Wingmen | Redlyn

Part 2: April Ball

Ashlyn's POV

"Why's everyone hovering around that one specific water fountain?" Carlos wonders. 

I finish shoving my books into my locker and collecting the ones I need for first period before shutting the door and spinning around to see what's got Carlos's attention. A cluster of teens crowds the fountain, but none of them appear to be getting water. After a few seconds, one of them finally moves their head, and I'm able to catch a glimpse of the brightly coloured poster on the wall with "April Ball" in bolded letters. That creates an instant gasp from Carlos, which frightens me enough to make me nearly drop the books in my hands. 

"God, Carlos," I mutter. 

"The April Ball is coming up!" he exclaims. "I forgot about that. I need to think of a special way to ask Seb."

As if summoned by the statement, the blonde boy shows up behind his boyfriend, a soft smile on his face. Seb touches Carlos's shoulder, making him turn. 

"Not if I ask you first," Seb says. 

Carlos stands with his mouth open in a grin for a moment, his eyes clearly in thought. 

Eventually, he says, "That wasn't a question. That means I can still ask you."

Seb doesn't debate. His smile simply grows, and he knots his fingers through his boyfriend's. 

"I can't wait to see what you have planned," Seb says. "It will have to be big to beat the promposal I did for Bessie the cow when I was eight."

"Oh, it will be big," Carlos assures him. 

While the two boys giggle together, I glance around and end up spotting a blur of green hair. When Emilia sees me, she gives me a smile and begins cutting through the stream of kids in the hallway to get to me. I walk over a little too, meeting her a quarter of the way. 

As always, my heart beats faster from the way her beautiful brown eyes sink into me like rain into the ground. Fair freckles speckle her nose, going all the way over the tip and around to her pink septum ring. I remember her telling me the story of when she got that piercing. Her mom said she didn't believe Emilia would actually pierce her nose, and Emilia said, "Bet," and now the girl has a septum piercing. I think it suits her very well. 

"Hi, lovely," Emilia says. "How's life going?"

"Good," I reply. "I was just looking at the poster for the dance coming up."

She glances over at where the crowd is beginning to disperse before looking back to me, saying. "Oh, yeah. I guess it is that time of the year."

"Are you going to go?" I ask. 

Naturally, I want to ask her to go with me, but the nerves blocking my throat convince me to stall a little longer by just asking her questions instead. 

"I'm not sure," she says. Then she adds, "Probably. I just don't know who I'd go with."

That's my cue. My internal voice shouts at my hands to stop shaking and my skin to stop sweating, and I muster together all the courage I have. 

But before I can speak, she carries on, saying, "I guess if I don't have a date, I'll just go with you, 'cause going with a friend is still fun."

That shoots my bravery back down in an instant, and I feel my whole body sink. She doesn't view me as a date. I'm just her friend. I've always been just her friend. I could try to ask her anyway, but then I'd risk her getting all awkward around me if she says no. How do I push aside that fear and just go for it? This is why I need a wingman, but unfortunately he's not here right now, so I'm stuck attempting to fight my nervousness on my own.

"Yeah, sure, of course," I respond, trying to keep my disappointment out of my voice.

_______________________________________

Big Red's POV

As soon as I enter my English class, I see Malaak sitting on her desk, talking to one of her friends. I go over to take my seat behind her. When she sees me, she smiles and slides down into her seat, spinning to face me. She props her elbows on my desk to hold her head up, and she looks at me the same way anyone would, but because it's her, it gives my heart a whirl. 

"Hey," she says. "Did you happen to read my story yet?"

"I did," I reply. 

"And...?" she asks eagerly. 

"It was a neat concept," I say. "You did a really good job at describing the emotions throughout it, but did she have to die at the end?"

She puts her hands over her face in embarrassment, laughing while saying, "I didn't know how to end it."

"I mean, killing the point of view character is a pretty solid way to make sure the story is unarguably done, but it's also kinda sad for the teacher to has to read those endings continuously. You'd be surprised at how many students end their stories that way."

"At least I didn't have her wake up with it all being a dream," Malaak replies, giggling, which makes me laugh too. 

"Yes, you have an advantage over that," I respond. 

"How do you think I should end it?" she asks. 

"Why don't you just let the character get the job? Skip the getting hit by a train part."

"But happy endings are boring," she complains. "Trains are fun."

"They're more fun when you're riding them and not getting hit by them."

She shakes her head, laughing. 

Interrupting our conversation comes Nour, one of Malaak's friends, and just like that, the girl's attention is stolen away from me as Nour starts telling Malaak about the manicure she got yesterday. Malaak is drawn in by the royal blue nails, and I lean back in my chair, taking out my phone to try to distract myself until class starts. 

Right away, I notice that I have a text from Ashlyn, and I open my messages to read it. 

Ashlyn: Meet at Publik after school? First rule of being a wingman: know the person you're being a wingman for.

I smile. Ashlyn is actually committed to this. In all honesty, I figured she probably only said that to cheer me up, but it makes me happy to know that she actually does care about me. 

Me: I'll be there.

Ashlyn: :)

A/N: Sorry this is such a short second chapter. Anyway, the story currently looks like it's going to be approximately 9 parts. I'm excited for it. There are some moments that I'm really looking froward to writing. I love you all, and have a lovely night.