Page 17 of You've Found Oliver

“As long as you didn’t run any red lights.”

“Only a couple.” He winks at me, obviously joking. Then he takes a look around and says, “You guys have a lot of bridges around here.”

“I can give you the exclusive tour,” I say. “But I was thinking we could grab coffee first. There’s this place in town you’ll like.”

Ben smiles. “Can’t wait to try it.”

There’s so many things I want to show him.

Ellensburg might not be as big as Seattle, but there’s still plenty to do around here.

Sun and Moon is a short walk from campus.

Thankfully, there’s only a few people inside.

We order our drinks and find a table in the back.

Ben says the café reminds him of a coffee shop near his apartment.

He glances at the hand-painted sign on the wall.

“Sun and Moon,” he says out loud. “Wonder how they came up with the name.”

“Maybe the owner was an astronomy major,” I say.

“Sounds like a better use of the degree.” Ben takes a sip of his latte. “Have you ever thought about opening your own café?”

“I’m more of a donut shop guy.”

Ben laughs. “That reminds me.” He removes a small box from his bag and sets it on the table. I don’t have to open it to know what’s inside. “From the bakery we went to last weekend. I promised I’d bring you some more. You said your favorite place closed down, right? I couldn’t show up without it.”

“You remembered?” I take a look inside the box of pastries. There’s even a chocolate croissant. “I actually have something for you, too. But I didn’t bring it with me.” I went back to the pottery place this week. I painted a cluster of stars on a tea plate. “I can grab it when we stop by my dorm.”

“What is it?”

“You’ll find out later. Just promise you won’t hate it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.”

We finish our drinks and make our way out.

The temperature has cooled a little, but it’s still a nice walk through downtown Ellensburg.

Some of the shops have their doors open, displaying clothes on the sidewalk.

We stop by my favorite record store and take a look around.

Ben finds a Born to Die vinyl that’s practically brand new.

He thrifted a vintage record player a few months ago and is building a collection.

I make a mental note of this for the future.

Then we grab some ice cream across the street and continue our walk.

Ellensburg doesn’t have much of an art scene, but there’s a mural of a phoenix rising from the ashes outside of the Davidson Building. It symbolizes the rebuilding of the town after the Great Fire burned most of it down in 1889.

“How did the fire start?” Ben asks curiously.

“Phone charger. A real hazard back then.”

Ben rolls his eyes and walks off. I love making him laugh.

There are a few more shops we could check out, but I want to take him somewhere special.

Especially after he took me stargazing on the rooftop.

There’s this endless golden field just outside of town.

Julie took me there once before. I bet he’s never seen the stars more clearly anywhere else.

But there are more clouds today than I’d expected.

So I’ll save it for another time. Thankfully, I have another place in mind.

There’s a dirt path at the end of the street, leading to the main hiking trail, but that’s not where I’m taking us now.

We go off the path, cutting through trees until it comes into view.

Sunlight bounces off the mirror-like surface of the lake.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been back.

Ben glances at the water and back at me.

“I’m guessing this is your secret spot,” he says.

“I’m trusting you’ll keep it that way.”

Sam and I used to spend the summers here, lounging on the grass.

It doesn’t take long for the memories to return.

If I close my eyes for a second, I can hear his voice echoing through the air.

Admittedly, it’s a little strange to be here with Ben instead, but I wanted to show him something different from the city views he’s used to seeing.

Ben stares at our reflection in the water. “Do you come here by yourself a lot?”

“It’s actually been a while.” I slide my hands into my pockets. “It’s a lot nicer during the summer. I like to pretend it’s my private lake in the Hamptons.”

Ben smiles. “If only we could go for a swim.”

I glance at the clouds above us. “I was hoping it would be warmer. Although I have jumped in when it was snowing.”

“Oh, really?”

“It was an accident,” I admit. “The lake froze over and I wanted to see if I could stand on it. Turns out I was…heavier than I thought.”

“And how did you get out?”

“A friend was with me. I probably should have listened to him in the first place. He was pretty upset with me afterwards.” I was sick in bed for a week, but I decide to leave that out.

“I’m guessing it was Sam.”

“Yeah, it was. He was the one who showed me this place.”

Ben nods and stares at the lake again. I stand beside him, taking in the world around us. I remember there being more flowers in the springtime. Maybe I’m misremembering things.

“My brother and I used to go hiking a lot,” Ben says out of the blue. “Back when we lived in Sacramento. Sometimes, we went out way farther than we were supposed to. I remember finding a place that looked like this. I kinda forgot about that memory until now. Haven’t thought about it in years.”

“So you have your own secret lake?”

“Or maybe it’s the same one,” he says, looking at me. “And we’re just entering different portals to get there.”

I think about it. “How would we test this theory?”

“I’ll have to show you mine. So we can compare them.”

“How scientific.”

“It’s been so long I hope I can find it again.”

I smile at the thought of this. The two of us taking a trip together. I would honestly go anywhere with him. Maybe that’s how you know you’re falling for someone. When you don’t care what the destination is.

We stare at each other for a long moment. His hair is almost glowing in the afternoon sunlight. I resist the urge to run my hand through it. I wish I had kissed him that night on the rooftop. Maybe this is my second chance to do it. I swallow my breath and lean forward—

But his phone goes off.

“Sorry, that’s my alarm—” Ben turns it off.

“What’s it for?”

“It’s a reminder to look at my research fellowship application,” he says. “But I’m practically done with it. It’s with the European Space Agency. I’m hoping to work at this observatory in the Netherlands.”

“That’s sounds cool,” I say.

“I didn’t get it yet. But we’ll see.”

“I’m jealous you already know exactly what you want to do,” I admit. “I can’t even decide if I should sign up for a meal plan next quarter.”

Ben slides his phone into his pocket. “I guess that’s a nice way of looking at it. But there’s always a trade-off, right?”

“What kind of trade-off?”

“For one, I didn’t have any friends like Sam or Julie growing up,” he says. “I spent most weekends alone studying in my room.”

“Well, you’re not alone anymore,” I say. “Now you have me.”

“I wish we didn’t live far away.”

“That hasn’t stopped us so far, right?”

Ben smiles again. “No. It hasn’t.”

If we were going to kiss, the moment is gone.

At least for right now. We still have the rest of the day together.

I check the time on my phone. We should probably head back into town soon.

I still need to give him a tour of campus.

We hang around the lake for a moment longer.

I hadn’t really thought much about why I wanted to bring Ben here .

But I think I just needed to see it again—and I didn’t want to be alone.

On our walk back, I turn to him and say, “I’m glad you came today. If I didn’t mention that already.”

“Wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”