f o u r s t a ge s o f f a n g ir l i n g
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Character Picture: Savannah
Video: PLAYING MATCHMAKER'S NEW TRAILER WOO WOO WOO
Who likes the new cover? Feedback would be lovely :)
Okay, I'm ready for the major fangirling in:
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Delilah's Diner was nearly empty when Tyler, Austin and I had arrived there. I was expecting a huge crowd since Saturday lunches at Delilah's are usually packed to the eyeballs with students, couples or old people on their weekend dates. Delilah's is a fairly large diner, but we do go through slow periods every now and again. Today must have been one of them.
"Hey Delilah," I smiled warmly at my boss, who was slouched behind the front counter tapping her pen on the marble surface. Delilah looked up, and immediately a smile grew on her lips. Even though she would never admit it, I've always been her favourite worker.
"November," Delilah only calls me by my full name much to my protests. "Fancy seeing you here."
She was probably curious as to why I was here on a Saturday when we are all usually here on Sunday's instead, for our group lunch. It's a tradition we have had since we first started High School which we had never broken – only if someone is out of town, or injured, which is a very rare occurrence.
"We came for the nuggets," Austin popped his head out from behind my back, sunglasses still perched over his eyes. He looks kind of like a detective, but the clothes he is wearing suggest otherwise. He looked like he had just woken up, even though he had spent all morning whining about the loss of internet connection. I'm not kidding you. His hair is an absolute mess, and he is wearing similar sweatpants to mine – I'm thinking that I may be wearing men's at the moment due to that fact – and a black shirt that is too tight for him. He is trying to pull of the 'just woke up, still cute though' look to impress the new girl.
Speaking of the new girl.
Savannah Devereaux, namely Delilah's one and only daughter, is the new worker. She's got the same kind of attitude as her mother – vibrant, crazy but highly flammable, meaning she has a temper. But, she's genuinely a really nice girl, mixed with a lot of sarcasm and sass. Savannah, to put it simply, is gorgeous. Even though she is two years younger than me, I envy her so much.
Austin seems to notice this as well, and clutches onto my wenis so hard it feels like he's going to pull it off. Thank god wenises don't hurt when you attack them.
Sav, as everyone calls her, has shoulder length brown hair and angular, pretty features with dark brown eyes. Her eyelashes are enviable – they're so long – and she has a really good natural figure. See? How can you not envy her?
Delilah laughs at Austin, "Thank god we have the ingredients to make enough to feed you three pigs." Austin snorts, proving her statement. I nearly face palm, because he is such an idiot – especially in front of a pretty girl. "Sav, you're on lunch break, you can go have lunch with them if you would like?"
Savannah smiles brightly, "Well, that's an offer I cannot refuse."
Delilah sends me a wink, eyes casting in Austin's direction. I realise then that she is playing my job – matchmaker – and setting my poor, helpless brother up. "Chop chop Austin," I stab him in the back with my purse, "You want me to pay for your chicken nuggets? Go and make friends."
It's just Tyler, Delilah and I left now. We all watch Savannah and Austin walk over to a spare booth, sitting either side of it. They look so awkward, but cute together. Oh god. My brother is growing up. It feels like it was a day ago that he first learned how to poop in the toilet and not on the floor like our family dog, Cinderella. No doubts on who thought of that name.
"They're growing up," Delilah sniffs quietly. I face Delilah again, watching as she smiled reminiscently at Austin and Savannah. Delilah had told me all about her husband. They were childhood sweethearts, fell in love, got married and had Savannah. He died though, fighting for our country. Delilah misses him so much, some days I see her come to work with a sad smile on her face, thinking about all the memories with him.
I would hate if that happened to me. Nothing would be worse than losing someone you love.
"Did you hear about Austin's new role?" I ask to drop the subject I know she is mulling over in her head. Delilah shakes her head, so I continue. "He's going to be in this huge movie, lead male actor as well. I have no clue how he landed that, but I'm so proud of him regardless."
Delilah squeals loudly, "Oh my gosh! Next thing you know he'll be the next Hollywood heartthrob."
"I wouldn't count on that," I laugh, "He's absolutely clueless when it comes to girls."
Delilah waves her hand, "He's only sixteen, and he's still a baby. Anyway, you guys better go sit down; I have some paperwork to fill out."
"You mean Facebook stalking," I laugh, knowing that Delilah is just making excuses.
"You know me too well," she clicks her tongue, "Nice seeing you two," she waves a hand between Tyler, who had been silent the whole time, and me. "If you want anything, just get Savannah to take your order and hand it to the chef. I'll give him a heads up about the shipload of chicken nuggets that need to be made."
