Date One

                                    

                                          
[The above picture is what i get in mind when i think of Mat :) ]
                          
"Why are we doing this again?" Mat asks, trying not to step in some deer crap.
                          
I'd brought him to my secret place, it's a little creek not too far from my house. I'm the only one who knows about it, well I was the only one. I brought him here for a relaxing day, before I go crazy with all the dates we'll go on.
                          
"Just wanted to show you something babe. Its just up ahead okay?" I grab his hand, "Cover your eyes, I want this to be a surprise!" Mat groans but does as he's told as I drag him farther into the woods. It can't be too far, I can hear the water running.
                          
Pulling back a thick group of vines, I sigh in relief. There it is, just like I remembered it. The muddy brown water trickling between the deep banks it carved, the white sand littered with leaves and twigs. Im surprised my tree is still there too. When I was little my parents uses to fight a lot. When their fighting got too scary for me, I would run out here and climb on the tree. Its grown crooked so that you can sit on it and dangle your feet in the water, but its wide enough to just lay there if you want.
                          
"We're here." I whisper. I'm surprised at the feeling inside of me. It's as if little birds are pressing against my ribcages trying to break through, making me nauseous. I think I'm....nervous ? But why would I be nervous? Its just Mat. I can't help the feeling though and it doesn't help that he hasn't said a word since he took his hand off his eyes. "Well," I ask, "What do you think?" I bite my lip, anticipating his answer. Mat look around and instead of awnsering me, walks up and touches a vine attactched to a tree. 
                          
Oh God, he hates it. He probably thinks its the most ugly thing he's ever seen! Oh hell...I'll take him back home and say it was a joke, I'll-"I love it." Mat says, his voice hushed. "How did you find this place?" He walks to the edge of the bank and sits, taking off his shoes. I'm hesitant. Should I tell him about my parents or not?
                          
Deciding against it, I tell him,"I was riding my four wheeler, to look for one of my dads trail cameras? I heard the water and came to check it out." I step closer to him, irrationally afraid he'll hurt my secret haven. "You cant tell anyone about this. You and I, we're the only ones that can know." I haven't even shown Katlin yet. Maybe it was a bad idea to bring him here.
                          
Mat nods and stands up,"What's that?" He point to a couple boards laid across the banks. Blushing, I walk towards my tree, explaining as I do so. "I was going to build a bridge, because I get my shoes wet crossing the creek. I don't know how to build a bridge though so..." I tail off, walking up the trunk with my arms out to the sides for balance. The rough bark digs into my bare feet and I suddenly wish I'd brought shoes. He laughs and tells me that he'll help me build one sometime. I doubt he will, I won't bring him back here.
                          
Mat gets up and walks to the base of a nearby tree, sitting down and putting his toes in the water. He doesn't say anything, but it looks like he's thinking hard about something. He has a wrinkle in the middle of his forehead and he's biting his lip. I sit down sideways on my tree and lean down to pull up my jeans. "Why are you being so...nice, today?" He blurts out, I can feel his eyes on me. If I don't give him a good enough reason, he might get suspicious and ask Katlin. She can't keep a secret from him though, he's too nice to her. 
                          
I bite my lip and finish rolling up my pants legs, dipping my feet in the chilly water below. I take my time thinking of an awnser and watch some small fish race each other. "Well...I realized I haven't been the best girlfriend to you lately. So I wanted to make it up to you." I turn and give him a small smile, lying through my teeth. "I care about you, I want to do this." Ha! Yeah right, like I would care about him, or anyone but Katlin for that matter. Mat grins at me, his crooked front tooth catching my attention. He gets up and trys to walk smoothly up to my tree, he fails though. He tripped on a patch of thorns and, although I can see his leg bleeding, he walks up the trunk and sits down next to me, chuckling slightly.
                          
"I care about you too." He smiles, carefully holding my hand. I allow it, but I don't know how to feel about what he's doing. I've never really had a boy hold my hand before, we skipped that step. "I'm glad you trust me enough to show me this." What? I don't trust him! "Thank you, I really do love it. Its beautiful here." I nod and look over at him. He's looking at the fish underneath us and smiling. I never noticed it before, but he has long eyelashes for a boy. It looks like he has freckles on the corners of his mouth too, I've never seen that before. I guess I was too busy making out with him to actually appreciate him. 
                          
"Come on," I let go of his hand, getting up to leave. "We have to get back for supper, then you're leaving right?" He sighs, the moment he thought we had, broken. "Yeah, I guess so." We walk back to the Kabota in silence, I like to think we're too busy avoiding thorns rather than it being awkward. Mat climbs in first on the passenger side so I walk around the back, looking in the tailgate at the food I planed to eat with him. I had been so eager to finally show someone my secret place that I totally forgot about it. After climbing in beside him, I turn the key. A loud clanking sound is all that can be heard. Its not what we're supposed to hear, its supposed to turn over smoothly and we leave, never to come back here again. 
                          
Sighing, I get out and motion for Mat to do the same. I stuff my hands in my back pockets and look at the ground. "I guess we're walking back..." He groans,"But its so far away!" I punch his arm. "Stop being a wuss, you can walk a couple miles. If PE won't kill you neither will this. So start walking, cupcake." He frowns but does as he's told. I walk alongside him, looking back at the Kabota every now and then. It should be fine, no one comes out here, nothing to worry about but the deer and other....wildlife. 
                          
***
                          
Its about a thirty minute walk back to the house, with Mat tripping on every little thing. I'm the one without shoes here! I should be tripping, not him! I can count the times I'd had to pull him out of a bush. Six, to be exact. I thought boys were supposed to be athletic. 
                          
"Eve, I can see your house!" Mat yells, running to catch up to me. No shit sherlock, its right behind the gate. "Yeah babe, I can see it too." He gins at me,"Why dont we just climb over the fence instead of going through the boring gate?" I guess Mat's feeling a little unmanly and wants to prove he's still got his man card. I shrug. "I'm not going to, but you have fun with that. I'll see you on the other side." Walking over the little bush thing in front of me I can hear him saying something about how he's the mountain man and he's going to 'conquer' that fence. 
                          
I unchain the gate and step through, letting it close before putting the chain back. Hearing a loud yell and a cry for help I run down the fence line, getting smacked in the face by tree limbs in the process. When I get to the source of the cries, I double over in laughter.
                          
Somehow, Mat has gotten down to about an inch off the ground, but his pants are snagged at the top. Thats not the funny part though-he's sporting Dora boxers! He frowns at me, his face red with shame. "Stop laughing! Dora is boss okay?!" He tries to justify himself but he's only making me laugh harder. His bottom lip pokes out. "Quit laughing and help me down for gosh sakes!" 
                          
I get off the ground and wipe my eyes, my sides still hurting from laughing so hard. "Okay okay, down get your Dora's in a bunch!" I giggle a little while he facepalms at my lame joke. I climb the fence to the top, using my toes to get a better grip. Taking out my pocket knife and holding onto the fence with one hand, I cut him loose and his pants rip. I can clearly see his Dora the explorer boxers and start laughing again.
                          
He huffs and walks towards my house, his hands on his butt to cover them. One day down, however many left to go.