Our First date: drove into a creek... wow smooth.

Speeding the night away in my mother’s car, I chat with Brett as we drive down a deserted country farm road. The moon casts an eerie light on the country side. I know I probably should be heading home as it’s almost midnight but I can’t bring myself to take Brett home. It’s the first time we’ve ever hung out and I don’t want the night to end just yet.

“Where are we going?” He asks conversationally as we go across a bridge.

“Well I’m not really sure,” I laugh “I know about this little place a little ways away we could stop there and talk for a while.” Neither of us can think of anything better to do at 11:30 at night in a small town like ours.

“I’m glad it stopped raining,” Brett says thoughtfully looking out his window.

“I know right? I think the weather man said it rained six inches yesterday alone,”

I round a corner and see what looks like a puddle at first, but as we plow through it the water continues to get deeper. Shocked, I look around. The water is up an inch over my side window. Once the car reaches a complete stop I glance at Brett. He’s staring back at me eyes wide, tongue tied and terrified.

All I can think is that we’re both about to die if I can’t get the car out of the water. Shaking I put the car in reverse and cautiously put my foot on the gas. Miraculously we back up. As we back up Brett laughs and points ahead. I look up quickly and see why he’s laughing. Fifty yards away is a sign “Impassable during high water.” It’s so deep but the sign that the water covers the poll it’s attached to.

“Way to warn us,” I mumble and giggle. Finally we’re freed from the water and I try to turn around. It’s then I notice that the power-steering in the car is gone. I look down and see the battery light has come on. However the most troublesome thing I see is the fact that the car is starting to over heat. Crud, looks like I won’t drown today, Mom is going to be the one to kill me. I think.

“Oh my God, Oh my God, what do we do?” I ask Brett after I point out that the car is over heating.

“Just pull off the road for a bit and see if it cools off. Maybe it’s just steam from the water or something,” He suggests. I nod pulling onto the shoulder. We sit for a few minutes in silence and then try again. We make it maybe two miles before the heat gage goes back to red I pull over again and mutter a tiny prayer.

“Dear Jesus, I know I’ve been a bad girl not going straight home from the foot ball game, and I cursed when I stubbed my toe this morning, and I lied to Caleb about liking his hair. But if you could just forgive me for that and get me home safe that would be fantastic…Love you, Amen,” It wasn’t a very good prayer but I was scared.

Right after I say amen I open my car door and pop the hood. I lean over the machinery not sure what could possibly be wrong. That didn’t matter much because the only light I have is my cell phone and the moon. My head lights are off because I was afraid if I left them on the battery would short circuit from all the water. The dark prevented me from seeing anything useful so after a second or two I gave up. I turn around and see Brett leaning over me trying to see the engine.

“Do you know anything about cars?” I ask him.

“Nope, I play drums, that’s as far as my skills go,” He says with a smile. I laugh halfheartedly and wrap my arms around myself. Brett looks at me and sighs “It looks like you could use a hug,” I just nod. He walks over to me and wraps his arms around me. I do the same. Surprisingly I fit perfectly against his chest. He’s almost a foot taller then I am so he rests his chin on the top of my head. I bury my face in his chest and breath in, he smells awesome. I don’t know how long we stood there like that but finally I pull away and look up at him. He’s smiling.

“Well this was an interesting first… Hang out.” He laughs, and I grin. I’ve wanted to “Hang out” with Brett for a long time. He’s a very cute boy but we don’t really travel in the same social circles so we don’t see much of each other.

I see headlights coming over a hill and realize I need to turn some lights on. I run to the driver’s door and flick the headlights on. The other car sees us and goes around on the other side then speeds off.

“Think anyone will stop to help us?” I ask.

“Prolly not, the car the windows are all foggy, we look like we’re up to no good.” Brett says pointing to the car. I laugh, he’s right. Then I sigh. I know what I have to do. I pull out my cell phone and call my dad. I’ll be so dead tomorrow.

“Who are you calling?” Brett asks as I press the speed dial.

“My dad,” I say flatly.

“What are you going to tell him?”

“The truth, it’s all I can do,” I say as the phone rings. I talk to my dad for only two minutes before he says he’s on his way.

“You in trouble?” Brett asks as we return to the car.

“Oh yeah I could hear my mom swearing in the back ground.” I say with a sigh. “Personally I’m not that worried about it. I’m just glad we’re not dead.” Brett just nods in agreement. I think about what if my dad can’t fix the car. We’ll probably loose our house because this car is the only way mom has of getting to work. I feel sick with worry. I look at Brett and he looks at me. That hug was so nice, and had made me feel so much better. I reach out and grab Brett’s hand. Shockingly he doesn’t pull away, he just knits his fingers with mine and we sit quietly.

I look away to hide my smile. No matter what this night wasn’t a total waste.