She Said What?

Chapter 48: I Go Out on the Town

A/N: And here it is, two days earlier than promised because my teachers were very cooperative this week. The day of the big date. Ooooh. Are you excited? I'm excited. Let's see how this goes.

A few songs I listened to while writing – I'm Only Me When I'm With You (Taylor Swift), Fearless (Taylor Swift), Stolen (Dashboard Confessional), First Time (Lifehouse), Hanging by a Moment (Lifehouse), Reasons to Love You (Meiko).

Super-long chapter, so you have fun out there.

Cheers!

March 7

10:45 AM
Status: Slightly freaking out

Right. So. Wow. As referenced in my status above, I'm slightly freaking out.

Why?

Because I totally have my big date today and my systems are about to combust with pressure.

Even thinking about it now, my gut is constricting and my lungs are withering up into nothing and I'm feeling considerably nauseous. I always feel this way before a first date (experience has taught me to assume the worst at all times) but the feeling has been amplified about ten thousand percent with the companion of this particular date.

I keep telling myself that I'm going to be okay, this is fine, it's natural, and James is my best friend in the world, totally safe; but my first instinct is to unlock my hysterical side and I'm a person who sticks closely to her first instincts. Apparently, that works against me this time around.

I woke up Alice and Livvy the moment I opened my eyes, stumbling into their dormitory with my pyjamas still on and shouting for their attention. Quite the role reversal, since this is usually Livvy's job instead of mine; but fortunately for me, they are easier to wake than I am. They were up in a couple of yells.

We wasted no time in the matter. This was an important day and the girls knew it; so instead of indulging in the usual preliminaries – Alice yawning, Livvy chastising Alice for being so overt, Alice yawning again just to bug her – we wordlessly arrived at the same agenda and scurried straight to my dormitory to begin our pre-date ritual. At once, I allowed my frantic energy to come out into the open and mercifully succumbed to my panic.

"I haven't a clue what I'm supposed to wear!" I wailed, throwing my drawers open and wildly tossing clothes all over my room in desperation. "What do you wear when your life as you know it is about to end?!"

"You're being a little melodramatic here," said Alice reasonably, as though she was qualified to make such a statement. "I mean, your life is not going to end with this date. You'll have fun and you'll be fine. Think of it like patrol at a bizarre time in Hogsmeade, with a meal attached."

I made some bizarre noise and continued flinging things around, my face flustered and warm and my stomach shriveled up to the size of a prune. Alice chuckled, giving up on me, and Livvy took over. She approached me and gently touched my shoulder, making me jump.

"Lils, calm down," she said, sitting me down on my bed and keeping her hands firmly on my shoulders. "You're going to be all right. Can you repeat that with me? I, Lily Evans, am going to be all right."

"I, Lily Evans, am going to be all right," I breathed.

"Again," Livvy ordered.

"I, Lily Evans, am going to be all right," I said obediently. Surprisingly, the mantra did help, and Livvy had me say it four more times before she was satisfied.

"Good, good," she said. "There. Now, let's please calmly look through these clothes. You have a nice wardrobe and it's not like he's taking you to some ball or anything. You're going out to Hogsmeade. You only have to look a little nicer than usual."