"You said he messaged you to make sure you got home the other day, right? Maybe he's been crushing on you, too. You should go talk to him!" Ghislaine suggested when Luka got into the cafeteria line a few people behind us.
"Remember how that went on the first day this year, when you guys talked me into approaching him? I bumped into him and made him spill his milkshake all over himself. He had to go home to shower and change clothes."
"Well, maybe if Porter hadn't pushed you so hard when you almost chickened out..." she considered, nudging Porter.
"And maybe if Ghislaine hadn't freaked you out with all her worst case scenarios, you wouldn't have almost chickened out to begin with," Porter cracked back.
"Whatever, it just means no. I'm not going to approach him first."
"Girl, you've been crushing on him for what, three years now? You have got to make a move, or someone else will," Ghislaine admonished.
"I know, but every time we talk, something goes terribly wrong," I sighed. "It doesn't help any that we're in different grades."
"You're whining like it's Romeo and Juliet," Porter groaned. "Look, you want to keep toeing around romance like a little girl, be my guest. If you want to act your age about it, just watch and learn when I ask out Théo."
"Why are you asking out Théo? Just yesterday weren't you just telling me he always brushes you off?"
Porter blushed and glanced at our daydreaming classmate sitting across the cafeteria at a window. Théo was one of those types that always had his head in the clouds. I didn't think he was the kind of guy for Porter, but she'd had her eye on him since he was put in Mr. Montenegro's class with us.
"She's not. You know as well as I do that Porter talks a big game but is really the most timid of the three of us," Ghislaine remarked.
"I am not, and I can prove it!" Porter huffed as she finished grabbing her food and turned towards Théo.
Ghislaine and I grabbed a table near the door farthest away from Théo, me sitting in a seat I could easily watch Porter from, Ghislaine next to me peeking through her fingers like she thought that was sneaky. To her credit, Porter did walk up to him without visibly hesitating. We couldn't hear the pair over the other students in the cafeteria from this distance, but it was easy enough to see how the conversation was going. Porter greeted him, getting his attention. Théo asked her something, probably about their shared art class. Porter replied then suggested an activity they might do together over the weekend. Théo turned her down gently, and added something else on the end.
Porter found our table and returned with a strange expression. "He said no because one of his friends has a crush on me and he doesn't think it'd be very cool of him to go on a date with the girl his friend likes. That's so dumb."
"The proverbial dibs strike again," Ghislaine offered dryly.
"I hate it when people do that. Turn someone down because of someone else they know, without bothering to get the opinion of the person offering the date," Porter vented.
"Did he mention which of his friends like you?" I wondered.
"No, said something about it not being his place to tell."
"Maybe we can guess. It has to be someone Théo respects, right? He can be hard to impress with his standards and passion," Ghislaine reasoned.
"We could ask Socquiline. She always seems to know what's going on," I recalled a friendly girl in Luka's grade that had something of a penchant for gossip.
"How would she know about things among students in the higher grades? We're a year older than her and Théo is a year older than us. She's only been at this school a few days like the rest of her grade."
"Don't you remember her in middle school too? She always had her ear to the rumor mill, even if she drew her own conclusions on what was true and what was false. Plus, she never participated in bullying, which was cool."
"It's still the first month of school. There aren't really any rumors being passed around yet."
"Are you kidding? There's tons of gossip from over the summer to catch up on, not to mention all the weirdness since the first day back with supervillains and superheroes. You only need to know who to ask."
"I'm glad Théo didn't tell me. I don't want to find out from someone else. If a guy wants to date me, he needs the guts to tell me himself that he likes me," Porter decided.
"Wouldn't you rather know ahead of time if he ever comes forward, in case you don't see him that way?" I considered. The idea of being ambushed with a confession and the pressure of responding to the person pouring out their heart made me nervous.
"I'll find the right words in the moment. I don't practice hypothetical conversations in my head like the two of you."
"It helps with my acting," Ghislaine defended.
