Chapter 27: Hot Tamale, the story of Grayson Carter, written by Audrey Peters

I nervously bounced around, looking at my phone for the time. It was barely four o’clock and I was ready, stuffing my phone and keys into my purse. I rarely use the purse; in fact, I had to dig it out of my closet. In the purse were the tickets, too, they were shoved deep into my wallet. We need to have an early departure if we want to be home by ten thirty.

I walked downstairs and smiled at my mom, earning a raised eyebrow from her. “Is that the cashmere sweater that you haven’t used since last year? And a pair of nice, non-worn jeans? A purse? And actual shoes rather than your ratty sneakers? Is there something going on that I should know about?”

“I have a date.” I told her as I sat down on the stool at the breakfast bar. My mother leaned over, a cup of coffee in her hands as she looked at me.

“With who?” She asked. I know that she’s still aware of my crush on her best friend’s son because she constantly brings it up. What makes her believe that I don’t have a date with him? Other than the fact that he’s out of my league.

“Who else? Grayson, mom.” I told her as I spun slightly in the stool, perching my head on my entwined hands.

“Where are you two going?” She asked me and I laughed, shaking my head.

“I’m not telling you. I’m not telling anyone.” I told her, causing her to cross her arms over her chest.

“You should tell me if you want to go.” She told me, pasting on a smirk. I sighed, leaning over and whispering the secret location in her ear. She smiled at me. “Who came up with that?”

I gasped, shaking my head slowly. “I’m surprised at the small amount of creativity you assume I have. I came up with it, mother.”

“Isn’t that an hour drive?” She asked me. I nodded, tapping my fingers along the granite breakfast bar. “And how long do you plan to be there?”

“Two hours, plus an hour for dinner.” I smiled shyly.

“That’s five hours. I expect that you’re going to be home by nine?” She asked me.

I shook my head, pursing my lips. “I wanted to go out for ice cream, too.”

“And how long will that take?” She asked me amusedly.

I pursed my lips. “An hour?” I asked.

She nodded. “Ten?”

“Thirty?” I asked her.

“Ten thirty, then.” She nodded before sipping her soda. I smiled and nodded, already thinking about the date in my mind. I hope he likes it. If he likes it, then I’ll be satisfied. “You’re serious about this date, aren’t you?”

I nodded. “This might be our last date.” I muttered. “Might as well make it memorable.”

She snorted. “You’re overdramatic.”

“I like to call it being realistic.” I told her as I stood up, putting my phone back in my purse. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my date is ready and I’m going to go pick him up. Tell dad not to go all crazy if I get home late, will ya?”

My mother nodded, laughing lightly. “Did you forget he’s at a monster truck convention with your uncle?”

I awkwardly laughed, disappointed in myself about not knowing the whereabouts of my own father. “Yeah, totally, it just slipped my mind, you know?”

My mother laughed, shaking her head. “Whatever you say, I love you.”

“I love you too, mom.” I told her as I opened the door and stepped out into the chilly weather. Rushing over towards my car, I started it, driving down the street to Grayson’s house. I honked the horn loudly, watching as he exited his house, his mother behind him giving me a discreet thumbs up as she placed a pan of food on the table for her husband.

As Grayson walked over to the passenger’s side, he went to unlock the door but I kept it locked, staring at my nails. He knocked on the window, trying to grab my attention. I looked at him and waved before going back to looking at my nails. I then turned on the music before unlocking the doors, laughing at his frustrated and red face. “It’s cold out there! That wasn’t funny.”

He sighed when he sat down in the warm car, slamming the door and buckling up. “So where are we going?” I took a moment to look at his outfit as I started driving slowly down the street. He was wearing casual wear, like I told him to. He had a pair of dark blue jeans and a dark blue flannel shirt. I couldn’t see his shoes as they were placed conveniently on the floor, but I’m guessing they were blue.

“It’s a surprise.” I told him. “But I will let you know that I’m driving us to a restaurant right now.”

He grinned. “Good because I’m starved.”

I laughed. “Who said you’re eating?”

He stared at me for a minute, examining my face for any signs of playfulness. I tried to keep my face void of any emotions aside from seriousness. I finally let out a laugh and he sighed in relief before rubbing his stomach. “On another note, are you excited?”

