Sean

To my surprise Flora's Mercedes showed up promptly outside my window at 10am on Saturday morning. She was never on time. I threw on a navy coat as I ran downstairs, rushing out to meet her. I didn't want Linda to intercept her.

"Hey," Flora greeted me with a wide smile. She was standing outside her car waiting, and as I walked out the door she ran up to hug me before I could even take a good look at her. I wrapped my arms around her waist tightly. For a while we just stood in the driveway silently holding on to each other, and it reminded me of walls toppling.

"I could barely sleep last night. I was so looking forward to this," she gushed, her cheeks a shade of light rosy red from the cold. "I've been sitting at the Pavement for the past 40 minutes drumming the table."

"What? You could call me, you know. That never stopped you before."

"I don't want to irritate you today because I'm so happy." Flora was a ray of sunshine this morning. She lowered her head slightly and permitted me a clear view of the beret she had on. I'd have recognized that peculiar shade of cobalt blue anywhere. "It looks good, doesn't it?"

I nodded. This was the first time I actually got to see her wear it, because right after I gave her that gift we broke up. I took in her long coffee-colored hair that fell over her shoulders, her leather coat with fur at the edge and the lace-up boots on her feet with olive stockings.

"You look really great," I said. For a moment I could only stare at her. It felt so unreal. She was standing in front of me and it was not to talk business.

"I take my role as fashion inspiration of Riverside High very seriously," she said and grinned. "And I blogged about it already. You look nice too. Good enough to go out with me without embarrassing me."

"Thanks." I was just wearing chinos with Converse and I was sure I couldn't possibly inspire anybody.

"Shall I go in to say hi to your parents and Linda?" Flora asked.

"Please don't." I nudged her lightly to push her back to her car, and she giggled. Every minute was too precious to waste on my family.

"Come on, hop in. I have a full day planned."

I lowered myself into the passenger seat beside her. "Where are we going?"

"You have no patience." She tsked. "Somewhere we have never been before, but I don't know why. It's such an obvious choice."

I had sat in her car a few times during the past weeks, but this time it felt different because we were on an official date. I felt jittery and thrilled. She was the same person wearing the same jasmine perfume but it felt more intimate, like she was more mine. Like I was allowed to fantasize about her again.

We hadn't said anything concrete about getting back together, but as soon as I saw her I knew that was the direction I was heading for. I didn't know if taking me out meant she was considering taking me back, but I'd accept anything I could get. I was willing to eat up anything she tossed under the table as if I was her pet dog.

Being with her was too good to pass on, and I even missed the way she drove and how my body shot forward at every red light.

"Tada," Flora sang.

I watched in amazement as she pulled into the parking lot of the Science Museum. "Wow. I have actually never been to one outside of field trips."

"Really?" Her eyes widened. "I thought this would be where people like you hang out."

It was obvious this was planned in my honor and I was grateful for the thought. When we got out the car she linked her arm through mine and dragged me toward the ticket booth. It felt great. She was soft and scentsy and so pretty, like a jasmine flower with cobalt blue petals.

"I think this is where you belong," she said once we were standing under the exhibit hall.

I looked up at the huge skeletons of dinosaurs all around. "I hope I'm a little more interesting than a Brontosaurus fossil."

"No, I mean there should be an exhibition under your name because you are so awesome. You should donate your blood for scientific research," she said, staring at my face with practically heart-shaped pupils. "Maybe they can crack the secret of your genes and replicate people like you."

"What?" I laughed in bewilderment. "Can you tone down a little?"

I had no idea what Flora was up to. Yesterday she was ice princess and today she was Miss Congeniality. I was uncertain about where we stood, but Flora seemed really into me. I wasn't one to complain though.

"Why do you want to be an engineer?" she asked as we walked through the Wind Lab, an energy production demonstration that showed how turbines transform wind into green energy.

"I want to create things that move."

She made a face. "You want to have babies. I hate babies."

I smiled at her intended misinterpretation. "No...like a robotic arm. A plane engine that roars to life."

"I wish you won't have to marry the female robot you build ten years from now," she said. "Oh wait. I get it now. Like Iron Man! Or Batmobile. That can be kind of interesting." She nodded in encouragement. Flora could make a comment about anything.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Is that why you like studying for physics?"

"Partly. I like getting correct answers. I like finishing a problem and see if I get it right. It's very clear cut." So not what we are right now.

"I like ambiguity," she said. "Like fashion. No right or wrong. Just what makes you happy."

