(Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or anything else! Honestly! Now that that's out of the way, I dedicate this to (of course) Yukinataangel! Thanks for reading the crappy version girl! Okay, just saying, this is completely different from my first one. You'll see why. Oh, and please comment. It's good to know someone's actually reading, you know?)
"Samantha! Can you tell me where we are now?" She grinned at me, shaking her head.
"Nope! It's your birthday, and your present shall be kept secret!" I laughed, playfully slapping her arm. She rolled her eyes, and turned the steering wheel of the car slightly, making sure she was still in the lane. In a few seconds, I saw that we were at the local animal shelter.
"You got my mom to let me have a dog?" I squealed, throwing my arms around her. She laughed, ruffling my hair.
"You know I work magic with words! Now let's go before all of the good ones are taken!" She teased; we both got out of the car.
As soon as we got into the building, all of the volunteers looked up and waved to Samantha. I rolled my eyes. She laughed.
"Did I mention that I spent a lot of my time volunteering here to try and find the right dog for you?" I chuckled, shaking my head; that was so like Samantha.
A guy with blonde hair and green eyes stepped into view. Call me dramatic, but I swear my heart stopped beating for a second when he came into view.
"Hey Arthur! Has someone adopted Shadow yet?" Samantha asked. He shook his head and smiled at me.
"So that means you must be Diana. I'm Arthur. It's good to meet you!" I gave him a shy smile, holding back a blush.
"It's nice to meet you too. Who's Shadow?" Arthur grinned at me.
"I'll show you. I'm glad you're coming here to adopt; we're getting pretty full." I nodded, and Samantha giggled as we followed him into another room. I glared at her teasingly, she laughed. Soon I saw a lot of dog kennels. Arthur led us to one in the very back, holding a black lab, who jumped up and tried to lick our faces through the cage as soon as he saw us. I smiled.
"Leave it to you, Samantha, to find the perfect dog for me." She laughed, and so did Arthur. He opened the cage and put a leash on Shadow, who came to greet me, tail wagging. I laughed as he licked my hand. Samantha got a mischievous smile.
"I think I forgot something in the car. It might take a while for me to come back. See ya!" She walked out of the room, leaving me staring at the direction she had just left from. I was so going to get her back.
In the meantime, Arthur led me to a colorful room with a bunch of dog toys. I laughed as Shadow pulled me over to the frisbee and picked it up for me to throw. Smiling, and threw it across the room for him. Arthur chuckled behind me.
"It looks like you two will get along pretty well. Do you want to look at other dogs or adopt Shadow?" he smiled at me, probably guessing my answer.
"I want to adopt Shadow. Is there anything I need to know about him?" Arthur smiled, shaking his head.
"I was hoping you'd say something like that. You seem like a good dog owner to me. He doesn't need anything special; just make sure he gets exercised every day." I nodded, throwing the frisbee for Shadow again.
After a few more minutes in the room, Arthur gave me the paperwork and, as a gift, the frisbee Shadow liked.
"Thanks! I'm so glad I'm finally getting a dog." Arthur laughed.
"No problem. I'll have to come and visit him every once in a while though; everyone loves Shadow." We both laughed, but I had butterflies in my stomach. If Arthur wasn't just teasing me, then I would see him a lot more than I normally would have. Right on cue, Samantha walked in.
"Hey guys! I'm guessing you adopted Shadow?" I nodded, chuckling.
"Of course I did! Who could resist him?" As if to answer, Shadow jumped up and licked my face. Smiling, I got him back down. Samantha and I walked out of the shelter, Shadow content to go with us.
"So…Arthur's pretty cute today, right?" I blushed, and once again slapped her arm.
"Samantha!" She paused, waiting for an answer. I sighed, still blushing. "Yes, he was pretty cute today. Happy?" She nodded, jumping into the driver's seat. I hopped into the back with Shadow. He sat on my lab, wagging his tail. I smiled at him.
"Thanks Samantha! You couldn't have given me a better gift." She grinned at me, and started driving back to my house. When we got there mom sighed, but quickly smiled at me.
"Did you find the biggest dog there just to annoy me?" Samantha and I laughed, and Shadow gave mom a kiss on her face.
After I got Shadow settled in, leaving him munching on a chew toy mom had given him; I told her about the guy who worked there.
"Well finally! When was the last time you went on a date? You refuse everyone who asks you!" I sighed, and Samantha grinned at me. Always supportive.