I looked over at him with furrowed eyebrows. Although I’m excited, I’m not going to admit it. It’ll make me seem weird. “For what?”

“What you’ve been waiting for since the first day you met me.” He laughed.

“Your death?” I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. “Now Grayson, it’s not nice to die on dates.”

He rolled his eyes at me, scowling slightly. “I’m talking about our date. Don’t tell me you’re not the least bit excited.”

“The place we’re going to is fun.” I muttered. “I’m excited about that.”

“So if you were to switch me out with a nerdy guy, you’d still be excited?” He asked.

“I’d be even more excited. They would be able to give me facts about what we see.” I decided not to say the word animals, because then he’d start guessing.

“I expected a hint out of that, but all I got was disappointment. I guess a nerdy guy is better than me.” He muttered before glancing out the window.

“You have nice hair, if that helps.” I shrugged, stopping at a red light. I reached over and ruffled his hair, earning a groan from him.

“It took me an hour to do this!” He exclaimed, batting my hand away. I laughed, rolling my eyes. So he actually took time to prepare.

“You took that long to get ready? For me?” I cooed jokingly.

He snorted, shaking his head. “Of course not, just in case I see any other ladies there- I want to look good.”

“I doubt there will be any other ladies there that you’d be slightly interested in.” I told him and he wrinkled his nose.

“You planned this pretty well, didn’t you?” He asked. I nodded, a smirk on my lips. He leaned back, allowing his head to come in contact with the headrest before he groaned. “You’re not taking me to Chuck E. Cheese or anything, are you?”

I shook my head. “I was going to but I doubt you’re ready for that type of environment. Way too wild for you, maybe on a third date or so.”

“A third date? You’re a bit cocky, aren’t you, Darling?” He asked.

I shrugged. “I thought confidence is key.”

He laughed, rolling his eyes at me. “You just used my words against me, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “I did.”

We arrived at the quaint restaurant, nothing too fancy, but it wasn’t a fast food place either. It was more like a family restaurant, like Chilli’s. We were twenty minutes earlier than I predicted and I couldn’t help but be happy about that. Now we have a bit more time to spend together. “Table for two?”

I nodded, listening to Grayson mutter things under his breath. “No, table for three, my imaginary friend is right behind me. Can’t you see him?”

I elbowed him in the side. This was the waiter’s protocol. He’d probably get in trouble if he skipped it. He brought us to a table fit for two people and it wasn’t a booth, unfortunately. I’d grown accustomed to fast food place scenery so it was odd to see family’s sitting around us, eating dinner casually. There were couples scattered about, too, feeding each other. Never in my life would I participate in such an idiotic show of affection, never. I wrinkled my nose at that before turning back to see the waiter walking away.

“What about our drinks?” I asked to nobody in particular.

Grayson snorted. “I already ordered them, Ms. Astronaut.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and he snorted. “You were in space.” I kicked him under the table before raising my fist to punch him. He grabbed my fists, wincing slightly as he gripped them to avoid getting punched. “You’re so violent.”

I ripped my hands away from him, although his hands were warm and comfortable. “I think we’ve already been over that, don’t you?” I asked and he scowled at me before picking up a menu.

I already decided what I wanted. I made sure it didn’t have onions in it or anything that could make my breath reek. I didn’t want to offend him with bad breath. I decided on the simple three cheese pasta and a small side of chicken soup meal. He decided to eat a steak, which looked amazing on the advertisement- too bad I don’t like steak, and a baked potato, which also looked amazing.

When we ordered, the waiter simply nodded and walked away. How cliché would it have been if we had a waitress that flirted with Grayson? I probably would’ve kicked her in the shin and slammed her face on the table. I’m not a violent jealous person, just in case you were wondering. I’ve only punched a girl who just so happened to like Grayson. No biggie, right?

“So are you going to stare into space during our whole date or are you going to talk and get to know me?” He asked, his eyebrows rising amusedly.

I wanted to giggle at the mention of us being on a date. It was still hard to believe. “What should I ask?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, this is my third time going on a date and the other two times weren’t very fun.”

“I have a question!” I announced, taking him by surprise. He nodded, as if encouraging me to ask him. “Out of all sports, why do you play football?”

