Free In Her Eyes by Wesley Banks Page B

Calla Lily and Casey took it, twirling the green stem softly between her fingers.
    “You look amazing,” Ben said before she could thank him for the flower. She caught his eyes scanning her body. She was wearing light-washed jeggings with a small rip a few inches above her right knee, and a short-sleeve tie-neck off-white blouse.
    Casey felt like she couldn’t stop smiling, “Thank you.”
    “But, you can’t go barefoot,” he said with a smile.
    Casey looked down and wiggled her toes. “You didn’t know? This is the new look.”
    “I totally knew. I like to keep up to speed on all the hot fashion trends.”
    “I had a feeling,” Casey smirked. “Let me just put this in water and grab a pair of sandals and I’ll be right out.”
    Ben rubbed the back of his neck. “You might want to make it a pair of shoes that can get a little dirty instead.”
    Casey thought about it for a moment. A little dirty? Nikki would die if a guy said that to her. “Umm, okay. Just give me a minute.” She left the door open as she jogged back to the kitchen and grabbed a small vase from under the sink. She placed the flower in it, along with a little bit of water, and then walked back to her bedroom.
    Casey looked through her closet quickly. Besides her running shoes, she didn’t really have any old shoes. She grabbed a pair of russet ankle boots with a zipper on the side. They weren’t old, plus they were Nikki’s, but that would have to do for now.
    Ben was leaning against the wooden post of the front porch when Casey walked back out. She motioned towards her booties with both hands, “Better?”
    “Perfect,” Ben said.
    As they backed out of the driveway, Casey saw Emma’s pink and yellow Playmate trike on the side of the house, and she literally held her breath, hoping Ben didn’t notice it. She would tell him about Emma, if this turned into something. For today, though, she just wanted to go on a date with a guy.

24
    Peanut and Butter
     
    April 10, 2015
     
    They talked a lot as they drove. Well, mainly Ben talked a lot because Casey never stopped asking questions.
    During the first thirty minutes she had found out he was originally from Ocala, Florida. He was twenty-four years old and a freshman planning to major in mechanical engineering. He was the number-two ranked runner in the country for the 5000 meter, which turns out to be just over three miles. Some famous runner named Steve Prefontaine was one of the main reasons he started running. His closest friend was Parker Collins, with whom he shared a room at Springs Hall, which she already knew. He liked chocolate, but didn’t like ice cream, which she refused to believe. His favorite book was The Philosopher and the Wolf , and his favorite movie was Without Limits, which also happened to be about Steve Prefontaine.
    Above all, though, the freshman thing stuck in her mind more than anything else. She didn’t really know any twenty-four year old freshman. “Why didn’t you go to college right after high school?” Casey asked. She looked over at Ben as he turned off I-75 and onto State Road 40. It was the first question in the past thirty minutes he hadn’t immediately responded to.
    “I just had some family stuff come up,” Ben said. “And I had this offer to be the mechanic for several of the ranchers out here. I was kind of naturally good at fixing things, and it paid well. So I just kind of hung around for a bit.”
    It felt like he was hiding something, she thought. But twenty minutes into their first date didn’t feel like a good time to start prying. “What made you change your mind about college?”
    “Actually Coach Melvick recruited me out of high school. I had originally committed, and when I had to pass, he told me to call him if I ever changed my mind. And that was a little over a year ago now.”
    “But everything is okay now, with your family?”
    “It’s…getting there,” he said.
    She wanted to ask him more about his family, but since