And Flora was definitely happy. She touched my face with affection. She clutched my arm while we rode up the escalator. She made bad pun-intended jokes about how she couldn't wait for a little hands-on experience with me as we treaded through the interactive section, with her nagging me about what each device meant and oohing at my intelligence. I was suddenly Flora's favorite person again and she had no problem with initiating things today.

"Flora, what triggered this sudden interest?" I was half flattered and half unsettled.

"You mean in science? Science is actually pretty fun!" She jabbed at a button which set off an avalanche simulation and she squealed in delight. "That's so real! Did you see that? I'm impressed! Let's try the tornados and the tsunamis." She pulled me towards the next interactive booth.

Was everything okay again? Dating her and seeing her happy was exactly what I wanted, but a bad feeling stuck at the corner of my brain, like a chewed gum under the bus seat. Her mood swings left me feeling emotionally whiplashed.

"You seem to...like me a lot today," I suggested uncertainly.

She looked at me and smiled, crinkling up the corner of her beautiful hazel eyes. "I like you all the time. I'm just tired of hiding my feelings for you."

This was how she acted a year ago, repeatedly telling me how much she liked me, coming on to me full throttle, right before she did what she did. No matter how much I tried to disregard it, I still felt a little traumatized.

Flora's affection was like instant fame; it left me feeling swell-headed, intoxicated, dizzy but at the same time unsettled. Instant fame could crash in a second, just like she could turn her back on me and destroy everything I had dreamed about.

I really needed to make sure something like that wouldn't happen again, but she was so hyper today. It seemed wrong to bring it up in the middle of her rare interest in scientific wonders. It would also be a major fight-trigger, and I really didn't want to fight with her since we were sort of good again.

No, better than good. When she liked me it left me feeling ridiculously weak. I drank up her affection in gulps until I drowned. Please stay this way for as long as you can, dear Flora.

I took her hand when we walked through the lightning and earthquake experiences, which roughly described how it was like, feeling her fingers intertwined with mine. She squeezed my hand lightly without looking at me, and my pulse escalated significantly.

I never thought I could hold her hand again, and when she smiled at me I knew I was doomed. I was willing to forgive and forget everything because I wanted her too much.

"What's this for?" Flora asked excitedly.

We had stopped at the Whisper Dishes, which was set up with two twin dishes of concave shape. One collected the sound waves and reflected them towards the opposite sound dish. They were positioned about 30 feet apart but supposedly the listener and speaker could hear each other clearly. Flora urged me to the other side eagerly.

"Can you hear me?" Her voice came back muffled.

"Yes. But not very clear."

"This is like a dream. To date you again and kiss you wherever I want." Her voice swirled around me like a galaxy of lights.

"Probably not wherever you want."

She laughed and it sounded like she was laughing under water, melodic and rhythmic. "Say something nice to me," she said.

I drew a blank. I was never an expert on sweet talk, so I said the only thing that had circled my mind all morning.

"I really want to get back together."

She didn't answer right away and my heart jumped erratically. "What? I can't hear you."

"I really want to get back together," I repeated, louder this time.

"You really want what?"

"To get back..." My face flamed when I noticed I was attracting attention, and I turned around to see Flora smiling slyly at me across the room. She so heard me and she was just teasing me, I realized, as I started toward her direction.

Flora got off from her platform and was walking briskly away from me. I quickened my pace and she did too. We were chasing around like five-year-olds, crashing into each other when I finally caught up to her in the empty stairway, and we were both laughing and gasping out of breath. Even five-year-olds were better-behaved than we were.

I cornered her and trapped her with my arms so she couldn't escape again. "I know you heard me."

She giggled. "I forgot what you were saying. Say it again."

She looked up and she was so beautiful, I really wouldn't know what to do if she said no. I lowered my head and murmured in her ear, pleading and wanting her so much it scared me. "Please be my girlfriend again. Please."

She smiled, and for the first time ever she looked a little shy. "Yes." She kissed me. "Yes, yes, yes..."

Each yes was interrupted by a peck from her, landing softly along my chin and jawline. At the fourth one I pulled her closer and kissed her properly. I didn't even care why we broke up anymore.

***

I'm assuming everyone knows what a Whisper Dish is? I think it's a pretty adorkable way to make a confession, but maybe that's just me and my nerd-loving brain.

Some people said that Sean and Flora's first date at the coffee shop was too short. This epic date they were on will be extremely long (Flora had the whole day planned, after all), full of conversations and a lot more, so please stay tuned for the rest of it!