Love Lasts Read online

  Dane shakes his head at me but smiles lightly. His dimples show, and I stare at them instead of his eyes.

  “You’re something else. Come on. I want to show you another place,” he says, taking my hand. I smile to myself, looking down at our feet, as we walk. Even his hand in mine feels right.

  We take the elevator back down and walk quickly back to where the car is parked. I have to take long steps in order to keep up with his long legs, and our pace makes the wind feel even colder against my cheeks.

  We make it to his car and get inside, and Dane turns the heat up on high.

  My body shivers. I rub my hands together in front of the air vent and try to stop my teeth from chattering so loudly.

  Dane drives for a few minutes through downtown until we reach a parking lot near the Indianapolis Canal, and we get out into the cold once again. Silence stands between us, but since the sound of cars fills the streets nearby, it doesn't feel awkward. We walk hand in hand to a large grassy area with a concrete slab on one side and stop.

  “I saw a concert here once,” Dane says. He stares at the space like he can still see the crowd and the band instead of a bunch of grass. I watch his face until he finally faces me again and lets go of my hand. He pulls out his phone, and I narrow my eyes at him.

  “What are you doing?” I ask. I stand on my tiptoes to try and see his phone screen, but he shifts away from me and lifts his phone higher, smiling mischievously. I cross my arms across my chest.

  “Just wait and see,” he says, typing away on his phone.

  I tap my foot impatiently and look around us. The sky is getting darker, and the cold is becoming overwhelming. No one else is around, but a few ducks wander down the sidewalk a couple yards away.

  Finally, a song starts playing from Dane’s phone, and he places it in his back pocket.

  “This is the right song. Right?” Dane asks, and I tilt my head. Then, I recognize the beginning instrumentals of “All I Want” and smile. I nod, and Dane takes a step towards me. He offers one of his hands to me, so I take it. His other hand lands on my hip, so I place mine on his shoulder.

  “I want to teach you how to waltz.”

  My eyes widen, but Dane quickly says, “Don’t worry. It’s really easy. Just follow my steps.”

  He takes a step back with his left foot, so I take a step forward with my right foot. We step back and forth a few times, but then I accidentally step on his foot.

  “Ope. Sorry,” I say, and we stop moving.

  “It’s okay. Try again,” Dane says and smiles at me.

  I stare down at our feet, and they move slowly in harmony. The chorus of “All I Want” starts, and my eyes well up with tears. I keep looking down and blink fast so he won’t be able to see me getting emotional.

  This doesn’t feel real. It feels like a dream, and I’m not sure I ever want to wake up. No one has ever been this sweet to me before, and I’m not sure how to handle it. My thoughts run around and around, and Dane and I dance around for another three minutes until the song slowly ends.

  I wrap my arms around Dane, and he wraps his tightly around me too. After a minute, he leans back and tilts my head up by my chin, giving me a soft kiss that I can barely feel. I almost feel like bawling right in front of him, but I hold it in.

  “Thank you,” I say quietly. Dane doesn't say anything, but he doesn't have to. There are no words to describe how perfect this moment is.

  When I start to shiver, Dane grabs my hand and leads me back to his car. We hold hands the entire car ride home, and Dane keeps the music on the radio turned on low. This atmosphere and my emotions make me want to fall asleep, but I stay awake because every now and then, Dane squeezes my hand. And to tell him I’m still awake, I squeeze his hand back. It’s the little things.

  When we pull up to my house this time, no one is visible through open curtains, but I can see a lot of lights are on.

  “Hey, I had a great time with you tonight,” Dane says. I face him and lean my head against the headrest.

  “It was amazing.”

  Dane leans forward, so I do too. We meet in the middle and kiss for a while until I start to smile and giggle.

  “I’ll text you later,” Dane says. I nod.

  “Drive safe,” I say. I open the car door and close it behind me, waving through the window and smiling like an idiot. Then, I walk through the damp grass and find the front door already unlocked.

  When I step inside, my parents are watching a show in the living room, but Mom pauses it when she sees me.