"Well, I just haven't found a decent guy yet. They just like me because of my looks." It was true. Everyone liked a pretty face. Especially if that pretty face had purple eyes.
"Well honey, what do you think about Arthur?" She asked me. I groaned, blushing a little bit.
"He treated me like anyone else. He was really nice…" Samantha giggled. I glared at her. Shadow walked into the room, coming to stand by me. He barked, wagging his tail.
"Dinner's ready! Samantha, will you please set the table?" She nodded, grinning. My mom made everyone who came to my house helped out in some way.
While they set everything up; I led Shadow into my room, where Samantha had secretly set up his food and water. I laughed; glad she had placed a mat under it. Shadow didn't have the most polite table manners I'd seen. I walked back into the kitchen, where we started eating.
"Well, are you going to see him again soon?"
"Mom! I-"
"Yes, she will. He goes to our school, but he doesn't have any of our classes. They can still talk…"
"Samantha!" I was as red as the spaghetti sauce by now. They grinned at me. I looked down, refusing to look at either of them. At least for a little while.
After a lot more teasing, we finally finished dinner. I helped clean the plates with Samantha and Mom while Shadow relaxed at our feet. Soon, it was time to say goodbye to Samantha.
"Promise me you'll get his number soon!" She squealed, giving me a hug. I rolled my eyes, hugging her back.
"We just met! Gosh! But I'll see him at school tomorrow anyway. Promise you won't embarrass me!" Samantha laughed, shaking her head and walking out the door. I heard Mom laughing from the kitchen.
"Very funny." I muttered, walking into my bedroom with Shadow. He walked up to my bed, then turned and looked back at me. I laughed.
"I have to get ready for school first, then shower and brush my teeth…" Shadow whimpered, but laid down next to it, waiting for me. I got ready for bed, giddy about the morning.
When I woke up, I realized that Shadow hadn't moved from my side all night. I laughed as he licked me awake.
"I'm up, I'm up!" He wagged his tail as I took him out and refilled his food and water. Mom grinned at me when I walked into the kitchen.
"Morning sleeping beauty! I made pancakes as a peace offering." I rolled my eyes, and helped her eat half of the seven pancakes she'd made.
"They weren't burnt, and they weren't doughy. I'd say they're enough to make up for yesterday." I said teasingly. Mom chuckled and got the dishes while I went back to my room to change into jeans and a blue tank top, throwing a small white jacket on top of that. Shadow barked, probably hearing the bus coming down the road. I grabbed my book bag and ran out the door.
"See you later Mom!" I yelled; walking up the driveway just as it came to a stop. If I we had more than one car, I could drive to school.
I walked onto the bus, taking my usual seat in the middle. I watched the landscape flash by as we made our way to school. Thankfully, I lived close by, so it wasn't very long until the bus stopped there.
When I got out, Samantha nearly tackled me.
"What?" Her blue-grey eyes sparkled.
"I scheduled a double date! I don't really like Alfred, but Arthur's coming too! Isn't that great?" I gasped.
"I met him yesterday! What if-" She rolled her eyes, cutting me off.
"Dates are so you can get to know someone! Calm down. We're going to be late if we don't move. Like right now." She grabbed my hand and elbowed her way through the crowd, muttering "excuse me" the entire time. If anything, nothing got in her way if she wanted something. We got to first period with time to spare.
School probably would've been interesting-if I had been paying attention. My mind ran in tight circles, and Samantha had to whisper the answer to a math question when Dr. Abbott called on me.
Finally, lunch came. I sighed in relief when we sat in our normal spot. Samantha sighed.
"You owe me big time. You know how much flirting I had to do to get Alfred to agree to this? And I don't even like him! He says that he doesn't mind double dates, but his brother was a different story." I couldn't help laughing at her annoyed expression.
"Well you have to remember, I never asked you to. And I'm completely terrified. So think of it as a compromise, okay?" She nodded, taking a bite of her salad. She had been a vegetarian ever since she had heard about how some companies treated their animals.
As for me, I pulled out a ham sandwich and some money for the vending machine. When I looked up, I swear I almost had a heart attack. Arthur was there too, waiting at the end of a small line forming behind the machine. Samantha nodded at me encouragingly.
Well it's not like he was going to bite me. I got up from the table, money in tow. He smiled at me when I got behind him.
"Thanks for agreeing to come on the date Diana! I know you don't know me very well, but we'll still have fun. In any case, Alfred seemed excited." I laughed, nodding.
