Page 39 of With This Lie

Dani

“Areyou going to tell me where we are going?” I ask.

“Nope,” Lucas says.

I laugh. Of course, he wanted to surprise me. He likes his surprises. We are in his car heading east out of the city.

“Fine,” I say. I cross my arms across my chest and pretend to pout.

He laughs at me. “Okay, okay, I’ll give you a clue. There is water there.”

“Well, we don’t live near a beach, and you didn’t tell me to pack a swimsuit, so that’s limiting,” I say, thinking hard about his clue.

“I think you’ll like it,” he says.

“I’m sure I will,” I say. I plug my phone into his car and start scrolling through some songs until I find “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John and press play with possibly a little too much excitement. When the music starts, I begin to bounce in my seat a little and I notice Lucas eyeing me with a wide smile. “What?” I ask.

“Oh, nothing at all,” he says.

“Are you laughing at me?” I ask, crossing my arms.

“Not even a little. You’re adorable,” he says.

“Well thank you,” I say. I bop my head back and forth to the song and we go onward down the road.

We pull into the parking lot of the Newport Aquarium and my face lights up. “Oh my god, are we going to the aquarium?”

“Have you ever been?” he asks.

“Never!” I say.

“How is that possible?” he asks.

“I don’t know, I’ve had a boring life I guess,” I say.

“Well I’m fixing this one thing now at least,” he says.

We get out of his car and start toward the entrance. We get in line at the ticket booth and I see couples and families all standing together in line. Sometimes when I see normal couples, I’m almost envious, but today I get to pretend I am in one.

Lucas puts his hand in mine and leads me through the line. He kisses the top of my head and whispers in my ear. I laugh and notice a few people looking at us. I can’t help but wonder if they know, or if perhaps they saw us the way I look at other couples. Lucas pays for our tickets and we walk inside. I am so excited, I feel a bounce in my step, like a child half-skipping to her own party.

“What’s your favorite sea creature?” he asks.

“Definitely the octopus,” I say.

“How come?”

“When an octopus experiences turmoil, it will rip out all three of its hearts,” I say.

“Wait, what?” he asks.

“It’s a line I read once by a poet named Nikki Carroll. It sort of stuck with me. I can relate. It’s sort of what I did with my life, you know? To protect myself,” I say.

“Yeah, I get that,” he says, and it sounds like he genuinely does.

“So, we definitely have to see them!” I say.

“Definitely,” he says.