It was little more than a week later when Declan called her.
She had a weird feeling of deja vu as Declan had called her a few days after Zoe's birthday--the night she had done her AP Calc test--and came over with ice cream to comfort her when she began sobbing on the phone.
"Can you come over?" he asked when she answered the call.
There was a hint of apprehension in his voice.
"What's wrong?" she asked, already putting on her shoes. Was he okay? She tried to figure out how fast she could get to Declan's house without getting stopped by the cops.
"I-I think I have some good news."
She began to relax. "Do I get a hint?" she asked, her voice lighter.
"Nope."
"Please," she begged.
He hummed as if considering it. "Hint: wear something nice."
"I always wear something nice," she said, looking down at her sweatpants. She had made out with Declan last week in these sweatpants, his fingers cold from the ice cream as they itched along her waistband. He had murmured against her lips how much he loved how they looked on her.
"I mean, you're not wrong."
"I'll wear a dress or something," she said.
She didn't understand why a smile overtook her face as she talked to Declan. But she sat there, alone in her bedroom, smiling as he spoke to her.
"Okay, you've forced it out of me."
Selene raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I got into UBC."
"You applied to uni?" she asked then smacked her forehead.
"Yeah. I talked to the guidance counsellor and she said that even though I don't know what I want to do, I should still apply for something. So I applied to UBC and didn't really expect anything. I got the letter today."
"What'd you even apply to?" she asked.
"Media Studies." Declan was the only grade twelve she knew who was taking a senior-level art course as well as Creative Writing. He had told her that he had first taken the Creative Writing course in grade eleven to piss off his father but he had grown to like it. "I submitted a portfolio with some short stories, photographs, some art pieces and didn't think much of it."
"I'm so proud of you," she said. "Congrats."
"Yeah, and UBC isn't that far from SF," he said and trailed off.
"Declan," she sighed.
"Nope. We can talk about it later, I'm just saying."
"Declan, I accepted Ryerson's admission."
He went silent for a second.
Selene checked to make sure he hadn't hung up.
"Are you going to come over?" he said suddenly.
She was shocked by how fast the conversation changed. "Yeah, Yeah. I'll be there in like thirty."
"Okay, see you then."
He hung up before she could say her goodbyes.
»
It was almost like the conversation with Declan had never happened.
He kissed her passionately when she arrived at his house and did a cute little fist pump when she congratulated him on getting into UBC.
"How do you feel about the movies?" Declan asked as he backed out of his driveway, his hand on the back of her seat as she reversed. He was being extra careful driving now, he used his father's convertible instead of his sports car that he liked to speed up if the road was empty enough.
"You told me to dress nice for the movies?" she asked.
"I'm bringing it full circle. We went to the movies on our first date."
"Did you get me flowers too," she joked.
"Actually," he started, reaching into the backseat. His hand returned to the front with a small bouquet of peonies.
"Declan, I was kidding." She took the peonies and whiffed. "Are we watching the same movie too?"
He smiled and shrugged.
She gave him an exasperated look.
He laughed. "Just kidding. I know you only watch Christmas and Halloween movies more than once."
"And classics," she added.
"And classics," he repeated. "That reminds me; how do you feel about Grease?"
"Sexist as fuck but I still like it for some reason."
He nodded.
"Are we watching Grease?" she asked, excited now.
"No comment," Declan said, too quick.
"We are!" she exclaimed.
"I said 'no comment'," he repeated before abruptly changing the subject to her dad and Carter.
It was fifteen minutes later when they pulled into a drive-in movie theatre.
There was only a few cars there already but Selene was captivated by the large screen near the front. At the moment it was nothing more than a glorified cloth but for some reason, it felt like a dream come true for Selene.
Declan rolled down the top of the car and Selene unbuckled her seat. "Declan," she breathed, her eyes wide as she looked around at the rows of cars.
He put the car in park and turned off the engine. "Do you like it?" he asked, eyes searching her face, a nervous half-smile on his face.
"I love it," she said, leaning closer to him. "Though this really should be a celebration for you."
He shrugged. "Seeing you happy is enough."
"You're so sappy," she muttered before kissing him softly.
His hands wrapped around her waist as he pulled her onto his lap.
Her hands found purchase on the back of his neck and as she shifted closer, he let out a low moan.
His hands grabbed her and pulled her closer.
A car honked behind them and Selene quickly jumped back, her back hitting the steering wheel. She groaned. "Fuck. Ow."
"Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes wide. His fingers stroked her back.
She nodded and moved back to her own seat.
"So I guess I should take you to more drive-in movies, huh?" he asked.
She hit his shoulder lightly.
He grabbed her hand. "But you really like it?"
She brought their intertwined hands to her lips and kissed his. Declan grinned. "I really like it, Declan."
He smiled and kissed her, this time softer than before. Selene wondered when they had become such a sappy couple and then slapped herself. They weren't a couple. Declan only liked her because she had given him attention and she was here to break his heart.
Declan pulled away. "I'm going to get us some popcorn before the movie starts."
His door was already half-open but he waited for her to nod before he left.
»
The date went really well.
Selene and Declan sang along to the songs and ate cardboard-esque popcorn--which Declan ended up eating most of--and clapped along with the rest of the audience when the credits started.
He pulled up in front of his house almost two hours later and cut the engine.
"Is it weird that I don't want this night to end?" he asked.
She shook her head. She didn't know why but the night had had the same effect on her. Maybe they were both coming to terms with the fact that graduation was coming up and after that was an uncertain future. Her head pounded with a headache. She blamed it on stress. "Can we talkâ?"
"How would you feel about staying over tonight?"
She had to take a pause to register his question. "Like a sleepover?"
He nodded. "Like a sleepover," he agreed.
She said nothing.
"Please Selene?"
"Declan, I like what we're doing right now; I don't really want to go further."
His brows furrowed in confusion before his mouth opened in an 'O'. "Selene, I'm not trying to have sex with you. I suggested a sleepover because I don't want you to leave because Iâ really care about you. I really like you and I want to have random midnight conversations not only through a screen."
"Okay," she said.
"Okay?"
"Okay. Let's have a fricking sleepover." She smiled.
a/n:
hey crazy butterflies!
i'm back with a few new updates for you. happy holidays!
i actually recently finished writing this whole novel so we'll be having a lot of updates semi-regularly.
how are you guys feeling about the book so far? what are you thinking will happen with Selene and Declan?
i'll see you soon!
MWAH. LUV YA. BUH-BYE.