Page 13 of 21 Years of Jane

He checked his side-view and rear-view mirrors before he pulled away from the curb. We drove mostly in silence as he pulled onto the freeway.

“Um, the zoo isn’t anywhere near the freeway,” I said.

“I know,” he replied with a wink.

“Then where are we going?” I asked him curiously.

“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.

After half an hour of driving, I was starting to really wonder where we could possibly be going.

When we crossed state lines into Pennsylvania, I wondered if he knew that crossing state lines with an unwilling person was a federal crime.

After another hour, I found myself no longer caring.

Nolan pulled off of the freeway and drove straight for about a mile. We were sitting at the stop light when I finally asked him where we were.

“Well, I am taking you to the zoo; sort of. I was thinking about it this morning. Why just go to the zoo when we can go to the zoo and the aquarium?”

I felt a tiny flicker of excitement. I had forgotten about the aquarium and the last time I had been here I was five years old. I was very curious to see if anything had changed.

“I haven’t been here in years!” I said excitedly.

“I know,” he replied with a mischievous grin.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he laughed. “Stella told me.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed with him. “She seems to be really interested in our friendship.”

“Invested too,” he added, turning at the light and heading toward the parking lot at the end of the next block.

My excitement flared up again when I saw the sign for the Pittsburgh PPG Zoo and Aquarium.

“She just wants to make sure that she stays my very best friend,” I explained.

Nolan pulled into the closest spot he could find to the front doors, and put the car in park. He turned it off and looked at me.

“I’d never try to take her place as your best friend. Liam’s either,” he said, leaning his head back and smiling.

“Good, because it would never happen,” I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.

Nolan laughed and unbuckled his seatbelt. I smiled and undid mine. I leaned my arm against the window and watched all the people going in and out of the zoo or aquarium. I couldn’t wait to get out of the truck and be a part of it. And that’s when I suddenly felt Nolan’s hand on my leg.

I looked down at it, and then raised my eyes to his. He was giving me his earth shattering half-smile, dimple set.

“Your hand is on my leg,” I said.

“I know,” he replied.

“Any reason why?”

“I just wanted to tell you something and I wanted to be sure that I had your attention when I said it.”

“Okay. You definitely have my attention,” I said with a nervous giggle.

“I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he confessed wistfully.

I stared at him for a moment. I couldn’t tell if he was joking, so I didn’t know how to react. The only people who had ever told me before that I was beautiful were Mom, Dad, Stella, and Liam.