DISCLAIMER: I still own nothing

Thursday

Catie's POV

I had one class that day and went to lunch with my friends before taking the surprisingly small group for a tour of the town. I pointed out the hotspots for ice cream, lunch, breakfast, and dinner. Darren seemed particularly interested in my favorite places and I recommended the locally owned ice cream shop that I had first experienced this summer. I showed them the movie theater and the grocery store, but it seemed like everyone was still being just as friendly to me except Darren and I couldn't figure out why. I was worried that maybe I had done something to show him how crazy I was about him and that it had made him feel uncomfortable.

I decided not to worry about it too much especially after the smile he gave me when I excitedly explained that the local pizza and ice cream shops were my favorites EVER! I ended up talking to Lea a lot and it turned out that we had a lot in common. It was weird though we always seemed to be talking about Darren, and while that didn't bother me in the slightest, it was odd because she was the one bringing him up. It almost seemed as if she was "talking him up" because she was constantly praising him.

Because we had been getting along so well, I was only slightly surprised that she asked for my phone to put her number in. I handed her my phone and then Chris came up to me and struck up a conversation, asking me about my weekend plans aside from the meet. I told him that depending on how much homework I was given I would most likely be spending a good part of the day on Sunday doing schoolwork, he commented that I must need a break at some point and I said yeah, and that I didn't think I'd have much work for that weekend anyway. He smiled when I said this, said that was good and then he got a text and walked over to Darren.

I looked for the contact Lea had just put in my phone and found that she had added herself as "One of the most amazing people, just, EVER." I was laughing at this when Darren came up behind me and said "What's so funny?" in a quiet voice in my ear just as he had the day before. My reaction was different this time as I calmly replied that I read the name Lea added herself as in my phone, he smiled knowingly and nodded. I figured that she must do that to everyone. I had looked back at my phone as I talked about the contact name, so when I looked up to find Darren looking at me nervously I was a little startled.

He seemed to just get more nervous as he started to speak, although why he would I couldn't fathom. He stumbled over his words a little then finally said "So I bought four tickets for the matinee on Sunday and Chris, Lea, and I can all still go, but Lauren bailed. So now I have an extra ticket and… I was wondering ifmaybeyouwantedtocomeseeitw ithme." He said the last part so fast it took me a minute to realize what he had asked me. I told him that I had to see how much homework I had because of the meet and my parent coming to visit on Saturday, but that I would love to go with them to see the show and that I would text Lea to let her know whether or not I could make it and have her pass the message along to him. He seemed down when he thought I was saying "no" right away, but his smile came back a little when I said I'd see how the homework situation was and then give him my answer. I still couldn't figure out his reactions, after having stayed pretty much as far away from me as possible for a good portion of the day, his question and reaction caught me off guard. I normally can come to a logical conclusion about these types of things, but the more I thought about it the more confused I became.

Darren's POV

I woke up uncharacteristically early that morning and it wasn't hard for me to guess why. I went for a run around the huge estate in the town that was open to the public for just that purpose. I was incredibly nervous, I had a plan all set with Chris and Lea about asking her to see the show with me and I had talked to my parents and Chuck, who all said that she seemed like an amazing girl. I thought about that as I made my way around the path, she was amazing, but would she think of me the same way. I didn't know how I was going to be able to actually look her in the eye today without yelling please go out with me on Sunday, and ruining the carefully thought out plan by asking to early. I knew she was still in school and that she might have work to do, but she would definitely be at her meet on Saturday and the Joes, Joey, Lauren, Lea and Chris had all agreed to come with me to see it.

I got to the school about 30 minutes early and went for a walk to try to clear my head. I was still so nervous and I knew I'd have to try hard not to stumble over my word while talking to her. I made my way back around to the place where we were supposed to meet right as the rest of the small group that decided to go into town arrived. We waited in the same place where we had met her the day before. I couldn't believe that it had really only been a day, less than 24 hours actually, and that I was already so enraptured by her mere presence. She walked down the stairs with her friends, looked at us, looked at her phone, said bye to her friends and came over apologizing, saying that the clock in the dining hall was off and that she hadn't looked at her phone for the time. We told her that it was fine and that she had come down exactly when she said she would. She seemed relieved and we began out walk into town. We saw everything, and I wanted so badly to ask her where she preferred to eat most, so that I could take her there sometime without everyone else, unfortunately I didn't trust my voice not to betray my nerves and so said nothing. Thankfully she mentioned her favorite pizza and ice cream places and I was adding them to the list of things we'd do on Sunday if she accepted my proposal for "hanging out" when I'd ask her later on. I had been avoiding eye contact, because I knew she was intelligent enough to notice that I was nervous about something, but she was so excited about the two shops that I looked up and grinned. She was laughing again, humbling herself for acting so crazily, her infectious laugh, and I couldn't help but react the way I had. Her happiness, it seemed, was already the only thing I needed to be happy myself.

Lea was skillfully keeping up her role in our plan and she and Catie began talking more and more. I even saw Catie hand Lea her phone. That was a surprise Lea must have actually wanted the girl's number, because that wasn't part of our plan, I smiled at that thinking how well she would fit in if she accepted us as we had her. While Lea was typing Chris sprang into action, asking her about her work load and plans for the weekend. He seemed satisfied and signaled me to send him a text as we'd planned. He walked over to me and as Lea handed Catie her phone back.

I saw Catie smiling at her phone and noticed her laughing as I walked over, nervously, to accomplish my part of the plan for the day. I couldn't help but do the same thing I did the first time I saw her laughing. She didn't react the same way this time, and I hoped it was because she had already become comfortable enough with me that it didn't startle her. In fact I thought I saw her shiver a little as my breath must have hit her ear and neck. She showed me that Lea had put her number in the phone under a crazy name; yup that was our Lea Michelle.

I was so nervous about what I was about to do that I could hear my heart beat in pounding in my ears. At first I stumbled a little and then I finally just came out with it, "So I bought four tickets for the matinee on Sunday and Chris, Lea, and I can all still go, but Lauren bailed. So now I have an extra ticket and… I was wondering ifmaybeyouwantedtocomeseeitw ithme." She told me that she wasn't sure how much work she would be getting, but that she would love to see the show with us and that she would text Lea whether or not she could go by 12 pm Saturday. "You guys," she had said "you guys." I was glad that she didn't notice my slip up in saying "me," that part was meant to be a surprise. I was glad that even though she wasn't sure she hadn't said no, and as much as I would rather have just gotten a "yes" I couldn't complain, yet.

I got back to the parking lot and tackle-hugged Chris and then Lea, chanting thank you's as I went. They both chuckled and said that it was nice to see me so happy again. I hadn't realized how badly Mia had really made me feel about myself, but I guess when a girl that you thought you had a mutual love with cheats on you, it's hard not to feel that way.

We planned out how we'd get Lea's note to her, asking to go shopping on either Saturday night or more likely Sunday morning. I remembered her saying that her best friend here at school, and next door neighbor, was a HUGE Starkid, and Joe Walker fan. I decided to get him in on this as well and thought that maybe if she was anything like the girl Catie described, that Joe might be walking away ALMOST as happy as me.