"No problem. Did he ask you to come?" I asked innocently, giving him my most convincing smile.
"He did actually, but he said that Samantha just wanted some more company. Everything's fine with you, right?" I was surprised how cute he looked when he was concerned. I laughed again, and the line moved up.
"Of course! It'll be fun." He smiled at me, then got a bag of chips out of the vending machine and walked back to his seat with Kiku. I got a Nutter Butter, then walked back to sit next to Samantha.
"You did really amazing Diana! You didn't stutter or blush at all! That almost makes me happy enough to ignore the taste of school salad!" I laughed, stealing a carrot from her tray.
After lunch came social studies, the only class I really liked. Not because of what was taught, but because of how the teacher taught it. Mr. Hendricks really made it interesting. I walked into his room alone, Samantha going to her science class.
Today he went over our vocabulary as if it were a game of poker-only with candy instead of money- and ended up losing all of mine to Elizabeth, who gave me a piece back at the end of the period.
And the day finally ended. Unlike in the morning, Francis liked to harass the girls on the bus in the afternoon. So I let Samantha drive me home.
But he managed to get out early today, and was leaning against her car. Samantha came to a stop behind me.
"Why us? Why does he always harass us?" I was pretty sure Samantha was oblivious to her own beauty. Most guys avoided her because she was tough. It was time to remind her.
"We're pretty. That's why."
"Well I know that you're pretty. But I look like anyone else. Come on, don't make eye contact, and I'll chase him off. Get in the passenger side." Samantha usually didn't like driving, but desperate times call desperate measures. I walked up to the car while Samantha argued with Francis and unlocked it.
"Go away! You're going to miss your bus, and if you don't move in five seconds I'll run over your foot." She got into the car, slamming the door behind her before she could hear Francis's response. She held her hand up to the window, counting down to five. He jumped out of the way just before she slammed on the gas. Samantha glared out the windshield.
"He thinks he's so hot just because most of the girls are chasing after him! He a freaking narcissistic cheater who doesn't give a damn about anyone's feelings! He needs to stop messing with us!" I nodded in agreement. I knew she was just upset because of how many girls he went through in a week, because she'd never gone out with him. At least, if she had, no one had heard about it.
If looks could kill, everything Samantha even glanced at would be incinerated. I rolled my eyes.
"Hey Sam," I only called her by her nickname when I really wanted her attention, and that wasn't often. "I kinda want to be able to walk inside my house, not be rolled in by a hospital nurse. Can you try and calm down? You can beat Francis up later." She took a deep breath and nodded. Her hands relaxed on the steering wheel, and she turned onto the driveway of my house.
"Try to stay calm please; what'll I do if my best friend kills herself in a car accident and won't be able to go on the double date?" She laughed, slipping out of her bad mood.
"That's on Friday, by the way. I'll take you shopping for some clothes at the mall some day after school this week, okay? But hey, I'm not buying you anything." We both laughed, knowing that she was lying. She usually insisted that I got the more expensive things, and therefore had to help me out with paying for it. It went that way every time.
"Where are we going? Should I wear a dress?" She shook her head, laughing.
"Maybe it would've been better if you had done this before! We're going to dinner and a movie- just dress like you would any other day." She eyes my jeans. "Well, you'll have to get skinny jeans at the mall, and we might as well get you another shirt and jacket there too…" I laughed, rolling my eyes.
"Thanks Samantha! Make sure you dress like you actually care about who you're going on a date with." She groaned, and pulled out of the driveway. Laughing, I went inside.
"Anything interesting happen today?" Mom asked while Shadow bombarded me at the door. Still laughing, I pet him, promising to take him on a walk.
"Well, Samantha almost killed Francis…" That was enough said; Mom had heard enough about him; she laughed.
"Well, as long as it's an almost. Anything else?" I gulped, deciding that I'd have to tell her anyway. Nervous, my heart raced.
"Um…well…" I could feel myself blushing. "I kinda have a double date with Arthur. Samantha and Alfred are coming too…" Mom grinned, walking over to me and giving me a hug.
"Oh honey, that's wonderful! Do you want money for clothes shopping?" I shook my head, trying to squirm out of the hug.
"Mom after homework, I'm going to take Shadow on a walk, okay?" She nodded, releasing me from her arms. Mom walked back in the kitchen to stir whatever was boiling in the pot on the stove.
