in his arms and brought his face closer to mine. "You look gorgeous."

A shy smile made its way to my lips. In a moment, he tilted his head to kiss me but I stopped him by putting my palm over his mouth. "Not here."

I quickly created a distance between us and carried my gaze to the double doors of my house to check if my parents or my brother saw us. Luckily, no one did, which had me sighing in relief.

He frowned and argued. "What? Why not?"

I rolled my eyes. "We're still inside of dangerous territory. Someone could see us."

"You are going to make me work for a kiss, aren't you?" A lopsided grin appeared on his lips.

"Well, maybe." I shrugged casually. "Now, let's go."

Ryan halted me from opening the car door. "Wait, what's that bag in your hand?"

My gaze traveled to where his gaze was directed and upon seeing the paper bag in my hand I huffed. "Oh, silly me."

With a smile, I outstretched my hand for him to take the bag from me. "It's for you. I wanted to give you something on our first date and I couldn't think of a better gift than a plant sapling. Hope you like it."

His face bloomed with a sudden happy moment. "Wow... Thank you. Though I already have one given by you."

His comment had me scrunching my forehead. "Me? As far as my memory could take me I only recall sacrificing my toys to you. I never gave you anything other than that. And not a plant sapling."

"You did. I'll show it to you." He commented determinedly and I waved off the topic for now because I was sure I had never given him what he claimed and I believed he was mistaken.

"Anyway, thank you for this. And I too have something for you but I'll give it to you when I drop you back home." He mumbled as he opened the car door for me to get in.

"Okay," I mumbled excitedly before getting into the car. "So, where are we going?"

He settled himself on the driver's seat and shot me a bewitching look. "I recall you wishing to see koi fish."

My eyes popped out of the socket. "No, shut up."

My eager response made him laugh.

"Well, they have opened a koi fish pond in our neighborhood. We could go there and feed them."

I squealed. "Then what are you waiting for? Bring me to them. Now."

:::::::::::::

Seeing Koi fish swarming to the surface and even nibbling the tip of my fingers as I sprinkled food in the pool was one of the best exhilarating moments I had in a while. I couldn't hold my squeal when my fish friends flocked over one another with their mouths wide open to get a glimpse of me.

I was so engrossed in feeding the fish that I failed to notice Ryan's hand wrapped possessively around my waist as he too fed the fish. A joyous feeling of being adored by him washed over me, making me blush a little.

I straightened my posture which made him stand upright with me. I raised my eyebrows as I questioned teasingly,

"Why is your arm around my waist?"

Smirking, he pulled me to himself and circled his both arms around my waist. Amusement twinkled in his eyes.

"Well, I am giving the guys looking at you the solid impression that you are with me. And I did give my word to your father that I'd keep you glued to me. I'm merely keeping my promise."

A silly smile tugged my lips. "Is that the only reason?"

"No. There's one more." He pressed his forehead against mine and mumbled,
"I want to keep you as close as possible. I do not want to leave your side even for a moment on our first date, whatever we do. Does this reason sound more reasonable?

I grinned. "Yeah, now it does."

"Did you like the place?" He questioned.

I took my eyes off him and gazed down at the orange-colored fish trying to jump out of the pool to nibble on the fingers of people feeding them. I mumbled. "You have no idea. Thank you for bringing me here."

"So..." He trailed off, bringing my focus back to him. "Can I kiss you now?"

Smiling wickedly, I gently pushed him away. "Uh-uh, not yet. My poor fish are waiting for me to feed 'em."

"Amara, wait-" He tried to grab me again but someone roughly bumped into us, making both of us stumble. Ryan grabbed me by my waist preventing me from falling flat on my butt.

"Oh, so sorry -" Those who bumped into us halted their apology and let out a gasp of surprise. "Amara? Ryan?"

Austin and Illiana's voices sent cold chills down my body, forcing me to frantically detach myself from Ryan and stand straight in horror with wide eyes as if caught red-handed robbing the robber.

Their calculative gaze traveled down our faces to our bodies and got stuck in the middle, making both Ryan and me slowly lower our gaze to where theirs were glued. Ryan's hand was still on my waist.

