WEDNESDAY

LUNCH

1:12 PM

Kevin: lol stop being like this

Sandra: like what? Omg I haven't done anything

This is the kind of treatment I get for unblocking Kevin. I really shouldn't have. I've been regretting it little by little.

Kevin: has anyone told you you're the worst texter ever?

Sandra: excuse me😑

Kevin: like your always on you phone yet you take twenty minutes to reply

Sandra: it's *you're and maybe I just don't want to talk to you

Kevin: but we've been talking for three days. You can't lie to me😌

Sandra:🤐

He wasn't wrong. It has been three days of messaging and I questioned every single time I replied back. . Maybe it was because he didn't just ask 'what are you doing' every five seconds and actually knew how to have a conversation. Maybe because his company was pretty okay since Amelia wasn't at school again and spent time at home sleeping out her cold. Kevin on the other hand was almost always on his phone.

"Are you serious?" A voice asked me, scaring the shit out of me.

"What?" I asked, trying not to seem fazed but the smile on Kevin's face let me know he knew he caught me by surprise.

"My contact name."

I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out the problem here. "What about it?"

"It's just...Kevin."

"That is your name, is it not?"

"Yeah but it's so plain. I mean look at the emojis on my phone for you." He held up his own phone where I could see my contact information.

It said: "Sandra👑❣️"

My eyebrows raised at the emojis, tongue poking in my cheek at this. "Just because you have emojis in my name doesn't mean you have to- HEY!"

Kevin snatched my phone out of my hand and I could see him tapping. "Give it back."

I reached out for it but he held me back before handing it back to me. "Here you go. This is better."

His contact name was now "Kevin👑❤️"

I looked up at him, partially annoyed. "Why a red heart?"

"Because red hearts symbolize the strongest of all hearts."

"Yes, I know this. But why for you?"

"Maybe because I as your future prom date deserves a red heart. Red hearts lead to relationships."

"Kevin. What?"

"I'll catch you later." He grinned, about to jog away from me.

"Nope, nope." I held onto his arm, pulling him back to me. I wasn't about to let him leave after he dropped another bomb on me. Relationship?

"Chill baby, I'll message you after my practice." I was a sucker for pet names but the way he said it made it seem like it was an honor for me to be called that...by him.

I almost glared at him. "Don't call me that again."

"Why not...baby?" He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

"You really know how to piss me off, did you know that?" I rhetorically questioned.

"It's the tension. This sexual tension you know?" He yawned and stretched lazily. It was then I could see the dark circles around his eyes and the tiredness all over his face.

"Are you getting enough sleep?" I blurted out.

Kevin looked as surprised about the question than I was. "I'm alright. Don't worry about it."

He didn't answer my question. We ended up walking towards my class together when he asked me a question. "Where's Amelia? Haven't seen her in a bit."

"She's still sick. So she's staying home."

"But she's been gone for almost a week. It's that bad?"

"Trust me. It's bad."

There was a pause before he asked the next question. "Are her and Emil still together?"

"What's it to you?" I asked him, a little skeptical.

"Nothing. I'm just wondering."

"No," my voice trailed off and I narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you honestly finding a way to use me to get to my best friend?"

"What? No!" He exclaimed. "I mean Amelia's a great person and all but no."

I stared at him and he obviously didn't think I believed him. "You don't believe me?"

"Not really." I admitted.

"I'm not trying to use you for anything. You're the only girl- I mean you're the only one I want to take to what is considered to be the best night of our last year in high school." He smiled at me.

"You're still on the prom thing?"

"There's only one girl I want and am planning on going with and that's you."

I stared at him, wondering if he was joking with me but I couldn't decipher whether he was lying to me or not. He had a smile on his face and I took a breath, giving him small one of my own. "We'll see." I said, walking ahead of him.

"Wait, is that a consideration?" He questioned loudly in the hallway and I didn't answer him.

•••
THURSDAY
4:23 PM

"You look much better now." I told Amelia.

She smiled at me, tying her hair into a ponytail as I sat at a distant from her on her bed. "Yeah, I think I can finally go back to school tomorrow."

"Thank God," I practically whined.

"Is Kevin that bad?"

"No he's just...annoying."

"How annoying?"

"Super annoying." I sighed, leaning back on the bed.

"Super cute though." Amelia mumbled and I stared at her.

"You think so?"

"You don't? Since we entered high school everyone said he was cute. And now he got even better looking. You said the same thing before. Admit it." She looked down at my phone and noticed another message pop up on my phone. "How come he has a red heart emoji in his name?"

"Because he put it there." I muttered.

"Why didn't you take it off?"

