This is the eighth chapter of my second serial novel, The Year of the Winding Road < click here to see the main page for the novel, read the other chapters if you missed them or have no idea what this story is about.
Note to readers:
While this story does have events in it that were inspired by true life and the people who made them happen, all of it is fictional and made up. The people, aside from the popular culture figures that pepper this novel, are made up using qualities and quirks I have observed in the people I have met in real life. The places are also made up. The popular culture figures are used fictionally, though I tried to remain true to them in my writing.
The emotions though are very real. High school is a time for angst. High school is a time for finding one’s self and learning who and what one will become. I tried to keep that ribbon alive in this piece of fiction.
Second Date
Brianna was a nervous wreck all morning long as she waited for Patrick to arrive. She had tried to do some of her homework, but couldn’t concentrate. She tried listening to music, but Annabelle insisted she had the right to use their room and practically threw her out. She tried to read, but nothing captivated her attention. She just sighed and mindlessly watched whatever game was on the television and listened to Matt and Charley argue over the video game they were playing in the den.
Patrick picked her up in his dad’s truck around noon. He rang the doorbell and said hello to both of her parents, which always made her dad chuff and comment about how responsible he seemed. As Brianna climbed into the passenger seat, she noticed that a cooler sat between her and Patrick. But he just smiled furtively when she asked him where they were going.
He drove to a park with a beautiful and large lake, parking carefully in a spot near some tables. He got out of the truck and walked to her side, opening the door for her and offering his hand. After she had climbed out, he snagged up the cooler.
It was relatively cool for an October day in California and there was a breeze that played with her hair as they walked toward the tables. Brianna zipped up the hooded sweatshirt she was wearing to help ward off a bit of the chilliness.
Patrick pulled out some paper plates and began to lay out the food he had packed. There was meat and cheese and bread for making sandwiches and apples and grapes and chips. There was also Brianna’s favorite cola to drink. He smiled
“I hope this is a good idea for a date,” he murmured. “I didn’t really have much money to take you out for dinner.”
She smiled as she looked into his eyes.
“This is perfect,” she said. “I just like being with you.”
He smiled back and Brianna knew that the feeling was mutual.
They ate their lunch, talking very little since they were often chewing. But Brianna noticed Patrick was watching her every time she looked up with that little smile in his eyes. She blushed and tried to focus on her food.
“You know, you are adorable when you blush,” he said after swallowing one time.
It made her blush even more.
Brianna helped clean up and Patrick ran the cooler back to the truck, returning with a blanket. He grabbed Brianna’s hand and led her down to the man-made lake in the center of the park. Under the shade of a tree, he spread the blanket out and they both sat down.
At first, Brianna sat apart from Patrick, feeling awkward. But then he reached out and took her hand, pulling her closer to him in a way that made her giggle.
“Come here, birthday girl,” he said softly.
She laughed and crawled across the blanket to sit next to him.
Eventually, she found a comfortable spot snuggled into his side as they watched the geese and ducks swim on the lake. While it was a bit chillier there in the shade, Patrick put his arm about her and she sighed, taking in the scent of his aftershave and antiperspirant mingled with the clean notes of whatever detergent his clothes had been washed in. She watched as the sun sparkled on the water and listened to the geese and ducks talk to each other. She could hear Patrick breathing and could have sworn she heard his heart beating as she snuggled in closer.
“This is nice,” she finally murmured.
“Yep. Sorry it isn’t so fancy.”
She shook her head.
“It doesn’t have to be, really. Like I said before, I just like spending time with you.”
“I like this too.”
They began to talk, sharing their hopes for the future and stories about their siblings. They talked about school and their random group of friends. They talked about his love of computers and her love for writing. Soon, they ran out of things to talk about. But Brianna didn’t mind. She was just enjoying being in the company of someone she cared about.
The shadows were starting to grow longer in the mid-autumnal sunshine when they finally packed up the truck and started to head back to her house. The beginning twangs of the bongos of that popular song started up again and Brianna mused about the roads she had been down more than twice.
Patrick walked her to her front door when they got to her house and gave her a sweet kiss.
“Happy birthday, Brianna Washington,” he said softly in her ear as he embraced her.
He leaned down to give her one last kiss and then walked back to his dad’s truck.
Charlie was peeking through the front door when she turned to open it. She scowled at him as she came into the entryway. He was beaming at the display he had just witnessed.
“Patrick and Brianna, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” he sang.
She shoved him playfully as he grinned up at her with his blue eyes.
“Quit spying on me,” she said, trying to sound annoyed with him.
But he already knew she wasn’t annoyed. He merely laughed as he scurried back into the living room to watch television with Annabelle and Matt.
Brianna began to walk down the hall to her bedroom to work some more on her homework, since she’d have about an hour before Mom began harping about dinner and chores. She heard her siblings asking questions of Charlie and what he saw. She was too happy to be embarrassed though. She knew she loved Patrick Hampton and that was all that mattered to her seventeen-year-old heart.
Click here to read the next chapter – Halloween (live on 11 October 2025)
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction written by K. S. Wood, and thus is copyrighted 2025. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.If you enjoyed this chapter, please share it with others. Every other Saturday, there will be a new chapter posted for your reading pleasure. The entire story can be found on this page – The Year of the Winding Road
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