The Twists and Turns of Love

Part 2
3 months later

Sarah dipped her feet into the swimming pool and closed her eyes. The cold water felt so refreshing against her warm skin. She was about to go put on her bikini, when her phone rang. It was Brandon.

“Do you want to do something?”

“Sure. Did you have anything in mind?”

“You’ll see,” he replied mysteriously and hung up.

She abandoned the pool she longed to dive into and went up to her room. She wanted to wear something nice.

Looking into her closet, she realized that her tomboy days were well behind her. Sometimes she wished Eric could see her now, but she quickly took back that thought. He wasn’t a part of her life anymore.

She put on a flowery dress and looked into the mirror. She smiled, yet it seemed like she was missing something. Her best friend? Her normal life?

Even though she would have spent the summer there anyways, everything was different. Claire hadn’t come home for the summer. Something Sarah was really counting on. She wanted to apologize, but since she didn’t look like she was going to arrive anytime soon, Sarah put off that idea.

Brandon pulled up in his dad’s car and rang the doorbell. She took one last glance into the mirror and rushed down the stairs to answer the door.

“Well, you look nice,” he said as soon as she opened the door.

“Thank you. You’re looking pretty handsome yourself,” she said, smiling.

“I’m going to have to blindfold you later,” he said, pulling a piece of cloth from his pocket.

“Is this some sort of kindapping strategy?”

“Yeah. Kind of,” he replied, following her game.

“Well, are you going to kidnap me or what?”

“Okay, when I count to three I’m going to remove the blindfold,” Sarah heard Brandon say into her ear.

Walking blindfolded had been terrifying, but she had held on firmly to Brandon, which had calmed her a little. Not seeing anything really was a horrible thing and she was glad it was over.

“Start counting already!” Sarah said goodnaturedly, impatient to see what was in front of her.

“Okay, okay. One…two… three,” he said, and undid the knot on the cloth.

The bright sunlight hit Sarah’s face and she quickly covered her eyes with her arm.

“Are you trying to blind me?”

He just laughed and waited for her to see what it was.

As soon as she started regaining sight, Sarah was amazed. They were at a park with a wonderful lake. There was a picnic set up in front of them, complete with pink balloons and heart shaped cakes.

“Oh my goodness. This is…,” and, not finding the exact word, she rushed to hug him. “I can’t believe you remembered.”

“Well, our second monthaversary needed to be at least a little special.”

“This is more than a little special. It’s really nice. It’s one of the best things anyone’s ever done for me.”

He hugged her again.

“Well, I’m glad you liked it.”

He grabbed her hand and led her to the picnic.

“This looks straight out of a movie,” Sarah said, sitting down on the red plaid blanket.

They ate the delicious food Brandon had packed and then lay down on the blanket, looking at the sky.

“Look, that cloud looks like an elephant.”

“Hmm… I don’t see it. Looks more like a train.”
“A train? No way!” Sarah said, laughing.

They spent a while like that, just laying there, looking at clouds and laughing. After a while, with the sun warming them, they fell asleep.

Brandon woke up first. He hadn’t even noticed they had fallen asleep. The sun was setting and the sky was now a deep orange color. They should start heading home.

“Sarah,” he said, patting her to wake her up.

“Sarah,” he persisted, when she wouldn’t awake.

“Let me sleep, Eric,” she mumbled.

“Eric?”

Suddenly she shot up.

“No, I meant Brandon.”

“Well, you said Eric.”

“But I- I wasn’t thinking.”

“I thought you had honestly told me you were over him.”

“I am!”

“You’re either lying to me or to yourself.”

“No, Brandon…”

He started putting everything away.

Sarah couldn’t believe what was happening. Everything she had with Brandon was now destroyed because her subconscience had betrayed her.

“Brandon, please forgive me. I didn’t mean to say it.”

“I know you didn’t mean it, but you already said it.”

“Can’t we just go back to the way we were before?” Sarah pleaded as he hoisted everything into his car.

“I don’t think that’s going to be possible.”

As she heard those words, she knew he was right.

“I think I just need some time to think,” Brandon said, “ And what I think you need to do is sort your feelings out.”