Win a date with Tom Holland!

The Contest

Late November, 2019. Washington State.

(home from college for Thanksgiving break)

Nancy tucked a chunk of hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes; her best friends, Clare and Jack, were once again trying to set her up with their friend Chris. 

"Guys, seriously, um, no," she couldn't keep herself from blushing, which was stupid because she wasn't attracted to Chris at all. She was just unforgivably awkward at any mention of guys - unless it was Jack. Their strictly platonic relationship (excluding a six-month crush she had had on him while they were in eleventh grade) had never made her nervous. She wasn't sure what it was that made her different from everyone else - why she was nineteen and had never kissed anyone or been asked on a date. She often found herself at the hands of relentless teasing about her lack of experience with guys, and it had worsened when both Clare and Jack had entered into relationships. Clare's boyfriend was another example of Nancy's inability to talk to guys; his name was Trevor and she was not the least bit interested in dating him - he was Clare's boyfriend. Yet, she often found herself tripping over her words when trying to make conversation with him. 

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh," Nancy, Clare, and Jack turned to where the loud squealing was coming from; their local Starbucks was usually the perfect place to hang out. Their corner of Washington state was almost exclusively habituated by old people, so they could usually relax in Starbucks without the annoyance of loud customers. 

"What is it, Amber?" The squealing girl turned to her friend and shover her phone in her face.

"OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH!" Her friend began to jump up and down and shake Amber's hands.

"This is NOT happening," she cried, while the barista tried to ask if they were ready to order.

"I wonder what that's about," Jack said, to which Clare and Nancy nodded. And then...

"I cannot believe we could enter a contest with the chance to win a date with Tom Holland. Tom FREAKING Holland!" Amber's friend squealed after they ordered. 

Upon hearing this, Nancy's heart skyrocketed. 

Truth be told, Nancy had a crush on just about every male celebrity. Make him British, and the crush was intensified, no doubt. There was something different about Tom Holland, though. After seeing him Spiderman: Homecoming when she was a sophomore in high school, she had never gotten over his sheer dorkiness; it was so hot, and so unlike anything she'd ever seen in an actual guy. Her friends had tried to convince her that it was an act; he had to pretend to be like Peter Parker for marketing reasons. But she didn't believe them. There was something different about Tom, Nancy knew. She had seen the movie eleven times in theaters, which was funny because Jack had had to drag her to watch it the first time; she had always hated action movies (or so she thought...), until Spiderman: Homecoming. She had watched Spiderman: Far From Home seventeen times in theaters that summer, and had seen almost every interview Tom had been in. Her obsession was no secret, so predictably...

"Wow, Nancy... looks like Chris won't be getting a call from you anytime soon," Clare laughed into her coffee, auburn hair falling into her face. 

"I'm gonna, um," Nancy began, but Jack cut her off. 

"You're gonna check his Instagram and then you're going to enter the contest. Yes, Nancy, we know. Um, are you blushing? You are the most pathetic person in existence," Jack said, while fumbling with his coffee cake. 

"Don't be so rude, Jack," Clare hit him, and they started laughing.

Mildly hurt, Nancy turned on her phone and saw the "@tomholland2013 has made a post" notification. She unlocked her phone and read the post - thanks to the success of both Spiderman: Far From Home and Avengers: Endgame, Disney, Sony, and Marvel Studios were teaming up to send their Avengers on dates. Each Avenger would be assigned one lucky winner. The rulers were pretty simple, simply asking for the name and address of the person entering, along with which Avenger they wanted go out with and why. It was open internationally. 

"So, are you gonna enter?" Clare asked.

"Duh. But it's not just Tom. I mean, you can a date with any of the Avengers," Nancy replied, showing them the phone screen.

"Well, looks like I might just get to go out with Scarlett Johansson," said Jack, and the three laughed. He then added, "Funny to think that the possibility of Nancy winning this contest is higher than the possibility of her going on a real date." Clare laughed, but Nancy's face burned. 

Why was he so mean to her? Before he had started dating his girlfriend, Katy, she had thought that it was a sign he liked her. Clearly, she had been wrong. 

"Weren't you trying to get me to go out with Chris, like, less than five minutes ago? Because, um, he likes me?" Nancy was angry and tears threatened to spill out of her eyes. Cynical jabs from Jack was just part of being his friend; however, ever since he had started dating his  Katy, they had become more specific towards Nancy, and less about her general quickness and more about her lack of a boyfriend. It was annoying, especially because of her past crush on him.

Oblivious, he replied: "Yeah, but Chris would go out with a tree."

"I have to go," Nancy stood, threw away her unfinished coffee, and left the store. 

As she headed to her car, Nancy couldn't stop thinking about rude Jack had been, or the fact that Clare hadn't said anything to stand up for her. One thing did make her feel a bit better, though; maybe she would win that contest. Maybe she would go on a date with Tom Holland. It wouldn't lead to anything real, she knew that; but maybe she would earn a bit of respect from her friends. Maybe she would earn a bit of respect for herself.