The Dating Project

Chapter 4

"You look awful," was the first thing Finn said to me when he picked me up the next morning.

Of course I looked awful. I'd lost track of time painting with Aurora, so neither of us had gotten to sleep until 2am, and when I eventually did get in bed, I couldn't fall asleep due to my worry over this stupid project. We'd both slept through our alarms, so late I hadn't had time to shower. Aurora had to leave almost immediately with her best friend from school, Isabelle, to go and buy new pointe shoes, so I hadn't even had my twin as moral support. It hadn't been a good morning.

"I am aware," I said, grumpily getting into the car and then facing away from him, looking out the window.

"Alright, Little Miss Moody."

"Oh, shut up."

"God, what's with the aggression? I've not even done anything to you today."

"The first thing you said to me was that I look awful."

"Just thought I'd let you know in case you wanted to go in and redo your makeup or something," Finn shrugged. "I was being nice."

I knew this was a straight up lie. "Right, rule of thumb, if there is something wrong with someone's appearance that they can fix in 5 minutes, then tell them. If there isn't, you don't say anything. So, if there's a stain on a shirt, you can fix that by changing the shirt or covering it up. If mascara has smudged, you can fix that. However, if hair looks greasy, that's something you don't mention. If skin looks bad, that's something you don't mention. You get it?"

"Yes. Fine. Whatever."

I slouched back in my seat and stared out the window, driving the rest of the way in silence.

Becca gave me a look when I got out the car and walked away from Finn immediately once we'd pulled into the car park.

"He said I looked awful as a greeting," I said before she could say anything. "You're driving me to school tomorrow, not him."

Becca sighed. "Look, I think you need to befriend him. Like, not a best friend, but put aside your hatred."

"Oh my god, you sound just like Aurora," I said. "There is no way-"

"LILAH!" a girl with beautiful red waves rushed towards us. Poppy. She embraced me in a hug and smiled, her blue eyes sparkling. "Wow, you look like you got zero sleep, poor thing. Are you worried about getting a bad grade in drama? Finn is, he literally cried about it last night, it was quite something." She paused to laugh at the memory. "Anyway, when are you coming back over? Even if it's not to see Finn, I can't believe I've found someone else who loves Once Upon A Time."

I smiled. I did like Poppy. It was unbelievable how she was related to Finn. Having her around to spill Finn's embarrassing moments was a pretty big pro, too. If any of his friends found out he'd cried over a grade, he'd be the laughing stock.

"Finn cried over a grade?" Becca looked at Poppy as if she'd just handed her a golden ticket. "Oh this is too good."

I rolled my eyes, not commenting. I knew I'd cried over results more times than I could bear to count, so it felt a bit hypocritical to mock someone else for it, even if that person was Finn Lewis.

"Hey, Poppy," I said instead. "I'd love to come back round and watch with you."

"We have to get Finn to watch with us. He'd never admit it but he secretly loves romance so I know he'd love Hook and Emma!"

"Oh god, you used to be so invested in them in Year 9," Becca chuckled, looking at me. "When you weren't studying, you were reading fanfic." 

I smiled, watching Poppy get excited that I loved them too. I'd not actually read fanfic since Year 9 though, because that was the year I got a B in Latin. It was horrifying. Fanfic was considerably less appealing after it pulled your grade down to a B.