Chapter 5: Double Date

The stars have never been so bright in the skies. Even the pitch black sky couldn't contain the light of billions of twinkling stars shining that very night.

And she was fortunate, she could say, to witness these beautiful scenery from the aisle of the terrace. These stars, remind her of the only person who showed her the true meaning of life.

She missed him... So much. But no matter how much she wished for his presence, that would be impossible. He's no longer here in this world. All she can do is to move forward, together with the gift he left within her.

She glanced at her big tummy and gently caressed it.

"My queen..." Calcifer called, "Are you sure about this?" His brows are furrowing which shows his concern about her decision.

"Yes." She turned to face him, "You're the only one I could trust on this, Calcifer. Please take care of my child."

She softly said and glanced at her tummy once again.

"I can feel... this child will be stronger than me... He will bring upon the new era that we desire. This child, will bring change."

Ah! What a sweet voice she has!

Even he doesn't know the whole story, Calcifer can feel that the queen is happy from the bottom of her heart. The child who came from an unknown lover, will bring out the hope that the queen believes in. And that is enough for him to believe in this hope as well.

He knelled in one knee and kissed the queen's hand *, "I swear upon my name and life as a knight, I will never abandon her majesty's child as long as live."

And with that, the queen smiled.

Her heart never beats this loud and fast than ever before. She's trembling and sweating, and she doesn't know what to do. She's been walking beside him for a while and can't even begin with a single word.

'You can do this Yana! C'mon!' She took a deep breath and stopped from walking.

Rae noticed it and stopped from his tracks.

"What's wrong?" He turned around to face her.

"R-Rae..." The lass looked at him in the eyes.

"P-please... Date me!"

The wind suddenly blew strongly as the fallen leaves started dancing around them. And the lad was surprised, not because of her sudden invitation. But the blushing face she's showing right now is cuter than anything he has seen! That made a loud thump in his heart.

'What was that?' He asked, this is the first time he has ever felt this way.

Whatever it is, he should treasure this moment of seeing Yana with a blushing face.

Despite the excitement he's feeling in this moment, he held himself back and took a deep breath before giving her a response.

"I refuse." He smiled.

"What! B-but... wait! You can read my mind, right? You should know by now why I'm asking you out."

Rae held his chin, "Hmm... As far as I can remember, you told me to stop reading your mind and so I did."

"A-are you kidding me?"

The lad shook his head. And with that, the lass sighed in defeat and told him what happened last night.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Yana... I need your help... "

"What's wrong? You sound so serious?"

"Because this is INDEED serious! I need to pick the right dress for my date on Saturday!"

"What!? Did you just say date?!" She exclaimed.

"With whom? Since when? Where and how?"

"Take it easy! I'll answer all your questions, okay?" She can hear Ella took a deep breath.

"Have you heard of the app DanDan?"

"Uhh... that dating app thingy?"

"Yes, that's right. You see, I tried it once and found someone who has the same interests as I do. He's so fun to talk to and we share our insights in every book that we read! Isn't that romantic?"

That made Yana remember the times that Ella was so busy fidgeting her phone. Now she knows the reason behind all this.

"So we decided to meet up through this date on Saturday."

"H-hold on! Are you sure this guy can be trusted? You just met him online and now you're going to meet him?"

"Oh Yana, what are you worried about?"

'All of it!' She said to herself.

But of course she can't say that. She has to elaborate things to clear out her point. So she took a deep breath to calm herself down.

"What if it's a scam? What if his true intention is to kidnap you? Or worse, to ra--"

"Alright, alright! I get you. Geez!" Ella sighed on the other line.

"Yana, I can't back out to this date. But if you're really that worried for me, then I guess I'll let you come."

Yana became delighted, "Really? Then--"

"Under one condition..."

"Condition?" She echoed.

"You can only come with me IF you can bring your date too."

"What!? B-but... I don't have a--"

"Yana, I don't want you to become our third-wheel on this date. You don't want that too, right?"

"Ella, I'm so happy for your thoughtfulness but... How on earth will I be able to find a date within a day? I don't even have a boyfriend since birth!"

Ella scoffed, "What are you saying? You have Rae, right?"

"Ha!? Rae's not my---"

"Now it's settled! We have our deal, okay? Don't show up without a date." She giggled.

'When did we ever consider a "deal" as one-sided?' Yana complained inside her head.

"And so, that's what happened." Yana heaved a heavy sigh.

"That's really tough..." Rae said to sympathize with her.

"I know, right? But now you know my reason, please reconsider your answer!"

The lad held his chin, "Hmm.. You're right. But there's something that's quite bothering me..."

"Huh? What is it?"

"Dates should be done with someone you love, am I wrong?"

Yana furrowed her eye brows, "Y-yeah..."

She felt guilty asking him out even they aren't lovers.

"As far as I can recall, boys are the ones who should ask the girls out for a date in this country."

Beads of sweat started to fall from her forehead, "I-it was long long ago... I-it's 21st century now!"

"True. But correct me if I'm wrong, dates should be naturally romantic, not forced, right?"

Yana held her head, "Aaarrghh! I know, I know! I'm not qualified to be your date and I know I'm asking too much as a friend! So stop provoking my guilt!"

Rae chuckled, "But I'm not. What I'm saying is... Despite the things I said earlier, my response would be yes!" He smiled.

"Really?" She glanced at him.

"Yep. We can pretend to be lovers. You asked me to date you not to pretend--"

Yana jumped and hugged him in glee, "Oh thank you Rae!"

The lad was surprised at her sudden action. That made the lass realized just what she did. And with that, she quickly moved away and turned around to hide her red face.

She cleared her throat, "R-really... thanks for helping me out." She mumbled without looking at him.

"No worries. I know you're just worried for Ella."

