JUST PRESS SEND (On Hold)

TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
FEBRUARY 22ND, SATURDAY

TOBIAS WACH

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I was going on a date! An actual legit date with a boy.

Can I get an, "and I oop?"

Imaginary audience in my head, all screaming in unison, "And I oop!"

I couldn't believe it. Wow. A date with a boy. A man. A Brandon. How did I get so lucky?

I didn't know what to wear, so I wore what I wore to the dance. Brandon didn't see me in it, and I actually looked cute in it so I thought why not, right?

"Where are you going?" Cass asked as I was leaning over the sink to do my hair in the mirror.

"Out."

"Where? With who?"

She was so nosey. It's not that I didn't want to tell her; I just wanted to wait until I got back from the date. I didn't want to jinx anything. "Nowhere with no one."

"Liar."

I finished touching up my hair and smiled at the results. It almost looked just as good as when Isabel did it. I turned to Cass for an opinion. "How do I look?"

"Good. Now can you tell me? Please?"

"Cass, I'll tell you when I get back but I don't want to jinx anything, okay? I'm not trying to have a repeat of Valentine's Day."

"What do you mean?"

Dang it. I didn't tell anyone in that house about Brandon not showing up. Everything I did with Noah, I told them I did with Brandon. I was too embarrassed to tell them the truth.

"Nothing. I have to go."

"No, you don't. You're going to tell me the truth. Unlike Mikey, I care and unlike mom, I don't trust you. I know when you are lying. You're terrible at it."

I was terrible at a lot of things so that was no shocker. "I'll explain everything to you soon but not now."

Cass closed the bathroom door. "You're not leaving until you tell me."

I sighed. I had no excuse to leave the conversation or no real reason to grant me the courage of pushing passed her. Luckily, Brandon saved my life by texting me. My phone dinged and I immediately checked it.

"I'm outside."

"K. Coming."

I pocketed my phone. "That was Brandon so I have to go."

Cass crossed her arms and rested her back against the door. "No."

"Cass, please! I can't keep him waiting long. This is my first date so this is literally the most important day of my life! Do you want to ruin the most important day of my life?"

She gasped. "A date!" I nodded and then opened the door for me. "Go." She stepped to the side which gave me the space to walk through. "But promise me, you'll tell me everything when you get back," she said to me at the door.

"Promise."

There was no going back from that. Once I promised something, I had to stay true to it because that was what I expected out of others. As I made my way downstairs, I texted Brandon and told him that I was coming and apologized for the wait. He just sent a cool emoji and a smiley emoji with the words, "It's okay."