-Tristan-
"Someone's in a good mood today, huh?" Grey said when I finally reached the tabl e. "Any reports?"
I settled in the empty space beside Justin and said disbelievingly, "I feel like I'm close-effin' close, man. I think I just need a little push to get her."
I was still stoked over the fact that Kylie had actually enjoyed yesterday. I'd made her happy somehow-I couldn't believe it-and she made me the happiest I'd be en in a while. And take note, she'd been the first one to break the silence and say admit what she'd felt, which had taken me by surprise, since she hardly ever did that. I'd thought she would be tremendously furious because of the last thi ng we'd talked about yesterday. Today, though, she still seemed to have been as naïve as ever.
God, I wanna know what she thinks.
"Yeah? How can you say that?" Grey asked.
A smirk slowly spread across my face. "She's getting apprehensive on a whole new level," I replied, my vision growing distant as I recalled her strange reaction s these days. Maybe it was something. "So I guess you can say things are getting quite serious."
"And you're getting delusional," Justin mocked, throwing a piece of fry at my he ad, which I quickly evaded.
"Boy, that's gotta be one hell of a bad omen," Ryo supplied, who was busy slurpi ng his weird-looking, jelly-like, green-colored drink or whatever it was. I swor e this guy always brought the strangest crap to school.
I glared at them. "That isn't a bad thing, is it?"
"Yeah, it is," Ryo hooted. "She doesn't dish out, which means you're never gonna date her or get shit. Have fun in the friendzone, brother." For the record, Ryo , who was known as the most oddball person in the group, had said something matu re and at least shown some sense, even though it ignited a little bit of my anno yance.
"I think Ryo's right, T," Justin added. "In spite of all your efforts to the con trary, it actually seems like you've become a complete non-sexual entity in her eyes, like a friend or a lamp."
"Look, what you just said is offensive to Kylie, Justin. Kylie doesn't think in that kind of way, got it? And neither do I towards her," I said; exasperation wa s clear in my tone. "Call that the friendzone or any other frickin' misogynistic term you guys use, but I'm not gonna back down on this one."
Reaching her someday was a thing I'd sworn to myself.
And they say, "With great power comes great responsibility". Hopefully she will, one day, be my responsibility.
"That's the Tristan I know." Grey beamed. "What's life without a little risk, ye ah? Am right?"
No one reacted to him. Justin and Ryo merely exchanged looks.
"Don't say we didn't warn you. That zone really sucks, man," Ryo said, shaking h is head miserably. It was kinda frightening to see him unusually dramatic like t hat, like an actual love-drunk person. "You know how unfair it is, even if Ronni e looks like she's after you-I don't know. I still like her."
"And her watermelons," Grey supplied, nodding enthusiastically as if he had the best feeling in the world.
"Mmm, yeah. That wonderful category of fruit."
Poor guy. Ryo had been extra friendly to Ronnie in previous exchanges-treating h er to lunch, letting her copy his assignments and all that-in hopes of getting a chance with her someday. Unfortunately, that day had never come.
"Oh, suck it up and move on with your life," said Grey, slapping him on the back .
However, Justin seemed to be the only one who still wasn't convinced by my answe r. Jeez, what was up with this guy?
"Dude, there are a lot of girls out there who are so into you. Your world should n't revolve just around her. She's not even that attractive or anything," he tol d me with a frown.
Huh, no one will ever know...
I took a deep breath. "There's something about her that I can't ignore, that kee ps me hanging on," I answered unhesitatingly. "And the other girls don't have th at-that thing." I shook my head. "I don't know if that makes sense."
"That is so deep, man," Ryo breathed.
All of a sudden, Clark appeared at our sides, looking all hyperactive and fluste red. "Guys, guys! Listen," he exclaimed, his huge eyes shifting everywhere. "I c an't believe I just did it."
"Did what?" I asked.
He was practically bouncing on his feet, throwing his fist in the air with a wid e grin plastered on his face. It had been a long time since I'd seen him looking as overjoyed as he was now.
"I finally asked her out," he responded breathlessly. "And she said yes, dude! A freakin' yes! Can you believe that?"
