He was an athlete on the basketball team. He was cute, his smooth white fur unblemished. He got decent enough grades, helped along by his bigger friend. He was nice, always looking out for his friends and his sister. And yet, for the life of him, he couldn't get HER attention. This was because there was one major problem: he was Jordan. And Jordan was somewhat of a dweeb. And he always was after the wrong girl.

"So they're totally gonna put me in varsity soon, I can feel it!" Jordan said with his chest puffed out as he walked along, trying not to seem boastful, but impressive all the same. "Coach says I'm destined for it."

"Mhm…" The brown dog said as her nose was buried in her phone. 'Mhm' was more response than she usually gave him. She was currently looking at her private messages to other guys while the khao manee prattled on about… football or something. Tiff didn't understand why such a scrawny guy was even allowed near a sports arena to begin with. Being a khao manee, he was smaller by nature, barely taller than his sister. How did she even get involved with him again? The idea of dating a jock seemed nice… in her head. But Jordan? He was no jock.

"Anyway… I'm not busy Saturday… wanna go out?" He asked hopefully. Tiff didn't look up from her phone, or even respond. In reality she was trying to outpace him to lose him in the school crowd. Jordan almost had to jog to keep up. "Tiff?" He asked after she didn't respond.

"Mm?" Tiff looked up lazily from her phone, the first time she actually looked at him the entire conversation. What was this idiot going on about? She thought she heard something about Saturday.

"Saturday? Wanna go out?" Jordan asked, totally oblivious to the uninterested look the girl was giving him.

Tiff blinked at him. "I'm busy." She said stiffly, before shoving her nose in her phone again and walking away, pace noticeably picked up.

"O-ohh.." Jordan said, disappointed. "Well maybe Sunday, then?" He called out, hands cupped to his mouth to enhance his voice, but she ignored it and kept walking. After a few moments his smiled faded and hands dropped to his sides. Behind him, someone started laughing. Jordan frowned and spun on the spot to tell off whoever was finding amusement in his failing.

As it would turn out, it was a korat girl with a yellow bow on her ear. She was still digging in her locker for her stuff, but it was clear she was laughing at him. Jordan folded his arms and looked at her in mild annoyance. "What are YOU laughing about?"

Haley kept laughing as she stood up with her books. "You, loser!" She kicked her locker closed. "When are you gonna learn she doesn't care about you?"

"What?!" Jordan scoffed, offended at the idea. Of COURSE Tiff cared about him! "Me and Tiff have a very special dynamic."

"Oh, really?" Haley cocked an eyebrow, trying to quell her laughter. "What's that? You pay her dinner and she shows up? You sound like my dumb brother. Always goin' on about some girl he never hears from."

This REALLY burned Jordan. He already had his reservations about Mike, but how could someone possibly think the two were at all similar? "As if! At least MY girlfriend is here in person!" He sputtered.

"Girlfriend? That's a strong word for it. Uh huh." Haley put a hand on her hip. "You do realize Tiff is talking to multiple guys, right? You're just the guy she goes to when she wants a free meal."

"They. Are. Not. Free. Meals." Jordan insisted. "They are dates! We have plenty of fun on them!"

"What else do you do besides eat?" Haley asked, already figuring the answer out. She just wanted to see what Jordan would come up with. It was amusing to see Mike try to justify his relationship with Sandy, too.

"Well." The boy said with a little bit of arrogance. "We… we eat…"

"Mhm. And?" Haley leaned forward and made a rolling continue gesture with her free hand.

"We eat and… we talk!" Jordan said with gusto, as though it were something impressive. Haley cocked an eyebrow.

"Alright… and what do you two talk about?" She grinned.

"We talk about… basketball… and stuff." Jordan said, not confident as he wasn't able to really recall any memorable conversations. Or any that she really contributed to. "And she talks about… other people…"

"And let me guess." Haley said in a mocking tone. "Those other people she talks about are guys?" Jordan didn't respond, but the look of shame on his face told Haley everything she needed to know. "Guys that she's talking to?" She followed up, to drive the point home.

"Just… look, I know she must like me… she has to." He said quietly, still trying to defend all the time and money he spent on her. But truth be told, he was running out of excuses.

Haley shook her head. Jordan really was like Mike, a total lost cause. Jordan was acting the same as her brother whenever he justified being with Sandy. "You're never gonna learn, are you?"

"Oh, what do you know?" He hissed back. "You're just a freshman. You're not even Tiff's friend."

"I'm a girl. We just know these things." Haley sighed. "And better to not be her friend than to be a meal ticket."

"Like you would know." Jordan laughed. "Have you ever even been liked by a guy before?"

This put Haley on the backfoot. She really hadn't been liked by anyone, not to her recollection. Not that she really tried, but… nothing ever came up. No love notes, no one hitting on her, no special Valentines cards. She was mostly overlooked. Sometimes she wondered if anyone was interested in her, or ever would be. Still, she wasn't going to let this wimpy guy get one over on her. With her best girl boss posture and her sassiest voice, she said. "You wouldn't know a real date if it came up and kissed you on the lips."

"Yes I would!" Jordan spat. Who was she, to tell him what love was? Typical Freshmen, thinking they knew everything. HE was the expert, the one who'd gone to prom with Tiff… at least for a little bit. They rode in the limo together. Surely THAT meant something.

"Then prove it, loser." Haley stuck her tongue out.

"Fine then!" He huffed. Oh, he'd prove it, alright. Then it'd shut her and everyone up who kept doubting him for good. "Saturday. Three o' clock. Roseville Cinema Twelve."

Haley was a little caught off guard by his forwardness, but gave a determined, smug nod. "I'll see you then." The bell rang, signaling class was starting. "See ya, dweeb!" Haley laughed, running to class.

They split up and stormed to their separate classes. Then it dawned on the both of them.

"I did I just…"

"Agree to a date?!"