The rest of the weekend I didn't do much, and before I knew it, it was already Monday. I was sitting on my bed, thinking about Saturday.
"Why do I keep thinking about Saturday?" I whispered under my breath.
"Ar, what are you doing? You have to get going," my mom yelled.
"I'm coming! I'm getting my backpack," I said, grabbing it and heading downstairs.
When I got downstairs, I see my mom chasing my brother around the living room. I start to laugh.
"You need help?" I asked.
"No, I need you to go to school! You're going to be late—take my car," my mom said as she finally caught up with my brother.
"You're not going to use the car today?" I asked.
"No, so get out of here! You're going to be late!" she shouted as I grabbed her keys and headed outside.
I don't have my own car yet, but my parents are looking into it. That's actually what they were doing on Saturday.
By the time I got to school, the bell had already rung.
"Damn it," I muttered.
I went to the office, got a tardy slip, and headed to first period. I was only four minutes late, but when I walked in, all eyes were on me.
Top ten most embarrassing moments? Being late to class and having everyone stare at you.
"Take a seat," my teacher said. I slid into the empty chair next to Mr.
"Why are you late?" Mr whispered.
The teacher snapped her head toward us before I could answer.
"Oh, so you're late, and now you're going to talk over me?" she said with such a rude tone. I wasn't even talking over her.
"Sorry," I said.
Something felt off with me today. Hopefully Mr doesn't notice.
When the teacher finished her lecture, she did what she always did: handed out a worksheet and let us work on it for the rest of class.
"Hey, something feels off about you," Mr said. Then Az added, "Yeah?"
In just three days, Az and Mr had gotten really close. How? I don't know
"Oh shoot, I forgot to tell you, Az," Mr said, "Ar went on his first date with Sl."
"Oh my gosh, really?!" Az said, like she was the one who went on the date.
"Yeah," I replied awkwardly.
"You didn't tell me how it went. You ignored my texts all weekend," Mr said.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I wasn't really at my best this weekend," I said, looking down.
"Do you still not feel good?" Az asked. Mr added, "Yeah, maybe that's why you're off today."
"No, I'm fine," I said.
"Then if you're fine, tell us how the date went," Az said, staring at me intensely. Mr did the same.
"It was normal. We went to the aquarium, then the park in front of it. Got ice cream, walked, sat on a bench, talked, and left," I said, trying to make it sound as boring as possible.
But the truth? It wasn't normal. The way he talked to me that day changed my mood the whole weekend. Even now.
"If it was just a normal date, then why are you acting different?" Mr asked.
"Fine—it wasn't normal, okay? The way he kept talking to me... it was weird," I admitted.
"What did he say?" Az asked.
"Nothing really serious," I paused. "It's just... he said something I keep thinking about."
"What? What was it?" Mr and Az asked at the same time.
"He said that on our next date, he'll take me somewhere I've never been with anyone else, so he could be the first," I said, burying my face in my hands out of embarrassment. I didn't even know why I was embarrassed.
"Aww, that's so cute," Az said. "He wants to be your first in something."
"Wait, that's not just it," I added. "I said he probably tells that to all his dates. But he told me he's never said it to anyone before—he was waiting to say it to me."
"Okay, that's actually pretty romantic. Even I would've gotten butterflies," Mr said, smiling.
But that's the thing. Was it butterflies? I don't know. When he said that... it made me wonder if he's really been waiting for me this whole time.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter. What matters is: one date down, four more to go," I said quickly, trying to move on.
Mr and Az looked at each other like they were having a full conversation in their heads.
"What?" I asked.
"Oh, no. It's nothing," they both said at the same time.
Great. Three days, and they're already finishing each other's sentences.
The rest of the day was fine. I refused to eat lunch by the behind the cafeteria because I wanted to avoid Sl even if he was there or not so we ate in our usual spot.
At the end of the day, I was in the student parking lot, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sl. I tried unlocking my mom's old-ass car as fast as I could to get the hell out of there—but I was too slow.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I replied awkwardly, finally managing to unlock the car.
"You want to hang out? Or do you have something to do?" he asked.
I thought for a second.
"If I say yes to hanging out with you, that's your second date right there," I said, expecting him to back off.
"Okay, that's fine," he said with a smile.
Oh, come on. That terribly backfired on me.