Strike One

Chapter 13: South Lyon - not the most romantic place in Michigan

Chandler's Point of View:

After practice I'm literally running back to my apartment to take a shower, brush my teeth and look halfway decent for Whitney. I don't want her to think I'm a slob baseball player. I don't even need to go and clean out my car like Luke would have to do if someone was going to be riding shot gun. I'm a prodigy of my mother in that aspect of life, everything is clean and tidy. I spray on some cologne and take a quick once over in the mirror (wearing a Michigan baseball T-shirt and a pair of dark Denim jeans with my Chuck T's) My parents have money, yet school clothes shopping I was just a simple Jeans, T-shirt and Converse wearing individual. Simple, is the word I would use to describe myself. Actually, Easy is the first thing that came to mind, but that makes me feel cheap.

I quick call my parents to inform them I will be coming home and bringing Whitney with me to grab my extra bike for her. My mother is incredibly excited because apparently my "so called" best friend Lex has already informed my mother all about the extravagant Whitney. I try my hardest to inform them that this is not a date, but that I'm bringing her over as a friend that needs help getting from one class to another and that they both need to respect that. I tell them too more about her background that her mom is in Wisconsin and about her father again so that they steer clear of that topic.

I decide I should get over to Whitney sooner rather than later, we don't want to hold up my parents nor do I want to keep her from her studies or a good night’s rest prior to the game. I jump into my Jeep Wrangler and proceed to head toward her dorm room that is about 3 minutes away from my apartment. I don’t know why I feel so nervous to be this close to her for this period of time, or to bring her to my parents, but here I am, nervous. Once I'm safely into her dorms parking lot I send her a quick text informing her I am here. She sends one immediately. I decide to make sure that everything in my Jeep is tidied up. But who am I kidding? That is never a problem for me, my Jeep is clean and tidy. Luke likes to tell me that I run a tight ship, in truth that’s absolutely correct, however - I tend to believe I just really like order. My mother is a perfectionist much like I am.

My parents are incredibly successful within their career. My Mother Debora Decker is the second leading cardiac surgeon in Michigan, only behind my father David Decker who is number one. This is an ongoing joke between the two of them who is better, when in reality, my father is 2 years older and so he has more surgeries under his belt - otherwise, I believe they would be both in that number one spot. Regardless, the University health system is incredibly lucky to have them. My mother is also an educator and brings residents under her wing while she performs surgeries etc. My father, he doesn't have that type of patience’s unless its dogs he teachings. (That makes me laugh in my car)

When I look up from my miniature laugh session, I see her come out of the Dorm and she is more beautiful than ever. Her hair is wet and tied in a bun at the back of her head, she must have taken a quick shower after practice just as I did. She has on a Michigan Baseball T - and I know she is not wearing that for me as it is her father’s probably, it still makes me feel a sense of pride that this

girl is wearing a shirt that I compete in. She finishes her outfit with a pair of drawstring athletic gym shorts - and this part makes me smile. She is not most women. She is confident in the way she looks and doesn't feel the need to alter her appearance for anyone, this is a major turn on for me. She is that comfortable to be able to dress the way she wishes and be comfortable around me.

She opens up the passenger side door, "Hi, are you my uber driver to South Lyon? I need to obtain a bike for my between class transportation," she jokes. I laugh, "get in!" She smiles and plops down in the passenger seat. I realize now that when she goes to put on her seat belt, she will have a hard time. My Jeep is an older model and has some quirks about her, one being that the passenger seat belt gets stuck every once in a while. It needs to perfectly go in, in order to lock it. She is struggling so I lean over the center counsel to help her secure her belt for our adventure north. I place my hand atop of hers and grab the locking mechanism and slightly pull the strap and line it up perfectly. I then apply a solid jerking motion into the locking mechanism which secures her in place. I didn't realize at the time how close this would put me near her.

She smells heavenly. It makes my mouth water... she smells of raspberries and mint (probably from her mouth wash or toothpaste) but it is mouth water none the less. When I lean back into my seat, I notice that her cheeks have turned my new favorite shade of red, she was also affected by my closeness - this is not just me. Thank God. I put the Jeep into drive, and we take off, she is watching out the window until we are out of Ann Arbor and heading up 23 North toward South Lyon when she suggests we play a game. "Let's play a game that will help us to get to know one another. I will say a word, and you tell me about your favorite with one-word answers. For example: Flowers, I would say Daisy. Does that make sense?" I shake my head in agreement.

"Alright, I'll go first":

Food: Pizza or Tacos, I can't decide.

Movie: The Sandlot

TV: Sports Center or Food Network

Animal: Dog, Black Lab

Book: Heads up Baseball

Sport: Baseball, but I enjoy watching football

Hobby: running or being with my family

Color: I like red these days.

Job: Doctor, I don’t know?

"Alright, my turn Whitney,"

Food: Pizza

TV: Friends

Movie: anything from the 90's but Can't Hardly Wait comes to mind.

Sport: Baseball

Hobbies: Sleeping hahaha

Color: Purple

Book: Girl Wash your face, or anything from Coleen Hoover

Animal: Dog or Sharks

Job: Something Criminal Justice-y

We both laugh at her last answer. She claps her hands together, "Okay, lets now do dislikes following the same dialog, I'll go first again,"

TV: Ugh, The Bachelor (My mom’s is obsessed)

Movie: Marley and Me or My Dog Skip

Music: Country I hate it.

Class: Economics - I hate numbers

Sport: Umm. I don't really hate any but I'm really bad at Hockey even though I tried really hard at it.

Animal: I am terrified of grasshoppers; they scare the s**t out of me. Have you seen their legs?

We both laugh at my response. "Alright my turn then"

Music: I don't hate any really - I listen to podcasts, so I guess I dislike monotone readers?

TV: I'll agree with you on the Bachelor, I hate reality TV

Movie: Parent Trap - It pissed me off that they separated those kids.

Sport: Baseball - I'm jealous i love it and hate it I don’t get to play baseball.

Animal: Mosquitos - I hate those fuckers.

Job: Kids on YouTube making a living - it pisses me off too.

We both laugh, this was an incredibly great way to determine who the other person was and what their likes and dislikes were. I find that I feel like I know Whitney better after this short 30-minute drive than I truly know Lucas, and we live together.

My parents live in a subdivision right off 23 in South Lyon East School District. We round the corner and I pull into my family’s driveway. It’s a large house but matches every other house on the street. Her mouth is agape, and she is in awe. She goes to unbuckle her seatbelt, but I already know she will struggle with getting it undone just as she had trouble getting it on in the first place. I lean over again to assist her on the issue and her breath hitches, I hate to admit that it turned me on, but it did.

I lean over and kiss the side of her head while I unbuckle her belt. I then lean back into my seat and watch her cheeks turn my new favorite shade. I inform her, "I'm sorry, you just smell delicious." To my surprise she jumps out of my Jeep almost as fast as I told her she is delicious.