Chapter 1: Absolutely Not
"Absolutely not."
A girl with sapphire blue eyes glowered at the boy before her. He groaned loudly with his own exasperated look.
"And why not, May? Why do you have to do this every time? Is it really that hard to come have dinner with us?"
The girl, otherwise know as May, held up her scowl. She hated it when he brought this up. Why couldn't she go to dinner with him to meet his newest girlfriend? Maybe it was because May was rather fond of the boy in front of her and didn't exactly want to meet the girl who stole him from right under her nose. May had thought that when the last girl was out of the picture, she would have a clear shot with him. Yet here he was, starting yet another unwanted fight about meeting some new bozo who had caught his attention.
'Why don't I catch your attention?' she thought bitterly.
Now, they were only sophomores. This was just a dumb high school crush, wasn't it? But didn't she read somewhere that crushes that lasted for three months were actually love? Or was it four months? Either way, she liked him. A lot. But of course, she couldn't tell him that. So, she would have to come up with another reason why she didn't want to go to dinner with them.
"Because, Brendan," she said dramatically, "Every time this happens, you and her make kissy faces at each other all night long and-"
"We do not make kissy faces all night-" Brendan interrupted her, but May made sure to return the favor.
"Oh, right! Silly me! I forgot about the excruciatingly awkward introductions and then comes the kissy faces! There is also the 'feeding each other' and the 'cheesy compliments' and I'm left there as the third wheel with nothing to do. It's weird! I don't like it."
'Ha! That should show him! I just might get out of it this time!" May thought triumphantly. She crossed her arms at him and drew up a smirk.
"Fine. Then bring a date of your own."
May's face fell. It had been a spur-of-the-moment-excuse, but Brendan soon realized there was logic behind it. If she felt like a third wheel, she should bring somebody for herself. Even if she didn't know the guy very well, they would have one thing in common: They were both third wheels. That would be a thrilling conversation starter! In a matter of seconds, Brendan had stolen the smirk right off of her face and put it on his own. May gave him a blank look with her arms still crossed.
'Well, crap...'
"You want me to bring my own date?" For some reason, her mind jumped to a song from her favorite musical, Fiddler on the Roof. The tune from They Gave Each Other A Pledge started playing through her mind and she edited in her own lyrics while his smirk grew.
You want me to bring a date?
Unheard of! Absurd!
You want me to bring a date?
Unthinkable!
"Yeah. Why not?"
Why not? Why not? Maybe it was because May Maple was extremely plain and boring! Maybe it was because May Maple was one of the biggest nerds in school! Maybe it was because May Maple was one of the most unattractive girl in the entire scho- Oh, if that stupid smirk got any bigger, she swore she was going to-
"Brendan, I'm going to answer your question with another question. How many boys do you know that would ever want to go out with me?" May spoke as calmly as she possibly could. He, of all people, would know that most guys just weren't into her.
"Oh, there are lots! There was even that one guy that-"
"Oh, come on, Brendan! Those were all fakers! You know that!"
"Fine, then. If you can't find one, I will find one for you!" May gave Brendan an incredulous look. He couldn't be serious. Brendan, her best friend and the guy she liked, was going to find her a date so she could go to dinner with him and his new girlfriend. It was insane. She continued to stare at him in a disbelieving way. He gazed back hopefully, although his smirk was still peeking out at her. May cursed in her mind. He knew. He knew that there was still no way she could say no to him.
"Fine. I will look for some guy to bring," she said exasperated while uncrossing her arms. "But if neither of us can find one, then I'm not going," she added firmly.
"Sounds good to me," Brendan smiled broadly. May couldn't help but feel a little giddy at that smile. Why did he have to look so cute when he was happy?
"Who is this chick, anyways?" The corners of Brendan's mouth twitched. May gave him a suspicious look.
"It's a surprise," he said, but his voice had an edge to it.
"So, I know her," May said it as a statement instead of a question. Brendan raised an eyebrow.
"Why do you say that?" May rolled her eyes. Wasn't it painfully obvious?
"Because, if it was someone I didn't know, there would be no point in a surprise. I wouldn't really know who they are, so if you told me who it was now, it wouldn't make any difference to me. So, who is it?" May explained. She had hoped her explanation would through Brendan off and he would answer the question, but it didn't help any.
