This Is Why

C H A N C E

chance

- (n) a possibility of something happening

My friends were up to something. Something about me.

Even though we were all in a circle facing each other, they were still able to whisper among themselves and leave me out of the loop. I hid my annoyance by laying down on the grass and covering my face with my arms.

They had invited me over, saying something about enjoying the last two weeks of summer by chilling in the park. I was expecting at least running around and playing with frisbees or something; but apparently to them, enjoying meant sitting on the grass and talking about who knows what.

I was just about to doze off when someone poked me on the side. I peeked through my arms and saw the mischievous smile on Yoshiki's face. It looked like trouble.

"Oh, Phoebe," he said in a singsong manner. "What say you to a date next week?"

I groaned and covered my face again. "Wake me up when you make sense."

Yoshiki jabbed my side again. "Come on, Phoebe. Hear us out!"

I let out a sigh and sat up. "I'm listening."

Yoshiki opened his mouth to say something, but Kate interrupted with "We're setting you up!"

I laughed humourlessly. "No way," I said. "No thanks."

"Come on, Phoebe," Yoshiki urged as he draped an arm around my shoulders. "The guy we're setting you up with is one of my best childhood friends."

"And he's a really nice guy," Yuji added. "He has three sisters and they all adore him."

"He's very friendly. He won't care if you're awkward or whatever because he's good at conversations."

"He's really chill too," Yuji said. "He plays the guitar and I think you guys share the same taste in music."

Yoshiki nodded and squeezed my shoulders. "The most important thing is that he's into nerds like you."

I groaned at Yoshiki's insult and shrugged his arm off me. I tried to look as annoyed as possible as I looked at all of them.

"You guys are a million things, but you aren't exactly the best matchmakers." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"What are you talking about?" Kyle scoffed. "We got you and Miles together."

An awkward silence fell on all of us as Kyle's words hung in the air. Everyone's eyes kind of shifted away from my face, and if the situation were different I would have laughed at their expressions.

"Well," I said with a chuckle, trying to dissipate the tension. "Look how that turned out."

Yoshiki let out a small cough, a sorry excuse for a laugh, but at least they all visibly relaxed.

Kyle blinked at the ground, but Ayumi squeezed his hand then smiled at me.

"I think what we're trying to say is that you should just give this a chance," Ayumi said calmly and everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Yeah," Kate added in a soft tone, not the teasing tone I was used to. "Don't close yourself off just yet, Phoebe."

And that's how, a week later, I ended up standing in front of all of them in my pre-date, wide-eyed, and jittery state.

"This is just like watching a little sister grow up," Yoshiki commented, snapping a few pictures with his phone. "I'm so proud."

"How would you even know?" Yuji asked as he reached up to pat my hair. "We don't even have a sister."