|| Arabella ||
Coral was getting me ready for my first official date with Theo, and she was on the verge of ripping out my hair due to frustration.
"Oh, my God, why are all your dresses so innocent? Where are the slutty ones?" she shouted.
"Why are you even looking for those clothes?" I asked flatly.
"It's New Year's Eve, girl. You gotta dress to make Theo drool a little," she said while ruffling through my closet.
I rolled my eyes. "He has literally seen almost every outfit I own, including my PJs."
"Thank goodness, there's at least one disadvantage of him being your roommate," she grumbled.
"You're just jealous that you don't get to spend as much time with Wyatt."
"Shut up. Lemme find something good."
I frowned and continued chatting with Theo over the phone.
Theo and Wyatt had taken Susan to Disneyland. Coral and I thought it would be a good time to let the cousins bond. They would drop Susan directly at the airport on their way back.
Theo sent me a short video of him and Mickey Mouse mascot person sending hearts to me. I giggled and sent him a hand heart too.
"Ugh!"
I looked up at Coral. She was fuming.
"I'm going back to my place and bringing some clothes over, and I swear the first thing we are going to do after New Year's is go shopping!" With that, she stormed out of my room.
I shook my head in disbelief and continued to chat with Theo. Before I knew it, Coral was already back with a bunch of old shopping bags.
She started spreading them all out on my bed. "Stop grinning at your phone like an idiot. Come here!"
As I didn't pay any heed, she snatched my phone out of hand and put it in her pocket. I pouted but started obeying her.
After much trialing, she decided on a white crop top and short sequin silver skirt.
"It looks good," she let out.
"Are you crazy? I'm going to wear this thin top in this cold weather?" I exclaimed as the top was backless and had criss cross spaghetti straps on the front.
"Wait, I've got an idea for that." She rushed to grab a black leather jacket and draped it over my shoulders. "Now you're perfect."
I hummed, satisfied with the way I looked. It was way more revealing than I usually went for, but I guess it was fine.
"Now, help me choose something for myself."
"Okay."
Since Coral and Wyatt also had a date, I helped her pick an outfit. By the time we were both ready, we got messages from our respective dates that they were waiting in the parking lot.
Both of us grinned at each other and headed out.
As soon as we reached downstairs, Theo and Wyatt came out to greet us. My eyes only focused on Theo from there, completely zoning out from what the other couple was up to.
"Hey, you look gorgeous," Theo said in awe, reaching out his hand for me to hold.
Blushing, I took his hand and replied, "You look handsome too."
Smiling at me, he opened the passenger door for me, motioning me to get on in an exaggerated manner with a bow. "Get in, my princess."
I kissed his cheek and said teasingly while getting in, "Thank you, my prince."
He chuckled and closed the door to get in his seat. "Are you ready?"
"More than ever."
———
We had gone to several places together but never to have dinner in a restaurant, just us together. That's why Theo wanted us to have dinner in a beachside restaurant, then we would go on a walk on the beach during the fireworks.
But when did luck ever support us?
The answer was, never.
The restaurant was on the third floor. We got on the elevator. Everything was fine. Until…
The elevator stopped in the middle and everything went dark inside.
"What the hell?" Theo let out.
I immediately hugged him in fear. "Did the power go out?" I asked.
Theo wrapped his arms around me securely and replied, "I think so. Let me press the emergency button."
I nodded. He took out his phone and flashed his light to press the emergency button, but it wasn't working.
"Fuck, it doesn't work," he cursed.
"There's no network reception on my phone," I said after checking my phone bar.
"Mine doesn't have either."
"What will we do now?" I asked fearfully, clutching a fistful of his jacket tightly.
He stroked my hair in assurance and said, "It will be fine. Let's wait here for a while. When the power comes back, someone ought to notice."
I nodded. "Can we sit down? My heels hurt."
"Okay." Theo kneeled down and dusted the floor a bit so that my dress wouldn't get spoiled before motioning me to sit beside him. He also placed his flashlight on the ground to keep the small place illuminated.
I sat down while hugging his side and my head on his chest. "Why does this have to happen to us?"
He chuckled and said, "Let's just be grateful that none of us have claustrophobia."
"Still…" I pouted.
"Hey, it's a date as long as we are together, so let's talk."
"Talk what?"
"The same thing we would say over a dining table with lavish food and drinks in front of us."
"Don't mention food. I'll get hungry."
"I'm already hungry from running around with Shortcake all day."
"Aww, my poor sweetheart," I mumbled and rubbed my hand on his stomach, earning chuckles from him.
"Stop. That tickles."
I grinned mischievously. "Didn't you say you weren't?" I said and started running my fingers on his sides.
"S—stop, A—Ara. I lied back then," he breathed in between his laughter.
"Laugh louder so that they can hear you outside," I encouraged.
"No, p—pwease stop it."
"Say that again."
"Pwease, stop it."
I finally stopped and continued laughing from enjoying his misery. But soon the tables were turned on me.
Theo pinned my hands on the glass wall over my head while a shiver ran down my spine.
"W-what are you doing?" I asked nervously.
