Miss Me Not

Boy you're texting illiterate. It's a winky face. D

Flipping my phone to the side, I tried to make out his "winky" face.

Where's the nose? I texted.

Got eaten by shark attack. D

Nice. This looks more like a winky face to me ;o) I pointed out.

Well, you'll have to let the honchos over at Facebook know. They have a whole line of smiley emoticons missing their noses. D

That's despicable. And they call themselves a cutting-edge company. I texted, smiling. I could see myself getting used to the whole texting thing.

Funny. I'll be there in five minutes. D

K. I texted before stowing my phone in the oversized front pocket of my hoodie.

I was waiting on the front steps of our porch when he pulled into our driveway a few minutes later.

"Good, I was going to tell you to wear a jacket," he said, taking in my hoodie. "We'll be outside the majority of the day."

"Where are we going?" I asked, climbing into the front seat.

"One of my favorite places, baby," he said, putting the jeep in reverse.

"Seriously?" I asked, knowing exactly where we were headed.

"It's time to broaden your horizons," he grinned at me.

I returned his grin. Smiling still felt awkward, but I was slowly getting used to it. The hour-and-a-half drive passed quickly as we talked about the movies from the night before. I wound up coming clean about zoning out during the action movie, so he spent the majority of the drive going over the plot. I sat back with my head against the seat listening to him. His warm radio voice washed over me as he walked me through the entire plot in his typical animated way. He was a born commentator.

I actually began to feel butterflies in my stomach from the excitement as he pulled off the highway, following the signs leading us to our destination.

"Here, my ticket's in there," he said, handing me a worn leather wallet. "We get free parking with the preferred tickets my parents buy," he explained as I handed over his ticket while he pulled up to the parking booth.

"Would you like preferred parking?" the attendant asked.

"Sure," Dean said, handing over a five and waiting for his change.

"Turn your hazards on and follow the signs for the preferred parking," the attendant said, handing over a ticket. "Have a nice day."

"You too," Dean said, switching on his hazards as he followed the signs leading us to the preferred parking.

"I thought you just said you get free parking?" I questioned.

"We do, but you can pay the three dollar difference for preferred parking and get even closer."

Trying to act cool, I tried to control my gawking as he drove up the ramp leading into the parking garage. Signs from different movies designated the parking areas. Keeping his hazards on, Dean followed the parking attendants who were directing traffic into the Spider-Man section.

"Ready?" he asked, switching off his hazard lights and placing the parking slip on the dashboard.

"Absolutely," I said, opening my door.

We walked hand in hand, following the crowds of people as they boarded the escalator-style moving walkways. I tried to pull us in the direction of the nonmoving sidewalk that ran parallel with the moving walkway.

"Whoa," Dean said like I'd grown an extra head. "Trust me, you take the free ride when it's offered," he said pointedly, hopping onto the moving walkway. I shook my head and walked on the sidewalk beside him. I'd grown accustomed to walking.

Several moving walkways later, we entered City Walk, which was the hub connecting the two theme parks together, the original Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.