The Blindfold

"Okay," she says.

"Can I take my blindfold off?" he asks.

She laughs quietly at herself and looks away from him. "Sure."

He looks around. They're sitting in her station wagon pulled up to the curb in the middle of a small, quiet neighborhood.

"Where are we?" he asks.

"I don't know."

He smiles a confused smile and looks out his window. "What do you mean you don't know?"

I didn't have anywhere else to take you, I just didn't want to take you home yet. I thought maybe I'd come up with something while we were driving, but I didn't."

"Well," he shrugs. "You don't have to take me home. If this little scavenger hunt is over let me take you out for dinner or something."

"I'm not hungry."

"Okay. Well. What do you want to do?"

She laughs at herself again.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothiiiing." She looks at him with embarrassed eyes.

"Okay," he says and leans back in his chair. After it's quiet for a moment he pulls the blindfold over his eyes again. "Alright, where are we going next?"

"I told you. I don't have anywhere else to go."

"Then what were you laughing at?"

"Weeell..." She leans over the stick shift across to his side of the car and rests her chin on his chest. "You know that list I wrote at the beginning of the year?"

"Nope."

"You know, the one I wrote about all the things I wanted to do before high school was over. All the stuff I wanted to do before college?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I got most of it done."

"Good."

"Yeah..."

There's a pause and she laughs at herself again.

"What are you laughing at?" he asks. He raises his eyebrows to pull the blindfold up just a smidge and peeks out at her with his squinty right eye.

"Well, I've never made out in the back of a car before."

He laughs at her. He laughs really hard and his belly jumps up and down. She smiles and her eyes are embarrassed again.

"That's on your list?" he asks.

She snorts. "Maybe..."

He chuckles again.

"Well," he leans forward and kisses her on the forehead. "If only I could fit in the back of your car. I would have loved to help you out." He sits up and pulls the blindfold up and off his head. "Come on. Let me take you out. You've had this thing on me all day."

She pauses for a moment, looking at him. He watches her eyes get sad and her mouth quivers into half of a frown. "Okay."

"What's the matter?"

"You don't want to make out with me."

He just oh so barely prevents himself from laughing again. "Stop it," he says.

"Well, why don't you?" A small tear rolls down her cheek.

He leans forward gingerly and reaches his hand up to her face. Instead of wiping the tear away, he catches it with his thumb. Her sad eyes look down at the floor, while his sad eyes look into hers. Her lip quivers again and she looks up at him. He pulls her in and kisses her hard on the mouth.

"Let me take you out."

"Okay." She sniffles. "Where are we going?"

"Let me drive."

"You can drive stick?"

"I'm getting there," he says and and steps outside. He walks around the front of the car and looks at her through the window for maybe two seconds before opening her door and helping her out.

They say nothing until they are seated at her favorite restaurant twenty minutes later and her eyes pretend to be happy again.

Later that night he hugs her for a very long time.

She hugs him back.

They say good-bye and go to college.

She never makes out in the back of a car.

He never hugs anyone like that ever again.