I sat down at the computer and scrolled through my profile. “You don’t have to marry him, Mia. You just have to sit near him. Not even beside him, if you want.” I paused. “How are we going to arrange the seating?”
Shal glanced at me in the mirror. “They’re boys. They’ll sit together. Your only chance will be before and after.”
“Makes sense,” I said thoughtfully.
“What if Liam wants to sit next to you?” Mia asked.
Shal snorted. “Then she’ll throw us both on the ground to make room.”
I stopped on Liam’s old message to me and smiled. “Probably.”
My mom poked her head into the room. I think she was more excited than anyone. As someone who loved to dress up and put on makeup, she was thrilled that her tomboy daughter was finally going on a date. She looked at me and hesitated.
“I still think a nicer shirt—”
“This one is fine,” I said.
She smiled. “It’s definitely fine. The hair is so cute. You girls all look adorable.” She glanced at her watch. “We should probably get going. Don’t want to be late.”
“All right, meet you down there,” I said.
She gave me one last happy grin and hurried down the stairs. I sighed deeply.
“She’s going to talk about this for weeks.”
“My mom looked like she was going to faint when I told her,” Mia said.
Shal pouted into the mirror one last time before turning around. “And my dad warned me that boys are all scoundrels and to be avoided,” she said. “That’s what parents are for. Shall we?”
We hurried down the stairs, where my still-beaming mother was waiting by the door with her keys. Tom and Stache were in the living room watching TV. Stache glanced back as we put our shoes on.
“Leaving?” he asked.
“Yep,” I said.
“Call me when the movie’s done,” he said. “Not a second later. Don’t let those boys get any ideas. You stick around and they’ll think it’s kiss-in-the-moonlight time.”
I made a face. “Can we never talk about this again?”
He turned back to the TV. “Agreed.”
Tom looked over from the recliner. “Love the outfits, ladies.”
Shal and Mia looked at me in confusion. I just rubbed my forehead.
“Thank you, Bat Boy. Can we leave, Mom?”
“Absolutely,” she said happily, pulling the door open. “Come on, girls. Don’t want to leave the boys waiting.” Just saying that made her smile even wider.
She ushered us to the car and turned to me as we pulled out of the driveway.
“Now remember what I said—”
“Even boys like please and thank you?”
She smiled. “You’ll be great.”
I looked out the window, feeling my stomach turn. I really hoped she was right.
—
The boys were waiting awkwardly by the front doors when we arrived. I had been a little afraid that Paul and Steve might not show, since they hadn’t technically agreed to come. But everyone was here, Shal and Mia were smiling nervously in the back of the van, and my mom was squeezing my hand and saying, “Have fun, sweetie.”
Oh crap. I was actually going on a date.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
We climbed out, said our goodbyes, and went to meet the boys. As soon as I saw Liam, some of my nervousness disappeared. He gave me a quick smile as we approached.
“Hey,” I said. “Hey, Paul. Steve.”
“Hey,” they said.
There was a quick moment of silence. Uh-oh. What happens now?
“Should we get our seats?” Liam asked.
“Yep,” Shal said quickly, walking by. “Hi, Paul.”
“Hey,” he said, glancing at Steve.
This was going well.
Everyone went inside, with Mia sticking very close to me and Liam heading inside with his friends. Liam shot me another smile as we reached the counter. He’d gelled his hair a little so that it was parted at the front. It should have been super nerdy. I thought it was super cute.
“Still treating me to that date?” he asked.
“As long as you’re getting the popcorn,” I replied.
He laughed. “Deal.”
And from there it was all a happy blur. We definitely sat with the three girls and three boys beside each other, but I was at the far end next to Liam, so I didn’t care. Shal looked a little miffed that Paul didn’t sit next to her, and Mia just looked thrilled.
Dinosaur Ninja was an even stupider movie than it sounds. But everyone was so nervous and awkward that we laughed at everything—even the part where the ninja raptor practises a breakdance. Don’t ask. Better yet, Liam and I shared a large popcorn, which meant we had seven different two-hands-in-the-popcorn-bag moments where we laughed at each other and fumbled to let the other one go first. Those were the best.
Every time I looked at him, I could see Dinosaur Ninja reflected in his glasses. Needless to say I now love that movie.
When the lights came back on, Steve made a joke about dinosaur feces, we all laughed, and then we awkwardly made our way back to the lobby. I called my dad, Paul called his mom, and then we gathered in a loose circle outside to wait.
It actually wasn’t bad. Paul and Shal kind of talked about how bad the movie was, Mia said something like “I know,” that Steve laughed at for some reason, and Liam and I just talked about the irony that a raptor was using a sword. It was very stimulating.
Paul must have lived really close, because his mom was there in like five minutes. We all looked at each other for a second.
“That was fun,” Liam said. “Thanks for the invite.”
Should we shake hands? Hug? Kiss in the moonlight?
They made it easy. They all just did like a little half wave and started for the car, leaving us to smile and act normal until they had safely driven away, at which point we obviously started to giggle and laugh and break down everything that had happened.
Stache showed up soon after—clearly having sped all the way—and we climbed in and