With that, Delilah disappears out the back to inform the chef, Douggie. Douggie is a nice old guy, and he cooks up some mean feeds.
"I don't know if I want to sit with them," Tyler bites his lip, staring ahead at Sav and Austin. They're talking animatedly to each other, so divulged into their conversation they're barely even blinking.
I laugh at the sight. My brother looks like such a little kid, with his wide eyes and slightly agape mouth. "Sounds like a good idea," I nod, "We'll just take that booth then." I point to the empty one two down from where my brother is. Sav can just come over to us, or I can write down our orders and give it to Douggie.
We both take a seat in the booth, and I immediately reach for the menu, even though I know every single dish on it. "I'm thinking we'll have nuggets for entrée, nuggets for main and nuggets for dessert, perhaps?" I say in a poshy accent with my back so straight it looked like someone had stuck a pole up my butt.
"That sounds perfect," Tyler mirrors me, "Fancy a milkshake?"
"Perhaps," I pause, "Yes."
This is the thing about Tyler and I. We can act like total idiots, and not be embarrassed the slightest. I feel so comfortable around him. Being around Tyler is infections. I could just tell him everything and anything under the sun and I know that he will listen, same if the tables were turned.
I'm halfway through my lunch – nuggets, salad and a creamy chocolate milkshake – when Tyler interrupts my rant about how some people don't understand that when the light at an intersection turns green, it means go.
"Will you go on a date with me?"
I choke on my nugget. "What?" I ask, surely I heard different.
"I said," he cleared his throat nervously, "Will you go on a date with me. Please."
I'm shocked. No, shocked isn't even the word. I don't want to sound too eager, so I slowly chew on my nugget, 'thinking' about the situation in my head, even though I know the answer to his question that just made my day. Proof that, I could, even without makeup and wearing hobo clothes, can still get asked on the date. I'm glad he can see through the just-woke-up-ness, because I surely can't.
I mean, my messy bun does look like a saggy boob, after all.
I stare at Tyler, who is looking so nervous. It is the cutest thing I've seen all year, perhaps ever. He'd finished his nuggets way before me – I'm a slow eater – and only had a tiny bit of milkshake left in his cup, and was purely devoted to listening to me going off in a tangent.
"Well," I tap my chin, "I guess it wouldn't hurt."
The biggest smile creeps onto Tyler's face, and he looks like he's about to blow up with happiness. I try to conceal the 'MWAHAHAHA' inside of me, but with the amount of butterflies – more like elephants – in my stomach, I'm finding it hard to. Does anyone else get the temptation to MWAHAHAHA whenever something good happens? No. Okay, I'm weird. Not that anybody didn't know that, though.
"You won't regret it," he fist pumps.
"Is it that hard to ask me out on a date?" I laugh at the way he is so goddamn happy. Seeing him happy makes me happy and vice versa, I guess.
Tyler gives me a flat look, "You do not realise how hard it is to get out of the friend zone, do you?"
Oh. I friend zoned him? Well, that was purely unintentional. Without a doubt.
"Oops," I smile sheepishly, hiding in the sleeve of my sweater. "Purely unintentional, I swear on Meowncé's painted nails."
All Tyler can reply with is a smile. A full blown smile. I'd never seen him so happy before. Well, maybe once, but that was when he pulled my pants down to my knees in the middle of an English presentation while I was wearing 'bite me' underwear.
Good times, good times.
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The first person I had told about Tyler and my upcoming date was, surprisingly, my brother. Yet, he gave me the answer that I sure as hell wasn't expecting.
We had left the diner a few hours off, and Tyler had left to go back home to help his mother and sister with tying the pretty little bows on all the greeting cards for Georgia's wedding, while Austin and I stayed in front of the fireplace trying to catch some warmth.
Since Georgia's wedding is next week, and tomorrow is the group's lunch, Tyler planned our date for next Saturday. He refused to tell me what we were going to do. Either he doesn't know yet, or he genuinely doesn't want me to know because he is an ass.
"Duh," Austin replied with nonchalantly. He was playing some car racing game on his phone, occasionally spurting out insults when he crashed it. He's such a violent gamer. "I know already."
"What?" I frown. I know that Austin and Tyler talk all the time, but I didn't think they talked about that. Especially since, you know, I'm his sister. "Did Tyler tell you already? When was he going to plan it? Oh my god Austin, you could've given me a heads up. I looked like a complete hobo!"
"Shhh," he hisses, "If you crash my car I will kill you."
I scowl, immediately hitting his phone out of his hands to it clambers onto the carpet. "Now, bitch," I warn him, "You tell me everything, or I am throwing the Xbox into Nate's pool."
