Until Mike pulled up in front of my apartment at exactly 8:03, I was fully convinced that the entire day had been a dream. I hadn't bothered to get very dressed up, since we would be romping around in the sand, and as soon as I saw his car I started to regret it. Would he think that I looked bummy? I debated for a second, then decided that it was too late to change, grabbed my phone, and rushed outside. When he saw me, he got out of the car and walked around to open the door for me.

"You're looking very nice tonight." he said before he shut the door behind me. I rolled my eyes- he had to have been joking- but smiled nonetheless.

"So who else is going to be at this bonfire?" I asked as he got in the car.

"My brother and a few of our friends." he said simply. "It's nothing big."

I nodded and stared out the window as he drove. When the car stopped ten minutes later, he walked around to open the door for me again before I could even get my seat belt off. I almost had to pinch myself to convince myself that all of it was really happening; it was too much like walking into a fairy tale. There was a group of kids, roasting marshmallows and laughing and looking like they were having the time of their lives. I wasn't sure how I would fit into all that.

Confident as ever, Mike strolled over to the group, leaving me trailing slowly behind him. As we stepped close enough to feel the warmth of the fire, every eye turned towards me.

"This is Adalia." Mike said, poking me in the side. He definitely seemed to have some personal space issues.

As he went around the circle and introduced everyone, they waved and smiled up at me, while I stood at Mike's side. It wasn't until Mike sat and motioned for me to follow that I even moved.

"Have a marshmallow." Mike said, using one hand to pass me the bag and the other to shove a handful into his mouth.

"Fuck, Mike! They're already jumbo sized," called a little brown-haired boy that he had introduced as Vic. "Do you really need that many?"

"Yes Victor, I do," Mike said, rolling his eyes at him. Turning to me, he added, "Vic thinks that because he's my older brother, he can tell me what to do. I kinda just ignore him."

The rest of the group laughed and Vic shook his head and fed the blonde girl on his right another marshmallow. Feeling like the moment was too personal, I turned towards Mike and watched as he lit up a cigarette.

"Those are so bad for you," I mumbled, unable to think of anything else to say, but feeling the urge to say something.

He shrugged and said, "Have you ever tried it?"

I shook my head and he offered it to me.

"Really? I just said how bad they are, and you want me to put one in my mouth and [i]smoke it[/i]?" I said. Still, the curiosity was there. Those smokers always did look edgy, when you overlooked the tar and lung cancer.

"What can I say? Misery loves company."

Only a little hesitantly, I accepted the cigarette, and with his eyes burning into me, raised it to my lips to take a pull. Almost immediately, I felt the urge to cough and nearly started choking.

"You didn't breathe it in right." Mike said as he patted me on the back and offered me a bottle of water. "Just pull it into your mouth, wait a second, then breathe it into your lungs."

As I sipped at my water, he gave me a little demonstration; first, he sucked a little smoke into his mouth, then he pulled the cigarette away and opened his mouth a bit to show me that the smoke was still there, before he sucked it back up into his lungs. When he finally breathed it out, he leaned close and blew it directly into my face. I made a disgusted face and leaned away.

"Wanna try again?" he asked, a few wisps of smoke still trailing out with his breath.

This time, I didn't hesitate as I took the cigarette. I was, if anything, very persistent. When I took a drag, I did just as he did and waited a second before sucking the smoke back in, then exhaled it slowly. As I did, Mike clapped and cheered loudly, shouting 'She did it!'

"Great, now you've gotten her addicted to cigarettes." Vic said, giving his brother a hard look.

"Doesn't mean she's addicted." Mike said, unable to wipe the grin off of his face. It was true, in theory, but now I really did want to take another puff.

As Vic turned back to his friends, Mike stood up and motioned for me to follow him. We walked closer to the beach, until I could feel the waves lapping up against my feet. It was funny, as many times as I had been to the beach, even to that beach, and as many times as I would go in the future, none of them could ever come close to that one night with Mike.

"Want it?" he asked offering me the cigarette again. I nodded and accepted it with only a very slightly sheepish look. As I took a drag, we stared at each other, the moment stretching out for what seemed like an eternity.

"This is weird." I said, studying the cherry of the cigarette as if it were really more interesting than him.

"I know." he said with a grin as he plucked the cigarette from between my fingers. "I just barely met you, and this is supposed to be romantic, right? And I don't even know if you want to be romantic with me, so I can't take it upon myself to just do it."

He seemed to realize that he was rambling at that moment and closed his mouth tightly. I could feel my face heating up as I thought of all the times that I had watched him since middle school, and I hoped that it was too dark for him to see it.

"Do you wanna get out of here?" he asked suddenly. "We can go get something real to eat."

I nodded and jumped up, without giving it a second thought.

---

"You're awfully quiet." Mike said before he shoved a large bite of waffle into his mouth. "Something bugging you?"

I shook my head and finally looked up at him. "I'm just thinking," I said, forcing a small smile.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, nudging me gently with his foot.

If I was being honest, my answer would have been him. I couldn't get my mind around the reality that I was sitting in a Waffle House with him at 10 o'clock at night, having a completely normal time under completely abnormal circumstances. But of course, you would never hear any of that coming out of my mouth.

"Just... school and stuff." I said finally. I wasn't sure if he was buying it, but he left the subject alone and let us fall back into silence.

After what seemed like an eternity, when we had both finished our food and I was staring at the empty plate, he nudged me again and said, "Should I get you back home? Did your parents give you a curfew?"

I shook my head and said, "No parents to give me a curfew."

I realized that my phrasing was entirely wrong when he frowned and said, "I'm so sorry."

With a laugh, I quickly said, "Don't be. They didn't die, I just got emancipated."

His face relaxed and he laughed. "You scared me for a second."

As he grew quiet, our eyes locked onto each other and we stared, like I was for some reason unable to look away. After a minute or two, he stood up and said, "Yeah, it's probably time to get you home."

The entire ride back to my apartment, those words played over in my head. Was he trying to be a gentleman, or did he just get tired of me? I sighed to myself and curled up against the door, resting my head on the window.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow." he said, giving me a smile as he stopped outside my apartment.

"Yeah, see ya'," I said, giving him a small smile. I knew I was probably looking too much into it, but that one sentence was like a promise, and it gave me a little spark of hope.

Notes

Adalia's Outfit

Finally, another chapter! Drop me some comments and let me know what you think!