Okay, long chapter. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, Idk...
It had been a few days since my last flashback, and I was starting to feel a little better. It was Friday, and I had just gotten home from school. As soon as I walked through the door, my cell phone began to ring.
“Hello?”
“Hey, lemon,” Teddy’s voice came from the other end. It was so good to hear from him.
“Why, hello my dear friend,” I replied with a funny accent.
“I was wondering if you want to hang out with me tonight,” he said. He sounded a little nervous.
“Sure, sounds like fun,” I accepted.
“Great! I’ll pick you up at your house around six!”
“It’s a date!” I blushed, and I wasn’t sure why. “I mean plan…it’s a plan,” I shook my head. “So what will we be doing on this fine evening?”
“It’s a surprise,” I could almost hear him smiling through the phone.
“The suspense is killing me!” I laughed. “See you at six, Teddy.”
“Yeah, toodles,” he giggled.
“Bye.”
Almost as soon as I hung up, my phone started ringing again. I am going to be paying for this at the end of the month, I reminded myself.
“Um, hello?”
“Hey, hot stuff. Are you busy tonight?” Katrina’s voice questioned.
“Hey, Katrina.”
“Danielle too! You’re on speaker phone,” Danielle’s voice rang. I really didn’t want to tell her that I couldn’t hang out with her because I was hanging out with her cousin, who I told her I thought was a total geek.
“Hi, guys. Yeah I am busy tonight, actually.” I squirmed in my seated position on the couch.
“With what?” they questioned in unison. “You haven’t been busy for like, ever,” Katrina added. Thanks Katrina.
“You know, stuff,” I replied, trying to be as vague as possible.
“Um, like what kind of ‘stuff?’” Danielle pressed.
“Well, I was going to-” I paused, debating whether I should tell them or not. Why was this so hard for me? “I was going to…to hang out with Teddy later.”
“Teddy? As in Teddy Geiger? Danielle’s dork of a cousin?” Katrina was sounding dumbfounded.
“He’s not a dork, he’s pretty cool,” I defended.
Danielle laughed, “Yeah, he is okay. Well you have fun ‘hanging out’ with Teddy.”
“I will,” I retaliated. “Hey, I’ve got to go now. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
“See ya!”
Well that was strange, I thought to myself. I went upstairs and tried to pick out what to wear. I decided on a cute pair of jeans and a very feminine deep plum sweater. Perfect.
I jumped in the shower and finished getting ready. I let my hair curl up today, and I ended up being pleased with the way it looked.
I went downstairs and saw my mother in the kitchen, cooking something. It smelled delicious. It was my favorite, roast beef.
“Hey, honey, I made a roast for dinner.” She smiled at me.
“Actually, I’m going out,” I looked up at her. More surprise.
“Oh! With who?”
“One of Danielle’s cousins.” She grinned. “Mother, it is not a date.”
“Mmhhmm,” I gave her a look. “Well at least you’re socializing. You have fun, okay? What time are you leaving?”
I looked at my watch, “Any minute now.”
Sure enough, five minutes later, the doorbell rang. I ran to the door, grabbed my coat and answered it.
“Hey Teddy,” I smiled.
“Hey,” he greeted me. I don’t know how, but his eyes were especially blue tonight.
“So what are we doing?”
“Well, first I’m going to explain to you the definition of surprise,” he laughed, “Then I’m going to give you an example of one.” Clever, I must say.
“Okay, then lets go.”
While he drove, I kept stealing glances at him, and I got the feeling he was committing the same crime. I felt so comfortable with him.
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?” I smiled.
“Don’t make me turn this car around,” he joked. Five more minutes and I got my answer. “We’re here!” He said in a singsong voice.
“Where exactly is here?” I laughed.
“One word . Ice. Cream.
“Newsflash, Geiger, that’s two words,” I giggled. “And how did you know that I absolutely love ice cream?” I wondered.
He looked down, “Well I asked Danielle what you loved, and the first thing she said was music and the second thing she said was ice cream. I know it’s wicked cold outside, and-”
“Teddy-” I held up my hand. “It’s perfect.” I gazed at him and smiled. He held my gaze and returned my smile. I looked away, “So tell me, how did you get an ice cream place to open for us?”
“There are some perks to having your father’s best friend’s son being the owner of an ice cream shop, you know,” he winked.
“Oh, so you’ve got connections now, huh?”
“You bet. Come on let’s get inside."
I had never been inside the back of an ice cream place before, never mind a completely empty ice cream place. It was really cool. Teddy must have come earlier, because there was some ice cream in the fridge. I took off my coat and watched Teddy pull something out of his coat.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“Well…” he showed me three bags of candy he had somehow stuffed into his pockets. “You can’t have ice cream sundaes without the works.”
“Definitely!” I said. Teddy was being extremely sweet.
We sat there, scooping every single flavor of ice cream that was there into these huge bowls. Then we went crazy with all of the candy that he brought. I stepped back and looked at my creation.
“Delicious,” I commented. We sat there and ate our ice cream while we talked.
“So, how come your friends are always saying we’re anti-social? I mean, maybe I am, but you are perfectly friendly.”
I hesitated, and Teddy looked at me. “Is there something about you that you're keeping from them?” He stared at me with those blue, blue eyes and I felt like he was reading my mind.
I felt more comfortable with Teddy than anyone else, and I felt like I could tell him anything. I took a deep breath. “Teddy, I haven’t told any of my friends this, but I’ve been having flashbacks of an accident that happened when I was thirteen. We were in the car, and…there was a drive by shooting. At me and my father.” I looked up into his face, my eyes glistening over with tears. “My father, he…he was shot. And…he fell into a coma and died a couple months later. I was over it and fine until my uncle got into a…situation. Then I began having these flashbacks. I can’t control them, Teddy.” Tears were beginning slide down my cheeks. “I miss short periods of my life. Every night, I fall asleep and get nightmares. I’m so scared sometimes.” I was crying now, full on.
“Hey, don’t cry,” Teddy said softly. He pulled me into a hug and we sat there together for what seemed like forever.
I had stop crying, and I looked up into his eyes. “Thanks for being here for me. I mean, I know we never used to hangout that much, but thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he smiled softly. “Now, I say we should probably clean some of this stuff up. The ice cream has attained some serious meltage.”
I let out a small laugh. “Ok, good idea.”
Teddy looked at his watch. “It’s only eight. Do you want to come back to my place and watch a movie?” He looked hopeful, and I really wanted to spend more time with him.
“I would love that. Ice cream and movies all in one night. I am one lucky girl.”
“I am one lucky guy.”
We headed to his house and watched Donnie Darko, which was a very confusing movie. I sat there cuddled against him. When the movie was over he offered to drive me home.
“So, despite the major meltdown on my part, I had a really great time tonight,” I said as we stood on my doorstep.
“I did too,” Teddy agreed.
“We should do it again,” I offered.
“Yeah, that would be cool. In fact, there’s this coffee house downtown that’s having an open mic night. We should go. The whole gang can come too.”
“Sounds like a really cool idea. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“I’ll be waiting,” he smiled. He moved in and embraced me in a hug. I pulled back, and our faces were almost touching. We stood there for a second or so, and just when I thought he was about to kiss me, I broke away.
“So…um…I’ll talk to you later…” I stuttered.
“Okay…bye,” he said, giving me one last, longing look before he went out to his car.
“Bye, Teddy,” I whispered under my breath.
haha
haha 