"Ooh," the others chorused and began congratulating him, giving him the usual fi st-bumps.
Whoa. My mind had been blown by that statement. That guy had really done it, huh ?
A smile started to form on my face as Kylie's image manifested in my mind once a gain.
I could totally see her reaction to this surprise.
-Kylie-
"YOU SAID WHAT!" My hands slammed on the table, making every plate and plastic c up jump into the air. Julianne had to hold her strawberry shake in place before I could knock it flying.
"Sis-"
"Clark Young asked you out?"
"Kylie-"
"Without running to me first?"
Lacey sunk down in her seat, her eyes glistening as if she were about to burst o ut crying. My blood was boiling at the top of my head, and I bet it would erupt any minute now. But who could blame me? I'd just heard something completely unex pected! It was driving me insane!
"Julianne..." She turned to her side, begging for support from the redhead.
Julianne's arms encircled my sister. "Shh, Lacey. Everything's gonna be fine, gi rl," she said sympathetically. "It's not our fault your sister's so cruel."
"It's just a date, Kylie. You need to stop reacting like that," Ronnie said afte r sophisticatedly slurping her tea. And yeah, I wasn't kidding - she was here at our table again. "Besides, you should totally consider Lacey a lucky girl. Othe rs would probably die just for that chance, you know. I mean, who wouldn't date a complete cutie like him?" She giggled.
"Maybe she's looking for Nicholas Hoult." Julianne grinned at Lacey.
I let out a grunt, making my expression as flat as possible. That wasn't the ans wer I'd been looking for.
"When did he ask you out?" I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Like, thirty-five minutes ago," Lacey mumbled, her lips forming a pout.
"A long time ago, actually," Julianne muttered, and Lacey quickly nudged her, sh ooting a glare.
I slumped down in the space beside Ronnie with a heavy sigh. The shock brought b y the news was giving me so many headaches.
"I don't think this is a good idea, Lacey," I said.
"Huh? No!" she wailed.
"Oh, ouch," Ronnie remarked.
"Don't bring that subject back up, Ky," said Julianne, since she knew the rule I 'd set with Lacey.
"You can't stop it anymore, Kylie," Lacey persisted. "I already said yes to him. "
And that statement was a bomb.
My hand automatically pressed against my chest as I pushed myself away from the table. "Why didn't I know that? Why didn't you tell me first?" I cried out, my n ostrils flaring with incredulity. "And you said yes without thinking twice about it? That was fast!"
"I've actually thought about it dozens of times, Kylie."
"Lacey, you barely know the guy."
"But he's really nice!"
"How do you know he's a nice guy?" I asked. "You don't know his family or anythi ng about him except that he's popular around here and is a friend of Tristan. Th ose aren't very good qualifications."
Ronnie and Julianne's gazes kept shifting between us; they might have been feeli ng the growing tension as well.
"Clark and I have been friends since I entered high school, and although we're n ot hanging out that much, I still can tell that...he just is! And anyway, I'm go ing out with him, not with his family."
I raised my eyebrows at her. I wasn't trying to be mean, honestly; doubts were s till circling in my mind. That was all.
"It's not like I picked him up on a street corner someplace." Lacey stared at me with a flash of determination in her eyes, something I seldom saw in her. "He's not the type that smokes around or throws beer cans in the street. I know he's a nice guy, Kylie. Besides, isn't the main point of dating to get to know more a bout each other?"
Well, she'd somehow been right on that one, but I didn't give any reaction.
She sighed and lowered her head. "You just don't want me to have any fun," she m umbled.
"No! It's not like that. I am eager for you to have a good time, it's just that-" I paused, trying to find the right words to explain it. "You know, I-I just-"
"I can handle myself," Lacey said defiantly, answering the question I hadn't eve n asked yet.
I face-palmed. As she'd said that, so many what-ifs had suddenly run through my mind. For example, what if some bad guy came across her path and Clark couldn't be there to save her? He may have shared a name with Superman, but he definitely wasn't a hero! If I were in that situation, I would simply kick the bad guy in the nuts and smack him in the face with a sledgehammer or something. But this wa s Lacey, and I highly doubted she could fight anyone. She couldn't even kill coc kroaches at home!
