Uncharted Territory

Reagan

I stood in front of my closet extremely frustrated. I had no clue what to wear on my date with Joel. We were supposed to go out last night but he had called on Thursday and said he had a better plan but it would take all day so we’d have to change our date to Saturday. That was fine with me. The problem though was the fact that he wouldn’t tell me what we were doing, therefore I had no clue what to wear.

“John Franklin Trotter, get in here!” I yelled at Kennedy, using his old name because I knew that would piss him of and he’d come to my room faster.

“Reagan, that’s not my name.” Kennedy grumbled as he walked in my room.

I smirked at him because I knew my plan had worked. “I know. I needed you to come up here though and I knew you’d be slow about it unless I pissed you off.”

Kennedy rolled his eyes at me. “So, what do you need?”

“I need to know where Joel is taking me on this date. I have no idea what to wear.”

“Sorry baby sis, I’m not allowed to tell you anything.”

“I can’t believe you’re going to just let some random guy take me some random place. I could end up in a field somewhere dead and it’d be all your fault.”

“First of all, Joel is not some random guy, I know him. Secondly, he’s not taking you some random place. Just because you don’t know where he’s taking you doesn’t mean I don’t. And finally, you really need to stop watching Criminal Minds.” Kennedy said as he looked at me as if I were crazy.

“Don’t judge. Criminal Minds is a good show.” I said and then smirked. “If you don’t want to tell me where Joel’s taking me so I can plan what to wear that’s fine. I’ll just wear the shortest skirt and tightest shirt I can find.”

Kennedy glared at me and said, “I’ll give you a hint but that’s it. Part of the date will be outside so dress at least a little warmly. I know it’s Arizona but since it’s late November it can get a little chilly here.”

“I guess that’ll do. Now leave so I can get ready.”

“When did you get so bossy?” Kennedy laughed and I threw a pillow at his head as he left my room.

I finished getting ready and headed downstairs.

“Do I look alright?” I asked Kennedy.

Kennedy looked at me and smiled. “No ass, no cleavage, and you look pretty. You look great Rae.”

I rolled my eyes but was glad he thought I looked good. I was incredibly nervous for this date.

“So have you talked to John lately?” Kennedy nervously asked.

“Yeah, he called me this morning and was talking about how I shouldn’t feel obligated to go out with Joel. He also said it’s perfectly fine if I don’t want a boyfriend and just want to focus on school instead. I don’t understand why he’s being so annoying. I don’t feel obligated to go out with Joel. I’m going out with him because I want to. I swear John is even more protective over me than you are.”

“Oh, ok.” Kennedy said but I could tell something else was bothering him.

“Why were you wondering if I had talked to John?”

“Uhh…no reason. I was just wondering how his and Grace’s date went last night. No big deal though.”

I felt my heart drop as Kennedy said this. “Oh, well he and Grace are officially a couple now.”

A look of hurt flash across Kennedy’s face but he quickly recovered. “Really? Well that’s great. Good for them.”

“Kenny, I…” I started but the doorbell rang.

“That’s probably Joel. Have fun on your date, Rae.”

I gave Kennedy one last look before I turned around and answered the door.

“Hi Reagan.” Joel smiled at me and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Hey Joel. So where are we going today?”

“You’ll find out later. You look good today. I mean you always look good but I really like that purple color with your hair. Well your hair always looks good but red and purple look good together. What I mean is…” Joel rambled on.

I decided to put the poor boy out of his misery and grabbed his hand as I said, “Joel, it’s ok. You don’t have to be nervous. I really like you.”

Joel grinned and said, “Really? Well that’s great because I really like you too.”
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“I can’t believe you brought me here. I didn’t even know they had a place like this.” I exclaimed as Joel opened my car door for me. I’d liked Joel before but his chivalrous actions were definitely giving him bonus points.

“My parents brought me here a few years back and I loved it. It’s just a really cool place.” Joel said.

I smiled as Joel grabbed my hand and we began walking towards the restaurant. This wasn’t just any restaurant though. This restaurant was situated right next to the edge of the Grand Canyon meaning you had spectacular views while eating.

“The only time I’ve been to the Grand Canyon was when I was five. I loved it though. This was definitely worth the drive.” I said.

“Kennedy told me that you loved the Grand Canyon. He also said that when you guys came here with your family you cried when you had to leave.”

“Hey, I was five. Plus I don’t think I was crying because we had to leave. I was crying because Kennedy and Brock, my younger brother, told me that they were going to take my teddy bear and throw him over the edge. They were evil brothers.”

Joel laughed and said, “Sounds like it.”

“Don’t laugh. They were so mean, I promise. You know what else they did? They took a sharpie and gave all my Barbies tattoos.”

“I’m sorry you have such awful brothers. I’ll go out and buy you new Barbies if you want.”

“Yes, please.” I said and Joel laughed again as the hostess led us back to our table.

The whole afternoon had been like this. After Joel and I both got over our initial nervousness we just talked and laughed. Even though the ride to the restaurant was a couple hours I didn’t notice it because I was having so much fun with Joel.

Joel and I continued talking throughout dinner. Afterwards we decided to go outside and get even closer to the canyon.

“Let’s take a picture.” Joel said.

He looked around and saw an old couple standing nearby and asked them to take the picture for us.

The old lady took the picture and then smiled as she handed the camera back to us. “Your children are going to have lovely hair.”

Joel and I said thanks but then started laughing as soon as the old couple walked away.

“Wow, the first date and people are already talking about our children.” I joked.

“We might as well get married now.” Joel said.

“Yeah, good luck telling Kennedy that.”

“Never mind.” Joel quickly said as I laughed.

After that we decided we should probably start heading back to Tempe. We arrived back at my house and Joel walked me up to the front door after once again opening the car door for me.

“I had a great time today. It was even better than I first time I visited the Grand Canyon. Thanks.” I smiled.

“I’m sure it helped that I didn’t threaten to throw your teddy bear off the edge.” Joel joked.

I laughed. “Yeah, that definitely helped.”

“So, would you want to possibly go out again?” Joel asked hopefully.

“I would love to.”

“Great, well see you later.” Joel said as he turned to walk away.

I was a little disappointed that he hadn’t kissed me goodnight but I shrugged it off. I was getting ready to open the door when I heard Joel walk back up.

“Reagan, wait.”

I turned around and gave him a questioning look. He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss.

“Sorry, I forgot that. Actually I was too nervous but I decided I should go for it. Anyway, I’ll see you later.” Joel said before making his way back to his car once again.

I started to open the front door again but with a smile on my face this time.