"Oh, my gosh!" Amber shrilled. "Oh. My. Gosh."
I laughed but couldn't help but smile back. "I know! Can you believe it? At first, I thought I was dreaming. But I wasn't! It was happening!"
"Gosh," Amber said, placing a hand on her temple. "This could be your highlight of the year! Getting asked by your crush. Actually, it can be your highlight of your life. Nothing exciting ever happened and you never did something exciting."
I rolled my eyes. "We're going out tomorrow! Goodness, I feel so happy but I also feel nervous. I'm bound to say something weird and embarrassing. What am I going to wear? I'm not sure I'd like to wear a dress..."
"I'll help you get ready!" she smiled. "Since you guys are going out tomorrow, we're going to take you out today! It was originally planned for tomorrow, but you know..."
"Thanks, Amber," I smiled.
Whenever I thought about tomorrow, my stomach would churn. I was excited, yes, but I was also really nervous. What did a guy like Dallas see in me? To be frank, I was awkward and really clumsy and I never went through a day without humiliating myself. I always seemed to make a fool out of myself in front of Dallas. I don't know. Whenever I saw him, I would completely forget how to speak.
Remain calm, Aubrey.
"Where are we going tonight?" I asked, plopping down on the bench. It was lunch break and we decided to sit outside. Today was very sunny but nonetheless a beautiful day. We sat beside a tree and I munched on a couple of fries.
Amber took out a sandwich and unfolded it. "Well, we're taking you to a local carnival."
I suppressed the urge not to drop the handful of fries in my hand. "What? A carnival! Yay! Oh, this is going to be so fun!"
She rolled her eyes. "Exactly why we chose a carnival. You light up at those kinds of things. But yeah, we're going to go on several rides and eat lots of popcorn and cotton candy."
"Yes!" I shrieked, pulling my hands up into the air.
"Mop top," Amber yelled, her gaze averting to a scowling Dylan. He approached us, his hands in his pants' pockets. He wasn't wearing his jacket, I noticed, and that displayed his tattoos.
"What do you want?" he asked. He was always annoyed. He looked like he hadn't gotten enough sleep, too. I've been noticing that. His hair was (as usual) disheveled.
"So as you know, Aubrey's birthday is tomorrow," she began. "Tymon and I planned something for that very day but the dork got asked out."
"Kind of hard to believe," I heard him mutter and I didn't hesitate to shoot him a cold glare.
Amber rolled her eyes. "Anyway, we're taking her to a carnival after school. Wanna join?"
"No."
"I'll pay you."
He raised an eyebrow. "I don't take bribes. But if you were to pay me to go to her birthday—" He jerked a thumb in my direction. "—it'd be about a thousand bucks."
"I don't blame you," Amber said, nodding.
"I'm still here, you know!" I said, shooting them both glares. "And I appreciate it a lot!"
Dylan shrugged and walked away. I turned to Amber. "Why'd you want to invite him?" I was not offended; just curious.
Amber shrugged. "You're the only one that he talks to in this school. Well, you always make the first move, but he can never do anything about it."
Huh.
That was something to think about.
"My little girl is growing up," Dad sobbed. Mom sympathetically patted him on the shoulder and I warmly smiled at him. Dad covered his face with a hand, the other making gestures while he rambled on.
"She is, isn't she?" Mom sighed. "And she got asked out!"
Dad's sobbing came to a halt and his hand dropped, his face appearing blank. "What?" he flatly asked.
"You can go now," Mom said, winking. I laughed and ran out of the house, Dad's protests the last things I could hear. The car was parked up front and Amber, Tymon, and, get this, Dylan were standing beside it.
I raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Decided you couldn't miss it?"
He muttered something, getting into car.
I raised an eyebrow at Amber. "What'd you do?"
"I didn't do anything!" she retorted. "We just had the privilege to meet his mom and she came to know about today's plan and, well, forced him to go. Alright, let's go!"
The ride to the carnival was short. Amber and Tymon spent it arguing while Dylan muttered obscenities. When I saw the carnival's neon sign come into view, however, I squealed in excitement and flung open the car when Amber finished parking the car.
"There's so much to do! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" I yelled, running ahead.
