by Erin Osborne
Goose looks at me and I know he didn’t want me going with anyone else to the dance. We’ve had conversations about it when I started school and I was getting excited about it. I’ve never been able to go to one and I can’t wait to experience it. Goose understands how much I want to experience things that a normal sixteen-year-old should experience. I’d say that included dating and boys my age, but Goose is the guy I want. I want all my firsts to be with him. And I don’t know that anyone else would ever measure up to him.
For the rest of lunch, we talk about the paper that we have to write for English. It’s about someone that we look up to and admire. I already know who that person is for me and I can’t wait to get started on the paper. It’s going to be an easy paper to write and obviously it’s going to be about my mom. She’s been through so much and still manages to find the will to be strong enough to essentially raise me alone, get away from an abusive husband, meet a new guy, meet family we never knew existed, and smile her way through every day. And she makes sure that I’m put first and goes without, so I can have what I need and want.
“So, Goose, if you’re bringing my girl to the dance, what are you wearing?”
“I’m wearing jeans, a nice shirt, and my cut. That’s as dressed up as I get. Sorry if that’s not good enough Sami.”
“That’s more than good enough. I don’t care what you wear. If they don’t like it, they can kiss my ass!”
Becky bursts out laughing because she’s never heard me swear before. I typically don’t, but I’m not going to deal with judgmental people. I grew up with my dad judging everyone and everything. I don’t have to put up with it anymore and I’m not going to.
Before we can talk too much more about anything, the bell rings and our lunch comes to an end. Goose picks my books up and carries them to my next class. This is what he’s done from the first day of school. I thought that the other kids would make fun of me because I have a shadow, but they’ve been cool about it. It could be his cut, or it could be the fact that they just don’t care about him being here.
Today is finally the day of the homecoming dance. School seemed to drag by because I knew Bailey was going to be picking me up so that I could start to get ready for the dance. I’m not sure why I need to start getting ready so early, but that’s okay. Darcy should be here soon, and I can’t wait to see her.
“Darcy will be here in about ten minutes. Just so you know, Crash and Trojan will be with her. They’re in the club, just a different chapter. You’ll love seeing them together!” Bailey tells me as we’re pulling in the driveway.
“Okay. Why is that?”
“Crash and Trojan don’t know what to do with her. She’s feisty to the point they call her firecracker. Darcy doesn’t let them in her business.”
“I can’t wait to see the show then! Hey, do you know why I have to be ready so early? The dance doesn’t start until like nine.”
“I do. But, I’m not telling. You’ll find out when Goose wants to let you know.”
I sit back and think about everything that Goose could have planned today. He’s not here and left halfway through the school day. Tank got to follow me around school the rest of the day. I’m sure he was less than thrilled, but he made it fun. The kids in my classes definitely didn’t try to do anything with the big guy around. Not that they would with Goose there.
Arriving at the house, I see mom’s car in the driveway. I was sure she was working today but she left before I got up for school. She’s been opening the restaurant lately and she’s home with me when I get out of school. It’s been nice to still be able to spend time with her while I do my homework and stuff. I’m not sure who made this possible, especially with the fact that she’s been avoiding Irish as much as possible. There’s a story there, but mom’s not opening up and I’m not pushing her.
Walking in the house, I see mom hanging my dress over the back of the pantry door. She tells me to run in and take a quick shower while they get everything else they’ll need to get me ready to meet Goose. So, that’s what I do. After I tell Irish hello that is.
By the time I’m done in the shower, I can hear laughter and more voices coming from the kitchen. Darcy is at the center of it with her tales of something. Rounding the corner in nothing more than a towel because mom never brought my dress in to me, I stop and scream at seeing two huge men sitting there. Immediately they turn their gaze away from me and Irish comes running in the front door.
“What’s the matter?” he asks, frantically searching the house.
“I-I wasn’t expecting them in the house,” I murmur embarrassed beyond belief right now.
Turning around, I run into my room and slam the door shut behind me. Within a few minutes, there’s a soft knocking on the door and mom pokes her head in. She brings my dress in and lays it across the bed while she sits down and pulls me into her.
“I’m sorry honey. I thought you’d throw shorts and a tee on before you came out.”
“No! I asked you to bring my dress in to me!” I cry out.
“No one saw anything and they’re not going to say anything to you. Darcy is reading them the riot act right now. So, let’s get you in this dress so we can finish getting you ready.”
I nod my head and stand to put my new dress on. Joker bought it for me because as soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it. My mom tried to argue with him about buying it, but Joker got his way. These days all he does is give mom a look and she backs off. It’s not that she’s scared or intimidated by him, she just doesn’t want to deal with his bossy ass attitude. I can’t say that I blame her there!
The dress is a soft baby blue color. It’s strapless and comes to just below my knees. When I spin in a circle, the bottom edge flairs out and makes me feel so pretty. My only concern is whether or not Goose will like it. Bailey laughed when I told her that and said that there was no way he wouldn’t lose his shit when he saw me in it.
As we head back out into the living room, I see that all the men are now outside somewhere. I’m thankful for that and pretty sure that I have Irish to thank for that. I head into the kitchen and take a seat in one of the chairs so that Darcy and Bailey can get to work doing their thing.
