"What the fuck are you wearing?" River asked as I got into his car.

"Athletic shorts and a top. What's the problem?"

"You look like a highlighter," He said, and he did have a point. I was wearing neon shorts, a neon shirt, and neon sneakers, while my hair was pulled back with a neon ponytail holder.

"Whatever. Maybe I wanted to look this way," I said as River started the car.

"Yeah, right."

River and I were going to Bounce-air, an indoor trampoline park with lots of different trampolines, a trampoline dodge ball court, and foam pits. It was my first time going to a place like this, and I was bouncing up and down in my seat from excitement.

When we got there, we signed waivers and got our special socks on. I was amazed at how big the place was. It had trampolines in almost every inch of the building.

River and I were the only people our age that were there. The fact that that made us stand out made me a little uncomfortable, but I pushed through, telling myself that nobody gave a shit. I also knew that I was making up for lost experiences as a child, and if I wanted to do this, I would have to do it while I was still young and able.

"Can you do a flip?" River asked before doing a front flip.

"Woah!" I said as my jaw dropped open. During the Olympics, I watched plenty of gymnasts doing flips, and River was nowhere near their level of ability, but even a simple flip impressed me.

"It's not that hard."

"It looks difficult."

"Just try it."

"I could break my neck. Or my leg. Or sprain my ankle. Or die."

"If you die, I'll let you haunt me in the afterlife," He grinned.

"Deal." I did as he said and stood on the trampoline. I took a few jumps to build up speed and attempted to flip over in the air.

I failed miserably.

River laughed so hard he had to grab his side.

"Why do you always laugh at me?" I whined, hoping nobody saw my attempt at a flip.

"Because you look ridiculous," He said. River stood over me and gazed down at me on the ground.

"Whatever," I said, taking his hand and getting up.

"Try again."

"No. Not if you're going to laugh at me again."

"I won't."

"I don't believe you."

"Why not?"

"Fine," I said, knowing he was still going to laugh, but I was only pretending to care, so I gave in.

I tried it again and failed. I could tell that River was trying to hold in his laugh, but he couldn't.

"See. That's why I can't trust you."

"I'm sorry, Lani."

"What the fuck did you just call me?" Nobody had ever called me that before.

"Lani."

"Why?"

"It's short for Alani."

"I realize that. Why do I need a nickname, though?"

"I don't know. Alani is too many syllables."

"Don't call me that again," I said, knowing he wasn't going to listen.

"I think I'll call you that even more," He said, proving me right.

"You better not. Can we go to the foam pit?"

"Yeah," He said. The pit had squishy blue and green cubes that looked fun to jump in and that the other kids there were enjoying. After waiting in a short line, River did a double flip into the pit.

I attempted another flip, thinking it would be easier in the pit, but it didn't work out the way I anticipated. I landed on my head, causing my feet to stick up in the air as my head stayed submerged in the foam cubes. I knew that River was laughing without even looking at him. After climbing out, I went and stood next to River, embarrassed because everyone in line had seen me fail.

"That was very graceful," River said, smiling.

"Shut up."

"We can try dodgeball?"

"Okay," I said. Once we got to the dodgeball trampoline area, we were put on the blue team by one of the workers.

"Go easy on the kids," I told River.

"I will," He lied. One thing that I was learning about River was that he was a competitive person when he wanted to be. He didn't go easy on the kids at all, constantly throwing balls at them and getting them out.

We played until it was just a kid that had to be in middle school and us.

"You're going down," The young boy said.

"Yeah?" River asked, grabbing a ball.

"Yeah," The kid said before throwing a ball and missing us by a mile. River retaliated by throwing a ball back at him and getting him out, making us the game-winners. I couldn't care less about the game, but River was excited that he beat a bunch of kids in dodgeball. I rolled my eyes.

"Excuse me," A small girl, who had to be under eight years old, said, tugging on River's shirt. He immediately changed his demeanor and crouched down beside her.

"Yeah?"

"Can you teach me how to play? You're really good," She said.

"Of course," River said before handing the girl a ball as the next game began.

"What's your name?" The girl asked.

"River."

"Like the water?"

"Yeah," River laughed.

"That's cool."

"What's your name, sweetie?"

"Amy."

"Here you go, Amy," River said before handing her a ball.

My heart melted at the sight of River teaching the girl how to aim and throw a ball. I could only hope that my future husband would be that good with our kids.

"That was sweet of you," I said on the way out of the trampoline park.

"She was a fast learner."

As we drove back to my dorm building, I thought about how lucky River's future wife was going to be.

*****

I spent all of Thursday studying. Now, it was Friday night, and I knew that River would have something fun planned for us. I was proven right as I sat on my bed and looked down at my phone.

River: You're going to your first party tonight

Smiling, I texted back.

Alani: Okay. Will you pick me up?

River: Yep. 9:30.

I got off of my bed and looked at the time. It was already 8:45.

"Where are you going?" Nadia asked.

"A party. Do you want to come?" I asked, figuring that River wouldn't care if she came. Even though Nadia's initial impression of River was terrible, they got along now.

"Of course!"

"Okay. River will pick us up at 9:30."

"That's in 45 minutes," She said.

"Yeah, let's hurry."

Nadia applied her makeup as I got dressed.

"Woah," She said, coming out of the bathroom and seeing me.

"What?" I asked. Was there something wrong with my outfit?

"You look hot," She said as I looked down at my black crop top and shorts. Both items of clothing were tight and showed a lot of skin. It was a bit out of my comfort zone, but this is what people wore to parties, and if I wanted to "fit in," I would need to wear something like that.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked.

"No! You look great!" Nadia exclaimed.

We continued to get ready until we both looked like bad bitches prepared to take on the world. Nadia and I had done darker makeup than we usually did, and we were both wearing short shorts and crop tops.

"Let's go party!" Nadia said as we left the dorm.