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I opened up the menu and looked at the options of greasy pizza I used to think was almost okay to eat in middle school. But that didn't matter because I was here with Brandon. But still, I couldn't help but feel the urge to vomit while looking at the options.

The waiter soon made his way to our table, and whipping out a notepad, he smiled that signature Queasy Cheesy smile, and asked us, "What could I do for such a lovely couple?" he asked. My cheeks went pink and I was quick to say, "We're not dating," I said. Brandon frowned, "There's no one we know around, Nikki," he said. "You never know," I said.

The waiter lifted an eyebrow, but just asked, "What would you like to order?" and Brandon asked for a veggie pizza, and I asked for chicken bites. "It's a pizza place," Brandon said when I ordered. "Trust me, I know what I want from here," I said, trying not to imply to the waiter how horrible I think their pizza is. Brandon ordered a pizza for Brianna and Mark, and then the waiter left with our orders.

As we waited for our order, Brandon randomly brought up the subject of his highly awaited New Years Eve party. "So what about it?" I asked, biting into the bread they brought us for starters. "Do you think it would be okay... if you were my date to the party?" he said. I almost choked on my bread. "How are we going to do that without everybody knowing?" I asked.

Brandon looked up at me, "Do you want everybody to know?" he asked. "We've already discussed this, Brandon... the CCP, my best friends, YOUR best friends..." I said, checking off each reason on my fingers. "I know, I know. They'd kill us for not telling them for so long. But that's just it... what if we make it official at the party? Like we just began to date?" he said.

I considered it. "That would be ideal... but the CCP?" I asked. "We'll just make it so casual they'll be over it by the next day and onto the newest trend like an adorable puppy playing the violin or something," he said. "Yeah, I guess but - wait, puppies can do that?" I asked. "Not the point," Brandon reminded me. "Right," I said, "I think it could work."

I sighed, and Brandon immediately reached for my hand. "If you don't want to do this, Nikki, we don't have to. I mean, if it's this stressful for you, we can just call the whole thing off..."

"I'm not stressed, Brandon. Okay, maybe a little. But I want to do this. I'm just a little nervous," I said. "Honestly, me too," he said, "Now I can actually be your overprotective boyfriend and even kiss you in public." When he said, 'kiss you in public" I couldn't help the blush creeping up on my face, even though we've obviously kissed a lot before.

Soon enough, Brianna and Mark came to our table, Brianna looking fed up with Mark. "He's not a kid, he's an animal!" Brianna said. "I should have just left him there at the monkey bars and he'd be set for life." Brandon laughed, "Mark, is that true?" he asked. Mark didn't say anything, and began to play with the salt and pepper. "Shy, huh, buddy?" Brandon nudged him. Mark continued to pretend like Brandon wasn't there. And I raised my eyebrow and looked at Brandon and he shrugged. That kid was weird.

Soon our order came, and while Mark and Brianna scarfed down their pizza and Brandon ate at a normal pace and I barely ate at all, i kept thinking about that little red dress I checked out with Chloe and Zoey. I tried to shoo away my thoughts, but it kept coming back to mind. "Can I drive you home?" Brandon asked, snapping me back into reality. "What? Oh. I think I might want to go shopping for something," I said. "And what would that be?" Brandon asked.

"Umm. Makeup, I guess," I said. "You don't really wear makeup, Nikki," Brandon said. "It's something I wanted to try out. I find it interesting," I said. "What? We're staying longer? Then can Brandon drop me off at least?" Brianna said, "I don't want to shop for makeup with you," she said. "Well, if it's okay with Brandon, fine," I said. "Sure, Brianna," Brandon said.

"Oh, look! That kid's having his birthday party! Free cake!" Brianna squealed, running over. Mark went slowly got up from his chair and lingered around that area. "Can I see you tomorrow, Nikki?" he asked. "Of course. One thirty?" I asked. "Yeah. One thirty. I'll go look after those two. Bye, Nikki," he said, planting the quickest kiss on my cheek and slipping a 100 dollar bill into my hand. "What's this?" I asked. "For your shopping," he smiled. "Brandon, you don't have to," I said. "I want to be able to do nice things for my girlfriend. Is that so wrong?" he asked.

I took it and gave Brandon my most grateful smile. "I can't thank you enough," I said, and when I made sure Brianna and Mark weren't looking, I kissed him. "I think that's all the thank you I need," Brandon said, cheekily smiling, "And I'll need more of that thank you tomorrow."

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Hi guys!

Okay, so I know that wasn't the most interesting chapter, but it was just getting things into action. So, Nikki and Brandon are ready to spill their big secret. What do you wonderfuls think about that?

And if you paid close attention, that little red dress from the first chapter of this series happened to just wander into Nikki's mind. What could happen?

Stay tuned for more chapters!

- authorofwonderful