"What were you doing? Mandy? What were you doing down there?" I slowly opened my eyes and saw Nick's blue eyes shining angrily at me.
"Drowning," I said slowly smirking.
"Oh, that's real funny. Go ahead and make jokes, see if I save your life again." I felt Nick's hands let go of my arms.
"I'm sorry Nick. I can't really remember. All I know is that when we jumped off of the diving board, you hit me in the face, then, I can't remember." I blinked my eyes and sat up. "Thank you Nick." I plunged forward and took Nick in my arms. "You saved my life, didn't you?" I asked pulling away.
"Yeah. But next time a tip would be nice." I laughed slightly, too stunned for much laughter.
"What happened Nick?"
"Well, after you didn't come up for a minute or two, I jumped in and grabbed you. But your hair was caught-"
"In the drain right?" I said cutting him off. "I remember that for some odd reason."
"Yeah, but it wasn't really caught. Not badly anyways. Just slightly tangled, small enough to release with a few tugs. But your okay now, don't worry." I silently thanked God that Nick had been there with me and saved me just in time.
"I don't think I wanna swim anymore Nick. Maybe tomorrow."
"Alright let's go inside and get warmed up. Are you okay?" I nodded my head, that was all I could do since I was on the verge of tears from the near death experience. "Come on." Nick and I both stood up and headed toward our towels to dry off. Nick took my towel and wrapped it around my shoulders.
"Thanks." I gave him a wide smile. "What about our clothes?" I asked pointing to the drenched shirts and pants.
"Just leave 'em, we can come back for them when they're dry. Let's go inside." I nodded and followed him into his empty air conditioned house.
"Where is everybody?" I asked with my teeth chattering.
"I think they went to my Grandmother's house."
"Why didn't you go?"
"Because it was your birthday and they knew I wanted to take you somewhere. It's not like I can't drive to her house by myself anyways."
"Oh."
"Come on. Let's go in my room and get a blanket or something." I nodded and followed him into his spotless room.
"Here, put these on." I caught a pair of jeans Nick threw at me and smiled.
"You expect me to wear these?"
"Yeah! It's cold! What else are you gonna wear?" I shrugged my shoulders and looked at the baggy pair of Nick's jeans. Oh well, I thought. I pulled them on overtop of my bikini bottom and laughed.
"I could fit another person in these pants!"
"I'll join you then." Nick pulled on his own pair of dry jeans also and came and grabbed me.
"Nick!" I shouted as he pushed me on his bed. "Very funny."
"Let's watch some tv," he said. I nodded and layed against the wall with the pillow supporting my back. I watched as Nick looked for the remote and finally flopped down next to me.
"It's cold," I mumbled tiredly. I felt Nick grab the blanket at our feet and pulled it overtop of us. "Thanks." I snuggled up next to it and finally realized how tired I was. Before I knew it, I was asleep on Nick's bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wake UP!" I felt Nick's pillow slap me across the head and I rolled over.
"5 more minutes, please."
"No Mandy, get up. You need to go home and get dressed," Nick said shaking the bed.
"Go home, that's not fair, the day's not over yet. Go home! Oh my goodness! My Dad's gonna kill me! What time is it?" I bolted forward in his bed and searched for his alarm clock.
"Calm down, it's only eight."
"Eight! It's dark out! I'm gonna get in trouble!" I stood up and tried to run my fingers through my wet hair. "Yuck!"
"Calm down Amanda, you're okay until midnight. You're Dad knows that. You told him, remember?"
"Oh yeah." I flopped down on Nick's bed, feeling like a complete idiot.
"Now go home and get dressed! Now! I'm kicking you out. Bye." I felt myself being ushered out of his room to the top of the stairs.
"Nick, why? What are we doing?"
"It's a surprise. Go home and get dressed into some dress clothes. Not too dressy, just comfortable dressy."
"Nick, why?" I raised my eyebrows in question.
"Because I said so, now do it. For me." Nick got down on his hands and knees and begged. "Please? Just do it without any questions, okay?"
"Fine."
"Good. Be back at nine. If you're ready early, call me. Okay?"
"Okay. Bye Nick." I exited Nick's house in confusion and wandered back to my house in Nick's jeans and my bikini top. If he wants his pants back, he's just gonna have to come and get them.
I entered my bedroom and hurried to take a shower and dry my hair. I wasn't trying to fix my hair when it was tangled from swimming all day. It needed a fresh wash.
Once I was done, I glanced in my closet for something to wear. I had every outfit imaginable, yet I couldn't find anything to wear. That's when I spotted my short sleeved black dress that reached above my knees. It had a sheer material over the cloth, that had a white ribbon attached to tie around my waist. I slipped it on, along with my black high heeled sandals and checked my outfit out in the mirror.
"Perfect," I said and headed to my bathroom to style my hair, apply my make-up, and put on perfume. I not only had to look perfect, but smell perfect as well. This was Nick we were talking about, the guy I was in love with.
I looked myself over one last time and left the house to walk to Nick's. It was a little before nine, and I wanted to take the time to think, which I loved doing.
I rang his doorbell and smiled when I saw Nick open the door. He was wearing khakis and a white shirt, which he looked incredible in. Guys in khakis equal a yes on my list, and on Nick, it equaled more.
"Ready?" he asked, closing the door behind him.
"Where are we going?" I asked again.
"You'll see." We headed to his parents' car he often used, and stood holding out my door for me. "Wait. Turn around." I did as he said and slowly felt something covering my eyes.
"Nick, is this necessary?"
"Ah, no questions young lady." I sighed and opened my eyes to pitch black. The mystery was killing me but I hoped it was well worth the wait.
Nick guided me safely into the passenger seat and he shut the door. I waited for him to enter and then began talking once we started heading to our destination.
"Nick, you know you're gonna get it."
"No, you are. But in a good way."
"You kill me Nick. You really do." I sighed and sat back and listened to the road slide under the car's tires. Pretty soon, I was off in a daze about getting my learners permit, and not realizing the car had finally come to a stop after ten minutes.
I heard Nick's door open and close and waited for him to come around to my door.
"Come on. Gimme your hands," Nick's sweet voice echoed in my ears. I did as he said and let Nick slowly lead me to where ever it was we were heading.
"Can I take off the blindfold now? Please Nick?"
"Not yet. One more minute. You can wait."
"No, I gotta pee," I said lying.
"Oh that's real lady like."
"I know, but it got your attention."
"You already had it Mandy." I didn't reply to his comment, I didn't know how. I just continued on in silence until we stopped. I listened to Nick's feet walk around to the front of my face.
"Alright, now if you don't like this, I'm sorry. But just in case you do, you're welcome. Now, on for the blindfold."
"Finally!" I fixed my hair after the blindfold was taken off and I looked up. I gasped.
"Nick...."
