Keep your friends close and your enemies, closer

“Yeah, well believe it.” I muttered. I looked up to face Kent. “Are you done?” I asked, referring to his selection of dinner. He nodded.

As if we had actually called him, a waiter came to our table. “Are you ready to order?” He asked in a slight French accent. I stared at him, speechless. This guy was hot… and familiar.

“Hey, are you Ashlynn?” He asked, smiling unsurely. I nodded and smiled back.

“I didn’t know you work here, Dylan.” He grinned at me and looked down. His blond bangs fell to his sensitive brown eyes. Oh gosh, he’s freaking hot!

Oh wait. I’m here on a date. I can’t flirt with this guy. I sneaked a peek at Kent. He was trying to convey a message to me through his eyes. “Is he jealous?” I thought silently to myself, trying my hardest not to giggle.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t. He was trying to get me to stop flirting with Dylan because Ranger and Olesia were staring at us.

I sighed audibly and the boys stared at me. I shook my head and gave Dylan my order.

“I’ll have the same thing she’s having.” Kent informed him. Dylan scribbled the orders on his notepad, and left us to go to the kitchen.

I was staring at him all the way, until Kent placed his hand on my cheek and gently forced me to look away. “They are looking, Ashlynn. Refrain yourself from staring at French Boy over there will you? You can do it in school on Monday.”

I scowled at him. Mostly because he was right. I decided to humor our two spies by pretending to enjoy this date.

“So tell me, Kent.” I began, in what I hoped to be an alluring manner. “What’s your favorite color?”

I peeked at Ranger and Olesia from my peripheral vision. Ranger was wearing an afro wig with a bushy beard and sunglasses, which is pretty idiotic considering it was nighttime and we were indoors. Olesia was wearing a red curly wig, had a fake small mole on her right cheek and was wearing a pair of shades.

They were both staring at us so intently; they were literally on the edge of their seats.

Kent looked at them before turning back to me with a knowing smile on his face. He knew my plan.

“Red. And you?” He placed his hand on the table, palm up. I frowned, confused, and looked at him. What did he want me to do?
He gestured to his hand. Does he want me to place my hand in his? My frown deepened, but I placed my hand on the table anyway.

He impatiently took my hand in his and started caressing it with his thumb. I stared at our hands in shock. What the heck is this guy doing? I tore my eyes away from our hands to stare at Kent instead.

He gave me a reassuring wink and pointed to Ranger and Olesia with his eyes. I sneaked a glance at them, and almost burst out laughing.

They were staring at Kent and me with wide-open mouths. All the other customers in the restaurant were throwing them funny glances; not that they noticed. It was too hilarious.

I couldn’t stop myself from letting out a small giggle. I gently pulled my hand away from Kent’s and folded them on my lap.

At that exact moment, Dylan walked over to us and served us our dinner. “Thanks.” I beamed up at him.

“No problem.” He blushed, and then grinned, before leaving us again.

“So, you like that guy huh?” Kent asked, stuffing his face with food.

“What?” I turned sharply to face Kent.

“You heard me, Ash.” He sighed, sounding annoyed.

I felt my face heating up. “A little, I guess. I don’t know. He seems nice.”

“From my point of view, it looks as if he likes you too. Fortunately for you, our dare expires in six more days. Then you can go crazy and ask him out.”

I bared my teeth at him, but decided to change the topic. “Are they still looking?” I took a bite of the main course.

“No, they left.” He replied, without even looking.

“How would you know? You didn’t even check.” I snapped at him, turning to face Afro and Redhead, a.k.a. Ranger and Olesia. True to his word, they weren’t there anymore.

I didn’t say anything else throughout the dinner. I was more than embarrassed for snapping at him for telling the truth.

“Are you ready to go?” He stood up, offering his hand. I nodded and allowed him to lift me up to my feet. Surprisingly, he didn’t let go of my hand as we exited the restaurant.
But I didn’t complain. I hoped this was a way of him letting me know he forgave me, although I didn’t really apologize. Also, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, his soft hands were really comforting against my cold ones.

Since it was only thirty minutes past eight, we decided to take a walk around the park. It was actually pretty… interesting. We chatted about various things like family and our hopes for the future. A decent conversation.

As we walked back to my house, I started shivering. I wrapped my coat around me tighter, but it didn’t make me less cold. Kent noticed this and took off his jacket to give it to me.

I was reluctant to take it, but he insisted. “Well, I had a great time, Ash.” He said awkwardly, not able to look me in the eye, when we reached my front porch.

“Me too. Surprisingly.” I smiled.

He looked back at me and grinned. “See you tomorrow then, girlfriend.”

“Later.” I stood on my toes and pecked him on his cheek. I ran back inside the house, and instantly closed the door. I didn’t want to see his expression. But I knew how mine looked like. A lovesick puppy.