Cheer the Fuck Up
Sean texted me the day that I gave him my number, but didn't ask me out until Thursday. When it happened, I squealed with excitement, causing Theo to jump in surprise.
"Jesus, calm down," he said, sending a dirty look my way.
I ignored him. Nothing could bring me down as I read the text over and over again.
"He wants to do something tonight," I said. "We didn't have plans, did we? If we did I'm cancelling."
We were sitting at our usual lunch spot, taking full advantage of the sun. Theo was desperately trying to tan his caramel colored skin while I was aiming to add just a hint of color to my own painfully pale exterior.
"Luckily for you," Theo started, narrowing his brown eyes. "We did not have plans."
I smiled and hurriedly texted Sean back. We'd spent the past two days talking nonstop. It had been months since I felt like this, or anywhere close to this, about a boy. The giddy feeling of having a new crush was something I desperately missed, and was never fully accustomed to.
"Someone is excited."
I didn't see James appear on the bench next to me as much as I felt it. I was beginning to sense his presence as if I had my own James Hadley-themed super power. He could appear in any room at any time and a part of me would know.
"Some boy just asked her out," Theo stated. I caught him smiling at James, whose mouth quirked in response. Immediately I was annoyed, and even jealous, at their unspoken language.
"I like him," I said in my own defense. "And I am excited . . . so back off."
James raised his hands in the air. "Hold on. I didn't say anything!"
I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Seriously," James continued. "I am all for this relationship. Sean is a cutie. You go get you some, girl."
Theo laughed before focusing back on his own phone. He was currently texting a guy named Nick, who was two years older and went to the nearby college. Theo could tease me all he wanted about Sean, but I wasn't the only one getting bit by the love-bug this season.
"Speaking of," I started, referring to my own mental tangent. "How's Mia?"
James suddenly blushed and, for once, looked completely uncomfortable with the focus being on him. I realized that I had been thoroughly slacking in the doctoring department, and was making a mental effort to get back on track. James was still a mess of a boyfriend - and hardly a boyfriend at that.
"She's good," James replied quickly.
I narrowed my eyes again. If I kept hanging around James, my eyes were going to be stuck in a permanently squinted position.
James sighed. "We haven't really spoken lately," he admitted.
My mouth automatically fell open and Theo's gaze flashed from his phone to me. A thousand dollars. I was not losing a thousand dollars because James couldn't muster up the courage to speak to Mia fucking Kahn.
"What the fuck, James," I said, unable to hide my exasperation. "Why not?"
James gave me his signature sloppy shrug and I groaned.
"I know you like her," I said. I put down my phone and turned my full attention onto him. "There's no way you would be this involved with her if you didn't like her. So why are you being a little bitch?"
"She's got a point," Theo nodded his head, his thick curls bouncing with the movement. "You didn't fool around with the other girls for this long. Like Kelsey? Or Nikki? Ashley? Brianna? Sophia? Maddie? Sarah? The other Sarah? Sara without the H? Why are there so many Sarah's?"
A wicked smile tugged at the corner of James' mouth. "Sarah without the H was fun. You remember that?"
Theo nodded and laughed, revealing a gorgeously white row of teeth. "God, that bitch was crazy. Didn't you say she was so flexible that she could bend -"
"That's enough," I cried. My hands had flown to my ears in preparation for whatever god-awful sex act Theo was about to reveal. When I was sure they had stopped talking I let my hands fall back down to the table and turned to James. "Put your big boy pants on and ask Mia out on another date."
James expression turned to one of pure pain. "I don't like dates."
"I don't care."
"Can we make it a double date?"
"Again, I don't care."
"Really?"
"Just go an a date. Any date."
James grinned then, and nodded his head. "Brilliant! So me, Mia, you, and Sean? Tomorrow night for dinner? Sounds like a plan to me."
My eyes widened. Oh shit. That was one hundred percent not what I meant to happen. I was nervous enough about Sean as it was and now I was going to have to throw the James/Mia situation into the mix? Oh hell no. Absolutely not.
"No," I said. "No way."
James crossed his arms. One second he was an eighteen year old boy, the next he was a stubborn child. "Double date or nothing."
I knew he was only saying this to get under my skin. James actually liked Mia, it was just too hard for him to admit. I was decently certain that he'd ask her out again with or without me, but I had a time limit and couldn't afford any delays.
