Chapter 10

“Rock, paper, scissors!” Delilah and Maree yelled.

“Aw man, why you always win, Maree?” Delilah squirmed.

“Hehe, the heavens above want your beautiful face to greet the Cooksey boys.” Maree winked.

“Ugh, fine.” Delilah groaned, although secretly stoked for the mission ahead. The girls had hatched a plan to invite the boys to the local market this Sunday, where they would get matching bracelets and ‘accidentally’ hold hands when they rode on the scary rides.

As Delilah and Maree began to walk up the Cooksey’s driveway, they looked to each other knowingly, as they were both about to explode from anxiety, excitement and fear.

“Maree!” a familiar figure beckoned to Maree.

“Oh, come on, dad, way to ruin a moment,” Delilah groaned. They had barely set foot onto Cooksey territory.

“Come here. Now.” Their father said sternly.

And Maree obliged.

“Maree, what the hell?” Delilah called out to Maree. It was odd for their father to be so insistent, but even stranger for Maree to turn back without an ounce of hesitation or resistance.

“I’ll see you later, sis. Good luck!” Maree hollered.

As the two disappeared back into the house, Delilah stood on the Cooksey’s driveway alone.

“Ah, whatever,” she muttered to herself before knocking on the door, butterflies swelling in her stomach again as she reminisced how beautiful the Cookseys’ dimples were; the brief moment of perplexity earlier fell to the abyss of her mind.