“Hurry up Kayla we’re going to be late,” said Melissa.
“I know, I know. Well we took so long because you held me up telling me all about how Jake asked you to Prom,” replied Kayla.
Melissa smiled and blushed, “Oh my gosh, it was so amazing. Last period of the day, Organic Chemistry, boring class but then everyone in the room starts to hear a violin.”
“I know, I know. I’ve heard it a dozen times,” she said through gritted teeth. Her car sped passed through the intersection barely missing the red light.
Kayla hastily parked her old beat up Ford in the restaurant parking lot, hoping that they weren’t late for the dinner plans they had. They had come straight from soccer practice and were still in their soccer gear. Looking in the mirror, she found her sweaty and wild hair unappealing.
“Hey Melissa. You go on ahead, give me a sec to tidy up.”
“Ohhh, I know who you’re tidying up for,” said Melissa with a smile and a wink.
Searching through the car she found a hair brush and began to brush her brown hair. Deeming herself worthy of being seen by another living human she exited the car. She walked over to the booth where her friends were sitting. Luckily, she had missed part of Melissa’s retelling of how Jake asked her.
“Hey Kayla!” said Alice.
“Hey guys,” Kayla looked to see which seat to take. Alice and Melissa had cleverly set up the most convenient seat for her, a seat next to Dillon. Dillon looked up fleetingly and then immediately looked back at his phone. Kayla looked over his shoulder to see what he was doing. It seemed like he was playing Sorcery: the Horde. He seemed really into it because his eyes were furrowed so much and he was very red in the face. In reality he was just nervous that Kayla was so close to him.
“Sooooo, Melissa, keep on going,” said Alice.
“Well Jake comes in playing this beautiful piece on his violin. He saunters in playing the violin and stops right in front of my desk. Everyone, even the teacher, was staring at us.”
“What about Ms. Smith?”
“Ms. Smith is pretty chill, so she was fine with it. Jake is just playing the violin right in front of my desk. Then he hands me this awesome origami rose with the word “Prom” on it. I had to say yes right there because I was so happy and excited.”
Kayla sighed and thought to herself, “I wish someone would ask me to Prom in such a romantic way.” She wondered why no one had asked her yet. Maybe it was her hair, maybe it was her braces, maybe it was the fact that when she was seven she fell down the stairs and broke her nose and now here nose was crooked at a weird angle. Kayla thought every part of her was a complete turn off to all men.
Kayla stole a glance at Dillon while he wasn’t looking. She then began to discuss girl stuff with her friends. While she wasn’t looking, Dillon looked at her with big grey eyes. Then he turned away just as Kayla looked up at him again. Dillon felt like his heart was in his throat with words being clogged and stuck. Melissa and Alice exchanged knowing glances and nodded.
“I need to go the bathroom,” announced Alice.
“I’ll go with you,” said Melissa.
“I’ll go too,” said Kayla.
Alice pushed her back into her seat and whispered into her ear, “No, you have fun with Dillon. Good Luck.” The two left for the bathroom leaving Dillon and Kayla sitting at the table, with their hands in their laps, trying to avoid eye contact.
Dillon was the first to speak. “You know what I don’t understand. Why do girls always go to the bathroom together?” He spoke nervously without confidence and only with the hope that Kayla would laugh and smile.
Kayla was surprised by the question. “Umm. It’s complicated.”
The two sat in awkward silence for 75 more seconds. But to the two of them, it felt like every second was an hour. Kayla and Dillon would make eye contact for a second and then avert their eyes. Both of them wanted to have a great and interesting conversation but neither could muster enough courage to speak. The restaurant was full of people laughing and talking while the two just sat there looking at their menus.
“What are you getting?” asked Dillon.
“I’m thinking one of the salads. But they don’t have a lot of good veggie options,” grimaced Kayla. Ever since she got her pet rabbit, Sylvester, from an animal shelter she had refused to eat meat. It was one of those changes that came with getting a pet.
The two fell once again into silence. Neither knew what to say. Dillon just stared at his menu not sure what to do. Kayla looked around hoping that their friends would come. Dillon bit his lip in thought as to what to say.
“I wish I had some cards or something. They would be fun to mess around with for a while. I could show you some cool stuff. Ummm. Do you want to play Twenty Questions?” he asked hopeful that she would say yes.
“Sure,” Kayla said. Dillon gave himself a mental high five for succeeding in starting a conversation, “how do you play?”
“Well, I think of something. I give you some hints and you ask at most 20 questions about the thing to narrow down what it is and try to guess it what it is. I mess around with the rules a lot so normally I can only answer yes or no but if it’s not too specific I’ll answer it. Also I can give out hints. It’s not the official rules but deal with it.”
“Okay. That sounds legit. You start.”
“Okay. First hint, the object is a she,” Dillon smiled with a twinkle in his eyes as he started the game. He had a plan.
“Are you going to Prom with her?” Kayla was curious as to who this person was. Dillon was socially awkward with most girls. The fact that he chose a girl, meant that the girl had to be very special to him. “Who could it be?” she thought to herself.
“No.”
“What's her last name?” Kayla was really interested in this game now. It was like trying to solve a puzzle.
“Far too specific, can’t answer that.”
“Can I get a redo?” she asked flustered.
“Nope, no redoes. So 3 questions down, 18 to go.”
“Fine, is she blonde?”
“No.”
“Is she a brunette?”
“Yes.”
“Does she have glasses?”
“No.”
“Is she a senior at the same school as us?”
“Yes.”
“How many classes do you have with her?”
“I wish that I had all of them but only three sadly.”
“Is she funny?”
"Very."
“Is she nice?”
“The nicest girl I have ever known and will know.”
"What car does she drive?"
"Ford."
“PC or Mac?”
“PC.”
“Coke or Pepsi?”
“Pepsi.”
“How long have you known her?”
“Since the 6th grade.”
“Is she pretty?”
“Yes, but I don’t think she knows it.”
“Does she play a sport?”
“Yes.”
“Do I know her?”
“Yes.”
“Does she have a pet?”
“Yes, an awesome rabbit.”
“Is she in this restaurant right now?”
“Yes.”
“Is it…,” before Kayla was able to finish her sentence Dillon interrupted her.
“Before you say anything, you’ve asked 19 questions, and now I want to ask you one question before you ask the 20th question,” Dillon leaned over the table and whispered into her ear, hoping with all his heart that she would say yes. “Prom?”
“Yes!” Kayla screamed.