This couldn't be actually happening.

Huey glared at the computer screen, willing his fingers to move on the keyboard. Jazmine watched smugly, tapping her fingers on the desk as she hummed. "Any day now, Huey," she said, her tone frilly with joy.

Huey furrowed his brows, trying to ignore her further teasing. Taking this much time, about 5 minutes, to text a simple 'hey' to a stranger, was embarrassing enough. With another slow breath, he felt his eyebrow twitch in irritation. Why was this so hard?

"Days later…" Jazmine cooed, her grin widening.

The Freeman boy bit down on his tongue at the comment. However, it was just enough to get his fingers moving on the keys. "I still can't believe you're making me do this," he grumbled under his breath, before pressing the enter key and sending the message.

The mulatto looked pleased, and proud at that.

Huey scowled at her, before coming into realization with his own smugness. "Wait, doesn't this make us uneven?" He felt like smirking when he saw Jazmine's exasperated face, but refrained. "Only seems right that you do the same."

Jazmine's skin grew red. "What-"

"Right?" Huey raised a mocking eyebrow at her.

The familiar light ring sounded from the computer then, and the two looked at the screen's top right corner.

Jazmine crossed her arms, a smile on her face. "Ms. So-And-So texted you back, Huey," she taunted. "You don't want to keep her waiting."

Huey widened his eyes, starting to look sick, as he clicked on the notification. Since when was Jazmine such a teas-

-Hi Huey! I finally got your attention on here! ;)

Jazmine leaned closer to the screen, reading as Huey did.

Huey ran a hand over his face. "What have you gotten me into, Jazmine?"

Jazmine ignored his complaining, focusing on something else. "Ooooo, she sent a winky face!" she giggled, playfully nudging her friend with her elbow.

Huey rolled his eyes as he moved the mouse, attempting to exit the chat.

Jazmine leaned over him in exasperation, taking the mouse. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing? She sees that you read the message," she pointed out, touching the screen. "You have to reply now, or she'll think you're ignoring her."

Huey scoffed. "Because I am," he said, attempting to take the mouse from Jazmine's fingers. She kicked his chair at the foot and sent him wheeling across the room.

"No," she said, looking annoyed as her petite eyebrows raised. "You can't just do that to her feelings, or rather, 's feelings."

Huey remained on the other side of the room, glaring at Jazmine. "You act like I know her. I don't even know her name, Jazmine," he stated, crossing his arms.

Jazmine searched on the screen, her green eyes glowing as she clicked on the user's avatar. It instantly sent her to the profile page and bio. Reading a bit, she came across a name in no time. "It says her name is Renae Boston." She glanced over her shoulder, before continuing upon Huey's bored look. "Want to hear what she likes?"

"Sure, whatever."

"She likes…" Leaning in closer, the mulatto widened her eyes. "Holy—she likes Public Enemy, Huey!"

Huey raised his brow, a brief flicker of curiosity shining in his eyes. "So what? A lot of people like-"

"And the color blue, martial arts, conspiracy theories, reading books, watching the news and reading the paper…" Jazmine continued, just knocking things off the list on the bio.

Huey leaned in his seat, starting to feel a bit weird.

"…um, and Star Trek," she finished.

"Star Trek?" Huey repeated, a bit disgusted.

Jazmine blinked, rereading it. "Oh, I mean Star Wars, sorry."

The world stopped around Huey. How? How was this so ironic…so undeniably-

"Perfect," Jazmine stated, slouching in her chair with triumph. "I knew this dating thing was perfect for you.

Huey turned away, trying to look unfazed. "Pshh, whatever."

Jazmine sat up. "What, you don't think so?"

He shrugged in response.

The mulatto furrowed her brows as she turned to the computer screen, clicking to the chat screen. Her fingers started picking at the keys without a moment's hesitation.

Huey wheeled over quickly, eyes alert. "What are you-"

Message sent.

-How's it going, Renae?

Huey stopped, only able to gawk in frustration as Jazmine's response popped on the screen.

Message delivered.

Message read at 1:30 pm.

Jazmine turned to him with a grin. "See, piece of cake. She could really be into you." Dots ran up at the top of the screen. "Oh, she's typing."

-It's going good, thanks for asking! Unfortunately, I have to go at the moment. Glad I caught you though. Please text my phone number, since I'm about to lose Wi-Fi.

then sent her phone number, before signing off.

After reading the message, Jazmine couldn't stop her grinning. "You have no idea how happy I am for you right now," she gushed, placing her face in her palms excitedly. "Just think, what if you two start datin-"

"What if I never talk to her again and forget this ever happened?" Huey interrupted, sarcasm in his voice.

Jazmine made a pouty face. "Why? You should give her a chance."

Huey frowned, but sighed when he saw how disappointed she looked. "Let's say I do give her a chance, or whatever. Will you…" he started, scratching his head uncomfortably. "Will you uh-"

Jazmine giggled, understanding. "Of course I'll help you talk to her, Huey!"

The Freeman boy looked sick with remorse all over again. "Oh, please don't get all excited-"

"Oh my gosh, I'm so excited! I'm like your...uh, what's the word…?"

Huey rolled his eyes at her outburst. "Wingman, you mean?"

Jazmine scrunched up her nose and placed her hands on her narrow hips. "More like, wingwoman!"

Huey raised his brow with interest. "So, you're a feminist?"

"Huh?"

"Never mind."

Jazmine shrugged, before reaching her hand out to Huey in expectation.

He ran a hand through his fro, clearly puzzled. "What?"

"Phone, please."

