I grabbed the keys, grateful that I’d managed to find such a good friend, given my circumstances. “Thanks. I’ll have your sister and your car home in a few hours.”
Sicily smiled and winked at me, and I turned to Annika. She looked amazing in a floor-length, brown-and-green striped romper. She had a long-sleeved jean jacket over it, and her long brown hair flowed down the sides of her face and over her shoulders. It was a very fall look, perfect for the date I had planned.
“Ready?” I asked.
She nodded. “Ready.”
Given that the date cropped up out of nowhere, I didn’t have much pre-planned. Fortunately, when you’re locked up, you have a lot of time to think about the things you’ll do when you get out. I must have imagined fifty or more date ideas in my head, and though I’d planned to go on them all with Cherri, it at least gave me a reserve of options to pull from. I drove us about an hour outside of Postings to one of Maine’s most popular apple orchards. By November, all the leaves had fully changed from green to different shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown, and it gave the property a gorgeous fall atmosphere. It was a little cold, but that was fine because it meant we could hold close to each other while we took a hayride from the front of the property to the back, and we could stick additionally close together while we picked what was left of the season’s fresh apples and bought some discount pumpkins to gut for some seeds to roast.
The real crown jewel of the orchard was the inside of the barn at the base of the property. You could cook apple slices and pumpkin seeds over burning fires that let off enough heat to sit around them comfortably, regardless of the cold outside the barn. They sold cups of fresh apple cider and even melted caramel to make caramel apples if you wanted. My mom used to bring me when I was younger, and I always dreamed of bringing Cherri someday. She loved apples. It was one of her favorite foods and her favorite smells, and I always thought she’d really love coming.
As I stood in line for cider while Annika found us a fire to sit by, I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering to the person I’d always imagined I’d come to the orchard with. Annika was great. She was really beautiful, funny, and kind from what I’d gotten to know of her the day before, and during the hayride, she talked about her plans for college and beyond. She was also incredibly smart. She didn’t seem bothered by my criminal history and was a delight to be around. There was really no reason why I shouldn’t be enjoying myself, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t keep Cherri out of my mind.
Our first date had gotten cut short that day when everything went to shit, and before we could have our first date, our first kiss, our first time together, we were ripped apart. All I could think about when I was in prison was getting out and picking up where we’d left off. Why did everything have to get so messed up? Was I meant to believe it was a complete coincidence that not only was she taken, but she was dating my brother when I got out? Either Nathan, my dad, or both had done that intentionally, and as frustrating as it was, there was nothing I could do about it until she was willing to realize that The Royal Court was no good for her.
I shook the thoughts of Cherri out of my mind, collected a couple of mugs of apple cider, and then went to where Annika had found a bench near an open fire. We pulled out some of our pumpkin seeds and apples to cook as we talked and got to know each other more.
“I’m having an amazing time,” Annika said with a smile. “You came up with this idea really fast.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Truth told, I kind of had it in the back of my mind.”
“For someone else?” she asked. My jaw went a little slack, and she shook her head. “It’s okay. Be honest. You’ve been kind of distracted, and I can see that you’re thinking of someone. Don’t worry. I can take it.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Maybe this was a bad idea. Not you. You’re great. I honestly didn’t expect to really like anyone so soon. Something recently fizzled out with someone I’m kind of…in love with.”
Annika nodded. “Truth be told, I’ve got feelings for someone too. I’m not normally so, ‘Nice to meet you. Let me jump all over you!’” She laughed. “This guy in my debate club, Kevin.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been crazy about him since the sixth grade, but I’ve always been just a friend to him. After, like, all this time of never getting anywhere, I was beginning to think I needed to just find someone else. Then you turned up.”
“So we both rebounded after not getting to be with the people we’re in love with?” I asked. “That is quite the coincidence.”
“Maybe we could read it on each other subconsciously,” Annika replied.
“Yeah, maybe.” I had a handful of pumpkin seeds on a griddle sitting atop the fire, and I shook the handle to shuffle them around. “It fucking sucks, right?”
“Yeah. I think we can both agree that we’re fucking hot.”
I nodded. “Hell yeah, we are!”
“Why should we be keeping ourselves on coals for these people who don’t even know how to value us?” Annika asked.
I laughed. “If only it were that easy.”
“Why can’t it be?” she asked. “We’re here, right? We both know