"Like I said, it's a surprise," but something about the way he said that made May hope she would never find a date.
"Absolutely not."
"Hey, I'm just saying, Drew. She turns down every guy that asks her out. There's no way she would ever go out with you!" A blonde haired boy said to his best friend teasingly. His green haired friend, otherwise known as Drew, looked quite offended at this comment.
"How would you know? She probably has a photo of me under her pillow! I bet she kisses it every night before bed!" Drew laughed, gaining confidence the farther he went.
"Then, why don't you take the dare? Ask her out and see what happens," the blonde boy baited.
"No! She'll probably stalk me afterwards if she doesn't already. Besides, Zack, dares are just stupid ways to get stupid people to do stupid things."
"So, that's why you won't do it, Hayden? You're scared of her?"
"No! I'm not afraid of her! I just- Well, come on Zack! Let's be a little realistic here!" exclaimed Drew.
"Oh, I am being realistic here, Drew. There's no way you would ever be able to take May Maple out on a date," Zack taunted. Drew shook his head at Zack. Every girl in this school was practically begging for a date with him. Even if May ignored him most of the time, he was pretty sure that she secretly wanted him. Wouldn't any girl?
"Whatever, Zack," Drew rolled his eyes, turned, and started to walk away.
"Fine, then let's make this a bit more interesting. Instead of a dare, why don't we make it a bet?" Zack smirked as Drew stopped and turned his head a bit to look over his shoulder. 'Hook, line, and sinker...' Zack thought.
"How much are we talking about?" Drew asked reluctantly. He really hated stooping to the level of making bets over a girl, but considering his current circumstances...
"Fifty bucks." Drew turned completely around at this, obviously outraged. A tiny voice in the back of Drew's mind was telling him that he would lose. That May truly hated him, and would immediately reject him. The more Drew listened to it, the more he believed it. If the voice was right, Drew couldn't risk a fifty bucks.
"No way! That's too much! Make it twenty!"
"How about I meet you halfway at thirty-five?" Drew narrowed his eyes at his best friend. Sure, Zack could be a jerk sometimes and it drove Drew crazy, but he had never given a Drew a reason to distrust him.
"Fine. I'll ask her by her locker today," Drew agreed, shaking Zack's hand. Zack smiled back at him. He had always loved a good bet. It suddenly dawned on Drew. He was going to ask out May Maple, the girl he makes fun of almost every day. And he was doing it for thirty-five dollars. What had he done?
May was exchanging books out of her locker, deep in her own thoughts.
'I wonder what we're going to do in English. We might start a new story. I hope it's a good one. That last one by Ray Bradbury was really good. What was it called again? Umm... There Will Come Soft Rains! It was interesting that he wrote it in 1950, but it is set in 2026. That's only about, 12 years away now. Wait, is it Friday?! We always do vocab on Friday...
"Hey," a voice interrupted May's train of thought. May stopped fiddling with her books and looked around her locker door. There, leaning of the locker was Drew Hayden. She studied him for a minute before oh-so gracefully returning with her own greeting.
"What do you want?" May blurted with a raised eyebrow. Drew was a bit taken aback by her blunt response, but rolled with it smoothly by providing his own blunt answer.
"I have come to ask you out on a date," Drew said in a tone that was almost noble, as if he was doing her a favor.
May's eyes widened. Drew expected her to laugh or blow up in his face and yell at him. He was half hoping she would smile and swoon and squeal with glee. The thought of that actually happening made him feel slightly sick, but it would mean that he had won the bet. What he did not expect her to do was to turn back to her locker and start shuffling around the books inside. Her eyes were still somewhat wide, but they were glazed over in even deeper thought than they had been a few moments ago.
"And why is that?" Drew was astonished to say the least. He asked her out on a date and, instead of answering, like any normal person would do, she was asking questions back at him.
"Well, b-because,... I like... You?" he stammered. It came out more of a question than a statement. He mentally kicked himself. She was going to think he was lying! Which he really was but that wasn't the reason he was stammering! He was stammering because she was giving him weird reactions! Her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit and Drew got the impression that she was trying very hard not to roll them.
