Tam's P.O.V.
I had a really big problem. Not just any problem, but a really big one. I had planned everything out perfectly for our date, but then the stupid restaurant people canceled our reservations! Now, I had no idea what to do. Was that even legal? How could they just cancel my reservation? It seemed completely unfair. And now, I had a date with absolutely no plan. Should I tell Biana? I wondered. She was very good at solving problems. But then again, I didn't want to disappoint her.
"Um, Tam? Are you okay? You've been standing still for the past few minutes..." Biana said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just give me one second..." I had to make a decision. It was now or never. I should probably tell her the truth. That was the right thing to do. But was it? Maybe the right thing to do was to not burden her with this huge problem. It was a big dilemma. Normally, I did pretty well in decision-making, but this was such a ginormous decision!
I sighed. I didn't want to start my relationship with Biana with a lie, so I decided to just tell her the truth.
"Okay, so here's the thing, Biana... I set up these reservations!" I started off. "But then the stupid people canceled it," I muttered.
"Oh. Well, it's not a big deal!" Biana assured, cheerfully. "I mean, it's not the end of the world. Their loss for losing the best customers ever." A smile started forming on my lips.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. So I think we just... Decide as we go along?" I suggested.
"That sounds fun! We can be spontaneous."
"But not too spontaneous." I shook my head. "We don't want to be like Keefe," I murmured.
"Oh, stop it!" Biana said with a smile, playfully batting my arm. "So where do you want to go now? I suppose we could go anywhere. Within the city, I mean."
"Well, I'm a little hungry. We could still go eat dinner."
"Didn't you have that pizza Keefe brought?" Biana asked. I shook my head.
"I didn't have time to eat it. And besides, I wouldn't eat anything Keefe brought anyways." Biana looked at me with her head cocked.
"Why not? It's not like he would poison it."
"Yes, but he has this chest full of pranking supplies... And I'd rather not chance it."
"Hmm, good point! Now, where should we go for dinner?"
"Well," I said, thinking about our options. "There aren't many restaurants around here. We could just walk around until we find something." Biana seemed deep in thought before a mischievous grin appeared on her face.
"Or..." she said, "we could totally spy on the other dates!"
"Uhh, are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked. It seemed like a very bad idea to me.
"Of course! We have to do this!" she squealed. "We can go to the shops and buy all the spy equipment!" I still wasn't exactly convinced. Biana seemed to notice this as a twinkle of amusement came into her eyes. "We could spy on Linh and Dex..." My ears perked up at that.
"Really? That would be interest- No! No, we can't! It's wrong," I corrected myself. Biana crossed her arms and pouted.
"Please? Please, please please???" she begged. "It'd be such a fun first date!" I thought it over in my mind. I really did like Biana, and if this was what she wanted to do, then I suppose I'd be okay with it. Plus, I'd get to make sure Linh was alright...
"Is this really what you want to do?" I asked.
"YES!" she confirmed, loudly.
"Okay then, if you really want to, we can spy on them."
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Biana exclaimed, throwing her hands around me. She released herself a few seconds later and smoothed out her dress. "If we're going to do this, we're going to do it right."
10 minutes later...
"What in the world...?" I drifted off as I saw Biana bouncing back from the store. She had 3 very large bags but was carrying them easily.
"Look at all this great stuff I got!" Biana exclaimed. "Here, put this on." She handed me a pair of goggles.
"Uh, no thank you... I don't need goggles. I can see just fine."
"It's night vision goggles. You can see in the dark that way," Biana explained.
"Okay... But it's not dark yet. It's only... I think around 5?"
"Hmm, you're right. We'll save those for later," Biana agreed. "Now... Who to pick first..."
"Linh!" I exclaimed immediately. I clamped my mouth with my hand. "I mean... We could pick Linh. And Dex."
"Good choice," Biana said with a knowing wink. "I think I overheard them on campus. Linh was squealing about some sort of planetarium?"
"Isn't that a place where you can see the stars and planets and stuff?" I asked.
"Yep, it's really cool. It's completely dark so all the light from the stars is even brighter!" I thought about that for a second. And in that second, I realized something terrible.
"It's completely dark?" I exclaimed. "As in no light?"
"Uh, yeah. I think... Dex actually texted me about it. He got these awesome reservations so they could watch the show together."
"So... They're in the dark, with no one else around, on a date. This is HORRIBLE!" I shouted.