Always up for what I was doing, Shadow followed me into my room. After homework, I grabbed the spiked leather collar from my shelf. It was a kind of joke; because I was sure Shadow wouldn't even hurt Francis.
He licked my hand, and we walked out of the front door. I smiled, surprised because even though Shadow was so energetic, he didn't pull on the leash too much.
I walked him pass the other houses quickly, worrying about Friday. It would be my first date-if you could call it that-in a long time. Shadow barked, breaking my concentration long enough for me to stop for a car backing up. Shadow looked up at me, wagging his tail and barking again.
"Good boy Shadow! Very, very good boy…" I whispered, trying to bring my heart rate back down to normal.
After an hour long walk, and me being thankful for actually being in shape, I was back at my house, opening the door and feeding Shadow.
"You were gone a long time Diana; try and eat before you take him on a walk, okay?" I nodded, walking to the fridge and pouring myself a cold bowl of soup and heating it up in the microwave. Just as I was putting my dishes away, mom doing some leftover work on the computer, the phone rang. I rolled my eyes, seeing Samantha's number on the caller id.
"Diana! I got a raise! You know what that means? It means it's only seven, the mall closes at ten, and I'm driving to your house right now! Get whatever money you have, and tell your mom where you're going! I'm ten minutes away." I laughed, rolling my eyes again.
"A great notice, as usual. Hang on, I'm asking now." I turned to face Mom. "Hey Mom, can I go to the mall with Samantha? We're going to get clothes for the date…" She turned around, grinning.
"Make sure to be back by ten, okay? And let me see what you buy!" I rolled my eyes, nodding.
"It's fine. But don't go too overboard, okay?"
"Got it! I'm pulling onto your street now. See you soon!" She hung up, probably narrowly avoiding crashing into something. I heard Mom laughing from the other room.
"What?" I walked into the main room, and saw Mom shake her head.
"It's just been so long since you've been shopping. Aren't normal girls supposed to love going out?" I rolled my eyes, shaking my head.
"Aren't normal girls supposed to have a different boyfriend every month?" Mom chuckled, turning back to the humming computer.
Just as I grabbed my rarely used purse, I heard Samantha ring the doorbell. Shadow leaped up from where he had been resting, running up to the door and wagging his tail.
Samantha stepped in; she was here so often that she could've just walked in and everyone would be fine with it. She grinned at me, petting Shadow.
"Well, it's good to see you again Shadow!" He barked, jumping up to lick her face then run next to me. Not wasting any time, Samantha did a hasty chat with Mom; making sure we knew the whens and the wheres. She grabbed my hand and pulled me out the door into the passenger's side of her small, beat up, navy blue car.
"Can you drive on speed limit please? It's not like the mall's going anywhere…" She shook her head grinning.
"One: My dad's the chief of police. Two: We're meeting someone there, and no one's caught me speeding before." She laughed at my horrified expression.
"Relax! It's not like we're meeting Freddy Krueger on Elm Street. We're just going to meet up with Elizabeth. Her family actually owns one of the shops in there, and I promised we'd come around to see it." I sighed in relief, slapping Samantha's arm.
"Don't freak me out like that! If you actually liked someone, I would definitely get you back!" She smiled cheerily.
"But I don't! So, you're going to have to deal with me helping you out. Don't worry, it'll just be like any other trip to the mall." I nodded, relaxing as she pulled into North Point Mall's parking lot.
Once Samantha found a parking spot, we got out of the car and walked into the nearest shop with clothes in it we could find. In this case, a Rue 21.
"Okay, something green." I rolled my eyes.
"Why green? There's a lot of shirts in here…" Samantha laughed, playfully patting my head.
"Don't you ever pay any attention to yourself at all? Green looks good with brown hair and brings out your eyes! Now help me look for something before we have to go meet Elizabeth, okay?" I nodded, and we even grabbed things we knew would make me look bad, completely playing dress up. At one point, Samantha grabbed some green lingerie. I shook my head.
"There's no way I'm even trying that on. Put it back!" Laughing, she set it back down on the rack.
"Okay, fine! But make sure to try these on, okay?" I nodded, grabbing the pile of clothes on her arm and walking into the dressing room.
Most of them weren't quite right, or were just too much for dinner and a movie. I gasped, looking at the see through white shirt in my hands.
"Calm down, you have to wear the green tank top under it. Put on the skinny jeans and step out here!" Samantha yelled. Once again, I was surprised how well someone could know me.