When I asked the question, I realized how stupid I sounded but that didn’t deter him from answering. “It’s the only sport I’m good at. Well, I’m good at baseball, but I don’t really like it. Why don’t you play a sport?”

“I don’t like sports all that much. I like reading.” I nodded and he scoffed. “I know, I sound boring.”

He shrugged. “Not really, I mean, what do you like to read about?”

I pursed my lips. “Anything, really, I mean I usually read what’s popular. Like The Hunger Games, Twilight, and Divergent. I like series of books.”

He nodded, a genuine smile on his face. “What else do you like to do?”

“I like working, going to school, hanging out with friends?” I asked.

A smirk settled onto his face. “Hm, odd that all of those things include me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you trying to say?”

He laughed, leaning in challengingly. “You know what I’m trying to say.”

Before I could respond, our waiter came back with our food. “Your food. Anything else I can get you?”

I turned to him with a smile as I shook my head. “No thank you.”

He nodded before walking towards the entrance, prepared to greet more customers. I turned my attention back to Grayson, prepared to finish our previous conversation. I quirked an eyebrow when I saw he had a mouthful of steak. He tried to smile at me with full cheeks but he just ended up looking like a lumpy faced boy. I just snorted and started on my own meal.

I ate my chicken soup first, finishing that quickly. Grayson was still eating his steak and he motioned his plate towards me, asking if I wanted a bite. I shrugged, allowing him to cut me a piece and he held his fork out to me. I looked at him as if mentally asking if I take it off of the fork with my hands or what but he motioned for me to bite the steak. I nodded and took the steak, chewing it slowly. I nodded in appreciation. It was a pretty good steak.

“Want some pasta?” I asked him and he nodded. He waited for me to scoop some onto my fork but I shook my head. “Get it yourself.”

He gave me a flat look. “I wanted to be another one of those couples that feeds each other but you had to ruin it.” He told me as he scooped up a large chunk of my pasta. If he hadn’t said what he did, I would’ve complained that he was taking too much but my mind was racing. Did he just call us a couple?

Trying to calmly finish my meal was a hassle, especially when they offered us desert. Grayson looked at me and quirked an eyebrow. “Do you want anything?”

I wrinkled my nose again for the umpteenth time tonight and shook my head. “I’m completely full.”

He turned to the waiter. “No thank you, can we have the bill?”

The man nodded and placed the bill onto the table. I reached for it but Grayson stopped me. “I’ll pay for it.”

I raised both of my eyebrows. “But I’m taking you out on this date.”

He shrugged. “So? I’m not going to let you pay for everything.”

“But I’m dragging you all the way out here.” I told him, reaching for my purse.

He sighed. “Would you stop saying that? I came here willingly, meaning I want to be here. And I’m paying the bill.”

“Why don’t we split it?” I asked him and he shook his head.

“I’ll just pay. I don’t mind, Darling, I really don’t. Let me pay, it’ll make me happy.” I rolled my eyes before pouting and sitting back in my seat, watching as he paid the bill. We were free to leave. We pushed in our chairs and got up, watching as the waiters cleaned our table. We exited the restaurant while Grayson groaned and stretched.

“That was so good; you sure know how to pick a restaurant.” He mumbled as he rubbed his stomach. “Where to next?”

I smirked. “It’s a surprise.”

I opened the passenger’s door for him and he got into the car. “Thank you. Oh em gee, chivalry is totally not dead!” He began laughing in the same falsetto voice he was speaking in.

I got into the driver’s seat and started the car, allowing the warm air to hit us before I set off to our destination. “Can I get a hint?”

“Nope.” I replied casually, getting onto the highway. I prayed he didn’t see the billboards and figure out where I was taking him.

“Fine, are we almost there?” He asked. I gave him a flat look. We’d just gotten into the car!

“Nope, we still have thirty minutes to go.” I informed him. “How about we play a game to pass the time?”

“Sure. What game?” He asked.

“I still didn’t get to know you, so let’s ask each other questions.” I replied, my eyes on the road as I drove the speed limit. “You start us off, Gracie.”

Rather than complaining about my ridiculous nickname for him, he asked me a question. “If today was the last day of your life, how would you spend it?”