"Really?" Biana asked skeptically. "It seems cute. I can just imagine them there, gazing up at the stars..." She sighed happily.
"No, not cute! Very, very bad. We need to hurry!" I started walking quickly, then came back.
"Realized you have no idea where the planetarium is?" Biana guessed. I turned slightly red before nodding. "Don't worry, it's not far from here." Biana took her bags and led the way. Soon, we were standing in front of a large dome-shaped building. It was made of glass, which seemed highly unsafe.
"What if the glass breaks?" I asked Biana.
"It's probably really strong. Maybe bulletproof?"
"Huh. What if it melts?"
"I'm sure that's not a problem, Tam. The sun is very far away. Now let's hurry!" Biana made her way inside and wove through the visiting guests with ease. I did my best to keep up with her, but she was really swift and fast. It was mesmerizing.
"We're here!" she announced. Then immediately lowered her voice. "Look! There!" She pointed towards 3 people standing in front of a door. Linh, Dex, and a lady with her hair in a bun.
"Looks like they're in some sort of argument," I observed. Then Dex showed the lady some sort of piece of plastic, and the lady let them in.
"Ha! He showed her!" Biana whisper-shouted. "Now, how to get in..." She looked around the room for anything that might be helpful.
Finally, after a full minute had passed, she decided, "We need a distraction." As quietly as possible, Biana rustled through the items in one of the bags, then pulled out a small computer. She typed a few things in, and the lady moved away from the door and stepped into the elevator. Shortly after, the doors closed and she started descending.
"Quick! Before she comes back!" Biana exclaimed, almost pulling my arm out of its socket and running towards the door. She opened it slowly, then stepped inside. We silently moved towards the back of the room and crouched behind some chairs.
"How'd you make her move?" I whispered.
"Oh, just a trick Dex taught me. I just connected the computer to her earpiece and issued a warning that there was an emergency and she had to go downstairs."
"Wow. That's... Crazy. Seriously? How did you even hack her earpiece?"
"A hacker never reveals her secrets. Now we just wait until something happens!"
"Hopefully nothing," I mumbled. I stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, but nothing happened. "When will it-" I was interrupted by a big flash of light, followed by a transformation. The plain, dark ceiling turned into the night sky. Stars twinkling everywhere, and the planets shining with such clarity and detail.
"It's beautiful," Biana breathed.
It really is, I thought. And so are you.
Biana's P.O.V.
This was such a great idea, I thought. And seeing Linh and Dex so happy together was amazing! And- I stopped in the midst of my thoughts as I noticed they were about to kiss. Time to distract Tam! I exclaimed in my head. I tackled him to the ground and covered his eyes.
"HEY!" he exclaimed.
"Shh!" I whispered. Aww, I thought as I watched Dex and Linh. They're so cute!
"Uhh, Biana! I'm kinda stuck down here." I grinned and looked into Tam's silver-blue eyes.
"And is that a bad thing?" I teased. Tam rolled his eyes, but I could see a smile on his lips. And before I could stop myself, the words came tumbling out.
"Tam, I really, really, really love you. So much." I closed my eyes, bracing for rejection. But it never came.
"Open your eyes, Biana," Tam said. I slowly opened them.
"I love you too." I smiled the biggest smile I have ever smiled in my entire life. And that was saying something, considering I had smiled a lot of times over the course of my life. I leaned down and kissed him, with a smile still on my lips. When we broke apart, I gazed into his eyes for a few more minutes.
But finally, I rolled off of him and crouched back behind the seats.
"Not that I didn't enjoy that, but why'd you tackle me?" Tam asked as he dusted himself off.
"Oh, uh, false alarm. I thought they saw us." Tam raised his eyebrows but said nothing and returned his attention back to the couple. And I turned my attention back to him. Tam was such a great guy. I was really lucky. Sure, he was a bit negative at times, but he really was a sweet guy. And now I knew he loved me! It was the greatest feeling in the world. I closed my eyes happily for a few minutes. But then, before I knew it, I opened my eyes and saw two figures looking at me. I frantically sat up and looked for Tam. He was right next to me, in a deep slumber.
"Uh, what are you guys doing?" Linh asked.
"Oh um, nothing, we were just looking at the stars..."
"Crouched behind the back seats and asleep?" Dex questioned. Yeah, there was no way out of this one...
"Okay, I admit it. We were sort of spying on you. But it's all okay! Because, well, you guys can now join us and we can all spy on Keefe and Marella next!"