The girls are finally finished getting me ready. I’m sure it wouldn’t have taken as long as it did, but Crash and Trojan came back in to apologize and all hell broke loose. Bailey was right when she said that watching them and Darcy together was hilarious. They try to be bossy and all protective of her while Darcy is trying to be independent and not rely on anyone. I’m not dumb though and I see the way she looks at the two men. They’ve noticed it too, they’re just waiting on her to let them know what’s going on in her head.
Mom starts taking pictures of me and even lets Irish in to get in on the pictures. Darcy manages to pull Crash and Trojan in for one or two. Before anymore can be taken, there’s a knock at the door. Irish goes to open it while my mom messes with my dress and hair. Before Goose comes in, mom puts a mirror in front of me so I can see what I look like. My breath is taken from me at what a difference there is.
Darcy put just the front of my hair up and curled the rest of it. It lays down my back in corkscrew curls. My make-up is understated like the last time and brings out my eyes and lips. Not sure Irish and mom are going to like that, but it is what it is.
“You look amazin’!” I hear Goose say from just inside the door.
“Thank you,” I murmur shyly.
Looking up, I see that Goose wasn’t lying about what he was going to wear. He’s got a new pair of dark blue jeans on with a blue button-down shirt. Obviously, his cut is on over the shirt. I can tell that he’s had a haircut today and he has it spiked up on top. I’m surprised it stayed that way with wearing his helmet. But, I didn’t hear a bike pull up now that I think about it.
Goose starts walking towards me and holds out a bunch of wild flowers. We’ve had conversations about the whole flower thing. I told him if anyone ever got me flowers, I’d rather have them pick
a bunch of wild flowers instead of spending money at a store for them. I can’t see the sense in doing that when they’re going to die soon anyway. I’m touched that he remembered that talk. So, I take the flowers from him and mom takes them from me. She tells me that she’ll put them in water before placing us so we can get pictures taken.
Goose
When I heard that Sami wanted to go to the homecoming dance, I knew there was no way in hell that anyone else was taking her. As far as I’m concerned, she is my girl. We just need to wait a little bit before we can make it official. So, here I am making plans and getting things ready to give her a night she’ll never forget.
Before the dance, I’m taking Sami to an overlook for a picnic. She didn’t want to go to the football game and have to sit through all of that and not be ready for the dance. So, I decided that we would do our own thing beforehand.
Skylar made the picnic and I have to grab that from Joker before I go pick Sami up. He’s letting me use his truck too so that I don’t have to try to figure out how to put her on the back of my bike with a nice dress on. I’m getting nervous as the day flies by, but I’d do anything to see my girl smile and have a good time.
Walking into Whitney and Sami’s house, I’m not prepared for the beauty that Sami is. I mean she’s beautiful every day, but dressed up the way she is tonight is jaw dropping. I’m glad that Joker suggested I use his truck for the night instead of the bike. I don’t want to mess up anything about her.
On the way here, I made sure to stop by this field that I know is full of wild flowers. I found it one day while I was still in foster care. The old farmer it belongs to said I could go there whenever I wanted to. So, I knew he wouldn’t have any problem with me picking some flowers for Sami. Hell, he’d probably plant her favorite kind if he ever meets her. She just wraps everyone that comes in contact with her around her finger. It didn’t take her long to do that with me.
Whitney is now posing us for pictures and making sure to include everyone in the house in them. She wants to make sure that everyone here remembers tonight. I know that I probably won’t need any pictures to help me remember it. Sami’s going to make it unforgettable all on her own, just by sharing it with me.
“Mom, can we be done with pictures now?” Sami finally asks.
“Just one more,” Whitney says, walking over to us.
Walking up to us, Whitney puts me behind her and wraps my arms around Sami. Sami leans back into me and rests against my chest before placing her hands over mine. I’m definitely going to have to get a copy of this picture. I’ll place it right by my bed and make sure it’s the first and last thing I see every day.
Finally, we can leave and head out to start our night. I have to keep telling myself that this isn’t a date. In reality, I want it to be nothing more than a date. Irish and the rest of the guys in the club would kill me though. And, if I end up in jail, I won’t be around to protect Sami if her dad ever shows up. So, I’m trying to keep my cool and act like this is any other day. We’re just going out instead of staying at the house today. It’s not like we’ve never left the house before, just not for anything like tonight.
I help Sami up in the truck. She thanks me before I walk around to the driver’s side and climb in. I’m not even out of the driveway before she’s asking me where we’re going. I’m not giving anything away though. Sami even tries to pout and give me puppy dog eyes to get me to spill the beans. It’s not gonna happen though. I’m not going to let her get under my skin enough to let her know what I have planned.
After about twenty minutes, we finally pull up to the overlook. Sami is looking around trying to figure out what we’re doing here, and she has no clue. I’ve got the picnic basket hidden under a blanket in the back seat of the truck. If she even saw the blanket, I’m sure she just thinks it’s something in here for one of the kids. At any rate, she doesn’t have a clue.
