Free Promise by Kristie Cook

that be bad?"
    The frown quickly disappeared, as if he
hadn't realized it was there until I said that. He peered down at
me as we walked a few steps in silence. "I don't know yet."
    There was definitely honesty and seriousness
in his tone…and a bit of sadness. I sighed in frustration. He
raised more questions than he answered.
    "Something wrong?" he asked.
    I wanted to tell him how annoyingly cryptic
he was. But I didn't. Because he could always turn that back at
me.
    "No, I guess not."
    "We better turn around," he said.
    I looked behind us and saw we had walked much
farther than I realized. We played in the water on the way back,
kicking it up at each other and running away from the splashes.
Then he took my hand and pulled me to dry sand, where we sat to
watch the sunset. We gazed in silence, both in the same
position—knees pulled up, arms wrapped around our legs. I rested my
chin on my knees.
    God displayed His divine artistic ability,
painting the sky with brushstrokes of dark violet, lavender,
magenta and soft pink against a light blue canvas, with a bright
splash of gold at the horizon reflecting on the water. Waves gently
lapped at the sand and seagulls cawed at each other. I inhaled
deeply, trying to pull it all into my body and embed it in my
memory as one of those perfect moments to be cherished forever. The
brackishness of salt water and the sweet-tanginess of Tristan's
scent nearly intoxicated me.
    The sun dipped behind the water, leaving
darker purples and pinks behind it. I turned my head toward
Tristan, resting my right cheek against my knees. He cocked his
head to look at me, his beautiful eyes sparkling. I felt so
content. His conversation with my mom seemed vague and nonsensical
now. He was right. She needed to let go. Because I wanted to be
nowhere else than right here with him.
    "Ready?" he finally asked.
    I frowned. Ready to go back to my empty
house and spend the evening alone? No, not really.
    "I can hang out with you…if you want, I
mean," he said, as if reading my mind.
    "That sounds…" Wonderful. Fabulous.
Perfect. "…good."
    ***
    As soon as we entered the cottage, I
panicked. I hadn't been truly alone with anyone besides my mother
in years. I suddenly realized just how inexperienced I was—not just
in the whole man-woman thing, but in any kind of relationship. I
stopped abruptly in the small foyer, not knowing what to do in my
own house.
    "I'll be right back." I dashed into the
bathroom and couldn't close the door fast enough. I leaned against
the back of the door and took deep, calming breaths. My stomach
twisted itself into knots, untwisted and twisted again. What do
we do? Eat? Watch TV? What if he's bored? Oh! What if he's
expecting something?! How much would I give?! I jumped at the
knock on the door.
    "Alexis?" Concern filled Tristan's voice. I
could only imagine how terrified my face looked before I fled to
the bathroom. "I was thinking…I'm actually kind of hungry. You want
to go get a pizza at Mario's?"
    I took a deep breath, picturing it. Public
place. Lots of people. He seemed to know exactly what I needed.
After another deep, cleansing breath, I opened the door and said,
more calmly than I thought possible, "That'd be great."
    Mario's was a pizza-parlor-slash-bar. When we
arrived at nearly nine o'clock, it took on more of a bar
atmosphere. The lights were dimmed and neon beer signs glowed
colorfully on the walls. The jukebox played oldies music and people
talked and laughed loudly over it. We shared a sausage-and-mushroom
pizza and, after eating, Tristan somehow convinced me to play
darts.
    He was excellent at it. I sucked. He seemed
to be able to easily zero in on his target—several times I swore he
aimed away from the bulls-eye to prove he could "miss." Most of the
time I couldn't hit the board, let alone any specific place on
it.
    Tristan's close eye on me didn't help. He
leaned against a table about halfway to the dart board and to my
right, watching me with an amused