  “Hey, how was your night?” She asks.

  “Really good.”

  “Did you eat?”

  “Yeah, we had pizza. I’m really tired, though, so I’m gonna go to bed,” I say, sliding my shoes off. I throw them into the chest by the door and step towards the stairs.

  “Okay, well then I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Goodnight. Love you,” Mom says.

  “Goodnight,” Dad says to me.

  “Goodnight. Love you too,” I say and smile.

  I walk upstairs and find that Jessica is awake, doing something on her computer, and she waves at me when I come in. I wave back and go to the bathroom to change into pajamas. Then, I come back out and crawl into bed. Pulling out my phone, I find a message from Dane.

  Sleep well, Penelope. Sweet dreams.

  The next day, I’m forced to wake up early to go to work. My thoughts drift to last night, and happiness and excitement fill me every time I think about Dane. So far, nothing about him triggers me to believe that he’s a bad person or that he could end up hurting me. But also, it all feels too good to be true.

  I drive to work by myself because Kevin doesn’t work until the evening, and silence hangs heavy in my car. Although Kevin and I have the same car, he bought an upgraded stereo in order to use an aux cord. All I have is the radio, and today, I’m not in the mood to listen to anything. My thoughts hold enough space already.

  When I pull into the movie theater parking lot, two other cars are already parked on the side, so my managers must be here. I rub my eyes, which are heavy with sleep, and head inside to get everything ready for my shift.

  Both Amanda and Cindy work with me behind concession, and they’re quick to ask questions about how my first date went.

  “It was amazing, but we’ve actually already gone on two other dates‒yesterday and the day before,” I tell them. They raise their eyebrows at me with surprise.

  “So are you guys already dating? Or what’s the deal?” Cindy asks. A customer walks up to the counter with an empty tub of popcorn, and when Cindy and Amanda both ignore him, I walk over to give him a refill.

  “He asked me to be his girlfriend on Friday,” I tell them after the customer walks away. Cindy’s jaw drops, but then they both smile.

  “What? That’s crazy!” Amanda says.

  “So he’s your boyfriend now! Oh my gosh. Is he your first boyfriend?” Cindy asks. I nod slowly.

  “Yep, pretty much,” I say. Cindy looks shocked, and then Amanda turns towards me quickly.

  “Have you had your first kiss?” She asks. My face warms up, but I smile and nod.

  “With him?” Cindy asks. I nod again. Cindy and Amanda make screeching noises, and I cover my hands with my face. I peak at them through my fingers and then drop my hands.

  “I know. It’s crazy,” I admit, shaking my head, “I still can’t believe it all happened so quickly. I literally never thought this would happen for me or at least, not until college. But now, it’s happening so fast. He already met my dad.”

  Another customer comes running towards the counter, and this time, she’s a little girl. She shoves the empty popcorn tub onto the counter without saying anything, and Amanda walks over to fill it for her. The little girl surprisingly says, “Thank you,” and runs back to where her mom is standing by the bathroom.

  “Have you met his parents?” Cindy asks.

  “No, not yet. I’m terrified of doing that. They’re Christians, so I feel like
they probably have high expectations of me,” I say.

  “Hey, I’m a Christian‒” Cindy starts to say.

  “Me too,” Amanda says.

  “Yeah, and you don’t have to be any certain way. You’re pretty fantastic, so just be yourself when you meet them. And they’ll love you,” Cindy says and smiles. I smile back.

  “Thanks.”

  I guide the conversation away from my dates with Dane so that I don’t have to give away too many of the details. And thankfully, they don’t ask any more questions. Although I’m not afraid to tell people that Dane is my boyfriend, it’s still weird to me. I’ve never had to do this before, so I need to take it slow.

  We end up having a slow flow of customers for the rest of our shift, and I get to go home about an hour early.

  ✦✦✦

  Mr. Hoss’ class is the easiest for me to tune out because I hate physics. If I cared a little bit more about the material, I may not tune him out so much, but there’s nothing more boring than this. I mean, the application of physics is cool, but the details and formulas of it are the farthest things from cool.

