I Choose You (A Shawn Mendes Fanfiction)

Chapter 5

The next two days go by quickly and before I know it, I am checking the Camp Stride portal to see if I got the classes and activities I requested. I am pleased to find that I got everything I wanted. I take a picture of my schedule so I can remember the order of my classes and activities.

"Are you kidding me?" Marisol pouts.

"What's wrong?" I ask. "Did you not get jet skiing as an activity?"

She smiles.

"No. I did, luckily. But I didn't get fishing, instead I got one of my alternates."

This surprises me. I didn't expect Camp Stride to be packed with fishers.

"Well, what did you get instead of fishing? I'm sure it's not that bad," I try to cheer her up. Marisol sighs.

"Knitting, El. I got knitting."

My laughter echoes throughout our suite. Knitting? Really?

"It's not funny!" Marisol whines. "I put it as an alternate because I was too lazy to look through everything and assumed the odds of me getting knitting were unlikely."

"I guess you learned your lesson," I respond, before hearing my phone beep. I pick up my phone to read a message from an unknown number.

Hey :) did you end up getting into piano?

It's Shawn. I feel my cheeks flush, immediately alerting Marisol.

"Who is it? Who is texting you?"

"Shawn," I say, before texting him back. She claps excitedly.

Yes. Guess there is no going back now. I can't believe I'm actually taking piano lessons.

I smile when I hear my phone beep again.

And I can't believe I'm actually taking A.P. Literature. So not my thing.

Hey, it was your idea. You were practically begging for me to accept your compromise. I respond, unsure if I'm successfully flirting or not.

Begging is a strong word, El. I couldn't have cared less if you accepted my offer or not.

I roll my eyes at his response.

As if. I'm pretty sure I saw you shed a tear of joy when I finally accepted your offer.

Damn. You saw that? That's embarrassing. He responds.

I laugh out loud, happy that he has a good enough sense of humor to go along with the joke.

Don't worry. I won't tell anyone.

Thank you. How can I ever repay you for such a favor? He replies.

I contemplate what to say next.

Hmmm. I'm not sure. Let me think.

I'll save you the trouble. I know exactly how to repay you.

How? I smirk. Clueless as to where he is going with this.

"Oh my God, let me see what you guys are saying. The anticipation is killing me!" Marisol says, reaching for my phone. Despite my efforts to keep my phone away from her, she grabs it from my hands and begins reading my messages.

"Give it back," I say, failing to steal my phone from her. Suddenly, I hear my phone beep once again.

"Eeeek," Marisol exclaims excitedly before beginning to type.

"What did he say? Marisol what are you typing?" I begin to wrestle her for my phone. "You better not respond for me!"

"Too late," Marisol says, her smile making it clear she is satisfied with herself. "I already pressed send."

She hands me my phone, and I groan before reading what I missed. I'm shocked by Shawn's text.

Let me treat you to dinner tonight. There is an amazing Italian restaurant right outside of Camp Stride. Maybe we can walk there together and enjoy a nice meal?

Sounds good. I love Italian food.

I feel my heart stop in my chest. Did Shawn just ask me on a date?And did I- I mean, did Marisol just say yes?

"If I were you, I would start getting ready for your date." Marisol winks at me.

"I hate you," I respond, knowing that's nowhere near the truth. I'm actually glad Marisol accepted his offer for me. Who knows if I would have been brave enough to say yes? I've only ever been on one date before and let's just say, it made me never want to date again.

Shawn tells me that he will meet me at my suite at 6:00 p.m., and I add his number to my contacts before getting ready for our date- at least I think it's a date.

***

"Calm down, El.You're giving me whiplash," Marisol says as I pace our suite.

"What if I'm too awkward? Maybe I should just call him and tell him I'm sick or something."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Too late," says Marisol walking to the door to open it. I race her and reach the door first. It would be weird having her open it. I take a deep breath in and let a deep breath out before twisting the door knob and pulling the door open.

"Hi," I say as my eyes meet his beautiful pools of brown.

"Hey," he says, looking me up and down before smiling. "You look great."

Did he say that because he's into me or because it's a friendly thing to say? I can't tell, but either way, I feel my cheeks become pink.

"Thanks," I say shyly. "Uhm. Let's go- I guess." I would let Shawn in our suite if I wasn't so sure Marisol would find a way to embarrass me.

"Oh, come on!" I hear Marisol shout from behind me. "I wanted to give him a grand tour of our suite."

"I'm sure it's nothing compared to the Den," I say. "Bye now."

Shawn says goodbye to Marisol before I close the door, leaving the two of us alone.

"So what's this restaurant called?" I ask Shawn, trying to fill the silence that has come of us as we walk out of the building.

"Mama Lydia's," Shawn says happily. "The owner, Lydia, is an absolute sweetheart and her place definitely has the best Italian food around!"

"Great, because I'm starving and I love Italian food!" I say, honestly excited for the evening ahead of me.