"Taking revenge, baby."
"No."
"I'll give you two options: tickles or kisses."
I furrowed my brows. "You're giving me options?"
"Your boyfriend is a big-hearted person, after all."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Why even bother when you know I'll choose kisses?"
"Exactly what I wanted to hear." With that, he smashed his lips on mine, pulling me in for a hungry, heated kiss, and I welcomed it.
I tugged at his hair, deepening the kiss. I opened my mouth voluntarily when his tongue swiped over my lips, granting him access to explore my mouth all he wanted.
His hands moved up from my waist to my back. I forgot to move my lips when his fingers splayed over my bare back, completely lost in the sensation of his touch, which he probably took as a red flag and quickly moved his hand back to my waist.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to— I didn't know it was backless," he rambled awkwardly. "I'm sorry. This is all new for me."
I smiled at his awkwardness. "It's okay. It's new for me too." I let the jacket fall from my shoulder, exposing how little fabric my top had. "You can touch me anywhere you want. I don't mind."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded with a firm smile. "You're mine, and I'm yours, right?"
He smiled as well and mumbled, "Right," before starting to kiss me again. This time, I didn't let myself stop when his hand came up to my back, rather I enjoyed both feelings at the same time.
I had no idea how much time passed until we both heard someone hammering the elevator door and shouting, "Is someone in there?"
Theo took a few deep breaths and hollered, "Yes!"
"Okay, don't panic! We will get you out of there!" the person outside assured us.
Both of us rolled our eyes and got up after dusting our clothes. Theo draped my jacket over my shoulders, and I fixed his hair that I ruined.
Once the elevator door was opened and we got out, we got to know that the elevator had malfunctioned and no one had noticed, so it took time to get us out.
Apparently, it had been one and a half hours since then. Time really flies quickly when you're making out with your boyfriend.
Theo and I took the stairs instead of the other elevator since we didn't want to test out luck anymore for the night. But it turned out that luck wasn't only non-supporting us, rather it was running us over with a truck.
The waiter informed us that the reservation we had was canceled after an hour of waiting, and now, there were no tables available.
"Are they freaking kidding us?" Theo grumbled as we were walking to his car in the parking lot.
"I wanted to take a walk down the beach." I pouted.
"I don't think we can. First of all, we are really hungry. Secondly, I doubt there are any restaurants around which aren't full by now."
I nodded in understanding, trying to think of a way to satisfy our rumbling stomachs. That's when an idea hit me. "Let's go home."
"Huh?"
"I'll make dinner."
"Ara, I don't want you to—"
"And you will set up the date on the terrace."
"You sure?"
I nodded excitedly and squeezed his hand. "It will be great and totally us. The terrace even has chairs and tables there."
He pondered over it for a moment before a wide smile appeared on his face. "Okay!"
———
"This is perfect!" I exclaimed when I saw the beautiful atmosphere that Theo had set up on our terrace.
We both went grocery shopping on our way back, and I bought all the items needed for a mouthwatering meal and he grabbed the things needed for a candlelight set-up.
So what if luck wanted things to go wrong for us? We would always make it right for each other.
"We make everything perfect together," Theo said proudly and hi-fived me. Then he pulled out a chair for me and tucked me in before taking his seat.
We clinked our glasses of red wine together and cheered, "Here's to Theo and Ara's perfect date."
The two of us chatted like usual about school and random things.
A random question popped in my head when we were sharing our first time getting drunk. "Hey, you said that I kissed you when I was drunk last time, remember?"
"Uh-huh."
"Was it true?"
"How shameless do you think I was?"
"Very much."
He rolled his eyes and complained like a child, "It's true. You stole my first kiss, and you don't even remember it."
"I was your first kiss?"
"The answer depends on whether I was your first kiss or not."
I couldn't help but laugh. For me, my first kiss was the one we shared in Atherton after our confession, so I said, "Yes."
"Then yes, you were my first kiss as well." I continued to laugh as he added, "But now that you know, you should make it up to me for giving me such a sloppy first kiss."
"What shall I do, your honor?" I asked teasingly.
He grinned and took my hand in his. "Promise to be my first kiss every year."
I smiled ear to ear as the butterflies in my stomach went crazy. "I promise, Theo."
He kissed my knuckles and said, "Let's finish our dinner quickly. Fireworks will start any moment."
I nodded.
Soon, we finished the rest of our dinner. Theo had set up cushions and blankets for us at one side of the terrace for us to watch the fireworks from there.
Once we were settled into each other's arms, I mumbled, "Beach would've been good, but this is the best."
"But we are definitely getting cursed by our neighbors for locking the terrace door," he joked.
"At least we put up a paper, saying that we were having a date, or else they would call the security on us."
He laughed and rested his chin on top of my head. "I can stay here forever."
"Me too," I mumbled, snuggling closer.
Just then the fireworks went off.
"Happy new year," both of us wished each other and shared a short sweet kiss.
As we watched the fireworks together, wrapped up in each other, I thanked the elevator for breaking down and ruining everything. Because I couldn't have asked for a more perfect date than this.