  Today, I’ve heard mumblings about circuits. I’m not really sure. The only thing on my mind is Dane.

  He’s supposed to be picking me up after school today to take me to a coffee shop in Greenwood. I’ve never been to it before, but truthfully, I haven’t been to a lot of places. I can already tell that Dane will be introducing me to a lot of new things, and I’m so excited about that.

  “Penelope!” Mr. Hoss says loudly. I look up at him with wide eyes, and I realize a lot of people are looking at me. He must’ve already said my name a few times by now.

  “Sorry, can you repeat the question?” I ask. I begin tapping my foot up and down. This is a new one for me‒to be so lost and distracted that I don’t even hear him calling my name. Mr. Hoss stares at me with a blank face and narrowed eyes, but he repeats the question, pointing to the front board. I read over everything he’s written on the board so far, trying to make sense of the symbols. I look down at my notes and then give my best guess.

  “That is… correct,” Mr. Hoss says, tilting his head at the board. He writes down the answer I gave, and everyone finally stops staring at me. Mr. Hoss looks straight at me once again, though, and says, “Everyone make sure you’re paying attention. This is very important.” He raises his eyebrows at me and then turns back around to finish explaining the problem to everyone else.

  I shake my head to myself and look back down at my notes. Maybe I should start paying better attention. I can’t let my academics slack because of some boy.

  The rest of the day, I try my hardest to actually pay attention. I keep my phone in my purse, even though lately, I’ve been sneaking it out to text Dane.

  When I get through my last class, I finally pull it out and find a few messages from Dane. I text him back, as I’m walking through the halls and manage to avoid knocking into anyone while my eyes are glued to my phone. Then, I grab my things from my locker and hurry outside to Kevin’s car.

  Dane pulls up to my house only a few minutes after Kevin does, so I ask Kevin to take my backpack inside and to tell Mom and Dad hat I’m going out to get coffee with Dane if they ask. He obliges, so I run over to Dane’s car with a huge smile on my face.

  When I get in, Dane watches my brothers walk in the front door. Only when they close the door does he face me and lean over to kiss me. It’s heavy and pushes me back a little. Dane leans back, and I raise my eyebrows.

  “Well, that was unexpected,” I say. Dane smiles and starts to drive away from my house.

  “I’ve been waiting to do that for two days,” Dane says. I smile at him and reach to hold his hand. It’s rough and warm in my hand, but it fits with mine almost perfectly. I’ll never get tired of this.

  When we pull up to the coffee shop, the sign out front says it’s called Strange Brew. I think I’ve heard of it before, but I’ve never been here myself. Dane leads me inside, and the instant aroma of coffee beans fills my nose. The walls are littered with art for sale, and the floor is covered in an array of furniture. Couches, wood chairs, small circular tables, and long rectangle tables all fill the space, and two huge fish tanks sit in the middle of the room, filled with different kinds of fish. The shop feels homey, and it brings a smile to my face.

  Dane orders a mango fruit smoothie, and I order a peppermint mocha from the short list of drinks. Then, we sit on an empty couch and wait for the barista to bring our drinks to us as we were instructed.

  I can’t think of anything to talk about, so I look around the walls at all the different kinds of art. Paintings of anime characters cover a large portion of the wall behind my head. To the left of the paintings are canvases cut into the shapes of different states, and on the far right side are smaller drawings of different breeds of dogs. The dogs look like they could jump straight off the page into real life. I’m impressed, and I almost want to buy one.

  The barista brings our drinks, and we sit in silence for a while longer, drinking them. Dane tries mine, and I try his, even though the slight germaphobe inside me tells me not to. I figure if we can make out, then we can share drinks. Finally, Dane breaks the silence.

  “Do you have a lot of homework to do tonight?” He asks. I try to imagine everything I wrote down in my agenda book today, but I can’t think of much.

  “No, I don’t think so. Mondays are usually the easiest with homework. How about you?” I ask.

  “I don’t even know. I might have an English paper due tomorrow,” Dane says with a laugh. I tilt my head at him.

