So Awkward One-Shot: Like... A Date?
Lily Hampton walked through school that day feeling... amazing. There were no words to describe the immense joy she felt at that moment. She walked with a skip in her step and a smile on her face.
"I'm so happy for Lily," said Jas, taking a bite out of her chocolate bar, "Aren't you, Martha?"
Martha didn't reply. She was walking behind Jas with her best friend Ollie, both of them reading two copies of the same book.
"Martha?"Jas turned around to see Martha and Ollie do a synchronised page turn. "Can you not do that?" she said, wrinkling her nose. "It's weird."
"It's our thing," said Martha matter-of-factly, glad she had given up being a jock and was back to her normal smart self. "What did you say, Jas?"
"I said," said Jas, "Can you not do that?"
"No, before that," Martha added.
"Oh, I said I'm so happy for Lily!"
Martha paused before saying, "Oh, because of that Matt thing?"
"Yes, because of the Matt thing," said Jas. "Why else?"
Lily turned around. "Are you talking about me?" she asked, but Martha and Jas were gone. "Where did they go?"
Ollie looked up from his book. "No clue," he said.
"Ollie," said Lily then. "I need your help."
"What did you do that for?" Martha demanded, folding her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, shoving us into the gym?" Jas added, taking another bite of her chocolate.
"Girls, I really need your help," Matt admitted, spreading his hands in front of him.
"Alright!" Jas agreed cheerfully.
"Why?" Martha asked with suspicion.
"I want to, um, well, ask Lily on a date," Matt explained haltingly, "but I'm not sure how to."
"And why would we know anything about that?" Martha asked.
"You want to ask Lily out?" Jas said excitedly. "When? Where? What will you do?"
"I thought maybe you could help me?" Matt asked.
"No," said Martha immediately.
"Yes!" Jas exclaimed. "I can picture it now: you and Lily sitting on the beach in the sunset, holding each other's hands and you both lean in and-"
"OK, Jas," Martha interrupted. "Why would you need our help?" she asked Matt. "You're Matthew Furnish. Surely you've done this before."
"Not really," said Matt, "Not like this. Look, will you help me or not? Lily's your friend."
"We'll definitely help you!" said Jas. "What do you want us to do?"
"Jas, I never said-" Martha was cut off by an ecstatic Jas.
"Don't say a word, Martha! We'll help Matt!"
Martha rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said.
"Thanks so much," said Matt. "First things first: where would Lily like to go?"
"The library," Martha answered.
"A chocolate factory!" Jas exclaimed.
Matt frowned. "I was thinking maybe the fair?"
"If you find a quiet spot," Martha mused.
"As long as you buy her candy floss," Jas added.
"OK," said Matt. "Now, about asking her-"
"A big grand gesture!" said Jas extravagantly, "Something dreadfully romantic!"
"No," Martha disagreed. "You should just be straightforward and say what you mean. Girls like the direct approach."
"And how would you know that?" Jas asked indignantly.
"Excuse me?" said Martha. "Maybe because I'm a girl?"
"Yeah," said Jas, "but since when has anyone actually asked you out?"
"That's not very fair!" Martha objected.
"Um…" said Matt, "How about I just give her a present and ask her if she wants to go to the fair with me?"
"A present?" Jas said. "You should definitely give her a massive balloon animal!"
"I think a book would be better," Martha objected. "Books are more useful."
"Are not!" said Jas.
"Are too!"
"Are not!"
"Are too!"
"ARE NOT!"
"ARE-"
"Girls!" Matt interrupted. "I'll just do that, OK? All I wanted was your opinions. I'll go and ask her now."
"Oh," said Jas.
"OK," Martha added.
"Do boys often ask girls out, Ollie?" Lily asked. "I mean, you're a boy, so you should know."
"I'm really not answering any questions," said Ollie uncomfortably. "It's not really my area."
"But do you think they might?"
"Lily, please," said Ollie with a pained expression. "Just the words 'ask out' give me the shivers. They're almost as bad as clothes."
Lily sighed. Would Matt ever ask her on a date? She remembered when he had kissed her cheek the day before, and that ecstatic feeling returned. He did like her, didn't he? Was it just a friendly gesture, or were his feelings more than that? Lily didn't think she'd ever know.
Later that day, when Lily was walking home, someone behind her called, "Lils! Wait up!"
Lily turned around to see Matt Furnish behind her, holding one arm behind his back. "Hey, Matt..." she said.
Matt took a moment to catch his breath and then they slowly walked along. "Lils, I was wondering..." Matt hesitated and then took a deep breath. He held out what was behind his back and handed them to her. It was a bunch of flowers.
"Lilies," Lily said smiling. "You got them for me?" She remembered the description of a lily in their textbook and sighed. "I'm definitely not named after the flower," she added quickly.
Matt laughed. "I think you are," he said, "because lilies are very pretty flowers."
Lily felt her heart racing. Did Matt Furnish just call her very pretty?
Matt paused for a moment and then reached out his hand. He slipped it into hers. "So, I was wondering..."
Lily felt his hand in hers, feeling its warmth and softness. She rather liked the feel of Matt's hand, she decided. "Yes?" she asked.
"I've got some tickets to the fair," said Matt slowly, "and I wanted you to come with me?"
Lily's eyes widened. She was pretty sure Matt just asked her on a date. "Like... a date?" she asked.
"Yeah," Matt confirmed with a nod, "like a date."
Lily's heart leapt. "I'd, um, I'd really like to go with you," she said with a smile.
Matt grinned. "That's awesome," he said, twisting his hand and intertwining Lily's fingers with his.
A/N: OK, so I know no-one probably reads these author's notes but here's one anyway. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I had fun writing all this fluff! I was thinking of re-naming the story something else and just having it for any future one-shots I ever do and upload for So Awkward. Thanks to JustMeReally for getting the archive on the site (and for some very helpful advice on how to get any archive on here) and just... yeah :) Thanks for reading, guys, and please review and tell me what you think!
Ginger xx