Rolling Hills Academy

A Pizza, a Date, and a Chocolate Lava Cake

I'd barely made it in the room when I was tackled by Violet. I laughed as we fell on the floor, a tangle of arms and legs.

"What the heck are you doing!" I said through my laughter, pushing Violet off me. She stood up and plugged her nose.

"God you reek. I was going to ask you why I got a text from Julia saying a certain someone is taking you out tomorrow, but after smelling you up close I've decided to be a good friend and demand you take a shower."

I sniffed my shirt, and as much as I hated to admit it, she was right. I stunk. BAD. I headed towards the bathroom and called over my shoulder, "Okay okay, I'll tell you the details I guess after I cleanse my reeking body." I rolled my eyes. Violet squealed and clapped her hands together, and I couldn't help but giggle.

After what had to be the fastest shower ever, I emerged from the bathroom in my track pants and sweater and found Violet watching Netflix. She paused her show and turned to look at me. A grin slipped over her face and I felt my face burn red.

"Sooooooooo tell me the deets!" Violet said. She patted the couch next to her and I sat down. "How did he ask you? Were there flowers? Did he serenade you with a poem? A kiss, perhaps?" She asked rapidly, batting her eyelashes at me. I shook my head.

"No no no. You've got it all wrong. He has to take me out. We had a bet on who would win today's race in cross country and I beat him. He has to pay now since he lost, not a big deal." I shrugged. I tried to play it cool, and could tell Violet was too. We looked at each other for a second and then broke out into squeals and giggles.

"Oh my God! You're totally going on a date!" Violet screamed.

"It's not a date date, but holy crap a date!" I screamed back. We laughed and Violet grabbed her iPad off her bed.

"This totally requires planning. I mean everything. What you're going to wear, how your hair will be done, EVERYTHING." she said, jotting a few notes down on it with her pencil. 

I shook my head. "Should we really be planning this out? I mean, it's not even like it's a real date. We're just friends meeting up for a treat." I said. Violet sighed.

"You poor thing. You really have a lot to learn." She smiled, patting my head. "You see, we have to plan this all in a way that makes it look like we didn't plan it. It's better to look like you planned it to not plan it then to look like you didn't plan it and didn't plan it." She said simply.

I scrunched up my nose. "Um, I guess?"

Violet and I spent the next little while planning out my 'I definitely didn't plan this' look for my meeting with Jaxon until it was time to get ready to meet Julia. We laughed and talked as we got ready, and I couldn't help but feel excited for tonight. I'd be going out with great friends to celebrate the first week at boarding school. What more could a girl want on a Friday night?

We both did a once over in the mirror, put on our shoes, and made our way to the pizza place located on the campus. As we approached the doors, we saw Julia walking down the opposite sidewalk.

"Great timing guys!" Julia smiled, "couldn't have planned it any better if we tried." We all laughed and did a group hug. "You guys look great by the way! I love that shade of red on you Harper, and Violet the plum shirt looks awesome!" She said enthusiastically, eyeing our shirts and matching distressed jeans.

I looked at Julia's outfit and noticed her style was modern chic. "You don't look too terrible yourself." I waved at her black and white pinstriped shirt and bright blue sneakers.

We all laughed and headed inside, where we were greeted by a waiter. The waiter, a couple years older than we were, led us to a table and handed us our menus.

"Take a couple minutes to look over the menu and I'll be back to check on you. Can I get you anything started to drink?" He asked.

"Iced Tea!" Violet, Julia, and I all said simultaneously. We laughed and the waiter smiled before nodding and heading to get our drinks.

I opened my menu and looked over all the topping choices."Did you guys want to get one big pizza and then just split toppings on half of it?" I asked. The girls nodded, and we decided on getting an extra large pizza with pepperoni, bacon, and mushrooms on one half, and pineapple, ham, and extra cheese on the other. The waiter returned with our drinks and we gave him our order. He took our menus and had barely left when Julia and Violet started talking about what the chances were that Jaxon would ask me out by the end of next week.

I shook my head. "No way, he wouldn't ask me that. Besides, our first show is a week away. I'm sure he doesn't want any distractions. Besides, I don't want any distractions either." I said, swirling the ice in my drink with my straw. Julia nodded. 

"That's smart. I think focusing on the show first will be good for you. But You should have fun tomorrow. Worry about practising after you have your 'not a date' with Jaxon." Julia said. Violet nodded in agreement.

"Julia's right." She said. "You came here to ride, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun with your besties and new boyfriend!" Violet whispered.

Julia and I laughed and the smell of pizza swirled around us as the waiter returned with our pizza. Soon, we were indulging ourselves in heavenly pizza and laughing about the fashion choices of some teachers and how much we thought Hazel paid them to pass her in their class.

We talked and ate until around 8:30, and we paid the bill and got up to leave. We stepped outside and breathed in the fresh night air.  

"You know, as full as I am, I could go for a lava cake right about now." I giggled. Julia and Violet laughed.

"We might have to undo the buttons on our pants to make more room, but I couldn't have come up with a better idea myself." Violet laughed. The three of us looped our arms together and skipped to Sweet Oasis. I smiled and thought about what Julia and Violet had said earlier. They were right. I could enjoy myself for at least another day. But once I was finished hanging out with Jaxon tomorrow, I had to practise, and I had to do it hard if I wanted to do well at the show. I shook the thoughts out of my head and returned to a night of fun with my new best friends and lots and lots of chocolate.