"Who else is gonna be there?" I asked her, turning back to my phone to scroll through messages. Mason, amateur radio and podcast hosts that somehow got my number, people I've worked with in the past... it was gonna take a while to spit through all of these.
"No one," Trisha said, but she had a tendency to change her tone when she lied. But to mention she asked me and didn't immediately run to Mom or Dad once she got her first no.
"I'm not driving you unless you tell me."
"No one," she said, though she clearly held back the rest of her sentence.
"Okay then," I said with a shrug.
"'Okay' as in you'll drive me?"
"No. As in you don't need a ride apparently."
"Just Sam's brother," she then said.
"Oh, you know I'm gonna need more than just 'Sam's brother'."
"But—" She looked at me, wanting to protest, but she changed her mind. "Fine," she said. When I looked up from my phone, she was standing in my doorway with her arms crossed, shaking her head in annoyance. "His name is Travis Evans, he's sixteen, lives near the beach, about my height, he's blind in one eye because of some skateboarding accident... is that enough?"
"The same Travis from—"
"We made up," she interrupted me. "Everything is cool."
"And you want me to drive you there for some double date or whatever?"
She nodded.
"Fine," I said. "But I'm picking you up before sundown."
"Yes, thank you Oakley!" she said, running towards me and hugging me like a little kid. "Oh, by the way, how was your date today?" she asked, not yet having let go of me.
"I didn't have a..."
"You came home all smiley with freshly baked cookies."
"I didn't have a date," mumbled, doing anything in my power to stop myself from smiling as that would give me away. I looked down at my phone, pretending to be busy reading important messages. Instead, I was just staring at them, not even trying to read them, as I scrolled through.
Thinking about it, it was kind of a thing we did have to do now. Go on a date. I should ask him out.
"Sure," Trisha said, her eyes boring holes in my skull. "Good night, in case you're gonna hide yourself up here all evening."
"Fine, good night," I said, looking up at her, a small smile still somehow managing to force itself onto my lips. Her expression mimicked mine, but I could tell she saw right through me.
"Dumbass," she said, shutting the door loudly.
I immediately looked back at my phone, looking for Nolan's contact, and then I texted him.
You:
I had fun today
•••
The next morning, everything felt like a dream. The only reassurance I had that it wasn't, was our text exchanges.
Nolan:
You asked me out, remember? You decide
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The Obscure Downsides of Fame
General Fictionᴏᴀᴋʟᴇʏ ᴄᴀʀʀɪʟʟᴏ was discovered at fourteen years old, being praised as a musical prodigy by the media ever since. His fame had only increased until now. At nineteen old, he's the most remarkable musician of his age, and he's only getting started. At...
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