Page 60 of Losing the Rhythm

Seth didn’t believe me and looked like he wanted to say something. He even opened his mouth, but then he closed it and shook his head.

“I can let him know to reschedule.”

“No, it’s fine,” I said. “It’ll be good to get some fresh air too.”

“Knowing Justin, you’ll definitely get that.”

“Think it’s a hike?”

“He wouldn’t torture you like that.” Seth looked thoughtfully. “Maybe.”

I groaned. I wasn’t much of a hiker. Anything physical was a weakness.

“You better get ready,” Seth warned. “Justin is one of the rare ones who actually shows up early to his appointments.”

“People do that?”

“Oh yeah.”

I refilled my drink and went back up to my room, getting ready as quickly as I could. After showering quickly and drying my hair, I was once again faced with the hard decision of what to wear. Unlike the others who gave semi clues, even if they were wrapped up in a riddle, I had nothing for Justin’s date.

I just had what I knew about Justin and the fact that it wasn’t even eight yet and he was going to be showing up soon. So morning activity for the friendate. Justin knew I wasn’t much of an athlete, so he wouldn’t do anything strenuous.

Finally, I settled on a light brown knitted sweater that looked like it was wrapped around my body, and paired it with light blue jeans and comfortable shoes. I even took some time to do my hair, making two French braids along the sides of my head, tying it at the base of my neck and letting the rest of my hair free. I thought it ended up looking pretty cute, and it’d keep my hair out of my face.

I thought I’d done well getting ready quickly, but Seth was right—Justin was early. The two of them were sitting in the living room, talking about something on the TV.

“What’s so interesting?” I asked.

“News,” Seth replied. “The usual news.”

“Ready?” Justin asked, standing up.

“Yeah. Hopefully I’m dressed to fit whatever we’re doing?”

Justin slowly looked me over. “You look perfect,” he said in a softer voice.

“Have fun. Be safe. Don’t do anything stupid,” Seth called out as we went outside.

“Paxon’s car?”

“He’s letting me borrow it.”

“What are we doing exactly?”

Justin smiled as he held the door open for me. “For a drive.”

“A long morning drive?” It kind of sounded relaxing.

“There’s a town a couple hours away that I discovered last year. I want to take you there. They have a nice park area next to a pond.”

“It sounds relaxing.”

“The fresh air will be good for you. There’s a lunch spot near there too that has really good sandwiches.”

The first part of the drive was quiet as I stared out the window and listened to the soft music played. I never felt the need to fill the space with words when I was with Justin. He made it easy for us to just sit there and not have to worry about trying to hold a conversation.

I got to focus on the passing scenery trying to figure out what town was this way that Justin discovered. We were heading further west, the mountains that had only been in the distance slowly wrapping around us.

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