Pulling on the clothes, I stepped outside. I saw Samantha nod in approval.
"It took a long time, but we did it! Look in the mirror Diana!" I did, and smiled along with her. It wasn't too fancy or casual, and, if I do say so myself, I looked really good in skinny jeans. After I got back into my own clothes, Samantha dragged me out of the dressing room.
When I, well Samantha, bought them, we walked across the mall until we saw Elizabeth. The only surprise was that she was with Gilbert. I heard Samantha giggle.
"Should we leave them alone?" I whispered, and Samantha shook her head.
"Nope! We're going to show them how much they like each other by barging over there! In any case, I did promise her we'd visit…" Slightly horrified, I followed her over to where they were talking.
Apparently feeling merciful today, Samantha called out to them. "Hey Elizabeth! How's it going?" I saw Gilbert wave, then walk back into a store. I held back a giggle when I got close enough to see that Elizabeth's cheeks were pink.
"I'm glad you guys came! I thought you'd never show up." We talked for a while and eventually, I was surprised that Samantha had held herself this long anyway; she opened the subject on Gilbert.
"So, you were blushing pretty hard there Elizabeth! What did he say?" She blushed again, ringing her hands together.
"Nothing really…he just…" Her face turned red, and Samantha and I couldn't help but giggle.
"It's okay; you don't have to tell us. If it makes you feel any better, Diana here has a huge crush on Arthur." Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, her face turning back to normal.
"Arthur, eh? I'm happy for you." Blushing, I looked down. She laughed. "And it does make me feel better. Who do you like Samantha?" She rolled her eyes.
"No one really. I'm just going on a double date with Alfred so that Diana could go with Alfred. I would've rather gone with Matthew; he's so quiet you know? It would've been easier, but he doesn't have a crush on me, so I got stuck with Alfred. Oh well." Elizabeth shook her head.
"You must be a really good friend to tolerate Alfred for a date. No offence Diana, but I wouldn't do it." I smiled.
"None taken. In any case, she was the one to plan all of this out." We walked around the mall until nine thirty, when Samantha announced that we needed to go or she'd end up getting home late.
When we got into her car, she grinned at me.
"Tomorrow I'm going to have to skip school." I gaped at her, remembering the numerous times she'd insisted on going to school even when she was sick.
"Why are you skipping? What's so important?" She rolled her eyes, buckling up and carefully pulling out of her parking spot.
"Because, my boss wants me to work. I wouldn't have said yes except he offered me the raise…" I managed to close my mouth, quickly fastening my seat belt.
"You never did tell me where you worked…" She laughed, but I could tell it was forced.
"Does it matter? It's not illegal, and it doesn't put me in danger." I sighed.
"Look, you don't have to tell me, but I think you need to tell someone where you work in case of an emergency. What can be so bad about it anyway? I used to babysit sextuplets…" She laughed again, more naturally this time.
"You can't tell anyone, and my parents already know. I'm kinda like a house cleaner/cook for this really rich college guy. And don't worry, he's perfectly decent. He just needs me to cook a big meal for his parents tomorrow. You see, I think he burnt water once…" I laughed, rolling my eyes.
"Well, as long as you're safe. Are you allowed to tell me who he is? Do you have a uniform? How come you never told me before?" She rolled her eyes, pulling into my driveway.
"His name is Jake, I can wear whatever I want, and I didn't want you to look down on me for working at some random guy's house." She answered so normally, even when she said the last one. I rolled my eyes.
"Of all the things you could think, you think that's I'd look down on you? You're my best friend for crying out loud! I wouldn't look down on you if you got pregnant and joined a gang!" She burst into a fit of laughter, and I joined her.
"That's really good to know Diana. And I'll do the same for you. For now though, Dad's not gonna be happy if I'm late…" I smiled, giving her a hug before I got out of the car and walked in my house.
"Hey honey, what did you get?" For about fifteen minutes, I played super model; showing Mom all of the outfits I-Samantha-bought.
"They're beautiful honey!" Shadow barked, as if agreeing with her. "Get ready for bed now, you've got a big day tomorrow!" That was her usually goodnight, but it seemed to have real meaning this time. I'd sit with Elizabeth tomorrow, but I'd have to take the bus with Francis tomorrow afternoon. When I finally got into bed, only Shadow's calm breathing below allowed me to fall asleep.
In the morning, I forced myself to get up and get ready for school. When I finally got down to the kitchen, Mom saw how worried I looked.
