"Well..." I say, looking down.
You need to do this. Don't be a baby. Don't be shy. Who are you? YOU'RE KENDRA ROSS GOSH DARNET! Do it!
After a short mental battle with myself, I look up.
Archer is staring at me. His eyes look excited, but the rest of him looks nervous; his hands are shaking a little and his eyebrows are knitted together.
I sigh and look down. I just need to say it. Then the rest will come easy.
"I..." I look down.
DO IT YOU COWARD!
"Uhm..." my head starts to throb.
Finally, I find the courage to look up at him and keep it that way.
"Yes. Yes, Archie Andrews." I say the last part deliriously. I'm lightheaded and dizzy, barely even able to register Archer's grinning face, and then my head on his shoulder as he pulls me against him.
"Really?" He asks, taking me gently by the shoulders, his eyes bright. My vision seems to clear, but I don't remember it getting blurry in the first place.
"Of course." I smile, throwing my arms around him. I'm too happy to think straight.
I pull away to look into his eyes. "Of course." I repeat, just so I can hear myself say it again.
"Well then, Ken." He says in his British accent, bowing down. "Would you like to accompany me to thy lunchroom?" I laugh, accepting his extended arm.
"That would be quite wonderful, m'lady." I say, in an accent that sounds more Australian than British. He wrinkles his nose and laughs.
"First of all, that's a horrible accent. And second, did you just call me a lady?" He asks, tilting his head a bit as we start to walk. The bell rang a few minutes ago, but we can take our time. After all, it feels like time stopped, and it's just him and I.
"I believe I did." I say flippantly, removing my hand from his arm to lace my fingers in his. I look up at him and grin.
As we near the lunchroom, I turn to him.
"Are you okay with letting people know?" I ask him. "Wait, never mind. I don't have any friends. No one's gonna care." I realize, shrugging. He scratches the back of his neck with his free hand.
"I think Brandon's going to care." I roll my eyes.
"Who cares about Brandon." I say, taking my seat. Archer sits across from me, like always. But it feels different. Almost a little awkward, and I think about us going on a date, sitting just like this. My face heats up.
I think about what mom said. What if this doesn't work out? What if we decide to break up, go back to being friends. What if we realize it's too awkward to be around each other, and we just decide to drop being friends altogether? And then it'll be just me. No friends at all. Just Kit being her usual, snobby self. Brandon glaring at me. Bree making fun of me and giving me a stink eye whenever possible.
"What are you thinking about?" Archer asks, eyeing me almost warily. I give him the most reassuring smile I can.
"Nothing." I say, opening my lunch.
"Are you sure?" He didn't believe me.
"Yeah. I'm just...now I don't have any friends. You're the only one I have."
"Actually" he says factually "I'm now your boyfriend. So technically I equal two friends."
I blush when he says "boyfriend." I can't believe he just said that. My heart races.
"That makes no sense. You're not two people."
He shakes his head. "No, but I'm twice the man." I laugh. He looks serious.
"Seriously. That makes no sense." I say again, taking out my lunch.
"Ugh." I roll my eyes. "My mom didn't get me a fork." He shrugs, like I should just eat whatever food I have with my hands. "And I have spaghetti." I add, raising an eyebrow at Archer. He just shrugs.
"Still, just eat it with your hands." I raise an eyebrow again and laugh, getting up for a fork.
Of course, who's there?
Bree. Grabbing like, seventy napkins.
She turns around when I grab a fork.
"Shut up! Go away." She says cruelly, pulling more napkins out. I quirk an eyebrow. I didn't even say anything.
"Aw, did you pee your pants?" I ask, talking to her like she's a baby. She whips around, her napkins balled up in her fist.
"Go away! You're so annoying." She turns back around. "And I wouldn't waste all your annoyance on me when you have Archer to annoy." She says, her back still turned. I roll my eyes.
"What a clever comeback." I say sarcastically, turning around. I take my seat again, looking at Archer. He's staring at Bree.
"Uh...what is it?" I ask, my heart racing. What if he suddenly noticed how pretty she is? What if he's going to break up with me? What if I stab my brain because it's annoying?
"Did she pee her pants?" He asks finally. Phew.
I force a laugh. "That's what I said." I just got really nervous. Is that what being jealous is like? I don't like it.
I start to pick at my lunch.
Archer's my boyfriend Archer's my boyfriend Archer's my boyfriend Archer's my boyfriend Archer's my boyfriend-
"Shut up!" I say. All the color flushes from my face. I look up at Archer.
"I'm so sorry...I wasn't talking to you...I uh...I was talking to myself." I stammer, putting my head in my hands. Now I sound like a creepy person, casually having a conversation with myself. Telling myself to shut up. How normal of you, Kendra.
No I'm doing it again...shut up.
Archer is just staring at me.
"I'm...I'm fine." I say as lightly as possible, smiling a little. Suddenly I feel really nervous and upset. I put my head in my hands. I start thinking about mom again, her whole story with John. What if this doesn't work out?
"What if this doesn't work out?" I repeat out loud, looking up at him.
Lines crease around his eyes. He looks worried. "What do you mean?" He asks, gently removing my hands from my face so I look at him. I sigh.
"I mean, what if this doesn't work and we decide not to date and then we try to be friends but it doesn't work out and we go our separate ways and lose each other I can't lose you you're the only real friend I've ever had and-"
"Ken, take a deep breath." He smiles. "If it doesn't work out, then it's okay. You'll never lose me." He says, gently taking my hands from their place on the table. I do take a deep breath and look down at our hands, now laced together.
"Okay." Is all I say, taking another deep breath.
"Ew." Says a snobby, arrogant voice that could only belong to one person. I sigh and turn around.
"Please, leave me alone." I say. Kit only crosses her arms. She disregards this.
"You're dating my brother?" Is all she says. Her voice is laced with both disgust and amusement, somehow.
"Problem?" I shoot back, taking my hands away to get up and cross my arms like Kit.
A small chorus of "oooh"s echo around us. I look around. A few people are watching. Including Brandon. And all of the A-Squad.
"So, that's a yes?" She asks, but she doesn't exactly seem interested. I roll my eyes and sit back down.
"Yes, it is." I confirm. A few whispers weave around the small crowd, but who would care so much? "And it's also none of your business. Go ruin other people's lives." I turn around again, but I know Kit is still standing there.
I turn back around after a moment of trying to ignore her. "What?" I snap.
"I was just wondering why you chose her. I thought Bree liked you. And she's like, way better. I would've stuck with her." Is all she says. She turns around, but Archer's voice stops her.
"Oh, shut up. I only "dated" her for a bit because she blackmailed me." He says, glaring at Bree from her table. She narrows her eyes. A few people gasp, and I roll my eyes, wondering how cliché this can get.
"And, by the way, Kendra is better than you. And Bree. And everyone else at that stuck up table." He says calmly, pointing to the A-Squad's table. "And she happens to be my girlfriend now." I'm not exactly sure why he added that last part, but he did. Kit rolls her eyes and walks away.
Judging by how he just stood up for me, I think this relationship might work out okay. At least I hope so.
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