One thousand dollars.
"Fine," I said, glaring my best glare. "But you have to ask her to prom. This week."
James' eyebrows raised. "Why?!"
I struggled to find a reason. This haste of the situation made my tactics less subtle, and I needed to cover up my tracks. Finally I sputtered, "Because I'm sick of hearing her complain about not having a date. Plus, you were going to do it anyway."
I didn't even have to lie.
James face melted into a sour expression that most likely matched mine. He didn't like being told what to do. "Fine," he snapped. "But if I ask Mia, you ask Sean."
I scowled. "Fine."
There was a tense silence that followed. James and I were staring at each other, arms crossed, with grim expressions on our faces. The quiet could have lasted until the end of lunch if Theo hadn't snorted, immediately breaking the tension with his mocking chuckle.
"I don't know what you two are so fucking angry about," Theo said with a dramatic eye roll. "You both have dates with people you like. Cheer the fuck up!"
He had a point.
That evening I met Sean at a coffee shop downtown. It wasn't exactly a date, but it wasn't not a date either. I didn't dress up and neither did he, but we both smiled when we saw each other and he offered to pay for my drink.
My heartbeat sped up at the mere sight of him and I was pleased to see that he was even cuter outside of the dark corners of the theater.
"Glad you could make it," he said, his amber eyes sparkling. He wasn't wearing his Beatles shirt, but instead a casual white t-shit that stood out against the tan smoothness of his skin.
"I never asked," I started as I stirred my tea with one hand. "Do you go to school around here?"
Sean nodded his head. "I go the University nearby but went to high school about an hour east of here. Have you heard of Calder? Yeah, that's where I grew up."
Calder was a popular destination for people who loved the beach and small town quirkiness. Francie owned a beach house there, and was close with a handful of the locals.
"So you went to a public school?" I asked.
"Very public. It definitely wasn't a private Catholic school," he teased.
Sean was different from the other guys I knew. He didn't play games. He was direct and honest, kind and caring. At once he seemed older than me and more mature, and I felt instantly comforted by his presence. When he asked me questions, I genuinely believed he wanted to know the answer. When he talked about his life or his feelings, I never once doubted his integrity. I never, not even for a moment, felt like he was playing me, and I hoped that I wasn't playing him.
"So," I started. We were already on our third round of drinks, and had talked enough that I figured now was a good time to drop the question. "I have this proposition . . ."
Sean raised his eyebrows and motioned for me to keep talking.
"Tomorrow night, my friends are going out to dinner. They're a couple . . . well, almost a couple. Dating but not like dating, which I know doesn't really make sense but it's all James' fault. If he would just date her already this would have been so much easier to explain but technically they are not dating, but are going on a date tomorrow night, so hopefully they will be -"
"Sutton," Sean probed, a small smile on his face.
I took a breath, unaware that I had been rambling until that moment, and said, "They want dinner. With you and me. The four of us. To dinner."
Despite my awkward phrasing that barely passed for English, Sean smiled.
"Are you asking me on a date?" He asked, leaning in closer over the table.
I couldn't help but blush. Blushing wasn't something I did normally, and I felt self conscious about being self conscious.
"Yes," I answered. I finally caught my breath and was able to speak to him in a normal, human way. "Yes, I am asking you on a date."
Sean smiled again and my heart fluttered. "I'd love to go."
We were quiet for the next few moments, both of us smiling to ourselves and sipping on our drinks. Finally, Sean looked at again, this time with a quizzical brow.
"Is James the one that was at the play?"
I winced. Muscle memory.
"That's the one," I said, hoping that Sean didn't read to much into my pained expression.
James - being the undeniable flirt and shamelessly ill-behaving bastard he is - can usually be deemed as a red flag in terms of conversations with boys you may like. The last thing I wanted was for Sean to be threatened by James, or to think that anything other than friendship was going on between me and Mr. Hadley. Want to drive a boy away? Constantly bring up your flirty, charming, handsome guy friend. That'll do it every time.
"And who is the girl?" Sean asked, spinning his coffee cup around in one hand.
"Mia Khan. She's awesome, you'll really like her."
Sean smiled and tilted his head to one side. "Maybe, but if I don't it's alright. Because I really like you."
There goes the blushing again.