Page 16 of 21 Years of Jane

Nolan crouched down and turned me to face him.

“Can I ask you something?”

His face was so serious that I automatically nodded.

“I know that we’ve only been hanging out for two days, but—I really like you. I was wondering if maybe you’d want to be—,” he cut his sentence off and looked down for a moment before looking back up at me.

“This is so dumb. I practiced this so much last night that I barely got any sleep. And now, I can’t even say it,” he grumbled.

“Just say it,” I pressed, putting a hand on his.

“I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend,” he mumbled.

I stared at him for a moment. In the twenty years I had been alive so far, no one had ever asked me that before.

“Are you playing a joke on me?” I asked quietly.

“What? No! I really like you and I was just hoping that maybe you liked me too,” he said.

“I’d like to be your girlfriend,” I said carefully. “But, why don’t we see how today goes? Then I can answer you for sure.”

I watched the half-smile spread across his face and he nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

I felt suddenly shy because he was still crouched in front of me. He still had his hands on either side of my chair and showed no signs of moving. I looked down at my folded hands, and he used a hand to lift my chin. His eyes wandered to my lips and I felt myself starting to shake a little. Nolan leaned forward and I took in a sharp breath; he was going to kiss me, I just knew it.

“Once you say yes, I expect a make-out session,” he whispered in my ear, moving his face away at the last second.

I giggled and he gave me a grin before he stood back up and went behind me.

“Do you like penguins, Janey?” he asked.

“I do!” I replied enthusiastically.

“Then let’s venture further into the North Pole. I believe that the penguins are next,” he said cheerfully as he guided me into the next room.

“What’s your favorite type of penguin?” he asked as I pushed the handicap button on the side of the door.

I thought about it for a moment as the doors opened slowly. “I would have to say The Adelie Penguin, I guess.”

“Any particular reason?” he asked, rolling me through the open doors.

“I just think they’re so cute. They’re the friendlier of the penguins and… well, once they find their soul mate they stay together for the rest of their lives. I know it sounds weird, but I kind of always wanted to be like them. Social, but still a little awkward and looking for my other penguin half,” I said with a sigh.

“I’m pretty sure I can be that penguin. No pressure of course!” he said jokingly.

I looked up at him and laughed. He didn’t meet my gaze, but he grinned, nonetheless.

“Hey, check that out,” he said, suddenly pointing to the left.

I craned my neck to see around the people that were milling about and noticed a small crowd standing around one of the aquarium employees. She was holding something I couldn’t quite see.

“Excuse us,” Nolan said rather loudly as he began to maneuver me toward the employee.

He stopped short suddenly. He left me near the back of the crowd and told me that he’d be right back. I watched him curiously as he made his way to the front and started chatting with the employee, before he motioned toward where I was. She followed his gaze, nodded, and started to walk toward me.

I arched my eyebrows at Nolan’s mischievous grin.

“Janey, this is Morgan. Morgan this is Jane. Take a look at what she’s got,” he said to me.