"Natalia!"
Natalia turned to find Ethan and Benny walking over to her as she was about to walk home.
"Want some company?" Ethan asked.
Natalia started to say no, but she thought about how she had been walking home alone every day for a couple years. Perhaps it was time to change that. And she wouldn't mind walking home with these two cute guys. "Sure."
The two boys smiled. No one had ever actually taken them up on that offer before. It was a good day for everyone!
Ethan stood on one side of her while Benny stood on the other.
"So…" Ethan started, trying to spark up some conversation. "What do you do for fun?"
"I read. All kinds of stuff. Mostly Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling."
"You like Harry Potter?"
Natalia gave a small smile. "Who doesn't like Harry Potter?"
Ethan smiled. "Well, Benny pretty much hangs out at my house all the time and we play vid—I mean, watch hockey."
"And almost every Friday," Benny put in, "Ethan's babysitter comes over."
"Wait," Natalia said. "You need a babysitter?"
Ethan chuckled awkwardly. "It's for my little sister, not me."
"Why don't you just watch her?"
"I, uh, just, uh, got into some trouble with Mom."
Natalia smiled bigger than before. "So, what were you about to say before you lied and said you watch hockey?"
"What?"
"I mean, you don't seem like the kind of person to watch hockey every day, plus you said "play vid" before changing your mind."
Ethan and Benny looked at each other, deciding neither of them wanted to answer her.
"It's cool," she said, noticing their looks. "I like video games too."
"You what?" Benny asked, astounded.
"I know, it's weird. But I do like them. I've been trying to get my hands on the new Galactitac video game for months, but it's unavailable or sold out everywhere!"
Benny smiled and pulled the game out of his bag.
"No. Way," Natalia said. "How did you get this?"
"I don't buy and tell," Benny said.
"It's Friday," Ethan said. "You wanna come over and play this with us?"
"Are you serious?"
"Totally. Maybe you can help me finally beat this guy," he answered, pointing at Benny.
"Hey, not my fault you don't got game!"
Natalia laughed for the first time and realized they had made it to her house. "Oh, well, here's my stop."
"I'm just down the road a couple blocks," Ethan said. "You can come over whenever."
"Alright, let me just run in and grab a bite."
Ethan and Benny looked at her, in a kind of freaked out way.
"What?" Natalia asked.
"What kind of bite?" Benny asked.
"I was just gonna make a sandwich and get a granola bar. Why?"
"Oh. No reason."
"Okay. Well, I'll see you in a few!" She closed the door behind her, leaving the two boys alone.
"What just happened?" Ethan asked.
"What just happened was we have got a video game date with a totally hot actual girl!" Benny exclaimed, high-fiving his best friend.
Natalia leaned against her door for a second and could hear the two boys cheering to themselves outside. She smiled and took her hood down. That had been the best walk home ever. Not only did she make two new friends who were pretty cute, but she also got invited over to play a video game she'd wanted for months!
She couldn't decide which one she liked better: Ethan or Benny. Ethan was shy like her, so that was nice, but it would probably also make things difficult in the future. Benny was certainly outgoing…maybe a bit too outgoing. On the other hand, maybe he could help her get past her own shyness.
After dropping her stuff off in her room, she went to the kitchen and fixed up a snack. She wondered why the two boys had acted so weird after she said she going to get something to eat. Was it really that unusual to get something after school?
After she ate, she scribbled out a note for her parents telling them that she was out. They had been trying to find friends for her for years, so she knew they wouldn't care who she hung out with as long as they didn't do anything illegal.
She grabbed her phone, wallet, and after putting her hood back on, walked over to Ethan's.
As soon as they heard the doorbell ring, the two boys raced to the door. Ethan won.
"Hey, Natalia!"
"Hey! So are we ready?"
"So ready!" Benny exclaimed. The three of them raced up the stairs to play Benny's new game.
They all grabbed controllers and started pushing buttons as fast as they could as soon as the game started.
"Whoa, Natalia, you're really good," Ethan remarked.
"Told you I like video games," she smiled.
They lost track of time and pretty soon, they heard the doorbell ring, meaning that Sarah was there to babysit, but none of them paid any attention to it.
"Ethan?" Mrs. Morgan said as she came into his room. "Sarah's here, and—Oh my gosh, a girl is in here."
"Uh, yeah. So Sarah's here?"
"Hi, I'm Ethan's mom," Mrs. Morgan said, ignoring Ethan as she shook hands with Natalia. "We don't have many girls over here. Well, we have Jane, who's my daughter, and Sarah just comes over to babysit for us. You're the first in a while."
"Mom!" Ethan exclaimed, turning a slight shade of red.
"Anyway, Sarah's here. Your dad and I are off to go catch the new thriller movie, Thriller!" She headed to the door. "Nice to meet you!" she called.
"Well, your mom's nice," Natalia said, feeling a little overwhelmed.
Ethan didn't respond but just went back to playing the game.
After a couple hours, Ethan went to go grab some snacks from the kitchen.
"Hey, Sarah," he said as he passed by her.
"Hey, where have you been all night?" she asked.
"Me, Benny, and this really hot girl from school, Natalia, are playing the new Galactitac video game."
"Wait, a hot girl is playing video games with you nerds?"
"Hey, it can happen."
She smiled. "Whatever. Have fun."
Ethan grabbed some food from the kitchen and went to go back up, but stopped in front of Sarah. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure!" she smiled, motioning for him to sit down next to her on the couch.
"Well, Natalia's really sweet and I want to see if she wants to do something tomorrow night."
"Okay, and?"
"How am I supposed to ask her? She's really shy, plus I haven't known her all that long. I don't want to freak her out."
"Well, first of all, don't ask her when Benny's around. Just don't. And then just ask her! I can bet she doesn't want it to be really mushy, she just wants to hang out with you. Why don't you take her to the fair that's about to leave town?"
"Isn't that really more for actual couples?"
"Well, yes, but it's also good when you want to get to know someone. Haven't you ever seen The Notebook?"
"Ugh, Jane made me watch it with her. Never again."
Sarah laughed warmly. "Do it tonight before she leaves. And don't worry. I'll be here to make sure you don't chicken out!"
Ethan gave her an awkward smile and went back upstairs. He had butterflies in his stomach, but he couldn't tell if it was from talking with Sarah or what he was about to ask Natalia.
They finished halfway through the game before Natalia decided to call it a night. Her eyes were swimming and a headache was coming on.
The two boys walked with her downstairs.
"Benny, can you come here?" Sarah called. She gave Ethan a wink and took Benny into the other room.
"Uh, I'll walk you home," Ethan said as they stepped onto the porch.
"Oh, okay."
They started walking down the street towards Natalia's house. Natalia shoved her hands in her front pockets on her hoodie.
"You're quite the gamer," Ethan said.
"I've always loved video games. They allow me to be someone entirely different. Someone who isn't afraid of anything. Someone who isn't shy or scared."
"I completely understand."
They reached her house in no time and stood on the porch.
"Um, Natalia?" Ethan stammered.
"Yeah?"
"Look, the fair's in town for only one more day, and I was thinking you and I could…you know…maybe hang out tomorrow night there?"
"Like, a date?"
"No! No, just two friends hanging out."
Natalia smiled shyly. "Yeah, I think that'd be really fun."
"So, want me to pick you up at seven? That gives us four hours there."
"Okay. I'll, um, see you then."
Natalia opened the door and went inside. She just stood there for a second in awe. Someone just asked to hang out with her. Someone cute. She actually had Saturday night plans. Best. Friday. Ever.