GREAT! A DATE

Pushing herself off the wall, Lily noticed her best friend walking towards her.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry. Hello to you too." Jean started.

"Sorry for what?"

Hesitatingly, Jean, gorgeous red hair and womanly curves, replied, "You see... I told Milo to come over tonight and spend some time with us. With you, actually. I thought that the two of you should get to know each other more, dance a bit, and stuff like that. Maybe a little bit of flirting into the mix. You and him. You know. An item."

Great! A date. Lily could only roll her eyes at the thought.

The redhead beauty was only being a concerned friend to Lily—one of the many things Lily was thankful for. She did appreciate the fact that she could always count on her best friend of three years.

Lily had only one wish—her love life to be off-limits from the clutches of her best friend.

The problem was that her self-professed best confidant refused to heed the memo. Introducing Lily to boys was one of Jean's favorite hobbies.

"So you playing matchmaker again, huh? And why Milo of all people?"

"Why not?! Lil, come on. You don't have a date tonight, so I invited him. Whew! I didn't have to convince him, all right. He's actually game! Can you believe that? Who would have thought? We are talking about Milo here."

Lily found herself still not convinced. "Aha. And I cannot roll my eyes at you enough. Nice try."

Jean Marie Appleton—long, wavy red hair and pretty hazel eyes—could be the most annoying person ever. She was pretty and bubbly. She knew how to use both to her advantage.

"It'll be fun and interesting." She winked at Lily.

Lily, the not-so-pretty one and the school's Stiff between the two of them, shook her head. "I don't think so. Thank you but nope."

Jean argued, "You need a boyfriend. You're too stiff."

"Right. That's obvious."

Both of them were standing in one corner. The crowd was clueless to them. Lily could tell what little relevance she brought to the party. She only worked up the courage to come and wasn't exactly hopeful to become the life of the party.

At least, Jean was talking to Lily. The former would always, always, look for the latter at parties. Jean kept Lily stay afloat in a sea of strangers.

In the crowd, Lily was plain and ignored. Not much was going on with her anyway. She was not a cheerleader like Missy Finnegan who all the males lined up to talk to. Or a promising ballerina, like Rachel Lane who thought she owned the entire dance room. Or like Miss Fram Hill, Amanda Norris, whose gigantic ego could still fit into a size 2 dress.

"Jean, I appreciate you. You know that. I know that you have my best interests at heart. But a date with Milo?"

The redhead nodded. "Yes. With none other than the Milo Pearson."

"Seriously? Me and Milo. Must I remind you that I am boring? As hell?"

She hugged her best friend. "Wouldn't it be fun?"

"Yay!" Lily was anything but excited.

Jean got her sarcasm. They were best friends after all. "I know, right? Spending time with Milo. The school's Science guy. It's not as bad as spending time with our Physics teachers, you know."

Rolling her eyes at Jean, playfully this time, Lily replied, "Sure, and your hair is sugar candy pink and ugly. Get me another beer if you have this much time making fun of me, would you?"

Lily lightly pushed Jean away towards the beer table.

"You're just jealous of my hair. Admit it, girl. But seriously now, Lil. Milo is a nice guy. He's probably the only nerd I can tolerate talking about Stephen Hawking with. After hanging out with him for quite some time, I can tell you he's not totally weird. And, the coke-bottle glasses are adorable. He's a cinnamon roll. He's so cute. Literally."

Lily knew Milo was a good person, but she was firm that there would be no date for her tonight. Nothing ever worked with all of Jean's matchmaking dates before anyway. "I know Milo is great and interesting, I think, but it's still a thank you but no."

With a sigh, Jean replied, "Are you sure?

Lily nodded with a smile.

"Okay—" Jean stopped because something caught her eyes. "Oh! Oh! Come with me. He's here!"

"Who?"

***