  “Have you started it?” I ask.

  “No…”

  “What! You’ve gotta get home and write that thing!” I say with a smile on my face. He waves me off.

  “Nah, it’s okay. I’ll get it done,” Dane assures me.

  “Well, if you need anyone to look it over, I’m your gal.” Dane looks at me strangely.

  “Thanks, but that would be weird. Plus, I don’t want you to think I’m stupid or to read my bad writing.”

  “I don’t think you’re stupid. Sorry, that’s not what I meant. It’s okay if you don’t want my help, but I just thought I would offer,” I say nervously.

  “It’s okay,” Dane says with a sweet smile. I try not to worry that I offended him and take a long sip of my coffee.

  “So, have you had any more run-ins with Luke?” Dane asks, and I shake my head.

  “Not since the last time I told you about. What about you? Any run-ins with any exes I don’t know about?” I ask, and my stomach fills with anxiety. I hate talking about Dane’s exes. I hate even thinking about them, but the curiosity of knowing the truth about his past makes me ask questions I don’t really want to know the answers to.

  “Eh,” Dane says and takes a drink of his smoothie. I stare at him when he doesn’t say anything more, and he smiles at me. It doesn't reach his eyes.

  “Well?” I ask again. He lets out a sigh.

  “I don’t like talking about my exes. I mean, I told you they were all crazy, and I don’t want you to worry,” Dane says.

  “That literally makes me worry even more,” I say, and Dane rubs his face with his hands.

  “There are these two girls who have tried to ruin my life, and they almost succeeded. It was bad,” Dane trails off. His face is wrinkled with lines, and he looks much more stressed than he was only a minute ago.

  “I’m sorry. Let’s not talk about it,” I say.

  “No, it’s okay. I want to be honest with you and tell you everything. It’s just hard because I’m scared of what you’ll think of me.” Dane looks at me, and I can see the worry in his eyes.

  “Nothing you say can change how I feel about you,” I say, and it feels like a line from a movie as soon as it comes out of my mouth. Dane looks away from me.

  “These two girls have been telling every girl I try to date that I’m a cheater. They’ll say all these bad things about me, and it’s ruined most of my previous r
elationships. But the truth is, they both cheated on me, and now they’re friends, trying to ruin my life. I don’t know why me, but they’ve done some pretty crazy stuff. They’ve hit my parents’ mailbox down, egged my parents’ house, and spread all kinds of lies on social media and in real life. I absolutely hate them, but they won’t go away.” Dane looks at me after he’s done, and I can’t imagine how horrified I must look.

  My heart beats fast, and anxiety fills my chest.

  Why would two girls be out to ruin his life unless he actually did something to hurt them? What if they target me next? I can’t handle this. I stare down at the coffee in my hands and can’t think of anything to say that will reassure him that I’m not about to run for my life. Running would probably make this so much easier. I knew this wouldn't be perfect and happily ever after. Something had to ruin it, and this is it.

  “Please say something.” Dane’s voice sounds strained. He reaches for my arm, and when he touches me, I force myself not to jerk my body away. I swallow hard.

  “Why do they still torment you? Don’t they have lives?” I ask. My voice sounds strange.

  “They’re obsessed with me,” Dane says, which makes my stomach twist.

  “So do I even have a chance?” I ask. If they’re always going to be in the picture, then I might as well accept my rejection now.

  “Yes. Of course, you do! I mean, you’re the only girl I want to be with. They’re crazy, and I regret ever dating either of them. I don’t talk to them, and I’m never going to. I just wanted to be honest with you so you know about them in case they ever try to talk to you.” I shake my head.

  “I don’t want them to talk to me. I don’t want drama with girls I don’t even know,” I say. I still can’t look at Dane, but he holds tightly to my arm.

  “I’m sorry. I’ll make sure they don’t talk to you. Okay? There’s really nothing to worry about,” Dane says. His face looks serious, but I’m not convinced.

  “I don’t want you to talk to them either. If they’re obsessed with you, they’ll probably try to steal you away from me.”