— Aurelia Perlman :

My date with Romeo was on a Saturday and truthfully, it was my first proper date. Prior to this, I had only accepted dates because I felt bad for the guys who built up the courage to ask me out and I was not going to crush them. Especially since I knew how it felt when it came to unrequited love and, even though it was tough going on date with someone you didn't really like, I did it to make them happy. It appeared I had always done that, made others happy even if I felt something far from that.

Biting my nails with my teeth, I decided to get them done to prevent me from ruining them even further. The date was later on in the week but I was already panicking. What made matters worse was that Talia wasn't going to be in town that weekend meaning I had no one to help calm my nerves. I really had to get other friends. This Saturday was my date but it was also the Cameron's annual family dinner where all of their family spends time together at her grandparents’ house. Usually, I go with them but, because of prior commitments, I had to miss this one. I was sad because I looked forward to this every year, her grandparents were the best and, even though I wasn't related to them in any way, they treated me like family. And they were my family.

For my nails, I had chosen something simple; white. White was the best decision to go with due to the fact that I had spent more time worrying about what would happen if the date didn't go well rather than what I should wear. My white nails would go with any dress I chose making it the perfect colour. Another issue was that Romeo wanted to make the setting of the date a surprise causing my anxiety to heighten. I hated surprises because I couldn't prepare. And I was always prepared. However, I did figure out that it was most likely going to be a dinner date or involve eating but that was due to the time he gave me, seven o'clock. Instead of dwelling on the possibility that I could ruin the way I look on account of my trembling hands, I decided on acquiring a hair and makeup artist so I could just sit back and worry without ruining the way I look. Today was a Friday night and I had previously planned to have a movie night and a sleepover with Talia but she had other ideas.

"Why don't you want to go?" She whined, hating the fact that I didn't desire to watch another school basketball game. "Your boyfriend will be there." I rolled my eyes, we weren't officially together and she knew that. Truth be told, the reason as to why I didn't wish to go to the game was because of a certain dark-skinned boy. He hadn't invited me to this game, he usually always did and I didn't want to impose by going without his invitation so I was deciding against it.

"Of course he's going to be there, he is the captain," I responded with a bit of an attitude. She wouldn't let it go and I was getting rightly pissed. Because Romeo suffered an injury on his last game, (a slight sprain) he had to sit this one out. I assumed that was why he didn't ask me to come, he most likely didn't think that I'd want to come if he wasn't playing. Truthfully, I didn't know my answer to that but one thing was true, I did only go to the games because of him.

Explaining to Talia the issues that I was facing because of the game, she acquired a brilliant idea to call her boyfriend and ask him. Noah was also on the team and he was pretty close to Romeo, they were best friends. I pleaded with her to not call him but she claimed she was doing it for my own good. She had her own agenda though, she wanted to see Noah play and I couldn't fault her on that. She was a good girlfriend but this time I wanted her to be a good friend.

Much to my displeasure, Talia called her boyfriend but didn't tell me anything about what he told her. I didn't care though, I wanted to stay home anyway. But what I didn't know was that she was doing what she always did: the best for me. Talia Cameron knew the truth about what was happening but for me to be able to appreciate it fully, she hid it from me. And I was glad she did when I opened the door to my bedroom and saw the piercing brown eyes of Romeo Sinclair gazing lovingly back at me. He planned a movie night for the four of us (turns out Noah acquired an 'injury' during training) as a sort of pre-date hangout and I was glad he did because he took all my nerves away.Well for that night anyway.

The date was supposed to be an all day thing but Romeo had to go to his sister's recital and so we planned it for the evening instead.

Somehow the four of us, Noah, Talia, Romeo and me were becoming a sort of a little friend group. We had fun together and, even though people stared at us weirdly in the hallways, we all fit well. Admittedly, it was confusing for others; Talia and I weren't the type to hang out with or even talk to the jocks (Ares and his friends weren't) but these two were different. They were respectful and never engaged in locker room talk. After Ares, these two were next on the girls' crush list. I only ever had eyes for Ares.

This was something I never understood about those girls who were head over heels for Ares, he was a terrible person to them and he loved to create conflict more than anyone. Why would anyone like a guy like him? Especially when they never actually knew him. But for me, it was different. I genuinely knew him, he was kind to me most of the time and, despite the fact that he won't admit it, I knew he cared about me evidently, not enough.

And there I was, seated on the uncomfortable chair playing with my hands as people played with my face and hair. I tried so hard not to think about it and prior to this moment, I hadn't. The issue that played in my mind was what would occur if the date doesn't work out? Would we still be friends? Or would it be awkward? This was the issue with dating friends but I guess we both knew what we were getting into, we definitely weren't just friends at the beginning; our whole friendship was based on our flirtation at Talia's birthday party. We were never meant to be just friends.

I didn't know why I was so worried. We had always had a good time together and became friends really quickly. Unquestionably, I had always been a bit of a worrier but it seemed as if it had worsened as I aged. Staring down at the silk robe that adorned me, I realised that I still had to wear a dress that I liked how I looked in. These days, doing that had been getting more difficult. Entering inside my closet, I walked over to the section which held all my dresses from balls to mini dresses. I decided to wear a little black dress similar to Princess Diana's revenge dress. Except I wasn't wearing it for revenge but for a new beginning and hopefully, a new relationship. Scrutinising my attire in the mirror, I was quick to point out all of my flaws; my collarbones weren't outlined enough, my waist wasn't as thin as I wanted it to be and my arms were too large for my liking. But I couldn't do anything about that, for now.

"You look beautiful." I spun my body around, almost tripping due to my skinny stilettos and stared straight into the Nutella eyes of Romeo Sinclair. It felt as if I was melting in them. Did I believe him? No, but I expressed my gratitude and carried on with the conversation. I couldn't believe his compliments, no matter how much I wanted to.

He grabbed my hand and we left my house, he didn't let go of it unless he had to. Looking back, he knew I was nervous and he relieved my anxiety with his caressing thumbs and soft kisses. I really liked him. The date wasn't a cliché, not a regular movie and a dinner like I thought it'd be. Unlike the multiple dull dinner dates I had been on, this was different; Romeo took me to a cliff and we had a picnic with the sunset. We laughed with the cosmos and argued about the planets. Some may say we danced too close to the edge as we named the stars and pointed out constellations. As I laughed with the grass, I realised I had no reason to worry. Romeo Sinclair was the one for me.