"I know you like me. That much is obvious. I don't think you would ask me out if you hated me. Yet, you have always seemed to think I was nerd. You make fun of me on a regular basis. Which brings me back to my first question. Why are you asking me out? None of this really makes sense," May said slightly irritated.
Yet again Drew was nearly stunned beyond words. He was also panicking because she was on his trail. Not to mention that all of this deep thinking was making his head hurt. He took a moment to study her. Hopefully, he could come up with something. He noticed her shoulder-length brown hair. 'Well, it looks soft...'
Drew mentally kicked himself again. That would be a great reason to date her! Oh, he could see it now!
"Why do you want to go out with me?"
"Oh, just 'cause your hair looks soft. I was kinda hoping I would get to touch it and see..."
Stupid, stupid, stupid. However, looking at her, Drew could honestly say that she was an attractive girl. No, her looks were not her problem. The reason so many guys didn't like her was because she was a goody-goody. A nerd. A know-it-all. Besides, since May was a smart girl and smart girls valued more than their appearance. He would have to appeal to her nerdiness... 'Eww...'
"Well, you're really smart and pretty funny and you're not bad-looking either." Ok, so he could appeal to her beauty a bit...
May stopped fumbling around in her locker and turned to study him again. She pinched up her lips and tilted her head in concentration. For the slightest second, Drew thought that she looked quite cute when she did this. However, her next words snapped him out of that rather quickly.
"Well I guess I'll go... Here." she said as she tore out a piece of notebook paper and scribbled something on it. "Here's my phone number and my address. Pick me up at eight on Friday. I'm not sure where we are going yet, but I will find out." Then without another word, she strode off to her next class.
Drew couldn't believe it. He stared down at the paper in his hands. 'I'm going on a date with May Maple,' he thought awestruck. 'I'm going on a date with May Maple,' he thought horrified. 'I'm going on a date with May Maple,' he thought gleefully as he realized he had just made himself thirty-five dollars richer! 'Dang it! I should have taken the fifty dollars!' he thought regretfully. But he didn't have time for a lot of regret. He pulled out his own phone, typed May's number in, and texted Zack.
'She said yes.' His phone buzzed a few seconds later.
'Really? Well I guess I stand corrected.'
'You can give me the money after school.'
'Hang on a minute! It's only Wednesday! A lot can happen between now and Friday! Let's see how long this holds out. If you actually go on the date with her I will give you the money afterwards.'
Drew was beyond annoyed now. He knew that Zack was just hoping that something would change and he ended up winning the bet. He probably thought that Drew would call off the date the moment he got a hold of the cash. But Drew would play along. He would hold out until Friday, and then he would be rewarded. If only Drew had known that come Friday night, he was going to get more than he bargained for.
May flung herself onto her bed. She still couldn't believe that it had been that easy. She had found somebody for Brendan's double date. One moment her and Brendan had been arguing and the next Drew had so graciously delivered himself to her on a silver platter. Mind you, she didn't like Drew Hayden in the least. He could jump off of a cliff for all she cared. However, May had a little revenge in mind.
If she was going to have to be even more awkward and uncomfortable than usual, she was going to make Brendan feel the same way. Or at least get on his nerves. Given Brendan and Drew's history, that wouldn't be hard. She dug around in her purse for her phone and sent Brendan a message.
'I found a date.' Brendan replied quickly.
'Really? Who?'May was fairly annoyed at this. She knew that he would be shocked, but he didn't have to show it!
'Surprise.'
'Come on, May.'
'Only if you tell me your date.'
'No way.'
'They you will see on Friday.'
With that said and done, May shut off her phone and started on her homework.
Hey, guys! So this idea has been driving me crazy lately, and I have really been wanting to put it down on paper! Or... um... screen? Anyways, I am super sorry to every body who was waiting for an update on my other stories, Nonfiction and An Audience of Stars. I don't think that is going to happen any time soon. I wish I could actually finish stories before I start others, but my brain is always moving. Sorry.
Anyways, I think this story has a lot of potential and I hope to be posting the next chapter sometime soon. I have quite a few ideas for this story, so bare with me! Please review, follow, and favorite! It means a lot! Until next time! - GGU
