The Speed of Sound

“Okay.” Chance said pulling over. “This is where I have to blindfold you.”

“What?” I said.

“I told you, it’s a surprise. You can’t know where we’re going until we get there.” He said. “Put this on.”

“Oh my god.” I said. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

He put down the top of his car and rested his hand on my thigh. “You’re crazy you know that, and I already have too much trust in you.” I said.

“There’s no such thing as having too much trust for someone.” He said, stopping the car. “Alright, I’m gonna run over to the over side and scoop you up okay. No peeking.”

“I’m really getting tired of you carrying me places.” I said.

“What are you talking about,” He said after opening the passenger side door. “You love it.”

“Where are you taking me!” I demanded.

“You’ll see.” He said. “We’re almost there.”

I felt my feet touch the ground and stood up, it was like we were standing on carpeted sand. “You can take it off now.” He said.

I pulled off the blindfold and was immediately astonished. We were standing on a blanket, in the middle of the beach. There were soft throw pillows on the blanket and the whole thing was surrounded by candles There was a basket just outside the ring of candles. He helped my sit down and grabbed the basket.

“I brought food and stuff.” He said, sitting down next to me.

“I can’t even tell you how beautiful this is. Oh my god. How did you keep all of these candles lit through the drive, how did you even set this all up?” I asked.

“Throught magic.” He said smiling at me.

“Of course.” I said. He handed me a bottle of water and a tupperware bowl.

“I figured, since we got burgers this morning, we could have a salad tonight.” He said. “Well, that and I can make a pretty kick ass salad.”

“You made this?” I asked.

“Yeah, my mom was a chef. She taught me everything I know.” He said.

“I’m sorry...Was?” I asked.

He looked at me as if he’d spoken too much, but then smiled. “She retired, now she works in accounting.” He said, almost if it were rehearsed. I was reading too much into him. I needed to stop, but I was just overcome with questions.

"This morning, when we were talking. You said that you've always wanted to talk to me, but you couldn't." I said. "Why couldn't you?"

"I just, had a lot of stuff going on, I've done several sports and I couldn't try to date you if I couldn't give you my full attention, whenever you need it." He stated. "Last year, I got injured, from basketball, but it never healed the right way so, I'm not doing any sports this season so. What better time than now?"

"Of course," I teased. "Wait until I'm crippled to take me in a date."

He laughed, moving a little closer to me. "There's never a better time, I mean, look at you. Long, wavy brown hair. Deep, beautiful hazel eyes." He was practically leaning over me now, lifting a hand and running it smoothly across my neck. "Soft, golden brown skin."

I could see goosebumps on his skin. He smiled at me, his voice humming in my ear. "You're perfect." He said.

I let out a small breath. The sun was setting and the candles around us started to illuminate the small area around us. I was leaning back on my elbows, using the pillows for support. He hovered over me, I could feel his warm breathing on my neck, sending chills down my spine.

"Kiss me." I whispered under the crash of the ocean waves a few yards away from us.

He moved my legs apart and rested between them, being cautious of my cast. He smiled at me, making me long for his lips even more. He leaned into me, his lips barely brushing against mine. He pulled back slightly.

"Okay." He whispered before he pressed his lips to mine. There was an explosive shock in my brain, that stopped all time and space. His hand on my neck tightened, deepening our kiss, his other hand pulled my left leg up.

My body trembled, and I could feel his heart beating hard against his rib cage. I couldn't resist him. There was just something about him, that made me want him. I pulled him closer to me, if we were any closer our bodies may have just morphed together. I reached my hand downward, fumbling with his pants fly.

“Autumn, hey.” He said, grabbing my hand. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.” I said.

“No, you don’t. We’ve only know each other for so long and-”

“Great.” I said, pulling myself up. “You probably think I’m like this huge slut.”

“Autumn, no, I just-”

“I’m gonna go.” I said trying to push myself up.

“No, Autumn. Stay.” He said grabbing my hand. “I don’t want you to leave. Why don’t we just talk?”

He pulled me back down and held me in his arms. “It’ll be beautiful, when we do. I promise. Better than this, better than anything you could ever imagine. Believe me.” He kissed my forehead, melting my heart once more.

“It might be too soon to tell. We’ll it’s definitely too soon to tell but, I’m falling for you Chance.” I blurted out.

“Are you sure? We don’t know much about each other, and to be completely honest I come with a lot of baggage.” He said.

“I’m sure. There’s just something about you that I haven’t felt before, ever. I want to know so much more about you and it just seems like they will never be a time when I know every last detail about you.” I said.

“Pretty soon, Autumn,” He said, turning to me, with a scarily serious face. “Stuff is going to start happening, and you’re going to be forced to make a really, really, really difficult choice, but Autumn, if you mean what you just said to me, I mean if you really mean it you’ll make the right choice.”

I looked at him confused. I could see the pain in his expression. It was almost like a thousand years of heartbreak crammed into one glance. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not supposed to be telling you this, but this next few weeks are going to be bigger than you, bigger than this entire race of people. You strong, okay. I need you to know that you’re so, so strong and nothing bad is going to happen, just follow your heart.” He said.

“Look, I know finals are right around the corner but I have a pretty decent grade in most of my classes so I think I can pull through.” I said, extremely confused.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "No. It's much more than that. Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have said anything."

"Is there something you want to tell me?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

He shook his head. "No."