After school I head for running practice. Normally the day goes as follows: Mr Bowman shouts at who misses practice without a good reason while Noah takes register, we then actually run and then finally we get a partner to do a 100m sprint against. 

So going over to the freshman crew we stretch until Noah comes over to us.

"Hey man." Levi greets.

Noah laughs, "Hey lanky. Well you're all here so I'll leave you to warm up." Then he walks off but not before winking at me like he normally does.

While we're running I normally stick with Ryan as at the end we like to get competitive, Mr Bowman almost cried of happiness the first day this happened as he claims I was lazy at practice... He wasn't exactly wrong I suppose. Today though I notice Mr Bowman looking at me which means he probably has something to say to me.

"Right! Get over here!" He shouts. We haven't even finished yet, what is he planning today?

We jog over and I stand beside Noah like I normally do but today he puts his arm around my shoulders. I whisper to him, "You know something don't you?" He just winks and holds me tighter. He definitely knows something.

"This year the normal scouts for the running scholarships will be at the states' track competition but they have also decided that this year they will choose a junior who will train under them during senior year!"

I think he continued talking after that but I'm not listening. I think I'm in shock cause I have to put my arm around Noah's waist to keep myself standing. I think he notices this holds onto me even tighter.

Mr Bowman comes over and looks at me, "I'm pretty sure that news should've made you excited kid. Not a nervous wreck."

"I thought I had another year before people stared and judged me."

He smiles, "I know you don't like being the centre of attention but let me put it to you this way: You have a chance here. You are talented. It's no different to what you do every year, just ignore the crowds."

"Ok." I reply still not completely sure what's even happening.

"Ok I'm gonna give you a pass on the 100m, just let your boyfriend take care of you." He says while walking off.

"Will!" Noah shouts.

"Sorry Raven." He then says and kisses my forehead.

I lean into him, "It's fine."

                                                                                       ***

Walking down the stairs I go into the living room and turn on the tv until dad joins me on the couch.

"I think you're forgetting something." He smiles teasingly.

"Hmm?"

"Your date today Raven."

I turn to him, "I haven't forgotten."

"You have an hour to get ready." He sighs.

"Yeah and if I start now I'll be stressing for an hour." I respond.

Issac comes and sits on the armchair, "And so your solution is to wait until ten minutes before and  stress like mad for ten minutes before?"

"Yup."

Dad sighs, "Alright then: How about you wait until half an hour before and then we'll keep you from getting too stressed?"

"Deal." I smile while turning on some random nature documentary.

Ten minutes before the date I'm back to sitting down in the living room. Of course getting ready ten minutes before a date might've been a bad idea but now I'm sitting worried, doing nothing isn't helping. 

"Raven!" I hear Issac call.

I poke my head around the kitchen door, "Yeah?"

"Come help me with the dishes before you go."

"Ok."

As we finish the doorbell rings and I sprint to the door, "Hey."

Noah sighs lightly, "Hello, you ready to go?"

"Yup, let's go."

We get in the car and he starts driving, "Pink suits you."

"Thank you."

As it's warmer than normal I decided to stray away from my usual jumpers. A tight fitted pink shirt and black ripped jeans to be exact. I also decided to wear my hair in a bun. I look pretty good.

"So where are we going today?" I ask.

He responds, "Once again it's a surprise."

"Don't I even get a clue?" I pout. Not normally my style though I'm too curious about where we're going.

"Don't look at me like that, you're too cute." He laughs, "Fine: Are you allergic to anything?"

"No why?"

"That's your clue." He smirks.

I smile, "So we're eating something then?"

"You'll have to wait and see." He teases.

As he continues to drive I turn on the music and once again we begin to sing. I take this as my chance to look over at him. Once again he's wearing his leather jacket, which still looks as hot on him as the first time we met. His brown hair is styled almost perfectly, I only now seem to notice that it's slightly longer on top. I then look at his face and the dimples on his cheeks as he sings. He then looks at me, I just smile and continue to sing along.

When Noah parks the car we get out and he guides me to a shop. Upon entering the place I notice dozens of ice-cream flavours.

"Ice-cream?"

He smiles as we sit at one of the booths, "Figured we could skip dinner and go straight for dessert."

I laugh, "Fair enough."

"What's your favourite ice-cream flavour?" He asks.

"Chocolate." I smile, "What about you?"

He thinks about it for a moment, "Probably mint chocolate chip. I'll go order, I'll be back in a moment."

