Wolf and Wishes

-6- The First Date

"And then she totally dumped him, in front of everyone!"

I cringe at the way Hunter throws his head backs and laughs, an amazing, whole laugh, and Gossamer giggles. I swear, she scoots her chair an inch closer towards his.

Hunter, seemingly unaware or uncaring of Gossamer's shift signals a nearby waitress. She shuffles over and stops at there table, pulling nervously a strand of golden hair.

"I'll have the... chocolate tart with a side of strawberries and the lady will have...?" as Hunter glances questioningly at Gossamer, who blushes devilishly and smirks, the camera jerks and you can hear Blondie's disapproving 'too plain' and the sound of her whisper covers whatever Gossamer orders.

You see, right now, Blondie is taping the first date of 'Hossamer' or 'Gunter', as she calls it, at Hocus Latte and mirror-casting it live to every Mirror Phone. So here I am, watching Gossamer flirting shamelessly with Hunter, whilst shoveling spoons full of ice cream into my mouth, underneath my patchwork quilt of every shade of red. Hunter!

Gossamer stands up abruptly, claiming she has to go to the restroom and struts off. Blondie sighs and she turns the camera on her Mirror Phone to face her, and she gives every viewer a run-down of the scenario;

"This is Blondie, reporting live from behind the rose bush in the corner of Hocus Latte," she says, glancing at the watch strapped around her wrist. "...at 4:33 PM, bringing you the latest update of Gossamer and Hunter's date. For those of you who are not familiar with this, I will give you an insight to how it all started- it was a typical Monday morning, everyone waiting for something to happen, when it did. Gossamer approached Hunter with a large amount of excitement, and asked him out. Yep, right then and there. Rumor has it they had met that weekend and gone to Hocus with a few others- Raven Queen, Dexter Charming and Cerise Hood. It is believed their romance sparked then, and that from here on out, they could become sweethearts.

"It was seemingly Hunter's idea to take her to Hocus Latte, which is incredibly romantic because that's where they first met," Blondie bubbles on. "Which leaves only one question- do they both have intentions for this 'thing' to progress?"

Blondie's run-down is cut short when Gossamer shimmies back into her seat, and Blondie flips back the camera to get a better view. Whilst Gossamer was away, the meals were delivered. From the camera, you can see Gossamer ordered the same as Hunter. I snarl at the screen.

Blondie does this with every 'date'- she follows them, which is creepy, I know, and tapes their entire date, posting it online, with some commentary, regular run-downs of the situation, questions she has for them, and why they got together. They don't tend to know until they get back and everyone is talking about it. The same thing happens whenever Raven and Dexter go somewhere together as 'just friends'- is what they claim. Therefore becoming the 'most shipped couple' at Ever After. But, anyway, I'm getting off track- the point is that probably almost every living soul at the high school is watching this date right now, and they're watching Gossamer with Hunter. And I'm sitting in a room that I share with Raven, nowhere near him.

A sob escapes my throat, and I'm about to descend into dramatic bawling when the door flies open. I quickly stash my Mirror Phone under my blanket and pretend to be asleep. I crack open an eyelid slightly and watch Raven storm into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"You are not watching that, are you? It's pathetic," she sneers, stalking towards me and yanking the covers back. She sees the Mirror Phone, open on the page broadcasting their date. She sighs. "This isn't the Cerise I know! You've got to be stronger! Do something to get back your man! Watching this first date just like you watched his and Ashlynn's will not help you."

I whimper beneath Raven's cool glare, and her eyes soften.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes. "I'm just taking my anger out on you..." Before I can question her, she plows on. "Anyway, I can organize something on the weekend- just you, me, Dexter and Hunter..."

"...and Gossamer."

Shoot.

I sway as Raven informs me with sympathetic eyes that Gossamer had caught wind of the group outing and invited herself. Hunter is in no position to object, either, since they're now branded as dating.

Raven shrugs. "I guess my planned backfired. Sorry, C, but now you can prove to Hunter how much better you are."

I sigh. "Whatever. Let's get too class before we're late."

"C, it's thirty minutes till classes start," she replies, arching an eyebrow.

"Early bird gets the worm, as I always say," I shoot back absentmindedly.

Raven snorts. "I have never heard you say that in my entire life."