All I could do was stuff a bite of pasta in my mouth and stare at my glass of juice uncomfortably.
"Oh Nellie!" Madelyn called tauntingly from the doorway near our table. She'd never step foot in the cafeteria. Spoiled little princess was too good for our commoner food, I guess.
"Remind me why she doesn't go to school back in Cordonia?" I murmured as I ducked my head so she was less likely to spot me.
"She and her brother are illegitimate and live here with their father," Ghislaine growled. "They just happen to also be the only heirs to the throne their mother sits on."
"How did she wind up such a brat where Mekaisto is so selfless?"
"Mekaisto didn't let it go to his head when he found out he was a prince, even though being older makes him the likeliest heir, whereas Madelyn clearly did and let everything from how she was raised go right out the window, despite her chances of ever being queen being quite slim."
"Why do you know so much about Mekaisto anyways?"
"I listen to him, that's all."
Porter's eyes narrowed in sync with my own. How had we not seen it before? It was just under our noses for who knew how long. We should have known much sooner. How could we call ourselves Ghislaine's best friends?
"Why are you both looking at me like that?"
"How blind..." I whispered.
"You've totally got a crush on the dude, don't you?" Porter asked bluntly.
"What? No, that's crazy! He's a prince, he's super popular, and he's got a ton of fans. I just overhear things. A crush on Mekaisto would be way more trouble than it's worth, believe me," Ghislaine muttered sensitively.
I laughed. "So you do have a crush on him. Why don't you tell him?"
"Right, I should take romantic advice from the girl who hasn't told her crush how she feels after three years."
"Harsh, but true," Porter's singsong tone was a bit loud, drawing attention from nearby tables.
"There you are, little Nellie! Get over here, I need you to do something!" Madelyn called, following the other students' lines of sight.
"Don't," Porter hissed, grabbing my arm as I stood up.
"Why do you always do what she says?" Ghislaine asked for the hundredth time. "You hate her as much as we do, but you let her treat you like a doormat!"
"It's hard to explain. I just have to." I shook off Porter and went to Madelyn, who was blocking the cafeteria doorway.
"Yeah, hey, so, I need you to go over to Luka Couffaine. You know who that is, right? He's the super hot guy that's great with a guitar, blue tipped hair? Right, I need you to go ask him out for me."
"What?" I shouted.
"I don't go in the cafeteria, everyone knows that. But lunch is the best time to ask, with him being a year younger than us and all. He always eats in there, so I need you to go ask him for me."
I grit my teeth in protest, but I couldn't fight the feyrie law compelling me to obey. All because I let a 'thank you' slip one day a couple years ago, and being the brat she was, Madelyn had never said it back, acknowledging the debt repaid. I walked over to where Luka was sitting with Mekaisto, Socquiline, Ondine, and Olivier.
"Hey, Prunelle," he addressed me immediately as his eyes landed on me.
"Hi, Luka. Um, Madelyn wanted me to ask if you'd want to go on a date with her?"
"That wasn't very cool of her. If someone wants to go on a date with me, they should ask me themselves."
"I'll let her know. I'll see you later, oka-"
He put a hand out, stopping me from walking away. "It wouldn't be very cool of me either, if I let you handle my rejection. I can tell her myself, so why don't you go back to your friends?"
"Thanks, Luka," I sighed in relief.
"You're welcome, Prunelle."
As I returned to my lunch, Luka headed to the cafeteria doorway to talk to the snobby princess. When they were done, she looked furiously at me. "Thanks for nothing, you loser! Get over here!"
Feyrie rules were all about technicalities, and while she'd said it sarcastically, it was still a thanks. I didn't mind being in Luka's debt by contrast.
"I think not," I told her plainly.
Her jaw dropped while Porter cheered and Ghislaine grinned in amusement. Madelyn left in a huff.
oOo
We girls decided to stop at the café down the block after class. A man was in the park across the street feeding the pigeons, but it wasn't long before a keeper came by and sent him on the way. I understood why there was such backlash against feeding the rats with wings, but the response seemed a bit harsh. Still, he was breaking a law, as stupid as that law might be. It wasn't my business.
