Hangouts with the girls had become increasingly awkward since the bonfire party.
“What did you get for number seven?”
Flora didn’t even glance at her homework. “Pi over two.”
Elsa smiled at her. Flora didn’t meet her eyes, and the smile faded.
They sat in silence for a while longer, then Elsa spoke up again. “Did I tell you Max took me to his brother’s restaurant on Saturday?”
Flora nodded. “You did.” She would really rather not hear about Max.
Nanami, in contrast, grinned at Elsa. “He’s so romantic! Tane never takes me anywhere.”
“It was great! You should take Tane there. You don’t have to wait for him to ask you.”
Flora squeezed her pencil before she spoke. “I don’t think Max is that romantic.”
Nanami rolled her eyes. “What would you know? You don’t even have a boyfriend.”
Elsa completely missed the meaningful look Nanami shot Flora. “I really wish you would let me set you up, Flora. We could find you a great boyfriend.”
Flora shot Nanami an equally knowing glare before standing up. “I’ve already said I don’t need you to set me up. I have to go.”
Elsa watched her leave sadly, saying to Nanami, “Flora’s been so weird lately… maybe we should stop bothering her about dating.”
Nanami nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
-------
“Hey, um… Michael? Can we talk?”
Michael turned around and smiled at Skye. “Sure. What did you want to talk about?”
Skye was nervous, but she smiled back at him. “I just wanted to say… I really like you. Like, romantically.”
Michael blinked. “Oh. Well… thanks? Um… do you want to talk about this somewhere else?”
Skye looked around at the computer lab and realized this probably wasn’t the best venue. “Oh! Yeah, sorry.”
They ended up at the nearby bubble tea shop.
Michael, as he stirred his bubble tea, made small talk with Skye. “You’ve been doing really well with the club lately.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I really like programming.”
He smiled. “Me too.”
She spoke tentatively. “Well, that’s something we have in common, then, isn’t it?”
He examined her face. “Yeah… I guess it is.”
She sighed. “I know you don’t like me the way I like you-”
“Hey, who said that? I’ve just never really thought about you that way.”
Skye frowned. “That counts as not liking me, Michael. If you liked me, you would have thought of me that way.”
“Just… give me some time, okay? I think we can give it a shot.”
She was skeptical. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to force yourself.”
He smiled. “I’m sure. The truth is, I don’t really know you that well. Tell me about yourself.”
Skye blinked. “Well… I was raised by a single mom. We’re really close. I don’t see my dad much. You know I like programming. I get good grades. I’m really competitive, both in school and out of school.”
“Do you play any sports?”
“No team sports, but I’m pretty athletic. My mom was a martial artist, so she taught me some of that - I also run pretty regularly. I like swimming, too, but there’s not a pool near my house, so I don’t swim very often. What about you?”
“Like you said, I don’t play any team sports. I ride horses, and we have dogs, so they give me good exercise.”
Skye grinned. “I love dogs! Do you have any pictures?”
Michael did, as it turned out, have pictures of his dogs. They were adorable.
Skye and Michael laughed together and chatted about their love for dogs and their shared experiences with computer club.
“See, I really want to have a hackathon, but the principal won’t sign off on it.”
“A hackathon would be awesome! Does she think we’re gonna be hacking the school? Have you explained it to her?”
“I tried, but she just doesn’t get it. It sucks, but I’ve come to terms with it.”
“Maybe we could organize something outside of school, on a weekend or something?”
“You want to have a hackathon date?”
Skye blushed. “It wouldn’t have to be a date…”
“Is this a date?”
“Do you want it to be a date?”
He grinned. “I said earlier I didn’t know you that well… Skye Doe, I’ve gotten to know you now, and I must say, I would be honored to date you.”
Skye grinned back at him. “Then it’s a date.”
“How many dates until we’re officially dating?”
“We can be dating now if you want.”
“You want me to take you off the market?”
She giggled. “Check me out, sir! Scan my barcode!”
He laughed too. “So… you’re my girlfriend now?”
“Only if you’re good with being my boyfriend.”
“I am thrilled to be your boyfriend.”
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