"What's wrong sweetie? Is there a big test today?" I shook my head, getting a granola bar out of the pantry.
"Samantha's not gonna be here. I have to take the bus home today." Mom's eyes widened.
"Honey, if you want, you can take my car. I have today off, and you certainly need to use it more than I do." I nodded gratefully, giving her a hug.
"Thank you so much! I'm not sure if I could've handled Francis without Samantha. I promise I'll be careful with it." Mom chuckled.
"You'd better! And make sure to leave soon, or you'll be late." I nodded, shoveling what was left of the granola bar down my throat, grabbing the car keys, and bolting out the door.
When I got to school, I wasn't surprised to be on time. Unlike Samantha, I never got anywhere late. I sat down in my homeroom seat, feeling better now that I didn't have to ride the bus with Francis. Elizabeth waved from across the room, and I waved back. Soon, class began.
I paid strict attention today, trying to catch up on what I'd missed yesterday. I got lucky; I hadn't missed too much during my fretting. Just a few things that Samantha'd helped me with over the phone later.
Finally, lunch came around. I sat next to Elizabeth and Gilbert, and they never gave me a chance to bow out of the conversation. Which was good I guess, because talking helped me focus; even if that meant I didn't finish all of my food.
"So, where's Samantha today? Do you want a ride home…?" I blinked, surprised that Elizabeth would offer that.
"Samantha's sick-it's just a twenty four hour thing. And my mom let me use her car today. But thanks for offering!" Elizabeth laughed, nudging my arm.
"Well, I couldn't let you ride the bus with Francis. He's so perverted…" Gilbert nodded in agreement, looking to the table behind him, where Francis and his harem sat.
"He really is a low life, cheating, son of a-" I bit back a laugh, trying to tune out Gilbert's cussing. Elizabeth was laughing though, and I couldn't say that I didn't agree with them.
Finally, lunch ended. The rest of the day breezed by, and before I knew it, I was walking back to Mom's car with confidence that I wouldn't have a confrontation with Francis.
So I stopped dead when I saw him leaning against my car, winking at me. I tried to remember what Samantha had always done, but she was stronger than I was, and my strategy had always been to hide behind her. I walked up to the car, crossing my arms and trying to act more confident than I felt.
"I need to get home. You need to move, this isn't your car." He laughed, staring me straight in my eyes.
"But how could I ignore someone as beautiful as you? Why don't I drive you home?" I shook my head, trying to look threatening.
"You're going to miss the bus. This car doesn't belong to you; you need to go." I said as firmly as I could.
"Ah, but this isn't your car either. Come on-"
"Francis, the bus already left. You'd better hurry up or you'll be stranded at school." Arthur looked normal; but there was something in his eyes that hadn't been there before. I sighed in relief as Francis walked towards his brother's car, and away from me.
On the ride home, Samantha called.
"I heard your Mom let you borrow her car. Were you able to avoid Francis?" I paused, swerving to avoid hitting a rabbit.
"Well?" I sighed; what was the point in lying?
"He was waiting for me at Mom's car, but Arthur came and got him to drive home with him." For a second, Samantha didn't make any noise.
"Sam?"
"I'm here. He didn't do anything to you?" I groaned.
"Of course not! There were other people around, remember? How was work? Anything interesting happen?" I think she was glad for the subject change.
"His parents thought I was his girlfriend! He pulled me aside before I could say anything, and told me that I didn't have to say that I was, but his parents only came once a year and they'd been bugging him about settling down even though he's still in college. And I guess it is kinda strange not to have a girlfriend in college…"
"What did you do?" I'd be pretty surprised if she'd agreed to help him; Samantha wouldn't do that for anybody that I knew.
"I helped him out of course. It was only once, and he offered a bonus, but I told him he really needed to start saving up. He laughed and said that wasn't a problem, but I still wouldn't take any more than he's giving me." I laughed, pulling into my driveway.
"Did his parents like you? More importantly, does he like you?" I heard Samantha laugh.
"Yes, they did. And he's in college! Even if he does like me that way, I don't return those feelings." I laughed, even though I believed her.
"That's too bad, having a rich boyfriend can benefit you!" I teased. I could almost hear her roll her eyes. Then I got serious. "Sam, when are you going to find a boyfriend? One that you actually like?" She sighed.