I shrugged, thinking about what I’d do. “I would spend time with my friends and family. Would you rather have true love or win the lottery?”

He laughed. “That’s simple, win the lottery. I’d be hot and rich.”

“How modest.” I muttered.

“What were you scared of as a kid?” He asked me and I internally groaned.

“The dark… and I still haven’t outgrown that fear.” I muttered. “What was your favorite cartoon movie as a kid?”

“Finding Nemo, definitely.” He took a minute to think before he raised his eyebrows. “3 physical features that you get complimented on a lot, name them.”

Of course he’d ask that question. I shrugged. I personally don’t get complimented often. “Does it matter who gives me these compliments?”

“It has to be guys.” He told me. I groaned. Well there go my three physical features.

“I don’t know, my hair?” I asked him, furrowing my eyebrows as I raised my hand. “I don’t receive compliments from guys very often. Can you ask a different question?”

“I’ll answer it for you. All creepiness aside, okay? You do have nice hair, not as nice as mine but you come in as a close second. You have really nice eyes, although you hate them, I think they’re quite nice. And you have a really cute smile, especially the goofy one when I compliment you.” He explained and I threw him an annoyed look at his last compliment, holding back my ‘goofy’ smile.

Deciding the best way to avoid smiling is to move on. “How would you spend ten million dollars?”

He thought for a minute. “Well, I’d buy my parents a house and I’d buy myself a house, even though I’m not 18 yet. I’d buy a nicer car. I’d buy a whole entire new wardrobe. I’d give money to my friends, all except for you. And I’d donate some of it but keep some, too, for a rainy day.”

“Because a million dollars is rainy day money.” I muttered under my breath.

“Hey! If you had a million dollars, you wouldn’t know how to spend it! That’s a hard question. My turn! What’s your favorite day of the week?” He asked me, watching as we neared closer and closer towards our destination. We had about fifteen minutes left.

I smirked. I’ve been waiting to sing this song for a while. “It’s Friday! Friday!” I told him, answering his question and singing a song in the process.

He groaned. “I should’ve known you would do something like that.”

“It’s my turn to ask you a question. How would you react if your girlfriend cheated on you?” I asked him.

“If I had a girlfriend and she cheated on me, first I’d ask her why, because let’s face it- who would cheat on me? And then I’d kick her down a flight of stairs. That’ll teach her never to cheat again.” He replied, catching me off guard.

I stared at him. “And I’m the violent one.”

He shrugged. “Cheaters never win… and they never keep their spine intact, either. Not to jinx you or anything, but if your house was on fire and you can only grab one thing, what would you grab?”

“My fire safety kit.” I told him and he gave me a flat look.

“You actually have one of those?” I nodded in response. “Why am I even on a date with you, you weirdo? Anyway, aside from that, what would you grab?”

“So I can grab two things?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “No! You can only grab one and I’m not accepting your fire safety kit as an answer.”

“But why is there even a fire safety kit in my house if I can’t grab it during a fire?” I asked him and he glared at me so I sighed. “Fine, I’d probably take my clothes? I mean, I’d need something to change into.”

“Aside from that, something-something sentimental.” He told me and I nodded.

“Okay, I’d take photo albums?” I asked and he sighed, accepting my answer. “Describe the most embarrassing moment of your life.”

He pursed his lips. “Okay, I was in fifth grade and we were playing in gym- the only class I actually liked. We were in different classes, remember?” I nodded, the memory faint in my mind. “Well, while harassing some of the girls- like a normal 10 year old boy, I didn’t realize one of them had an older brother who happened to be helping the gym teacher. Her brother noticed me terrorizing his sister and yanked down my pants in front of the whole entire fifth grade class. They all saw my Spongebob underwear.”

I was chuckling now, trying hard not to imagine it. I would laugh too hard and swerve off of the road. “Stop laughing at me and answer my question. If you could dye your hair any color, what color would you chose?”

“I would have to say red.” I told him.

“Blue eyes and red hair, that’d be… nice.” He told me, as if imagining me as a redhead. “Now ask me a question, peasant.”

I whipped my head in his direction and he gave me an innocent smile. “Do you believe in love at first sight?”

He snorted. “Or should I walk by again?”