If the Heavens Ever Did Speak, She's the Last True Mouthpiece

Absolutely Smitten

Tyler thought Abby was absolutely stunning.

From the moment he saw her, he loved everything about her. Her fiery attitude, her bold personality, the way she was quick to defend her friends. He loved it all.

Of course, he would never admit it. His pride would never allow that, and so he masked his attraction with cruelty. He reasoned that by acting out, he was at least getting her attention. He was fine admiring her from a far. It was better this way.

Or so he thought.

That faithful day when he was caught at the 4*Town concert changed his life for the better.

Tyler could have never imaged in a million years that he would join Mei's friend group, but life has a funny way of going about things. After spending time with the lively group, Tyler came to realize that each member were actually wonderful, caring, genuinely good people. They were just good for the sake of being so.

Miriam was far less dorky than he had previously thought. She was a laid back, chill person, who cared deeply about her friends. Tyler was grateful to now be called one of those.

Tyler wished he could say that Mei was less dorky than he thought, but that would be a lie. If anything, she was more dorky, but that's not exactly a bad thing. She helped Tyler open up and enjoy the things he was apprehensive about openly enjoying, like 4*Town, and for that he was immensely thankful.

If he was being perfectly honest, Priya always intimidated him quite a bit. The sophisticated, cold demeanor in which she carried herself always made Tyler a little apprehensive when messing with her.

After getting to know her, however, he came to realized that she was actually a stoic goofball. Something about her blunt humor cracked him up. Tyler thought she was hilarious, and the two often played Minecraft online together into the later hours of the night.

And then there was Abby...

Spending time with her only reinforced his previous impressions of her. After getting to know her better, his feelings of love multiplied ten fold. She truly was perfect.

Tyler wasn't exactly sure when it happened. Or even when it started. All he knew for sure was that right here and now, he was falling hard and he could only pray that she was feeling the same way.

It was only a matter of time before someone swooped in and stole her away from him. I mean, with Mei and Miriam getting together, and Priya and that goth girl crushing hard on one another, Abby was bound to be next in line to get a date. And Tyler would be damned if it wasn't him.

Not being able to bare the thought of Abby with someone else, Tyler decided the best course of action would be to confess his feelings tomorrow. 'But what if it doesn't work out?'

A small voice in the back of his head countered, 'Ah, but what if it does.'

He decided to listen to that voice.

With that plan in mind for tomorrow, Tyler went to sleep, praying to his ancestors that his adoration would turn out mutual.

...

The next day, Tyler went through his classes as usual. Try to pay attention in first period, sleep through second period, thank Mei for letting him cheat off of her during their Chemistry test, etc. Today though, he could barely pay any mind to any of his class. His heart rate was at catastrophic levels, and his nerves got increasingly worse as he approached his last class of the day.

That morning he had decided to wait until last period was over to confess; that way if his feelings were not returned, he wouldn't have to go through the awkwardness of having to see her during class.

The last period bell rang, a noise he had been dreading and simultaneously had been itching for. He longed for a normal cardiac BPM, and just wanted to get this over with. He debated several times ditching the plan all together, but he had sworn to himself he would go through with it last night, and he didn't want to break that promise.

As he exited the classroom, he scanned the halls for Abby. He realized that it was a futile effort looking for her in the crowd, her being so short (though Priya would probably be tasked with helping Abby hide his body if he voiced that thought aloud). He reasoned she would probably be at her locker, and decided to head that way in search of her.

As he approached the locker, he saw her. Someone had bumped into her, causing her to drop her books, resulting in her going ballistic on them. Tyler thought she looked downright beautiful, even in her fits of rage.

'I can't do this.'

The thought suddenly filled his mind, panic shooting to his core.

Just as he was about to abort the mission and turn around, Abby spotted him.

A gorgeous smile graced her features as she enthusiastically waved him over, releasing the collar of the kid who bumped her. He couldn't leave now. Abby knew that Tyler knew that he had seen her, and to blatantly ignore her would be rude. He was trapped. 'Fuck.'

As he walked towards her, he mustered up a warm smile. It wasn't hard. Seeing her so happy to see him made Tyler smile involuntarily.

"Hey brace-face," she greeted him as he neared. Though he wasn't particularly fond of the nickname, he was happy to have one in the first place.

"Hey," he responded back, working up the nerve for his confession.

"Did you see the new 4*Town music video that dropped last night? Wasn't it just amazing!?" Abby spewed the questions out rapidly, clearly excited.

"Y-yeah, I saw it. Hey, listen, I have something I wanted to ask you," Tyler started, his voice betraying his faux confidence. "I was wondering if you kinda, maybe wanted to hang out tomorrow? I'm thinking maybe ice cream and mini golf?"

Abby was confused why he was so clearly anxious about asking that. They hung out all the time.

"Sure. I'll go tell the girls," Abby replied, obliviously.

"I was kinda hoping i-it could just be the t-two of us..."

Oh?

Oh...

Abby was taken aback. She had no idea Tyler felt that way about her. A blush formed on her face, one matching Tyler's in hue.

Now having all the puzzle pieces, it was actually kind of flattering how nervous he was to ask her out. No one had ever liked her this way, and romance was certainly never the reason someone was frightened to talk to her. It was a nice change of pace. One Abby decided she liked very much.

"That's fine with me! What time?"

Pure joy erupted across Tyler's face, "Can I pick you up around 6?"

"Sounds good..." Abby still found it hard to believe someone liked her romantically. "J-just so we're on the same page here, you just asked me out on a date, right?"

"Y-yeah," Tyler replied, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans. "Is t-that okay?"

"It's perfect."

Tyler walked away from the conversation practically bursting with glee. If he wasn't in public, he might have broke out in dance.

Abby couldn't wait to tell her friends. She eagerly anticipated them getting together tonight to help her plan her outfit.

As they both drifted off that night, they found themselves thinking the exact same thing.

'This is the start of something great.'