L A N A

Monday morning after the weekend, I was about to leave to get home to Carmen and Jada who left early to go to my place so they could take care of Isha.

However, I had to search for Everett first. I was about to text him but stopped myself from retrieving my phone from my pocket when I found him putting his books in his locker.

As I approached Everett, I noticed how cute he looked in that red hoodie he was wearing. He caught me watching him and when he smiled, everything inside of me tingled and fluttered. My brain was turning completely mush because of this guy.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," I said. Everett was about to say something but stopped himself when I stepped forward and tucked into him for a brief moment, my head on his shoulder and my hand on his back.

When I pulled away, Everett looked stunned but his face was quick to break into a soft smile and he said, "You doing good? How's Isha doing?

She's feeling better. She stayed with me during the weekend. Jada and Carmen are with her now. I was leaving now too but I wanted to ask you something."

Everett nodded as his eyes grew of curiosity. "Okay. What is it?"

"I just wanted to ask if... I mean, um, would, uh, maybe like to go hang out sometime-I mean would you maybe want to...," I trailed off, feeling my face heating up. How did this people do this?

Everett grinned. "Wait. Lana Takumi, are you asking me out on a date?"

Just to wipe that ridiculously huge grin off his face, I scowled. "No."

However, that only made him tip his head back and laugh. That sound spread a warm feeling tingling through me.

"You are asking me out," He said.

"No, no I'm not. Baka."

Suddenly, Everett reached out and gently curled his hand around mine, our fingers slowly entwining. I jerked up and I stared at him as his lips curved into a genuine smile. "Yes, you are."

I smiled. "Today. By the candy shop at 5 P.M. Don't be late. Baka."

I didn't let go of his hand though. Instead, I let him take my other hand too and saw his smile widening as excitement spread across his face. "I can't wait."

~

"Oh. My. Fucking. God," Carmen slowly said as she with Isha and Jada stared at me with widened eyes and jaws dropped after I told them I asked Everett out on a date.

After freaking out for half an hour, they ordered me to hop in the shower and then they started getting excited. When I got out, Isha started brushing my hair on my bed while Jada started looking through my closet for a cute outfit, and carmen started rummaging through her small makeup kit.

In the end, Isha brushed through my hair and put an old hairpin of my mom's on one side, Jada put together a cute outfit that consisted of a white sweater decorated with silver pearls, a black skirt, and black leggings. I didn't have any shoes except my ratty uggs and a pair of sneakers. I went with the Uggs because it was cold outside. At last, Carmen put some light dusty pink lipstick on me, some foundation, mascara, and dusted my cheeks with rosy red blush.

When I looked in the mirror, I realized this was the first time in many years I had put effort into my appearance.

"You look so pretty, Lee," Carmen said, grinning.

"You ready?" Isha said.

I caught Jada smiling at me in the reflection of the mirror and exhaled deeply before turning around to them. I smiled. "Thanks for this. I love you guys so much."

Surprised, the girls glanced at each other before Isha pouted and opened her arms for me. "Aww, baby Lana. Our little wolf. Our dumpling. We love you too."

We all huddled up together for a hug. Safe and together. Just like always.

~

"Woah. You look really pretty," Everett said when I approached him outside the candy store.

"Thanks." I peered at him, shyly. He was wearing gre jeans and a blue sweater. His smile was genuine and his brown eyes filled with excitement. "You look nice too."

"Thanks." He reached his hand out and tucked my hair behind my ear. My chin jerked up and my surprised eyes met his. He smiled and I closed my eyes for a brief moment. Despite his familiar and safe presence, my instincts were activated.

"So where are we going?" He asked, as we headed down the street.

"I know this place that sells really good churros and then I'll show you a nice place where we can sit together and eat," I said, walking beside him.

He nodded. "Okay. Sounds good."

We arrived at the park where we approached the cart that came every Friday to sell churros and glazed donuts. We bought churros covered with Nutella and I led Everett through a small forest up a narrow path to a small hill.

When the view of the whole town came to sight, Everett's eyes widened. "Woah. This is so beautiful."

I smiled and we sat down next to each other on the grass, enjoying our churros. The town of Lakewood was blinking like stars at night and I could make out the horizon at the very end where the sun was resting, spreading a warm orange and pinkish glow across the sky.

"The sunset is beautiful," Everett said, amazed. We ate our Churros in comfortable silence.

"What's going to happen to Carlos? You know, if he returns," He then asked, all of a sudden.

"Jada will drive him out of town before he even has the chance to arrive. He's scared of her. She knows how to deal with him."

"Are you going to be safe?"

I nodded. "I think so." That's all I wanted but I couldn't be sure about it after everything I had been through.

"If he comes, I'll protect you," he said, softly.

Surprised, I stared at him. My heart swelled when he gently smiled.

"I'll protect you too," I said, quietly.

After a moment of silence, I asked, "Um, are we like...dating now?"

Surprised, he chuckled. "Lana. Yes. You're awesome. I really like you," he paused and gently curled his hand around mine. All my nerves sparked to life and my whole body lit up like a Christmas tree. "I like this."

"Okay, but I think this is all I can do for now," I whispered, gesturing to our fingers entwined. I was already slowly getting breathless.

He smiled and nodded. "That's okay. We got time. Lots of time."

My heart warmed. I wanted to lean away and get as far away from him as possible but at the same time, I wanted to pull him closer to me. Thus, I settled for a hug. Because right now, that's all I could do and I knew it was enough for both of us. Like Everett said, we had time for everything else.

As we wrapped our arms around each other, I looked up at the sky and noticed that the stars didn't seem so far away anymore. A smile tugged at my lips.

***