I take the bandana I use when I’m riding my bike to cover my face and fold it so I can cover her eye. Tying it loose enough that it won’t wreck her hair, but tight enough that it won’t slip so she can see what I’m doing. There was no way I was going to have someone else come up and set this up for me. Other than Skylar making the food, I want to do this all on my own.
“Sit tight butterfly. I’ll be right back to get you.”
“What’s going on Goose?” she asks, wanting to know more than ever what we’re about to do.
“Just give me a minute or two and you’ll see.”
Sami turns sideways in the seat so that I know she’s not going to try to sneak a peek at what I’m doing. She’s giving me a lot of leeway right now because she doesn’t always like surprises. So, tonight, she’s letting me do my thing and waiting not so patiently to see what she gets.
I lay out the blanket and set the basket down on one corner so that the wind doesn’t catch it and blow it away. Taking out the food, I set it all up. Including the sparkling juice that Skylar put in here. She really thought of everything I’d need to make this night special for Sami. Hopefully she likes it.
“Okay Sami. I’m goin’ to help you out of the truck. I don’t want you to take the bandana off until we get closer. That okay?”
“Yes. I trust you Goose.”
Sami’s trust in me means absolutely everything. After everything she’s been through, I know that it’s something special for her to put her trust and faith in me. I won’t ever do anything to jeopardize that. Even if it means that I have to let her go. Something that I’ve been thinking about more and more. Is it really fair of me to keep her from experiencing dating and other guys before she turns eighteen? What if that leaves more questions for her about what she truly wants if I’m the only guy she’s ever with?
I lead her over to the blanket and stop her. Standing behind my girl, I undo the bandana and slowly let it fall away from her eyes. For a minute she says nothing, just stands there looking at the picnic laid out before her. Turning towards me, I see tears glistening in her eyes that she’s trying to rapidly blink away.
“You did this for me?” she asks.
“Yeah. I know you didn’t want to go to the game or anythin’ but I didn’t want you to just go to the dance and have nothin’ else to remember tonight by. And I figured everyone that didn’t go to the game would be goin’ to the diner or somethin’. Didn’t want to go somewhere it was going to be crowded either.”
“No one’s ever done anything this nice or sweet for me. Thank you Goose!”
We sit down, and I hand Sami one of the plates. She loads it up with the foods she wants, and we sit in silence for a little while. Sami is looking out over the town and I know she’s got something running through her head. She’ll tell me when she’s ready. For now, I’m content to sit in silence with her and enjoy our time together.
Our time at the overlook was amazing. We talked and laughed, spent time looking out over our small town. Now, we’re just about to pull up to the high school to go to her dance. We’re not too early and there’s still parking close enough to the school that it won’t be a far walk. Just as I go to park, Sami turns to me and I know she’s going to ask me something, just from the look on her face.
“Goose, what’s your name?”
“What?” I ask, making sure I heard her right.
“What’s your real name?” she asks again.
“My name is Beau,” I tell her.
“I like that. It suits you. What’s your last name?”
“James.”
“Beau James. I definitely like it. Thank you for telling me.”
I get out of the truck and walk around to help her out. For the second time tonight, I wrap my hands around her waist and lift her out of the truck. She slides down my body and I know that this is the closest I’m going to get to her for a long time. Two long years is going to be the sweetest torture I’ve ever felt. As soon as her feet hit the pavement, Sami looks up at me and I can see the thoughts whirring through her mind. They mirror my own.
“U
m, we better get in there,” I tell her after clearing my throat from the lust and need.
Sami nods her head and we make our way into the school. As soon as we’re in the gym, I see her friend Becky waving us over. She’s with her date and I’m not sure about spending our night with her, but if it’s what Sami wants, that’s what we’re going to do.
The girls start laughing and talking about the game and things that happened during the homecoming ceremony at half-time. I’m not really paying attention to their conversation. Instead I’m watching everyone in the gym and making sure that no one is here that shouldn’t be here. It’s one of the things that Irish drilled into my head when we first started talking about coming tonight. I can enjoy my time with Sami, but I have to remain vigilant and pay attention to my surroundings.
Like most small towns, when it comes to homecoming the town goes all out. Anyone that’s just passing through Clifton Falls will know as soon as they enter that a big game is going on tonight. Once they hit the school, they’ll know for sure that it’s a homecoming game and that there’s festivities afterwards. Perfect time and place to try and get to Sami if Carl or any of his goons are here looking for them.
“Goose, can we dance?” Sami asks, looking up into my eyes after we’ve been at the dance for a little while.
“Sure. I can’t promise that I won’t step on your toes, but I’ll do my best not to.” I tell Sami as I lead her to the dance floor.
Sami laughs her sweet laugh and I know that she’s having a good time. Even if this is the first time she’s made it to the dance floor. As we get to a spot, Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran come on. I wrap my arms around her and we start swaying to the music. Right now, I have everything I’ll ever want in my arms and tonight couldn’t be any better than it is right now.
“Sami, tomorrow we need to talk,” I tell her, as soon as the song is done.
“Why not tonight?”
“Because I want to talk about it tomorrow. Please give me this?”
