"Hey, Marquis! Marquis de Lafayette!"
"Laf, it's just Jefferson." Alex said. "Ignore him."
"Marquis!"
"What does he even want?" John muttered.
Jefferson ran up to them, only to receive a glare from Alex.
"Marquis, I need to ask you something."
"As if he'd want anything to do with you." Alex snapped.
"Hey, be nice." Laf said. "What's up, Jefferson?"
"I was hoping I could talk to you alone…"
"Yeah, sure." Laf replied. "You two go on ahead. I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said to John and Alex.
Both of them looked unhappy about the situation, but walked away.
"So, what's up?"
"I was wondering if you'd...uh, if you'd want to…"
"Yes?"
"If you'd want to go out with me!" Thomas squeaked out nervously.
"Oh." Laf looked surprised.
"If you don't want to I understand, but-"
"No, no!" Laf cut him off. "I would love to go out with you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Will tomorrow after school work?"
Laf nodded. "Yeah, I think so. I'll have to double check and make sure I'm not busy."
"Great!" Jefferson's face broke out into a smile. "Can you meet me at my locker after school tomorrow?"
"Oui, what's your locker number?"
"Seven hundred eighty-nine. See you tomorrow!" Jefferson exclaimed as he turned and walked away.
Lafayette smiled. Thomas Jefferson asked me out? ME? He's one of the most popular guys in school and he chose me? He was grinning the entire time he walked home.
His mom was in the kitchen and looked up when she heard him enter the house. "Bonjour, Gilbert! How was school?"
"It was good."
"What are you smiling about? Wait, I recognize that smile." She grinned. "Who are you going out with, and when? Is it that Adrienne girl you talked so much about last year?"
Laf shook his head. "No, it's not Adrienne."
"Oh? Were you lucky enough that it's a Schuyler?"
"Mom! No, it's not one of the Schuylers!"
"Who then, Gil?"
"T-Thomas Jefferson…"
"It's a guy?"
Laf nodded nervously. "Oui."
She nodded. "Alright. As long as he treats you well. When are you two going out?"
"Uh, tomorrow after school, if that's okay…" Laf said, his smile returning, glad his mother was okay with him dating Jefferson.
"Oui, it's fine. Ask him if he wants to come over for dinner sometime this week, alright?"
Laf nodded. "Thanks, mom. I gotta go work on homework." He said, going up the stairs.
John and Alex met Laf by his locker the next morning.
"Well? What did Jefferson want yesterday?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, come on Laf. What'd he talk to you about?" John pressed.
Laf shut his locker, looking nervously at his friends. He knew that neither of them liked Thomas. "He, uh-well, he asked me out…"
"What?!" Alex exclaimed as Laf flinched at the sudden noise. "You said no, right?"
Laf shook his head. "I-I said yes…"
"Why?"
"Because I like him…"
"How could you?!"
"Alex, relax." John said. "We're not going to stop you Laf. Neither of us like Jefferson, but if he makes you happy, I don't want to ruin that. Alex?"
Alex sighed. "I want you to be happy too, Laf. I just don't trust him. Be careful, at least?"
Laf nodded. "I'll be fine. But I gotta get to class now, I'll see you at lunch!" He said, rushing down the hallway.
Laf walked up to Jefferson's locker after school. "Hey, Jefferson."
"Hey," He replied, slamming his locker. "Just call me Thomas. No need to be formal."
"Oh. Okay."
"So, what's your full name? I notice during classes the teachers always have a hard time saying your full name, you always interrupt them and tell them to just call you Marquis."
"Well, my full name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette."
"Wow. That's-that's long. Can I just call you Marie?"
"Well, if anything I would prefer Marie-Joseph, if you feel you must call me by my first name."
"But that's too long! Can I please call you Marie?"
"Sure, I-I guess…"
"Great! So, I already chose the restaurant for tonight, it's italian, is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine." Laf replied, overwhelmed by how fast Thomas was speaking.
"Cool. So we'll take my car, and then when we're done I can bring you back here so you can get your car and drive home.
"You can just drop me off at home. I walk, so my car's not here."
Thomas shrugged. "Alright. Let's go."
Laf got in the passenger's seat of Thomas's car, setting his bag by his feet. "Merci." He said quietly.
"What? Speak up."
"Merci."
"I dunno what that means. I don't speak french."
"Right, sorry. I sometimes fall into it...merci means thank you."
"Then why didn't you just say so? You're in America, you should speak english."
"Oh...okay." Laf replied.
Thomas pulled into the restaurant's parking. "Here we are."
Laf climbed out of the car and the two of them walked into the restaurant. They were seated and Laf began flipping through the menu.
"Get whatever you want. Don't worry about the price."
"Mer-I mean, thanks."
Thomas smiled. "Yeah, it's fine."
"Oh yeah, my mom was wondering if you wanted to come to dinner sometime this week?"
"Sure, that sounds great. What day?"
"What works for you?"
"Thursday?"
"Yeah, I think that'll work." Laf nodded as the food arrived. Laf had ordered spaghetti and Thomas had gotten a personal pizza.
"Great. Do you...do you think your mom will like me?"
"Yeah, I don't see why she wouldn't. However, we frequently speak french in our house, so don't say anything…"
"Alright," Thomas shrugged. "Just as long as I don't hear you speaking it outside of your house."
"Okay…" Laf replied quietly. He's probably right. It must be really annoying when I speak french.
"Good." Thomas replied. "Do you want to sit with me at lunch tomorrow? I mean, I imagine you would, but if you're too busy with Alex and John…"
"No, no, I'll totally sit with you tomorrow!" Laf replied quickly. "That sounds great!"
"Awesome. Everyone else wants to talk to you too."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Thomas nodded, finishing his food. "You almost ready to go?"
"Sure." Laf replied as Thomas got up and paid the bill.
"So, Marie," Thomas said when they got back in the car. "What do you like to do in your free time?"
"Huh? Oh, well I read occasionally, but most of the time I'm trying to catch up with my english homework. I've always sucked at that class."
"Oh." Thomas replied. "What's your address?"
"Eighteen thirty-four, Independence Street."
"That is pretty close to the school."
"I told you it was."
"Yeah, you weren't kidding." Thomas replied, pulling down the street. "Well, here you are Marie. See you tomorrow."
"Bye," Laf replied, grabbing his bag and going into the house. "Hey, mom."
"Hi! How was your date?"
"It was great!" Laf replied. "Oh, and I told him he could come over for dinner on Thursday, is that okay?"
"Oui, it's fine. I'm glad you found someone you like."
"Yeah, me too. I gotta go get homework done though. I love you."
"You too, hun. Don't stay up too late."
"I won't!"