Walking Travesty

The next day I'm sitting at an awkward Sunday morning breakfast with my parents, (a tradition that they refuse to give up) when my phone buzzes.

Unknown Number:
Good morning beautiful :) How does a picnic sound?

I smile and save his number, then reply that a picnic sounds amazing. "Who are you texting?" my mom asks.
My head shoots up and I realize my parents are both staring at me. "Um, Emily," I lie.
My dad nods once, but my mom gives me a smile and a wink.

Alex:
Great. I'll supply the food and be at your house around eleven thirty. Sound good?

Me:
Yep. I'll see you then :)

I put my phone away and glance at the clock. Ten thirty. "I'm gonna go out with Em today."
My mom frowns. "Sunday's family day."
I roll my eyes and stand up, bringing my empty plate to the sink. "And by 'family day' you mean dad watches TV, you sleep and I do nothing."
"She's right," my dad points out.
My mom sighs. "Fine. Be safe."
"Nah, we're gonna go shoot up heroin and have hot, unprotected sex with strangers."
"I'm serious, Lina," she says with a frown.
I roll my eyes again and walk towards the stairs. "Fine, no heroin, no sex, no strangers," I promise as I walk up to my room.
I get dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and run a brush through my tangled hair until it's smooth. I put on a little eyeliner and, after some hesitation, lip gloss and perfume. I look at my reflection and sigh when I don't look any better than usual. His text pops back into my mind. Good morning beautiful . Me. Beautiful. I roll my eyes and spend the rest of the hour repainting my nails since I have nothing better to do.
At eleven twenty-five I go downstairs and wait by the door so he doesn't have another run in with one of my parents. He pulls up at Eleven thirty exactly.
I get into his car and he does this smile that makes my stomach flip a little. "Hey."
"Hi," I respond as I try to calm the stomach aerobics. "So where is this picnic?" I ask as he starts driving.
"It's a surprise."
I roll my eyes. "I hate surprises."
He laughs and grabs my hand in his, which does not help the calming of my stomach. "Hmm, that's too bad, isn't it?"
"You're a jerk."
"I know. Emily's passed out on my bed right now."
My eyebrows fly up. "What?"
He grins. "She and Jack apparently got into my parents liquor cabinet while I was gone, and then crashed on my bed. Naked."
I laugh. "Sorry. You should probably try to keep her away from alcohol, she turns into even more of a whore." I look around and realize I have no idea where we are. We're driving down a very old looking street with trees on either side. "Are you planning on taking me into the middle of the woods and sacrificing me to Satan?"
"Damn, you totally just ruined the surprise!" he says with a sigh.
I laugh and point to my t-shirt that has a cross on it. "Too bad, I'm protected."
He pulls into a small parking lot that seems to have turned up out of nowhere. "Fuck, now we're just going to have to have a lame picnic and hold off on the virgin sacrificing."
"Oh darn," I sigh.
We both laugh and get out of the car. He pulls a basket and blanket out of the backseat. "Do you like chicken salad?" he asks hopefully as he leads me towards a dirt path.
"I love it," I say as I grab his hand.
We come to a small clearing in the woods and he lays the checkered blanket out in the grass. We both sit down and he opens the basket. I raise my eyebrow at him when he pulls out a bottle of wine. He grins. "If my mom asks, Jack stole this."
I laugh and take the sandwich he hands me. "I'll tell her you were too busy attempting to get my shirt off so you could sacrifice me that you had no time to think about getting intoxicated."
"Genius!"
We eat our sandwiches and drink wine out of styrofoam cups in silence for a while. I look around the clearing and smile at how simply beautiful it all is. "How do you know about this?" I ask, motioning around.
He shrugs his shoulders and lays down on his side. "I've partied here a couple of times."
I nod once and look around some more. "I wonder how many drunk freshman have lost their virginities here."
He laughs and reaches over to play with the bracelets on my wrist. "Jack did."
I laugh and lay down next to him. "How nice."
He smiles and rolls over so his head is above mine. "So hypothetically if I were to ask you to be my girlfriend, would you say yes or no?"
My stomach starts flipping again. "It depends on how you asked me."
He bites his lip and his eyes lock with mine and I can hardly think straight because of how pretty they are. "Hypothetically, we're laying in a clearing and just finished a picnic and I kiss you and ask you to be my girlfriend. Would you say yes?"
I smile. "Maybe."
He laughs softly and kisses me. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
"Maybe."
He grins, then kisses me again. Both of our eyes close and he deepens the kiss, biting on my bottom lip until I open my mouth. His tongue slides across my lips before entering and pushing against my tongue. I moan softly and tangle my fingers in his hair. I ignore the small rock that's digging into my back underneath the blanket, and I ignore the fact that I'm making out with a guy I hardly knew existed a week ago. Because it feels nice. I mean, it's very rare that a cute guy doesn't think I'm psychotic and he actually really seems to like me for some crazy reason.