"So, what do you think of San Francisco so far?" I ask. My arm drapes around her shoulders. I don't know why I did it, it just happened. I can feel her body stiffen as my arm lays there. My first thought is: Wrong move, Theo, but after a few minutes, when our steps have fallen in sync, her shoulders loosen and start to relax.

Her soft pink scarf wrapped around my neck lets off her scent. I exhale with my mouth pretending to be cold even though I'm actually really warm, and bury my face into her scarf with my free hand just to smell the scent of her.

"It's good. I like it a lot and I can see myself living here," she answers.

Jokingly, I become cocky and reply, "Of course you like it! You can see yourself living here because I'm here, that's why you moved right?"

Cassidy rolls her eyes, "That's exactly why. 'Cause I can't live without you!"

I laugh and squeeze her shoulder. Whether it is intentional or not, she slips her arm inside my jacket and puts her arm around the area of small of my back and my waist. I can feel the cold temperature of her small fingers that lay on my side, occasionally gripping at my t-shirt.

"What about you?" Cassidy asks suddenly.

"What about me?"

The wind blows around us becomes a little harsher. I pull her closer to me ad we huddle along the streets of San Fransisco. "What's your life story?"

"Well, recently turned seventeen—October twenty-second. I have two younger sisters and one younger brother. The youngest is ten, that's Lauren. She's definitely a people-person, and she'll love you. Then there's fourteen year old Elle. She's kind of emotional... Well, I guess I could put this way: she has mood swings, but she's not bipolar. She's happy, but then if something happens, she'll overreact—make a big deal out of it. The point is, she's friendly when she wants to be. And last but not least, Asher. He's a sophomore, on the football team, and has a thing for girls. Don't worry about him though, I'll make sure he doesn't lay a finger on you. Anyway, they'd love you."

Did I just hint I want her to meet my family and that I'd protect her from my brother in an indirect statement?

"Yeah, I'd love to meet your family. They seem really nice," Cassidy says. "You still haven't answered my question though."

"Right. I'm seventeen with three siblings. I'm captain of the lacrosse team, I love to read—"

"Whoa! Theo, you read?"

"Ha ha, very funny. Yes, I read," I assure. "I hang out with my family, my friends. Just the basic things teenaged boys like to do."

Cassidy slowly nods. "A normal and basic, yet cocky teenaged boy."

"That's me," I confirm.

We continue to walk casually along the sidewalk of the San Fransisco. We walk in silence, not because we don't want to talk to each other, but because we're enjoying the moment. The silence between us and the sound of bikes, the ocean waves, slices of different conversations you overhear of the calm environment is relaxing.

"Whoa," Cassidy mutters, her jaw dropping. I look down at her confused at what she's looking at. I follow her gaze to the Golden Gate Bridge.

"I know. Beautiful ain't it?"

Cassidy merely nods as she stares at the bridge.

"This is Fisherman's Warf. The Golden Gate Bridge connects San Fransisco to Sausalito," I say, pointing from one end of the bridge to the other, "There is Alcatraz, a former prisoner facility on an island."

"This is amazing! I mean, it's one thing to learn and know of the bridge and Alcatraz, but it's a a different thing to actually visit them yourself," Cassidy gawks.

"Yeah. It weird because when you live near such an important and popular, uh, thing—"

"A landmark?" Cassidy corrects.

"Yeah, that. But if you live near it for so long, you aren't really impressed with it like everybody else who's visiting it for the first time. To me, it's just another bridge, to you it's a jaw-dropping sight. I don't know, sorry, I'm just having words come out."

"No, no. I totally get it... But wow!"

"I know, right?"

When I was younger, my dad took me out every other weekend to Fisherman's Warf. We would sit on the waist-height stone wall and look out at the rolling waves and the everyday lives. I was blown away by the beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge. Before I visited the bridge in person, I use to tell Dad that I imagined it to be made of gold. Why else would they name the bridge the Golden Gate Bridge if it want made of gold? Of course when I eventually visited it, I was disappointed, but I was still dumbfounded.

"I clearly remember the day when I visited it for the first time. I was then when Dad told me he had a surprise for me. He woke me up very early in the morning.

"Hey. Theo?" Dad whispered into my ear. He lightly shook me.

"Mmm. What?" I grumbled.

"There's a surprise in store for you. But we have to go now," Dad explained.

That got me awake. I was impatient to get my gift and was out of bed and out the door with Dad five minutes later. Mom was still asleep when I walked by her bedroom. I could hear the rustling of the sheets when she moved.

"Ready?" Dad asks, standing near the front door. "We have to drive there first."

I slept in the car and it felt like five minutes had passed when Dad cut off the engine. We were parked in a parking lot somewhere I didn't recognize. It was still dark outside, but I could see the glimpses of light that started to peek through the dark sky.

"We'll wait here, watch the sunrise, and you'll surprise will come," Dad assured. I looked at the clock on the dashboard: 6:49 A.M. I groaned and reclined my seat and fell back asleep.

"Hey, Theo." My eyes opened. "Look."

Dad pointed ahead and there it was: the Golden Gate Bridge, right in front of me. Sure, I was disappointed because it wasn't made of gold, but it was amazing. I sat up in the passenger's seat. The fog hung around the bridge with the sun lighting up the sky and painted it a pink and orange color. I stared at the bridge with awe. Each end of the bridge was hidden and looked like it was being eaten at both ends by the dense colored fog. Just beyond the bridge, I could see the faint outline of Sausalito. It was probably the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

My mind drifts as I remember my first encounter with the bridge. "Beautiful," I senselessly mutter. I find myself staring at Cassidy, who has a weird expression on her face. I snap myself back into reality, "What?"

She shakes her head and walks toward the water's edge. My lower back shivers where her arm had rested.

I follow her just a few paces behind. The asphalt ground changes to a sand, which is impervious to our footprints, not disturbing the flat and leveled ground. The ocean's waves roll calmly, crashing gently on the sand.

"Can I ask you a question?" Cassidy asks, her eyes steadily watching the water.

"Shoot." I follow her over to the same stone wall I sat on with my father.

Her eyes continue to focus on the waves. "What'd you do to get the girls all over you?"

"What?" I am totally confused at what she is talking about.

"You know, at school?" I offer a sideways glance, my brow furrowed. "Oh, don't act like you don't know. I walked passed you an your friends at school. Obviously you couldn't see me, your back was facing me. You had this grin on your face, like you just got finished from laughing. Then a crowd of three girls do this weird catwalk over to you, flip their brown and blonde hair for flirtation. She whispered in your ear, then walked away."

"Are you secretly implying you're jealous? And why were you standing there watching me?"

"I wasn't, I was walking toward you," Cassidy clarifies. "And I'm not jealous, I met you the day before. You and Kristina were the only people I knew!"

I chuckle, "You're funny. And amusing."

She continues, "Thanks. To be honest, I could basically say you and Kristina are my best friends because you're my only friends. So, I guess we're both in the best friend zone."

I nudge her playfully with my elbow. "Yeah, I guess so."