Both of us hastily created distance amongst ourselves, looking everywhere but at them. Since they were still in shock, I took it upon myself to ramble some excuses so they do not become suspicious.

I laughed nervously, fiddling with my hair. "Hey, Illiana, Austin. What are you doing here? Did you come to feed the koi fish? Ryan had told me about the place so we too came for the same-"

Perhaps my panic state had brought me into the state to ramble way too much otherwise Ryan wouldn't have nudged me hard enough to make me groan. Another mental groan came from me when Illiana and Austin questioned together in utter suspicion.

"You two, together?"

Ryan was about to answer them but I jumped in quickly because I knew he was bad at making excuses.

My hands flew everywhere as I explained them. "Uh, yes...together. But not like what you think. Err, it's... Umm... Tiana, his sister, and my brother Xyler are here with us too."

I made a fake gesture of looking for two people who had no clue that they were tangled up in my excuse. "They must be here somewhere. In fact, we have got to find them before they get lost. Hurry, Ryan."

I did not give anybody any chance to utter a word and dragged Ryan with him far from their sight and took him to the parking lot and sat inside the car.

I took two deep breaths before squeaking in fear while looking at Ryan. "Do you think they saw us when we were standing closer?"

Ryan grabbed my shoulders and rubbed my arms. "Relax Amara. They are too busy with themselves to notice others. Don't worry."

His words did make me relax a bit yet I was a little anxious. I was not ready for the whole school to know about us yet.

"I don't understand why do we have to lie? Why can't we disclose our relationship?" He inquired casually as if it was nothing.

I did not want to explain it to him right now so I stated, "We will. But not yet. Please understand?"

"Alright," Ryan stated. "I'm sure you'll not have to worry about getting caught at the next place I am bringing you to. It's so peaceful there and you'll love it, plus barely anyone goes there."

For the next ten minutes of the car ride no matter how many times I questioned, he did not utter a word about where he was taking me. But when he stopped the car and led me inside of huge iron gates, I was left awestruck by the beauty of nature in front of me.

My smile knew no bounds when I saw white tulips standing tall as far as I could see. Orange, red, and purple hues of sunset covering the sky made the white color of tulips emerge to the fullest.

"Ryan, this is so beautiful," I mumbled dreamily.

I sensed him approaching me before he wrapped his arm around my waist from behind and whispered in my ear.

"Yes, so beautiful."

Slowly, he turned me to him and cupped my face. His dreamy bright blue eyes practically twinkled as he leaned forward with only one intention, to kiss me.

For a moment, the time stopped and all I could feel was the gentle stroke of his thumb over my jaw, which brought me to the edge of my control. I could physically feel the contraction of the muscles of my stomach along with the sensual tingles emerging out as goosebumps on my skin.

As excited as it made me to finally be able to lock my thirsty lips with his hungry ones, I still wanted him to work a little more for the first kiss of our first date.

With that devilish thought in mind, I pulled myself out of his hold and bounced like a child. "Ryan, can I go near the flowers? Are we allowed for that? Can I feel them?"

Smiling at my childish behavior, he mumbled. "I know this trick, Amara. I know. Anyway, as long as you do not pluck or damage flowers, you are allowed to do anything."

Squealing, I jogged towards the bed of pristine tulips and trudged around and in between the rows. I had Ryan taking pictures of me as well as selfies of us.

We both stood next to each other witnessing the rich violet color taking over the orange-red hue in the sky pulling the blanket of stars along with it.

My gaze was raised to see the glimmering stars as I mumbled for Ryan to hear. "It's so calm in here."

"Yes, it is." I heard him whisper.

Good thing that there was no other person except for caretakers. A little isolation from the outside world was much required for us to cherish some alone, beautiful moments.

I slowly tilted my face at Ryan, only to find him staring at me adoringly, his arms folded across his chest.
I laughed gently. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Just wondering how and when my annoyance towards you got converted into liking for you." He muttered.

"Can't answer to 'how'. But yes, I can surely answer for 'when'. It was recently." I laughed as I shoulder bumped him.

His charming smile captivated me and possessed me with a thought to pull him through his neck and kiss the hell out of his lovely smile. I had had enough of teasing him; I wanted to kiss him badly