Now that I'm left alone I take the time to look at the place. Happy families sit at the baby pink and baby blue booths that take up the majority of the space. The place still looks modern due to the simple white walls. At the other end I notice a bar table accompanied with a few pink and blue barstools.

A few minutes later he comes back with potentially the biggest sundae I've ever seen. It has chocolate, mint chocolate chip and vanilla ice cream scoops with chocolate syrup drizzled over them. A cute triangle wafer sits on top along with a cherry. There's also two spoons in it. Looks like we're sharing it.

"That's quite large."

He laughs, "The lady at the counter seen us coming in and suggested getting it. She just asked me for three flavours and went and made this."

I begin laughing as well, "I'm assuming she guessed we were on a date."

We begin eating in silence until Noah says, "So then, how did you start running?"

"What?"

"Sorry, I've been wondering for awhile. You don't need to answer."

I smile gently, "No no, I don't mind. Just don't get asked this often. Hmm. I always liked doing it but I suppose I started it seriously just before freshman year."

"You're very good at it."

"Ah so you look at me when I'm running then?"

He laughs, "Yes also when you're not running though."

We both go back to the ice-cream before I ask, "How did you find this place then?"

"Used to come up here every summer with the family for awhile. We would come here and get ice-cream."

We continue to talk while finishing the ice-cream. As we stand to leave he says, "Wanna go for a walk?"

"Sure." I say while reaching for his hand, he laces our fingers. He swings our entwined hands while making his way to the beach. Just before we go onto it I hold him back. He gives me a questioning look.

I begin to remove my shoes, "You can't walk on the beach with shoes on."

"Fair point." He laughs and does the same.

We walk onto the beach and I look around. The pretty colourful houses face the sand where a few families are playing. The wooden pier reaches out into the calm ocean. In the distance boats float along the water.

A strong breeze begins to blow and I shiver slightly, the next thing I know a leather jacket is placed over my shoulders.

"I believe you're going to get cold." I point out.

"Then you're gonna have to stay close and keep me warm, aren't you?"

I blush. He kisses me on the cheek, "Been missing that look on you."

I laugh and put the leather jacket on properly, "Hope you're not expecting this back for awhile."

"It looks better on you anyways." He responds while putting his arm around my shoulder.

We spend the the next hour or so on the beach before Noah guides me down a hidden path, "Is every date gonna have you leading me down some hidden path?"

"Nope, don't worry." He laughs.

The path which is surrounded in trees suddenly turns into an open area. The long grass blows in the wind as I look towards the sunset. The sunset which almost looks purple looks so perfect that it could be a painting. I get the urge to walk closer, which is when I realise I've been taken to a cliff. On second thought I'll stay here.

"Wow." I say.

I don't get a response so I turn back to him to find him looking at me. Suddenly his lips are on mine and the world around us disappears. It's just us. As the kiss deepens I wrap my arms around his shoulders and he puts his hands on my hips. After a few minutes we break apart from the kiss. He then pulls me into his chest and kisses my forehead while we look out at the ocean.

Awhile later he begins to talk again, "This is nice."

"Yea, the scenery is beautiful."

"It is but that's not exactly what I meant."

I look up at him, "What did you mean?"

He begins to play with my hair, "It's been awhile since I've been this happy."

I hold him tighter then let him continue, "Only uncle Will accepted that I liked guys. That's why he offered to be my guardian."

Last year for about a month Mr Bowman had put the previous captain in charge of practices. This in itself wasn't abnormal, but the fact that he wasn't there to watch was. Is this why?

"Well people here are very accepting, in fact the majority of our friends are dating guys." I kiss his cheek, "You're free to be who you choose to be here."

In response he just holds me tighter and whispers, "Thank you."

On the way home he rests his hand on my thigh as he drives. We tiredly speak about what we want in the future. A loving partner. Kids. The usual I suppose. He wants to write music for a living while I want to write books for a living.

Then he suddenly parks the car on the side of the road and looks at me, "Raven?"

"Yea? What's wrong, why did we stop?"

"Nothing's wrong, but I do need to ask you a question." He looks me straight in the eye.

"What is it?"

"Raven Avery Winters, would you be my boyfriend?"

"Wait how do you know my middle name?"

He laughs, "Not what you should be focusing on but I take the running club register, it's on there."

"Ok that makes sense... And yes I will be your boyfriend." As soon as the words leave my mouth Noah leans over and kisses me passionately.

I think I now understand why everyone loves romance novels.