Yet seeing her set expression, as if her mind was screaming, "You have to let me go", I couldn't help but think twice about my decision. After all, she was sixt een already, and the small talk I'd had with Erik a while back flashed through m y mind. He'd certainly had a point there.
Lacey was mature enough to know a nice guy when she saw one.
I cared for her safety, but I admitted that I also didn't want her to be isolate d from the others, like, you know, Rapunzel, who'd been trapped in a high tower. ..
Oh, my God. I'd just realized that I'd been like the wicked witch around my sist er all along.
"When will it be?" I asked, trying to tone down the sharpness in my voice.
"Um, this Saturday." She bit her lip.
I sighed. "So you have one day left to prepare yourself."
Her eyes lit up upon hearing my words, and she automatically sprang up out of he r seat. "Really? For real?"
"Stop asking me that before I change my mind."
Her lips broke into a wide grin. "Oh, my gosh! Thank you! Thank you!" Lacey lean ed across the table, and I had to pull away before she squeezed me in a tight be ar hug.
"Whoa, calm down," I said, trying to prevent myself from laughing. "You're forge tting one thing, Lacey-you have to inform Mom, okay? She has to know about this. "
"Definitely will!" And there she was, getting giggly and excited for her great d ay. All the worries on her face had disappeared and been replaced by pure joy.
"Finally, that settles it," Ronnie chirped.
"I somehow knew from the start that Lacey would win." Julianne shook her head wi th a smile. "And wow, I can't believe I managed to stay quiet for that long."
Lacey stopped doing her happy dance, and her face slowly began to fall as if a s udden realization had just entered her thoughts. "Oh, no..." she gasped. "What a m I supposed to wear that day?"
I snorted. Was that really a huge issue? "Lacey, you have a closet full of cloth es, like, more than a lot of girls in our neighborhood."
"Well, that's the sort of thing I'd expect to hear from Mom," she answered.
"But it's true! Look, why don't you put on that pale blue dress you always wear outdoors? You said it's your favorite."
"Definitely not. It's an old thing, and besides, Clark has seen it already."
I frowned. "How about that new pink dress you bought two weeks ago, then? He def initely hasn't seen that one."
"It won't do, either. It's too dressy," she said with a blasé shrug.
I couldn't take any more debate over this girly stuff, knowing I would be beaten in the end, since this wasn't exactly my field.
Lacey bit her nails. "Oh no, and somehow I need to lose five pounds and get a mi crodermabrasion."
The hell was that?
Ronnie gasped. "Oh. This is a huge emergency, then!" Worry was clouding her and Julianne's eyes.
I looked at them curiously. "What emergency?"
They glowered at me. "It's a fashion 911, Kylie," they said in unison, annoyed t hat I couldn't join in on their fun.
I raised my hands. "Jeez, don't get hard on me. I'm not a very fashionable perso n, as you can see. I don't even know what microorganism is, or whatever you call that thing."
"It's microdermabrasion, Ky. Like, exfoliating your skin or something," Lacey sa id with a small smile, rolling her eyes.
"Whatever," I said. "But I don't think you have to spend too much cash on this, you know. It's just for one event, right?"
Ronnie nodded. "Kylie's right. You don't have to waste money on a completely new wardrobe, Lacey," she said, and then snapped her fingers. "Oh, I have an idea. Listen, how about if I lend you my dress? I bought it for myself, like, last Sun day. I haven't worn it yet. Tags still on and everything."
Lacey's mouth hung open. "Really? You will? Is...is that okay?"
"Uh-huh, but I'm not sure if it fits you, so...why don't you come over my house and try it on?"
"What about your parents?"
"Oh, don't worry, they won't mind. So, my place after school? Oh, after my cheer leading practice, I mean."
I didn't know what had come over her or why she was being the ultimate nice pers on to us on a completely new level, but since she was helping Lacey with her dil emma, I just shrugged it off. As long as Lacey was happy with it, that was all t hat mattered.
Lacey looked at Julianne and I, pleading for us to come with her. My eyes turned to my best friend, and she simply shrugged, smiling her approval. And that was how it was decided.