"I'm lazy." I told her.

"Sure." She drawled out, entering the password to my phone.

I thought about him. He definitely wasn't afraid to talk to me like he was a different person. Sure he was annoying but I guess he was still...

"Yeah, he's cute."

Amelia's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "See you think he's cute!"

"It's not that serious. I said he was cute I didn't say I liked him." I mumbled, taking my phone back to see what she did.

Cute Kevin🙄: you rushed out of school so quickly today

(2)Cute Kevin🙄: I didn't get to say bye☹️

"Awww." Amelia said in my ear, reading the text.

I rolled my eyes. "He already sounds like a clingy boyfriend."

"I swear you told me you like clingy guys." Amelia smirked at me and I pretended not to hear her, typing back.

Sandra: you can say bye to this conversation.

Cute Kevin🙄: SANDRAA😪 don't act like this again smh

Sandra: CHILL it's not like I blocked you...again.

Cute Kevin🙄: You at home?

Sandra: I'm at Amelia's

Cute Kevin🙄: I'm getting food at the plaza, wanna come with after you're done at her house?

"Go, go, go!" Amelia practically shoved me off her bed, grinning widely. Well, someone's been cured. "It's literally two blocks away! Go meet him."

"What is wrong with you?" I questioned due to her sudden excitement.

"He wants to hang out with you! Go."

I looked down at my phone then at my friend then back at my phone, typing out a reply.

Sandra: I have too much homework. Maybe next time.

Cute Kevin🙄: aw okay😕

"You made him upset S, oh my gosh. Look what you did."

"I wasn't wrong! I really do have a lot of homework and he's just Kevin."

Amelia looked at my phone. "Honestly, I think that you and him would be good together."

I flipped my phone between my fingers. "You really think so?"

"You're thinking about it?"

"I never said that."

"Just give him a chance."

"He asked me to prom over a text, Lia."

"That's effort." She hesitated and we both laughed at her attempt. "Okay, well look at it like this," Amelia shifted on her bed. "Kevin isn't a rude guy. He isn't cocky. He isn't problematic. He's almost your type."

"What?"

"He's smart, he's tall which says a lot since he's on the basketball team, he's funny-" I scoffed at that and Amelia gave me a look. "You can't even say that. You know he can be funny."

"Okay, and?"

"And I really think that him asking you to prom over text wasn't the real proposal. He knows you better than that. He knew you would say no. But he's going to warm up to you so that when he asks you for real, you'll say yes."

"You mean he's waiting for me to fall for him?"

"Yeah."

"That's not happening."

It was Amelia's turn to scoff. "S, this is life. Anything is possible." She grabbed my phone, typing quickly before I could snatch it from her before she tossed it back to me.

Sandra: I'll be there in ten minutes.

"But-"

"Now you're going to meet him there and from here on you're going to give him a chance."

"Ames-"

"And if he messes up that chance he'll have to deal with me."

I let out a small laugh even though I knew she wasn't joking. She was one of the greatest people I had ever met in my entire life. Only knowing each other for three almost four full years, led to me realizing the different sides of her. Maybe it was because she grew up with her brothers over the years and the ones I could hear yelling even through her closed door or maybe because she was Latina. She always used to say it was because she's Latina but no it was just how Amelia was. She was kind of protective and I loved her for it.

"Fine," I sighed. "I'll go."

Amelia grinned. "That's the spirit. Go see your man."

"He's not my man." I rolled my eyes, picking up my phone and bag before leaving.

When I had gotten to the plaza, I found Kevin sitting in a booth, looking relaxed as ever as he was writing something in his open binder, a textbook out in front of him. I took the seat in front of him, a surprised expression coating his face when he looked at me. "Whoa, you actually came."

"I said I would."

"I had a feeling that Amelia was the one who typed that. Not you."

"You're feeling is correct," I perched my elbow on the table, leaning my chin against my hand. "So you texted me to get food and do homework?"

"Yeah, sure, just to do those things. Help me out in Chemistry, will you?"

I stared at him. "Chemistry is a huge no for me."

"Okay then," Kevin brought out flash cards from his duffle bag, handing them to me. "Help me study for my Kinesiology class then." I shot him a look and he chuckled. "I'll buy you pizza."

I grabbed the flashcards out of his hand. "Okay, so your tests is on muscles. Let's start." For some reason Kevin laughed then took a sip of his water. "What?" I asked confused at his laughter.

"You're cute."

"I didn't need you or any other boy to tell me that." I told him.

He wasn't fazed by my words, instead he grinned. A grin that rarely slipped off his face for the rest of the time we were here. "Just a reminder S."