Hilary jumped when a heavy magazine came crashing down in front of her.

"Hilary, look at this!"

The brunette sighed and turned away from her book, instead turning her attention onto the magazine. In front of her was a photo of a woman modelling a beautiful wedding dress; pure white, long sleeved, and a deep v-cut down the neckline. The dress itself wasn't her cup of tea, but Hilary knew that wasn't why she had been presented with the photo anyway.

"Another wedding gown?" Hilary asked, gazing up from the page.

"Sure is!" Mariah proudly boasted. "This one is amazing, right?"

"Yeah, it's a really nice picture," Hilary agreed, nodding her head.

"I don't like that wedding dress nearly as much as the one I picked out, but it was still super fun to wear," Mariah continued, smiling at the memory.

"It was nice of the designer to create a custom dress for you in exchange for modelling," Hilary replied. "And I'm sure Ray is going to tear up as soon as he sees you coming down the aisle!"

"That's the goal!" Mariah giggled, picking the magazine back up. "Honestly, he'd better, after all of this wedding planning I've been doing."

"Yeah, by choice," Hilary reminded her, standing up from the desk. "It's not like you're required to plan the wedding of the century, you know."

"Oh, but rival, that's the only right way to do it," Mariah sighed, blinking nonchalantly. "You'll understand one day once you're getting married!"

Hilary nearly choked at the idea, but quickly composed herself and refuted, "I don't think I'd ever be as big of a bridezilla as you. All I'd care about was getting to marry the love of my life. The ceremony and party and all that stuff are secondary."

Mariah appeared disturbed by the idea. "Seriously, how can you call yourself a girl? You should have been excited about this since you were four…"

Hilary smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "I had important things to think about…"

She was about to walk away but was stopped by Mariah grabbing onto her shoulder. "Hang on! You still haven't told me who your date for the wedding is going to be!"

Hilary groaned at the reminder. "Do I really have to bring a date?"

"Yes!" Mariah cried. "That's, like, what you do at a wedding!"

"And where's that, in the wedding rule book?" Hilary quipped sarcastically.

"Don't get snippy," Mariah huffed. "Just find yourself a date, alright? But try to make it a cute one! Or at least someone with a decent amount of money."

Hilary sighed and rolled her eyes. "Mariah, come on. It's a wedding date, not a marital candidate."

"Maybe not," Mariah trilled, stepping around Hilary and shooting her a playful wink. "But it could become one!"

"Could become one, my ass."

Hilary was grumbling to herself as she paced up and down the hall.

"Mariah's absolutely insane if she thinks I'd actually marry a stupid wedding date!" Hilary sputtered, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "It's just one stupid night…"

In reality, a wedding date shouldn't have been causing Hilary this much frustration. The unfortunate truth for her was that she really only wanted to take one person as her date, and there was no chance that she could even ask him. The problem was that this boy was so oblivious to all things romantic; he likely had no idea what a wedding date even was. And, worse than that, if he rejected her…well, then that meant every single one of Hilary's fantasies that she'd been dreaming up in her head for years on end would come crashing down on her.

And she couldn't have that.

Hilary suddenly stopped pacing, and dug out her cell phone, staring hard at the device for a minute. Should she call him? Was it worth the risk? She huffed and looked away indignantly, but soon found herself staring at the phone once again. With a frustrated sigh, she unlocked her phone and pressed the number that was the speed dial, and waited with a bated breath for the person on the other end to pick up. It rang once…twice…three times…and by then, Hilary just assumed it wasn't going to happen.

But then, right after the fourth ring, the screen jumped to life and Hilary's breath caught in her throat.

"Ah…hey, Hil!"

Hilary just managed to refill her lungs and show off a falsely confident smile. "Hi, Tyson. It's been too long since we last spoke."

"Yeah!" Tyson agreed. "I was kinda surprised to see your name pop up on my phone. Oh…but not in a bad way! It was a good surprise! A really good one!"

Hilary giggled. "It's alright, I know what you meant."

"So…what's up?" Tyson asked.

"Oh!" Hilary squeaked, her face turning a light shade of red. "Are you going to Ray and Mariah's wedding?"

"You bet I am! I am psyched! Hey, you're coming too, right?"

"Yeah…I am one of the bridesmaid, so no backsies now." Hilary exasperated, "I wouldn't have pleaded her if I didn't knew that dumb rule!"

"What dumb rule?"

"I have to bring a date!" Hilary grimaced.

"Oh, that rule, huh?" Tyson scratched his cheek.

"Wait, it implies on you too?" Hilary etched a brow.

"Yeah…Ray kinda forced me to bring a date." Tyson sighed, like his chest had just unloaded a huge weight.

"Have you thought of anybody?" Hilary softly mumbled, gambling the answer to be No.

"None yet…were we supposed to bring someone of opposite gender?"

"Yes," Hilary flatly affirmed.

"Man, I am never gonna get a date!" Tyson complained.

"Unless…you and I go together…it doesn't sound so bad…does it…" Hilary's breathing paced.

She rushed out the last part of her question, but fortunately for her, Tyson was so used to talking fast that he was able to understand her rather clearly. "Go with you? But Do you want to walk there together or something?"

Hilary resisted the urge to slam her head against the wall. "No. I meant…go together. Like…as a date?"

Her voice rose an octave, and she hadn't meant to frame it as another question. Tyson, for what it was worth, hadn't changed his expression at all.

"What do you mean?"

If Hilary was bewildered before, now she was just downright exasperated. "Tyson…do you seriously not know what a date is?"

"Huh? No, of course I do!" Tyson argued, now blushing a bit himself. "I just don't know what you mean by a date to a wedding. Isn't a date supposed to be going somewhere with one other person? There's gonna be lots of people at this wedding."

Hilary furrowed her brow. "Well, there are different kinds of dates. And at a wedding, you can usually bring a date with you. Since I'm the bridesmaid, Mariah is kinda making a big deal out of it. I think it's kind of stupid, but- "

"No way!" Tyson interrupted. "I think it sounds kinda fun! I wouldn't know what to do at a wedding by myself anyway. This could be something new and different."

"Try a lot different," Hilary snickered.

Tyson chuckled at her comment. "And I guess I wouldn't actually be alone, because you'd be there anyway. But if we were each other's dates, that means we would spend a lot more time together, right?"

Hilary's eyes widened. "M-more time together? I suppose so…"

"Great, I'd love that!" Tyson crowed, sending Hilary's heart aflutter. "We haven't seen each other in so long, and I was worried you'd be too busy to hang out."

Despite the screaming in her stomach, Hilary offered Tyson a delicate smile. "I'll always have time for you, Tyson."

At this, his face lit up. "You're the best, Hil! I can't wait to be your date!"

The blush exploded all over Hilary's face, and she was too stunned to even try and hide it from the boy on the other end. "Y-yeah! Me too!"

Chimes suddenly went off over the phone, causing Tyson to look over his shoulder. Whipping back around to face his phone, Tyson replied, "sorry, I gotta go. But we'll talk soon!"

Hilary finally managed to get a hold of herself, and confidently nodded her head. "Right! Talk to you soon!"

And just like that, the call was over.

And Hilary had a date to the wedding.

And it was Tyson.

Sucking in a deep breath, Hilary spun on her heels, with her phone in her hand as she marched away.

"Alright, fine. I guess it could become one."