"D-don't forget! Tomorrow morning... at 8 a.m."

Rae smiled sweetly, "Sure."

And that awaited day sure comes fast like a lightning. Yana, who haven't slept well last night, started doing her morning routines. But this time, instead of wearing uniform, she wears an orange floral dress which was given by her grandmother last year.

"I never thought I'll be able to wear this now." She mumbled while looking at the mirror. Then, she went downstairs, ready to bid her goodbye to her mother.

"Mom, I'm going now."

"Huh? Where are you going dressed like that?"

The lass looked away and blushed bashfully, "I-I... got a date..."

Her mother gasped in surprised, "Oh! My baby girl's a grown up now! Finally, she has a date!" She cries tears of joy.

"Stop it, mom! It's embarrassing!"

Her mother chuckled, "Alright, I'll stop. But you owe me details later, okay?"

"Ugh! Mooom!" She blushed bashfully and left.

Soon as she went out, Rae was already outside the gate waiting for her. He's wearing a green checkered polo with dark jeans.

"Good morning!" He greeted with a sweet smile.

Yana blushed, "G-good morning..." She mumbled and was amazed on how different he looks today.

"You look cute in that dress." He suddenly said and her face became redder than usual.

"T-thank you!" Is all she could say.

Since this is her first date with a guy, she doesn't know how to properly response to a compliment like that. What's more is that it really feels awkward while walking with him. Remembering how she suffered from making the first move of inviting him for a date makes her more and more embarrassed that she wished she would just disappear like a bubble.

Luckily, they've reached the movie house faster than expected.

"Yana, you came!" Ella hugged her the moment she saw her. When she moved away, she pulled the tall guy next to her.

"I want you to meet Josh."

"Josh Blake. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand and Yana shook it.

Appearance wise, he's indeed handsome. But knowing this skeptic lass, that wouldn't be enough to win her favor.

"I'm Yana Valdez. And this is Rae..." She almost blurted a lie that he's her boyfriend.

"Alright! Now we're all here, let's watch a movie. We'll go buy the tickets and you guys buy the food." Ella suggested.

Yana nodded, "Sure."

After that, they went inside the movie house. Yana kept on observing them and noticed that Josh is carrying all of Ella's things. He even waited for her to sit first before he did.

'What a gentleman!' She thought.

The movie is just getting started when they feel the cold breeze of the aircon inside.

"It's chilling cold here!" Ella hugged herself.

"Want to trade seats?" Asked Josh but Ella refused.

"Then..." He removed his jacket and placed it on her shoulders, "Wear this at least."

Ella blushed, "Thanks!"

'Yep, a gentleman indeed!' Yana said to herself as she kept on watching them.

"Oh by the way, what movie are we going to wa--" When Yana glanced at the monitor, a face of a bloody doll suddenly appeared with an eerie sound.

Getting caught off guard, she didn't have the time to scream but remain trembling all through out the movie. That was sure traumatic for her!

"Finally! We're done watching the movie!" Ella said as they went out of the movie house.

'That was horrible! I was so busy observing Josh that I didn't realize they chose a horror movie!' Yana thought as she can't stop her legs from shaking.

"The movie was scary!" Rae suddenly said, "I always flinch from the jump scares." He added and smiled weakly.

Ella chuckled, "You're right. But I never thought you would be the type to get easily scared, Rae."

"Really? Do I look cool and brave?" He chuckled and they all laughed.

'Whew! I'm glad I'm not the only one who got scared!' Yana sighed in relief.

Next stop, they went to a fast food restaurant to eat lunch. Josh volunteered to take their orders.

"I'll come with you." Ella said but Josh shook his head.

"It's fine, you sit here and relax. I know your foot hurts because of your shoes." He said referring to the heels she wore to maintain her composure.

But since she's not so used to it, her foot ended up getting hurt. Ella blushed bashfully which means Josh is right.

'I never thought he noticed that! He's sensitive to Ella. How admirable!' Yana thought.

"I-I'll just go to the restroom." She said and left. Because she got scared too much from the movie, that triggers her need to urinate.

Few minutes have passed, Yana went out of the restroom and saw Josh taking their orders in several trays.

"Need help?" She offered.

Josh smiled, "Thanks."

Then they started walking slowly while carrying those trays.

"You know what, you've got a cool boyfriend." Josh started the conversation.

Yana blushed, "W-what? You mean Rae?"

Josh chuckled, "Who else? He even pretended to be scared earlier for you."

"Rae did?" She blinked few times and remembered what he said earlier.

'That's right! Rae's a vampire. He wouldn't be afraid of that petty horror movies. I'm surprised he noticed that little detail. He's an observer!' The lass pondered.

"I would also do the same for Ella. After all, I want to cherish her." Josh added.

Yana glanced at him, 'He's really serious about her. Then... I should let them be, for my best friend's happiness.' She thought.

When they came back, they started eating. They talked about a lot of things and even joke around. Not for long, the sun is about to set. They went out and was about to go in their separate ways.

"Thanks for today! I enjoyed our double date." Ella smiled and hugged Yana.

"Take care, you two." She said and waved goodbye before walking on opposite directions.

"Are we not going to follow them?" Rae asked after walking several steps away.

Yana shook her head, "Nah, I guess Josh is serious on Ella and he will make her happy." She smiled.

Rae holds his chin, "I suppose you're right but..." He stops from walking.

Yana noticed it and looked at him, "What's wrong?"

His serious expression made her nervous.

"Yana, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I'm finding the right timing to do so but... You need to know something..."

The lass blinked and got confused.

Rae took a deep breath and looked into her eyes, "Josh... is a vampire..."

***

Author's Note:

*The knight, kissing the hand of anyone belonging to the royal family shows loyalty to fulfill their vows even in exchange with their lives. This is familiar in Western countries during Medieval times.