Confessions of a Matchmaker

e i g h t

h a l l e
v a l e n t i n e

The time had come, it was Carmen and Dylan's blind date. It wasn't hard to convince Carmen as she was never reluctant when it came to dates. It was five o'clock and as the date was set for six o'clock, Carmen was mostly ready and dressed in a pastel blue dress that was just above her knees. The slightly baby doll look had been made edgier with her black ankle boots and her leather jacket over it. She was carefully sat on my bed, painting her nails blue to match her dress while I straightened her dark hair, which matched mine, to perfection.

"So, what's he like then?" she asked, flicking the brush against her fingernail, "Please tell me he's good looking," she then amended guiltily, "Not that everything is based on appearance, I mean, personality is important too. I should know, looks can be deceiving as I've learnt the hard way through countless boyfriends with great faces but terrible hearts."

I laughed at her expresssion before brushing it off, "I get what you mean and yeah, he is delectable I'd say. He's pretty sweet, funny and kind but to really get to know him, bring up a controversial topic or maybe some poetry. I know you like poetry and writing, talk about that with him. Deep down, under the layers of the overrated 'laidback, funny and stereotypical American guy' is a strong headed, opinionated and increasingly interesting person. "

She didn't seem nervous - please, she was a master at the art of flirting and blind dating-but rather, she seemed interested in the personality of her date.

I wasn't going to tell her but I still had all intentions of secretly following them on their date, just so that I could make sure that for one, they didn't reveal their identities to one another and also, I was pretty damn curious of what they would talk about. Call me nosy but I had to. Carmen nodded slowly, pulling out a tube of pink lipgloss and threading it over her lips lightly with a perfect pout in place then she got up. Ready to go.

"Bye mom," we waved her goodbye, she had relented and mercifully ungrounded us. Carmen was under the illusion that I was just going to drop her off which was why I was clad in just sweatpants and and an oversized shirt but under this, I was wearing a maroon romper that looked fancy enough I guess for the venue but not too overdone as it wasn't that expensive.

Halle, I told myself, this could either go ah-mazing or horribly wrong.

Good luck. . . (And it really wouldn't hurt if the odds were in my favour.)

The drive to the restaurant was bearable apart from Carmen's undeniably off-key voice singing loudly alongside the radio. It was a battle between me and her singing.

Carmen, shut up.

"And I can't sweep you off of your feet! Will your mouth still remember the taste of my love..."

For the love of god, no.

"Do you ever think of me when you lie? Lie down in your bed..."

Who would've thought that someone could make even Beyonce sound bad?

"I WOKE up like this. I woke up like this. Flawless. Ladies tell em, say I look so good tonight."

Jesus, even her seat dancing was bad.

"Girl, you can be main chick. I don't know the words after this, blah blah. MAIN chick."

Finally, we ditched the typical pop radio music and changed to The Best of the Rolling Stones CD. Maybe we would have some peace and quiet here...

"Wi-iiiiiiild, Wild horses couldn't drag me away..."

Eventually, we did arrive at the restaurant and luckily, I hadn't died from Carmen's killer singing. I watched the waitress lead her to her table, Dylan had called to say he was running late but would be there in minutes. Carmen got up to go to the restroom and I went over to their table to remove Carmen's car keys, phone and money so that even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to easily leave. Just when I heard the familiar voice of Dylan, grabbing the items, I fell into an uncoordinated duck under the table.

The first voice I heard was Dylan's, "Carmen Valentine?"

"Garcia," she corrected then added, "It's Carmen Valentine Garcia," then came a groan, "God, this is embarrassing. I mean, you're in my year, you've seen the best and the worst of me."

I could almost sense the smirk on his face as he said, "Eh, I've mostly seen the worst which is why a date with you could let me see your better side."

"Alright," I could already hear Carmen's voice thicken flirtatiously. "You know what. Why don't we start all over again and for tonight, just for tonight. You're going to pretend that you don't know jack about me and I'll do the same for you. So, hi, I'm Carmen Valentine Garcia. Nice to meet you."

Then came Dylan's voice, "I'm Dylan Morgan. I wish I was Dylan O'Brien."

"Even I wish you were Dylan O'Brien," Carmen playfully quipped.

I grinned to myself, so far this blind date was going amazing to say the least, just as planned although I really didn't want to jinx it with my words. Now, I just needed to find a way to get out from under the table before I was caught. Not only would getting caught be utterly embarrassing but it would also kill the vibe of their date. However, it didn't look like luck was to be on my side especially with their animated chatter above me which showed that they were not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

° ° ° ° °

Carmen's cutlery clattered to the plate as she said, "That pasta was amazing," she sighed contentedly. "Dylan, do you want to go out for a breather at the outside gardens."

I heard his shoes shuffle noisily against the ground then he stood up, "Sure."

Then she got up too but her voice worriedly said, "I c-could've sworn I brought my purse with me, it has the car keys and my money and all."

"It has to be somewhere around, its probably under the table or something."

NO NO NO!

With one quick movement, the table cloth wavered and Dylan's head poked in.

I looked on shocked, "Um, hi."

A/N: So finally, the blind date between Carmen and Dylan happened. Okay, so this week has been pretty well eventful for me. What, with a hella load of tests at school which just closed for the easter break (thank god it has), a few other personal stuff and a bit of a fandom crisis which leads onto more stuff.

On a lighter note for me at least, who here likes the new cover which is on the side?

-loads of love, Zara ♥