TANGLED PLANS

16

I'm getting asked out right now. I'm not sure how exactly to react as Justin looks at me expectantly. I settle on a yes and he gives me a little smile as he hits my shoulder with his own. I think that that's how guys flirted so I do it to him as well and his smile is even bigger now.

I could look at his smile and knowing that it's for me, I could start to like him. It wasn't that I didn't like him at all— the tiny feeling in my chest told me as much— it was just that I didn't know him too well. So it was a good thing that we were going to be going on a date. Justin walks me back to the others which consists of Maria and Keilly and a Max that was busy kissing his (not)girlfriend.

Justin gives me a hug and says, "I'll text you details later!" He is about to walk away when I realize that I don't even have his phone number. I hold out my phone and say, "You didn't give me a number."

Justin runs a hand through his hair and his cheeks redden at the mistake made. I only hand him my phone and he puts his phone number in the contact lists. "I'll text you tomorrow", he says with a smile and then puts his hand up in a wave as he walks away.

Maria and Kielly are by my side in a second and the girls start to jump up and down in excitement for my date. They both are busy bombarding me with questions when I hear my name in another conversation.

"Is that her? Daisy?", Ashlyn is saying to Max who has his lips close to her jaw. He nods, his hair falling into her face. She gives us an once over and says, "Are they fucking kids?"

Max moves his lips away from her face and looks down at her. "Yeah, Ashlyn they are", he says in a non commanding voice but there is enough tone in that. The girl flips her hair over her shoulder and says, "Nice, you hang out with kids."

"That's Brayden little sister", Max says to her in a harsh whisper now. The sentence alone has to be a warning so Ashlyn doesn't say anything else. Max smiles at that and then says, "And yes, I hang out with her. She happened to bring friends tonight. She's his sister so I hang out with her. Problem?"

Ashlyn rolls her eyes and says, "No."

"Good", Max says and then places a kiss on her lips before pulling away with a grin. This grin was different, this one was done with his bottom lip bitten and his eyes trained on her. I didn't understand why she wasn't his girlfriend when I could see that she made him happy. I could have a crush on him and understand that from where I stand.

"Have a nice drive home", he says to her at last. She nods and leaves without a glance sent back at us. My heart races when Max's eyes find mine. I look away quickly and try not to make it seem that I had heard the whole conversation. I hadn't processed the words shared by them but now I do. She had been judging us based on the way we were acting and called us kids.

Max had defended me, but then he had also added the part where he was hanging around with me just because of my brither. The thought isn't the best or even a surprise but it still hurts the same.

"So a date?", Max is suddenly closer to me and I turn to him with a little flinch. He notices my reaction and the corner of his lip pull up in a smirk. My eyes are trained on the redness of his lips and the obvious lipstick stain there as well. The fact that there was evidence of him having been making out with a girl, who was not his girlfriend, makes my heart hurt more.

I push it away and say, "So a date."

He puts his hand up for me to high five and says, "Score." I don't move my hand up to high five him back and only turn around to my friends. "Daisy?", I hear him call out to me but I pretend I don't hear him as I start to talk about the interaction between Justin and I. The girls are asking me all sorts of questions and keeping up with answering them makes me forget about the frown on Max's face at my absence of highfiving him back.