him.”
“He’ll be there, but why don’t you come to dinner with us tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. In fact you’d be doing me a favor. I don’t know what we’d talk about if we were by ourselves anyway. You guys can talk ‘fire talk’,” I laugh. “Speaking of ‘fire talk’, I heard you talking to Mom and Dad when I snuck out. How did it go?”
“They’re warming to it. At first they were really upset, but they want me to be happy.” He pauses, deep in thought for a few seconds. “This makes me happy. You make me happy.” He flashes a genuine smile at me.
“You better not have based this decision on me. What happens when you decide next week that you don’t like me anymore? Are you going to run back to Arizona?” I ask seriously.
His head tips back, and laughs at me. “Don’t talk like that. I’ll never, not like you. Ever.”
“What are you thinking?” he asks in a serious tone.
“I think you’re crazy is what I’m thinking. But I love you anyway,” I say laughing. Hoping that it came out as more of a joke, but I’m serious, I’m madly in love with him.
Graduation was…just like any other graduation, but Jess was beautiful in her cap and gown and Ava’s speech was a hit. We spent an hour after the ceremony taking an endless amount of pictures and now I’m ready to have dinner with Chief and Jess. I ring the doorbell and wait.
“Gabe, come on in, son. Jess says you’re joining us for dinner,” he says, offering me his hand for a handshake.
“Yes, sir,” I say. Why the fuck am I so nervous? Jess comes around the corner, and my pulse quickens. She’s wearing a long strapless casual black dress and sandals. Her hair is flowing down over her shoulders. He green eyes are striking against her tanned skin and the dark dress.
“Jess,” I nod my head at her.
“Hi,” She smiles.
“Well, if you two are done gawking at each other, let’s go,” Chief says. Jess’ mouth falls open, and I feel myself blush.
“Gabe, you can ride with me. Dad has to drive separately since he’s going to work after dinner,” she says. Once we’re safely out of Chief’s line of vision, I shoot my eyes to her.
“Did you tell him already? Jesus, I wasn’t expecting that.” I’m whispering, afraid he might hear me.
“No! I didn’t tell him. Are we that fucking obvious?” she asks.
“That’s exactly what I was wondering.”
“Ava says we are,” I admit.
“She knows?”
“She does now. Adrian told her you showed up at the party and dragged me out of there like a cave man.”
I laugh at the cave man reference. “Good, one less person we need to stress about telling.”
Leaning forward she rests her head on the steering wheel for a moment, and when she raises her head, she just starts laughing. “Let’s go,” she says.
Our hostess seats us in a booth. Jess slides in next to her dad, and I sit across from them. I try to not look at Jess too much, but apparently we’re transparent according to everyone around us. Chief orders a bunch of different entrées that we all decide to share, which makes it easy since I can’t decide what I want to eat because I’m so nervous.
“So Chief,” I finally say, clearing my throat. “I have something I want to talk to you about.” I glance at Jess and back to Chief.
“Sure, what’s up son?” he asks, his voice deep and his eyes shift between Jess and I.
“I’ve decided not to go back to Arizona in the fall.” I pause, waiting to see his reaction. He hones his eyes in on me for a few seconds, “Ok,” he nods his head for me to continue.
“I’ve decided that I’d like to train at the academy and hopefully come on your crew as a firefighter.”
Taking a drink of his ice water, he sets his glass down and plays with the condensation that is dripping down the side of the glass. “That’s a big decision to make, son. Have you talked to your parents?” he asks, knowing they’d be concerned about
“He’ll be there, but why don’t you come to dinner with us tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure. In fact you’d be doing me a favor. I don’t know what we’d talk about if we were by ourselves anyway. You guys can talk ‘fire talk’,” I laugh. “Speaking of ‘fire talk’, I heard you talking to Mom and Dad when I snuck out. How did it go?”
“They’re warming to it. At first they were really upset, but they want me to be happy.” He pauses, deep in thought for a few seconds. “This makes me happy. You make me happy.” He flashes a genuine smile at me.
“You better not have based this decision on me. What happens when you decide next week that you don’t like me anymore? Are you going to run back to Arizona?” I ask seriously.
His head tips back, and laughs at me. “Don’t talk like that. I’ll never, not like you. Ever.”
“What are you thinking?” he asks in a serious tone.
“I think you’re crazy is what I’m thinking. But I love you anyway,” I say laughing. Hoping that it came out as more of a joke, but I’m serious, I’m madly in love with him.
Graduation was…just like any other graduation, but Jess was beautiful in her cap and gown and Ava’s speech was a hit. We spent an hour after the ceremony taking an endless amount of pictures and now I’m ready to have dinner with Chief and Jess. I ring the doorbell and wait.
“Gabe, come on in, son. Jess says you’re joining us for dinner,” he says, offering me his hand for a handshake.
“Yes, sir,” I say. Why the fuck am I so nervous? Jess comes around the corner, and my pulse quickens. She’s wearing a long strapless casual black dress and sandals. Her hair is flowing down over her shoulders. He green eyes are striking against her tanned skin and the dark dress.
“Jess,” I nod my head at her.
“Hi,” She smiles.
“Well, if you two are done gawking at each other, let’s go,” Chief says. Jess’ mouth falls open, and I feel myself blush.
“Gabe, you can ride with me. Dad has to drive separately since he’s going to work after dinner,” she says. Once we’re safely out of Chief’s line of vision, I shoot my eyes to her.
“Did you tell him already? Jesus, I wasn’t expecting that.” I’m whispering, afraid he might hear me.
“No! I didn’t tell him. Are we that fucking obvious?” she asks.
“That’s exactly what I was wondering.”
“Ava says we are,” I admit.
“She knows?”
“She does now. Adrian told her you showed up at the party and dragged me out of there like a cave man.”
I laugh at the cave man reference. “Good, one less person we need to stress about telling.”
Leaning forward she rests her head on the steering wheel for a moment, and when she raises her head, she just starts laughing. “Let’s go,” she says.
Our hostess seats us in a booth. Jess slides in next to her dad, and I sit across from them. I try to not look at Jess too much, but apparently we’re transparent according to everyone around us. Chief orders a bunch of different entrées that we all decide to share, which makes it easy since I can’t decide what I want to eat because I’m so nervous.
“So Chief,” I finally say, clearing my throat. “I have something I want to talk to you about.” I glance at Jess and back to Chief.
“Sure, what’s up son?” he asks, his voice deep and his eyes shift between Jess and I.
“I’ve decided not to go back to Arizona in the fall.” I pause, waiting to see his reaction. He hones his eyes in on me for a few seconds, “Ok,” he nods his head for me to continue.
“I’ve decided that I’d like to train at the academy and hopefully come on your crew as a firefighter.”
Taking a drink of his ice water, he sets his glass down and plays with the condensation that is dripping down the side of the glass. “That’s a big decision to make, son. Have you talked to your parents?” he asks, knowing they’d be concerned about
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