"I don't know Diana! When I find some guy I like to be around? Please, can we not talk about this now? I'm driving home, and you know I'm not the best or most responsible driver in the world…"
"Okay, but you're not off the hook! We'll talk about this later."
"I never bugged you about it!"
"Because I finally started showing interest. But I gotta go inside, bye!"
"Bye; and don't forget to thank Arthur on Friday!" She hung up before I could protest. Shaking my head, I walked inside the house.
"Did everything go alright today?" I nodded, telling her everything except where Samantha had been.
"Well that's good, and it's something to talk about on Friday!" She laughed while my cheeks turned pink.
"Mom! Not funny!" Shadow barked as I walked over to my room, getting my homework done before taking him out for a walk.
When we got back, I fed him and ate dinner with Mom. Soon, I was in bed, trying to think of anything but Arthur.
The rest of the week past in a blink of an eye. We did school work, Samantha and Elizabeth teased me about Arthur, and before I knew it, it was Friday after school, and Samantha was driving me to Romano's Pizza and Pasta.
"Just calm down and remember to talk to Arthur. I'm sure Alfred will take up most available talking time anyway. And I'll have to pretend to be interested and blink my eyes and be flirty and try not to strangle him." I couldn't help laughing; Samantha always knew what to say to calm me down.
"I'll try. Um, you never actually told me what movie we were seeing…" She laughed, shaking her head.
"Nope! There's no way I'm telling! Let's just say that it'll give you an excuse to hug Arthur and not let go." I stared at her open mouthed.
"We're going to see a horror movie?" I squeaked. Samantha knew how much I hated scary movies.
"Don't worry! If you're hugging Arthur, you won't be able to focus on the movie!" She laughed at my horrified expression.
"Calm down; I'm not trying to kill you. We're just going to see Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. It'll be fun!" I shuddered, not liking the name of the movie. Maybe I would hold on to Arthur.
When we got to the restaurant, Arthur and Alfred were waiting for us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Samantha take a deep breath and her whole expression change. I had to hand it to her, if I hadn't known beforehand about her true feelings, I would've thought she was excited to be here.
We stepped out of the car and waved to them, smiling. They smiled back, and we walked over to them. I was pretty surprised at how Samantha greeted Alfred.
"Hey Alfred! Thanks for doing this!" She hugged him, and he hugged her back.
"No problem! I already got us a table, follow me!" Samantha subtly released him, and I smiled at Arthur.
"Hey Arthur." I said timidly. He smiled at me.
"Hi Diana! I'm really glad you agreed to this, Alfred's really happy." I nodded in agreement as we followed Alfred to our table. Naturally, we got a booth near the back.
As we sat down, a tall, muscular waiter with light brown hair, blue eyes, and bright smile came to our table.
"Wow, you're the hottest girl I've seen in here for a while now. Maybe you can ditch these losers and hang with me for a while. For now though, what're you gonna order?" He asked, looking directly at me. From my peripheral vision, I saw Samantha muffle a giggle as Arthur narrowed his eyes. I groaned internally. Thankfully, Samantha was always there to rescue me.
"She's gonna have spaghetti, I'm going to have a chicken panini; and why don't you ask our dates, you know, the two guys who're paying for this, brought us here, and we like way more than a loser who has the guts to ask out a girl when she's with a guy she's totally in love with, what they're gonna have?" She blinked and smiled, as if she'd just commented on weather. Alfred was guffawing, and even Arthur was holding back chuckles. Our waiter, on the other hand, looked like she'd just slapped him. He turned to Arthur and Alfred. Even though I bit back a laugh, I really wish Samantha hadn't mentioned the "totally in love with" part.
While they ordered, I turned to whisper to Samantha. "Thanks for bailing me out." I said, smothering another giggle. "But you could've been nicer." She shrugged.
"Being nice in situations like this never works. You just have to be blunt sometimes." I couldn't help smiling at her as the waiter walked stiffly away. Alfred exploded.
"Wow Samantha! I've never seen a guy more humiliated! I didn't know you have a bad side." She laughed and rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her water.
"Well, I don't have any other line of defense." They laughed, launching into another topic. I was surprised how good of an actress Samantha was; I had known her since kindergarten and barely traced any signs of impatients or discomfort, though they were there. I turned to Arthur, grimacing.
"Um, I have a confession. I'm really, really terrified of horror movies." He laughed, his expression softening.
"Don't worry! It's not too bad if you have someone there with you. And if there's a really scary part, I'll go out with you to get more popcorn or something." I smiled at him. He was so nice; not like anyone else who'd hit on me.