"Seriously, what gave you the nudge to stand up to Little Miss Priss today? I mean, it's about time, but you've been at her beck and call as long as I can remember," Porter requested details about the incident from lunch. There hadn't been time to discuss it earlier.
"And what did any of it have to do with Luka?" Ghislaine was equally on the edge of her seat.
"She made me ask him out for her. It was the last straw, so it was easy to tell her no after."
"No way! What did Luka say?"
"He said it wasn't cool to ask someone else to stand in for her, and it wouldn't be cool if he had me reject her on his behalf. He said if someone wants to go on a date with him, they should ask him themselves."
"Woah, how awesome! A hint and a diss on Madelyn all in one neat package. When are you going to ask him out, then?" Porter leaned in closer like the café wasn't relatively quiet.
"I never said I was going to ask him out. I don't even know if he considers me a friend, let alone if he wants something more with me."
"Girl, he all but told you to! You've got to read between the lines," Ghislaine claimed.
"Where would I even ask him to go with me? There's nothing new at the theaters, the pool isn't exactly good for a first date, same with Andre's ice cream cart, there isn't a concert in town, and a park is too open to both interruption and being interpreted platonically. I have no idea what we would do together."
"What about the ice rink?"
"Oh...I don't know. I mean...I haven't put a foot on the ice since seventh grade..." I trailed off nervously.
"You used to be a fantastic skater, Prue! I'll be it's like riding a bike, and it's about time you got back to it. I miss watching you compete," Porter lamented.
"What's this about competing?" Ghislaine wondered.
"Nothing!" I squeaked.
"You never told her?" Porter was startled by the reveal. "Our Prue practically grew up in that rink. She was a figure skater, has a closet full of trophies and ribbons at home to show for it."
"No way! Why did you stop?"
"The competitions were starting to have monetary prizes, and the other skaters were starting to make it a toxic environment to be in. I quit," I glossed between my mom's worries and quitting, not going into detail about starting to gain feyrie magic I couldn't control when emotional being the real reason I had to quit skating. Speaking of emotions, how was I going to keep my magic under control long enough to ask Luka out for anything, let alone for a whole date?
"This would be skating for fun, and it sounds like it was something you really loved. Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to not only ask out your crush, but to also go back to something you're passionate about."
"I'll think about it, okay? I just don't know if I'm ready to get back on the ice, or ask out Luka."
The café's bell rang, welcoming Luka, Olivier, and Mekaisto.
"I need to go, girls. My mom wanted me home in time to see her off to work. I'll talk to you guys later," I hurried to say as I gathered my notes and scooped up my doughnut holes.
I whirled around without waiting for them to respond, bumping into someone. I lost my grip on the doughnut holes, and they spilled between our feet. We bumped heads as we both bent to pick them up, looking up simultaneously.
He was cute in an unconventional way. His eyes and hair were dark, he was wearing big black boots, his jeans had tears in the knees with different colored handkerchiefs patched into them, a grey button up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled back to the middle of his forearms,, a black vest, and a tie the same yellow as one of the handkerchiefs. There was a chain around one wrist. His eyebrow had two bars and his lip had a ring in the opposite side.
"Sorry," we said at the same time, voices overlapping in a lovely harmony.
"Please, allow me, love," he said in a British accent, reaching again for the spilled pastries.
I stepped back, nearly onto his hand, losing my balance to avoid stepping on him and tipping into a fall. Someone caught me before I could crash to the floor.
"You should be more careful, Prunelle," Luka's mellow voice warned in my ear.
Squealing, I launched myself back upright, straight into the guy that had just finished picking up the doughnut holes I had spilled running into him first, making him drop the bag to steady me, sending balls of glazed sweet bread all over the café.
"Oh no...I'm so sorry!" I ran out the door before I could make the situation worse.