This was awesome! I finally got a chance to talk to her outside of school, and the fact that the invite came from her really made elated me. I couldn’t help wondering if she liked me too. I quickly brushed off the thought, though. Through years of experience, I learned that taking things in the best possible way usually leads to disaster. It works a lot better to expect a minimal amount of personal benefit from a single experience.
However, I was not going to miss this opportunity. I replied to her text as fast as I could, telling her that I’d be there. I then helped the others pick everything up before hopping in my car and speeding to the mall.

As I walked into the food court, I felt my stomach churning. I suddenly became aware of how stupid I looked, with my “punk” shorts, Metallica t-shirt, and short spiked hair. I had half a mind to turn around and just go home, but then I saw Tori on the other side of the room. I absentmindedly stopped walking and just stared at her, transfixed upon her beauty. She sat there, innocently laughing at something Kelly, her best friend, had just said. I never really liked her friends. They were your standard “plastic” popular girls. Overly-done fake tans, heavy make-up, snobby attitudes, and egos that are bigger than their stuffed bras. I never understood why Tori even hung out with them. She was completely different. She may have been short, but had the biggest, most lovable personality a person could have. Then, on top of that, she had the cutest face a young lady like her could have. Her round blue eyes would always sparkled and her dark hair was always perfect, no matter how much of a “bad hair day” she was having. She wore very little make-up, and it just showed how naturally beautiful she really was. She also was one of the nicest people at our school. Despite her popularity, she never was too cool to talk to anyone. She was as perfect as you could get. I guess that’s why every guy in our class liked her.

After what seemed to be an hour, I finally snapped out of it and made my way to her, all while telling myself to not say anything stupid.

“Hey Tori!”

“Oh, hey Stephen! What a coincidence meeting you here!” she responded. I laughed and decided to play along.

“Yeah, it’s almost like you texted me to meet you here!”

“Yeah… Pretty much…” It was then that I realized that she was being serious. At first I was confused by the matter since she was the one that texted me, but then I realized that I was just made a victim of a prank. It didn’t take me long to figure out who the jokers were when I noticed that Tori’s friends were trying their hardest to not laugh, but were failing miserably. I was so embarrassed.

“Hey Tori!” Kelly said between fits of laughter. “Here’s your phone by the way. Thanks for letting me use it since I forgot mine at home.”

“No problem. What’s so funny by the way?” Tori asked. However, it didn’t take too long for her to figure it out. I do not know what the bigger clue was: the fact that my face was redder than a tomato, or that Kelly and the other girls were pointing at me and gasping the word “phone” between breaths as they continued to giggle uncontrollably. “Wait. Did you guys text Stephen with my phone?” The only answer that she received was a renewed chorus of laughter. She turned and looked at me sympathetically. “Oh. I’m sorry, Steve. If you want, you can hang out with us. We’re about to go to a movie. Wanna tag along?”

“Sure. That sounds good.” I responded, maybe a little too quickly. Tori’s friends stopped laughing immediately and glared at Tori.

“Sweet. We’re going to stop by the gas station right next to the theater to buy some candy for the movie. The concessions are way too expensive.”

“OK I’ll follow you there. Which car do you drive?”

“It’s a red Toyota something or other.”

“Yeah. That definitely helps a lot.” We continued to make a little small talk as we made our way to our cars. I then followed the girls to the gas station. As we entered the store, we naturally migrated to the candy stand and started looking over our choices.

“Man! Can you believe we’re Seniors now?” I said, trying to strike up conversation again. “A year from now, we’ll already be graduated!”

“Speak for yourself.” Kelly piped up snottily. “I’m not graduating at the rate I’m going. I’m taking two summer-school classes right now to catch up!”

“Well if you actually paid attention in class instead of trying to text me, you might know a thing or two.” Tori said, smiling broadly.

“What? You don’t like me texting you?”

“It’s not the fact that you’re texting me that annoys me. It’s just that I’m trying-” Tori was cut of by a masked man holding a gun and a bag bursting through the door.