"Thanks. Sounds like a plan!" Before Arthur could reply, the waiter came with our food. We started eating, and it wasn't half bad.
When we were almost done, Alfred announced that Arthur was paying.
"It was your idea." He grumbled, pulling out his wallet as the waiter once again walked over here. He collected the plates and money wordlessly, and I glanced over at Samantha, who was starting to look a little guilty.
We got into our cars and drove to the movie theater, parking next to each other. I didn't really get freaked out until we had gotten our snacks and were sitting down in our seats, the boys in between Samantha and me.
Arthur saw my worried expression and put his hand on top of mine. Even though my stomach got butterflies in it, I felt a lot better knowing her was right next to me. The movie started.
If Samantha said it wasn't really scary, you wouldn't know that by looking at me. I was holding Arthur's hand, and that helped, but I was sure I still looked terrified. Eventually, I put my head down on Arthur's shoulder, feeling a little sick. He glanced at me, and upon seeing my expression, put the arm that was holding my hand around me. I was glad the theater was dark, because he probably thought I was only blushing mildly, when in reality, my cheeks were on fire.
But I really couldn't help leaning against him, it helped keep my mind off the horror movie, and well…it felt really nice.
After the credits came on, Arthur pulled his arm off me and, still holding my hand, helped me up. I glanced at Samantha, hoping my face wasn't too red, but doubting that she would've missed that either. She winked at me, and I had to force back a groan. I was going to hear about this.
Cautiously, I looked up at Arthur.
"Thanks. I was really scared." He nodded, smiling.
"No problem! I didn't want you to get too scared." We walked out of the room, and back into the concession area. Before we left, I saw Samantha buying a York Peppermint Pattie. I looked at her questioningly, and she shook her head, motioning to the pocket that held her phone.
Rolling my eyes, I watched Samantha and Alfred walk out the door; we followed them.
"Hey Diana? My mom just texted me, and she wants me home right now. You're house isn't far away…do you mind walking? My house is in the opposite direction…" She bit her lip, and I could tell that she knew what was going to happen next.
"I'll walk you." Arthur volunteered, smiling at me.
"Thanks." I replied while Samantha and Alfred got in their cars. "You don't have to do this you know." He laughed.
"I want to. Besides, wouldn't your Mom get worried if you walked home alone?" I smiled, nodding.
"She probably would. How far away is your house from here?"
"Not far. In any case, I'll get some exercise!" We laughed, walking out of the parking lot and towards my neighborhood.
Finally, we got to my house and started walking up the driveway. The entire time, Arthur and I had been talking about the shelter, basically anything interesting we'd done in our lives. Before I could say anything else though, he leaned down and kissed me. My cheeks felt like they were on fire, and the butterfly feeling I always had around him intensified.
"I'll see you Monday!" He said, smiling down at me. I nodded wordlessly, blushing like there was no tomorrow. He laughed, and started to walk back down the driveway, waving.
I turned around too, walking into the house after the five minutes I spent trying to calm down.
"Welcome home honey! I'm guessing you'll tell me about it later?" She chuckled, probably because of the color my cheeks were. At least she hadn't seen me in the first couple of minutes after Arthur had… kissed me. I walked to my room, petting Shadow's head on the way there.
When I got to my room, my phone rang. Rolling my eyes, I answered it.
"What happened? Did he kiss you?" I laughed shakily, biting my lip.
"Yes, he kissed me! Oh my gosh, you are so nosy!" Samantha laughed.
"That's really great Diana! Are you still wondering about the candy?" I sighed, glad for the subject change. But I had truthfully forgotten all about the York Peppermint Patty.
"Who's it for?" I asked, already anticipating the answer.
"Jake. I promised him I'd get him something the next time I went out. Hey, remember to breathe when you fall asleep!" She laughed, guessing the fact that I was blushing.
"Goodbye Samantha!" She laughed again, and said goodbye. I hung up the phone, getting ready for bed. The horror movie had been longer than I thought it would be, and when I laid down on my bed, Shadow sitting at the bottom, I thought about Arthur. I could still feel my blush-but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
(Author's Note: Yep, this was only a one shot, so it's over. Sorry! I think I stopped it at a good place, and Yuki's happy with it. Make sure to comment! And watch out for another story I'll upload soon. I'll try and upload stuff every few weeks, but I do have other stuff to do, so cut me some slack!)