I couldn't contain my excitement! I was officially back to being in a relationship and I wanted to climb to the top of the Science Museum and tell the world. Or maybe I should just tell Facebook.

I couldn't wipe the boy-crazy look from my face. Correction: Sean-crazy. It just felt so amazing to act without pretending, analyzing and plotting every single minute. When he held my hand I felt like I was struck by a lightning bolt and the earth shattered (although to be fair, that was what we were looking at when it happened, the lightning and earthquake simulation). I squeezed his hand just to make sure it was real. Bliss drizzled down on me like rainfall.

We sat down at one of those small booths for two which allowed you to see a short documentary in private. Sean pressed the screen and some fuzzy Greenland huskies came on. He fumbled at the control button but no sound came out.

"I think the speaker broke down," he said.

Who cares? I pulled his face towards me and kissed him savagely.

He let me roam around his mouth for about five seconds before he broke away in embarrassment. "Flora, I want to kiss you too, but this make-out corner you found really isn't as private as you think."

I traced his face with my knuckles. "I can't help it. You're so incredibly cute."

"I don't think it's healthy to expose these small children to so much tongue," he whispered as he glanced around. "I'll look for the next dark corner to do it."

He put one arm around me and I leaned back on his chest as we watched the huskies run around the ice field. Their white fur quivered in the arctic wind, in silence. Happiness washed over me quietly, soothingly, like waves against the sand.

This is one of the most compelling moments of my life, I decided. Just being with him, feeling him breathe and listening to his heartbeats, while we watched animals together, not talking but totally connecting. Sean drew circles on my shoulder absently and I rested comfortably in my designated snuggle spot. I had worked so hard to get this position back.

I sighed dreamily when the short film had ended. "This is the most romantic date I have ever been on."

"The science museum? You're a dork, Flora. I can't let people see me with you," he joked.

"It's not because of the location. It's because I never thought I could have you back again."

He turned to face me and I knew he felt the same. He said it anyway.

***

I suggested we went to the gift shop and picked out a small souvenir for each other, but the museum wasn't Saks Fifth Avenue and there really wasn't much to pick from. I settled on buying a postcard with a gigantic blue brain printed on top with the caption big brain and hoped he would not laugh at me. On the back I wrote him a short letter.

"Dear boyfriend,

I'm having so much fun and this is only the first stop! You are awesome and I like you so much, even though you only have three pairs of shoes and I'm tired of all of them. You are the only person that can make the Science Museum fun.

My heart rushes towards you the way electrons are attracted to the nucleus of an atom. I'm sorry I have more mood swings than an octopus stimulated by a high definition TV screen. It's just that I'm a bit nuts around you.

No matter what happens in the future, I hope you'll remember this day with a smile and know that once upon a time you made a girl ridiculously happy."

Ok I definitely needed to work on my writing skills. Or I would ask Carmen to draft it.

I searched for him and saw him from across the shop, and I was just in time to see a girl blatantly checking him out and giggling with her friend. I observed this with great interest as the girl approached him. As a newly-established girlfriend I did the only thing acceptable: edge closer and eavesdrop on their conversation.

Sean was looking at some stone collection and she pretended to do the same, then she made her move.

"Hello there," she greeted. She was very pretty!

He lifted his eyes at her briefly and replied with a terse hi.

Only Sean would get hit on at a museum shop! I was so full of pride. I admired the girl's courage because he looked less than approachable, and he could be intimidating when he didn't smile.

"Did you enjoy the exhibit? I like the butterfly room the most."

"It's not bad." He smiled the kind of smile I had become familiar with, the kind that indicated he really didn't feel like smiling but felt he had to in order to remain socially acceptable.

She tried coaxing more out of him and he ended the conversation without longing. He had started looking at different colored minerals and stones, and the girl tried again. "Are you interested in rocks?"

"No," Sean said. "I'm picking a gift for my girlfriend."

"Oh, okay."

I felt a bit sorry for her. I almost wanted to give her a pat on the shoulder and tell her it's definitely not her problem. He could have been a little nicer although that was kind of his sop. I got plenty of those from him in sophomore year too. He gave her another half-hearted smile as she left, and I joined him after he got whatever it was he had been looking for.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just my boyfriend?" I said in an exaggerated tone. Boyfriend was quickly replacing luxury to become my favorite word in English.

"You saw that?" The edge of his eyes crinkled up. This kind of smile was reserved for me. "I was very well-behaved."

"You didn't find that girl pretty?"

"Yeah, she was actually very pretty. I'm going to find a way to get rid of you fast, then I'm rushing back to ask for her number."

I laughed. "Well, did you enjoy the exhibit?"

"I like the documentary about Greenland huskies the most," he said, echoing my thoughts. "I'm very interested in learning about them but it ends too soon. The butterfly room sucks because there aren't any dark corners."

"Good answer." I smiled and slid my arm around his waist, steering him away. I loved how different he was around me.

The King was meant to be admired and respected from afar. People generally liked him because he was smart and good-looking, but I had been so privileged to know the inside scoop. How endearing he really was. How sweet and funny he could be. He breezed through school with nonchalant detachment, and although he was never mean or snotty like Sandra, he didn't make small talk with people unless he had to.

He was not the kind of guy who offered to show the new kid around or made an effort to help someone with a jammed locker.

Unlike my Prom King friend Raymond who traded popularity by being friendly, who said goofy lines out loud in class and sought attention, who handed out his niceness like a merchandise, Sean hid his wits and charm, and those of us who were lucky enough to see it just couldn't get enough of him.

I felt like a Starwood Platinum Preferred Guest; elite and exclusive.

Sean said he wanted coffee so we sat down at the museum café. My king was addicted to caffeine. He read my postcard over the steam that rose from his mug and smiled in amusement.

"Wow, my very first love letter from you," he said with a happy beam, waving the card lightly in the air. "Thanks. I didn't expect key words like electrons and octopus to pop up, but it's very nice."

"Hey, I was paying attention and learning. I didn't know octopuses can have mood swings before today."

"I didn't either." He handed me a small paper bag. "Don't laugh."

On the bag he had scribbled in sharpie, "To the mysterious girl who fell from the sky: you hit me harder than a meteor." Inside was a small piece of fake black stone that tried to be passed off as a real meteor.

I laughed. "You are so cheesy."

I loved it. Meteors had also replaced diamonds and became my new favorite kind of rock.

***