As I am leaving the school building at the end of the day, it is extremely difficult to wipe the prideful grin on my face. That test wasn't as difficult as I assumed it was going to be but I am glad to have overly prepared for it.
When Christian asked me how I think I did, I downplayed my enthusiasm just in case I didn't do as well as I think I did. There were a few tricky parts in the test so I did not want to oversell my confidence. When he insisted with a knowing smile that I aced it, I could not help but laugh while trying to play it cool.
Even once I'm seated in the passenger seat of Dominic's car and he tells me to put my seatbelt on before taking off out of the school grounds, I'm still wearing said grin. This time for a much different reason. It feels so much better not having to walk all the way to the bus stop now.
"So…" he drawls out, breaking us out of the silence that was lingering between us in the car.
I turn to look at his side profile. "What?"
"I think we were on the topic about boyfriends before that janitor interrupted us."
My eyes widen in surprise as if it has not been proven in the past that he does not beat around the push and nervously, I glance outside the window at the traffic heading in the opposite direction.
We were on the topic about boyfriends before the janitor interrupted us. I was somewhat grateful for the distraction, because the thought of us actually dating hasn't really sunk in for me yet even though it has deeply plagued my mind when it's just me, the silence and the train of thought in my head. Do I want to be his boyfriend and vice versa?
If this question was asked to a younger version of me, a braced-teeth, ninth grade me, he would have laughed deliriously at being asked such a stupid question with a stupidly obvious answer.
"Do you remember when we were stuck in that restroom and you said you wanted to go camping?" he muses, pulling me from my thoughts, and pleasantly surprised that he remembers that my head snaps over so that my widened eyes can watch him.
"Yeah, I do."
"Do you still want to do that?"
"Yeah."
"How about during the summer half-term holidays, we go camping?" he suggests, and an excited grin breaks out over my face. When his eyes flicker over to quickly look at me, the smile widens and before we can get in an accident he averts his gaze back onto the road.
"What, like just you and me?"
"I thought you wanted to go with your friends. Do you want it to be just you and me?"
Averting my gaze and hiding the blush that is beginning to rise beneath the collar of my shirt, I open and shut my mouth like a fish in water and then I stutter, "Uh… no, I do want my friends with me. It would be so much more fun with everyone I know there."
"Okay."
With a sneaky smile making its way onto the corners of my lips, I guilelessly muse, "Do you want to invite your friends too?"
"Funny," he mutters, rolling his eyes at me and I cannot purse my lips hard enough to not let a chuckle escape me. "Sure. I'll invite my large ensemble of friends."
* * *
Later that day, I'm in my room, pacing up and down between the clothes strewn everywhere while rhythmically tapping my phone against my open palm repeatedly. After calling all three of my friends and inviting them to the camping trip that Dominic and I spontaneously planned, my eyes immediately zeroed in on Kai's name in my contact list.
Should I invite him too? Would Dominic mind me inviting people he doesn't know? I mean, he did say to invite my friends and Kai is technically a friend.
It's fine, right?
Before I can talk myself out of it, I'm already dialling his number and pressing the device against my ear, anxiously biting down on the nail of my thumb. For a few seconds, the dialling tone keeps ringing in my ear and just as I am about to take this as a sign not to invite him, he picks up the call at the very last minute.
"Hey, sorry I took so long to pick up," are his first words to me and he sounds a bit breathless as if he was just running a marathon. "I'm about to write an assessment."
"Oh, I mean I can always just call you later if you're busy," I say courteously, not wanting to inconvenience him.
"No, it's okay. The assessment is in a few minutes. I'm with Sabina and Richard right now. They are just quizzing me to prep me. I had to get away from them real quick to pick up your call. What's up?"
"Well, Dominic and I—I don't know if you know him, but he's a... friend of mine. Uh... anyway, him and I just spontaneously planned this camping trip for the summer half-term holidays, and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to come, and we could... I don't know, hang out and chat the day away."
The more my words ring in my head, the more embarrassing they sound. Scoldingly, I pinch my eyes shut and I dig my fingers into my eyes. Hang out and chat the day away? What the fuck?
With a quiet, amused chuckle, he muses, "You're inviting me to a camping trip for the holidays so we can... hang out and chat the day away?"
Under my breath, I groan from the humiliation of my words being reiterated back to me and I bury my face in my hand, feeling my cheeks heating up. In the background, I can hear him still laughing at me.
After his laughter has died down, he asks, "Can Sabina and Richard come along too?"
"Mm-hmm. The more the merrier, right?"
"Alright, I accept your request. I cannot wait to hang out and chat the day away with you," he teasingly adds.
"You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"
"Nope," he proclaims while still sounding amused judging by his tone. "Oh, I have to go. The session is about to start right now. I will call you later on, yeah?"
"Yeah, okay. Good luck on your assessment."