Huey rolled his eyes and pulled out his cell, before handing it over.

Jazmine went to the contacts list on the phone, beginning to add the number from . Huey just watched, trying so hard not to look even a bit curious about the whole thing. He couldn't let Jazmine know how interested he was, not even a little bit. Making her even more enthusiastic was just going to be a pain in the neck for him.

"Alright, done. You can now text her whenever you like," Jazmine announced cheerily.

Great, Huey thought grumpily. Now Jazmine would be expectant.


Caesar finished filling his glass with water, before walking into the decent-sized living room. Huey was sitting on the couch, staring at his phone intently. "Hey man," Caesar greeted, before taking a sip from his cup.

Huey gave a light nod of his chin, not even glancing up.

Caesar looked confused, before realizing the situation. He gave Huey a cheesy grin. "You found a girlfrien-"

"That's a bit exaggerated," Huey interrupted irritably, rolling his eyes.

Caesar chuckled. "Hey, I wouldn't be able to tell, by the way you're staring at your phone like that."

Huey scowled at him, before tossing his phone on the cushion. "It's all Jazmine's stupid idea."

Caesar stared into the sloshing water in his glass. "What's her name?"

"Renae."

"And…?"

"…And she happens to like all the things I like."

"So then what's the problem?" Caesar asked, scratching his head in confusion.

Huey slouched on the couch and glared at the phone beside him. "I don't know."

"Well, is she pretty?"

Huey nodded lightly. "Sure."

Caesar paused then, something dawning on him as he looked at his friend. Ever since Caesar knew Huey, the kid was brave. Huey never backed down from a challenge, and always tried to push his limits to the best of his ability. He was always so full of courage, and the fight in his maroon eyes were always present to light up his path through life. For the first time, Caesar thought, Huey is stuck.

"Are you nervous?" the mop-headed boy asked.

Huey shook his head and clasped his fingers in his lap. "Just lost at the moment."

Caesar grinned. "The legendary matchmaker couldn't help you this time?" he joked, referring to Jazmine and her being such a romantic.

The Freeman boy sighed. He just didn't know how to explain to Caesar what was going on in his head, especially after he mentioned Jazmine. "Uh, it's getting late anyway. I'll catch you in the morning," he said, starting to feel that queasy feeling in his stomach again.

Caesar nodded in agreement, turning to head to his room. "See ya, Huey," he said over his shoulder, sounding slightly exhausted. "Good luck with everything."

Huey mumbled a thanks, before taking a deep breath.

Buzz…buzz…

He looked at his phone.


Jazmine yawned as she gazed at the bright phone screen, its light shining through the darkness of her bedroom. Usually she'd be sleep at this hour, but something told her to check on her friend. She reread the message she just sent to Huey.

-Are you still awake?

It was pretty late, so she wouldn't be surprised he didn't respond. She'd see him in the morning anyway.

Huey texted back shortly, though. –Yeah. Why?

-Just checking. How are you doing?

-Fine, I guess.

-With Jenae?

-I haven't texted her yet, actually.

Jazmine's mouth dropped to the floor in shock. It had been hours since she left, and he hadn't even chatted with her since earlier on the dating site? Oh no, she was calling him right now.

Luckily, she had him on speed dial.

"Jazmine, do you have any idea how late it is?" his phone rang out when he picked up, his voice sounding husky from exhaustion.

She pursed her lips, even though he couldn't see it. "I don't care. I thought we had a deal that you would give Jenae a chance-"

"Could we not talk about this right now?"

"We're talking about this right now!" Jazmine countered.

"There you go, being pushy again!" Huey pointed out.

"I'm not! You just won't listen to me!"

"But are you listening to me?"

Jazmine went quiet after that, flinching a bit at his irritated tone.

"Could you just for a second think about how I'm taking this at the moment? I know I'm not the usual type to express how I'm feeling," he started slowly, cutting in with a yawn. "But maybe…"

Jazmine strained to hear his next words.

"Maybe, this whole thing just isn't for me. Is that okay?"

Jazmine blinked, feeling her stomach flop a little. "Okay, can you at least tell me why?" she said quietly into the speaker, trying to understand.

There was a brief pause, before Huey said, "There's someone else."

Jazmine raised her brows in surprise. For some reason, this was starting to sound like some dumb soap opera. "Oh, you found someone else on the website-"

"No—nothing like that," he cut in, his voice wavering.

Why was he being so defensive? Dumb soap opera in the making, indeed.

The mulatto scratched her head in confusion. "Um, who then?"

She then heard what sounded like an irritated sigh in the speaker, and then Huey was saying, "Just don't worry about it. See you later." A loud beep then drawled over the signal, meaning that Huey had hung up. Jazmine looked at the phone and bit the inside of her cheek irritably. Why'd he just hang up like that?

Jazmine flopped down on her pillow and blew out some air, sending some of her blonde curls fluttering off her face. "I will never understand that guy," she muttered, glaring a hole into the ceiling of her room. And who was this girl that he suddenly liked? Did she know her? Jazmine furrowed her brows and gnawed a bit on her lower lip irritably. How dare he hang up on her without giving her an explanation?

What about Jenae?

Was he just going to keep her hanging now?

What about the dating profile? Is it over?

Jazmine crossed her arms. This new mystery girl of Huey's was bothering her. It was so sudden. She hated to admit when she was jealous, but god she was jealous. Not because Huey has a love interest, but because Jazmine doesn't know who it is. He promised they would go through this thing together. She was supposed to help him work things out, and plan stuff when things start to go right.

Jazmine crossed her arms.

Was he just dropping all of that now?