He gasps, "You wouldn't."
"I so would," I scoff.
"Fine," he groans in reluctance. I always win. He's the younger sibling – enough said. "He told me he was going to do it one day, but he could never find the right time. He wanted it to be just you and him, nobody else around. That's why he asked you out at the Diner, and didn't want to sit with me. And seriously, Nova. Since when do you care about your appearance?"
"When I'm getting asked out," I scream in annoyance. I can't believe I wore my brother's sweatpants to the Diner, where I would eventually get asked out on a date. Fan-fracking-tastic.
"Who got asked out?" A voice I recognised as my father's spoke up from the silence. I stiffen at the sound of his voice.
"Nobody," I snap. I don't like to talk to him. I don't want to talk to him. He is nothing more than a coward, a cheater and a plain and simple assholey.
I know I should be nice to my father, but how can I be when he just makes mistakes after mistakes and doesn't even bother to fix them. It's like he doesn't even care about us, all he cares about is his job, booze and the illegal act of adultery.
"Don't snap at me," he threatens lowly, "I'm your father."
"You're not my father anymore," I try talking calmly and collectedly, "You were, but you blew it. My father wouldn't shamelessly cheat on my mother, and then act like everything is alright. You aren't my father, you're my sperm donor."
My father's jaw tenses and a vein starts throbbing on his forehead. I know I've pushed too much, but when he is acting like this, I can't control myself. I notice how his body is stiff and his jaw is set, his stubble is showing and he looks genuinely tired, but I don't care. I don't care about the fact that he looks physically and emotionally exhausted and drained, I care about the fact that he's victimized my poor, defenceless mother.
"Ashton, son, come here," he tries coaxing Austin, but he shakes his head, not moving from where he is sitting on the floor.
"My name is Austin. And, same goes for me," he crosses his arms over his chest, "How do you expect us to treat you like a father when you don't even act like one?"
"One day," he starts, even angrier this time round, "You're going to regret saying that. When I'm dying, and you guys are losing me, you'll regret everything. I'm disgusted to call you my children."
"Of course you are," I rolled my eyes, "Do you even remember what my name is?"
But, being the coward my father is, he stomps off in the other direction. That was the last time I saw him all night. He stayed burrowed in his room like the wimpy man he is.
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I regret telling Emily, I honestly do. I really miss my eardrums, as Emily had managed to blow them off.
"HE WHAT!" She screamed over the phone. I had to pull the receiver away from my ear in fear that I would go deaf. "OH MY GOD ABOUT TIME. I knew it," she said more calmly, but she stopped with a fit of giggles.
"Damn, you sound more excited than I do," I laughed. I'm excited. Holy poop I am excited. But I need to keep in my best interest that we still aren't dating, and it's just one date.
"I'm so happy for you," she starts sniffling.
Emily goes through three stages of excitement.
Stage one: screaming. Glass breaking screaming.
Stage two: the trying to be calm phase. It never, ever works, but it's always a part of Emily's excitement ritual.
Stage three: the crying phase. She gets too excited to the point that she starts sniffling and sobbing about how happy she is for you.
How I know them? Well, that's a best friend's job.
"Breathe," I instructed her to do the most obvious thing that living beings do. "In, out, in, out, in, out."
"I'm sorry," she sniffles again, "But I'm just so excited. I can't help it. I'm sorry."
Oh, I forgot to mention stage four: the sorry phase.
"It's fine," I bite back the laugh that is threatening to burst out. I have to be serious, supportive – oh hell. I can't help it. I burst out laughing, choking on air I was laughing that hard. "I'm-I'm," I choke on my laughter again, "So-orry."
"Stop mocking me," Emily whines. "I'll hang up."
"Okay, bye."
"You're a bitch," Emily speaks up after a minute of silence.
I roll my eyes at her, changing positions in bed. I waited until everyone was asleep to call her so that I wouldn't have any people snooping on me – ahem, brother dearest.
"So, how did you say yes?" Emily bursts out again.
"I said ..." I think back to the conversation, "Perhaps."
"You didn't," she gasps. She takes my grunt as an answer. "I don't know you. You are the biggest idiot I've ever had the privilege—"
But, before Emily could finish, I hang up on her.
Ah, sweet silence.
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ABOUT BLOODY TIME, HEY? I wasn't even planning this, I just started writing and then I'm like HOLY BAM THERE WE GO I DID IT OMG FANGIRL. So yeah. I did it. I finally started the TOVA.
this is for hitting the big 180,000 reads
so, don't forget to comvo if you liked! :D thanks for reading nuggachos (new word yew)