AMATEURS [Tenya Iida x OC]

Chapter 11 - The One with the Date

[photo credit: chocolatula.tumblr.com]

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 Somehow Peri managed to sleep. It was only two hours, but it was still sleep.

She woke up an hour before her alarm, nerves wrestling her from her dream for the fourth time that night, and just gave up. Turning off the alarm she'd set on her phone, Peri rolled out of bed and hopped in the shower, singing softly and trying to work out the anxiety.

It bothered her that she was so nervous... It was just Tenya. Her best friend. No big deal. A date with her best friend... That she liked to kiss.

Butterflies roiled in her stomach, and Peri groaned. She finished showering, and toweled off, getting dressed for her date way too early. Tsu had stayed late into the night, helping her pick out the perfect first date outfit: black overalls, striped sweater, black sneakers. Comfortable and cute.

Peri blow-dried her hair and ignored the squirming in her gut. She wished she could tell her nerves that she was just hanging out with her best friend... but she knew, deep down, that there was more to it than that: she had feelings for him, they'd kissed, he'd saved her life.

But where did that leave them?

Sighing, Peri began to fix her hair and text her brother. She wasn't sure if he'd be awake, but it was worth a shot. Hey turd. I'm going on a date with that guy I told you about today. Just fyi.

He texted back seconds later: WHAT. deets. Now.

She chuckled and texted him back. We're getting ice cream and going to the arcade. Nbd. Calm down. For being ten minutes older than her, he didn't act ten minutes wiser. Peri turned her music up and plugged her phone in to charge.

Ew. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Be safe.

She finished fixing the last of her curls and texted back: Okay. Love you, nerd. Spritzing hairspray into the air, Peri sealed her curls into place, put away her hair products, and frowned at herself in the mirror. It all felt too good to be true.

She was supposed to be focusing on her studies. She was supposed to be working on becoming a Pro Hero. She was supposed to be keeping her head down. Laying low. Drifting through life, letting her dads call the shots. Because, after all, they knew best... right?

Peri's guts churned, and she tasted stomach acid on her tongue. Her phone dinged, and she unplugged it, turning back into her bedroom to think about breakfast. Take her mind from the inevitable. She glanced down at her phone as she grabbed her keys, and faltered, her outstretched hand stopping short of the door handle.

I'm not sure why, but I'm nervous for our date.

Her heart thrummed in her chest just from seeing his name. She texted Tenya back and said, Me too. Peri slipped out of her room with her latest read for Book Club and tiptoed down the stairs in her socks, not wanting to wake her classmates. She slowed near the front windows, admiring the rising sun melting into the sky before making her way to the kitchen.

Starting a pot of coffee first, Peri soaked in the smell. If nothing else, she loved the smell of coffee. Peri whipped up some instant oatmeal and topped it with a sliced banana and chopped pecans. With her bowl of oatmeal in one hand, coffee cup in the other, she slipped out to the front porch and settled against a pillar. She set her bowl down on the wood, and sipped her coffee, letting it warm her from the inside out, before pulling her book from under her arm.

Time slipped by strangely as she read her book, Super Powereds by Drew Hayes, for Book Club. She could hear her phone making noises, but the book had her in a trance, unable to do anything except drink her coffee, eat her oatmeal, and turn the pages.