"You were spying on us?" Dex exclaimed. His eyes drifted to Tam. "Uhh, for how long?"
"Pretty much since the beginning. But no worries, I tackled him before he could see anything." Dex looked visibly relieved. "Now, are you with us?"
"EEEK! Spying? That sounds fun!" Linh squealed.
"I had a feeling you might think so," I replied.
"Yeah, I guess since Linh wants to go, I'll tag along," Dex added.
"Great!" I exclaimed. I turned to Tam and shook him awake.
"What? Where are we?" he asked sleepily.
"Yeah, we got caught. But it's fine since now we'll all spy on Keefe and Marella together!"
"Okay," he replied. He was obviously still half-asleep since he didn't ask any more questions.
"Let's go!" I stood up and pulled Tam up as well, and we all walked out of the room. The lady was still there.
"Wasn't there just 2 of you?" she asked, confused.
"Um, no?" I replied. "We were all here. Remember?"
"I don't..."
"Well, would you like us to ask your boss to see the security cameras to double-check?"
"Oh, no, I suppose," she answered, obviously not wanting to take that chance. "I remember now. Enjoy the rest of your day." I nodded, and the four of us walked into the elevator, down to the first floor, and out of the building.
"So... Any ideas where Keefe and Marella might be?" I asked. But before anyone could respond, loud laughter came from our right side. Just at the end of the block, two people were rushing out of the building, extremely messy and dripping with some sort of liquid.
"Uh, I think I found them..." Tam replied. We slowly inched closer as they started talking and laughing. Then they hugged and kissed.
"I did not need to see that," Tam whispered to me.
"I think they're cute," I responded.
"You think everything is cute," Tam pointed out.
"And you know me very well," I replied. Tam smiled a little, before looking back at the two messy figures. Soon, we were close enough to see just how messy they were. Tam let out a snicker upon seeing Keefe's hair, covered in some sort of gooey mixture.
"This is a great opportunity," he noted, before getting his phone out and taking a picture. The flash was on, and Keefe noticed, giving us away.
"Bangs Boy? What are you doing here?"
"Uh, certainly not spying on you guys," Tam responded.
"Oh. Okay. Then why are you here? Did you guys have the same date planned? Woah. What a coincidence! But you do not want to go in there. There's this angry french chef and we left the place in a total disaster. It's was crazy, but also super-" Marella rolled her eyes and interrupted.
"Keefe may be an idiot, but I'm not. They were obviously spying on us."
"Really?" Keefe asked.
"Really," Marella confirmed. "Why were you guys spying on us anyways?"
"Why are you covered in goo and powder?" I asked.
"Keefe just explained it."
"That was a real story?" I asked, shocked.
"Yep. It's been one crazy date!" Marella exclaimed. "What did you guys do?"
"Linh and I went to the planetarium," Dex answered.
"He gave me clues and everything! And a lightbulb. It was amazing!" Linh added.
"And Biana somehow convinced me to spy on everyone with her," Tam replied.
"It's been great so far!" I squealed. "Now, do you want to help us spy on Sophie and Fitz?"
"Ooh, yes!" Marella agreed.
"I wonder how Fitzy's date is going... I guess we'll find out," Keefe said. "I'm in." I smiled.
"Okay, back to campus!" I announced.
Back at campus...
"Why are we here?" Marella questioned. I put my finger to my lips to indicate we should be quiet, then motioned for them to follow me. We came to a stop in front of a bunch of vines. I sat down in front of it, and everyone else sat down next to me. Slowly, I moved one of the vines out of the way, revealing Fitz's secret hiding place. It was obvious he'd take Sophie here, and it was also really cute. They were currently asleep, leaning against each other in front of the big tree. I grinned at the sight before turning back to my friends.
"The date was a success," I whispered. "Sophitz is official!"
"I knew they'd be such a cute couple!" Linh squealed. Everyone nodded in agreement, even Tam. And looking at everyone right here, I wanted to freeze this moment forever. It was perfect. And I wasn't sure if we'd get another one as perfect as this one. I never wanted any of us to drift apart. I'd love Tam forever, but friends tend to fall apart as the years go by.
"I want you all to promise me something," I said. "No matter what happens, we'll always be friends forever." Everyone looked into each other's eyes and nodded.
"Always," we said in unison.
And I knew that this friendship would never, ever, break apart.