Although this whole fight thing has been overplayed, I'll admit, it is pretty entertaining. I even have a fan club and there's a petition for me to have a rematch with Kenzie. It's kind of funny. Or at least I tell myself that.

I'm trying to romanticize my own life instead of being so negative. There's nothing wrong with trying to be a nice, social person. And like Mrs. Bernstein said, I deserve some romance.

It's like he can read my mind. When I enter physics, Theo is there with a lanky smile, drumming on the table. "What are you doing Friday night?" he asks.

"Friday night?" I say. "I think I'm free, why?"

"How about we go on our first official date?" he asks. "I think Hawkeye is playing in theatres right now and then we can grab dinner?"

Wow, look at me. Being social and going on dates.

"That sounds fun," I say warmly. I see a twinkle in his brown eyes as he smiles that I've never quite noticed before.

"It's a date."

---

"Nico!" I shout the second I get home. "Nico! I-" I open the door to my room and stop in my tracks because he's standing there clad in only a towel hanging loosely around his waist. His damp hair hangs over his eyes and he looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"You're back early," he says nonchalantly despite being basically naked in front of me.

My mind searches for words. When I speak, my own voice sounds weird. "Uh, yeah. Social justice-"

"Justice league."

"Ended early," I finish. I force myself to keep my eyes trained on his face but the image of the muscles on his chest are ingrained into my mind. Those years of soccer have done him well.

"Can I change?" he asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah." I go to close the door but he stops it.

"Jennie," he says, his body moving closer to mine. "You're blushing," he teases.

"No, I'm not," I say immediately. Yes, I am. I can feel it.

"Feel free to take a look," he says, failing to suppress his smile.

I narrow my eyes. "Put some clothes on. I have news." I close the door between us.

"So that's what you're shouting about. Killing my ears."

I roll my eyes. "Ha ha. I would slap you right now if I wasn't in a good mood."

"So this is good news," he notes from the other side of the door.

"Theo and I have an official date," I say as he swings open the door, sending a wave of my coconut shampoo fragrance towards me.

I look at him expectantly, waiting for some kind of reaction, but his face is expressionless.

"What? No snarky comment about how you're a genius? I thought this was the plan. Dating a new guy," I say, my ego starting to deflate.

He surveys me. "We didn't discuss you asking him out," he says finally.

"That's the best part. I didn't have to. He asked me."

He dries his hair roughly with the towel before tossing it aside. "That's cool," he says. "What are you guys doing?"

"Movie.".

"A movie? What a shitty first date. Well, I guess if you sit in the back, you can get some action," he says.

My face wrinkles. "Do you have to be such a perv about everything?"

He shrugs, face blank. "I'm just being honest. I'm sure it's what your little boyfriend is thinking too."

I pick up his towel and hang it to dry. "You're acting like this because you haven't had a date in weeks, aren't you?" I joke.

He raises his brows. "Uh Huh." He sucks in his cheeks. "So what movie, what time?"

I rack my brain. "Hawkeye at 6."

He nods thoughtfully. "Well, since I haven't had a date in weeks, maybe I'll join you."

This grabs my attention. "What?"

"Yeah, I think I heard Tiffany Wilson talk about that movie," he continues. "See you tomorrow on our date," he says with a wink, lifting my chin before he leaves.

---

He wouldn't. He wouldn't dare. He wouldn't crash my date. I swear if he-

"Excited for the movie?" Theo asks, taking his eyes off of the road for a second to look at me.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. It seems interesting." Honestly, I have no idea what the movie is even about.

"I'm glad you agreed to come out tonight. I can't believe I'm having a date with the most popular girl in school," he jokes, shooting me a sparkling smile.

"I'm definitely not popular," I say.

"Since the fight you're all any guy's talked about. I wonder why I never noticed you before," he says.

I think that was supposed to be a compliment? Oh geez. This is not going well.

"Can I turn on the radio?" I ask, not waiting for his reply to turn it on. Thankful for the music, I rest my head on the seat and look out the window until we arrive.

---

When we arrive at the theatre, I'm feeling more at ease. I don't see Nico anywhere, thank goodness, and it's made my heart rate return to normal.

"Ready?" Theo asks, placing a hand around my waist. My whole body kind of stiffens at the physical contact but I tell myself to relax.

We start to walk to the theatre room, when I hear, "Theo!"

No.

I turn around and, sure enough, Tiffany Wilson is there waving at Theo with her arm tucked into Nico's as his hands remain in his pockets.

"'Sup Tiff," Theo says. "Hey Accardi." Nico replies with a head nod.

"This is Jennie," Theo introduces me.

Nico looks me up and down. "Nice to meet you, Jennie," he drawls.

Is he serious right now?

"Hi," I respond shortly. Thankfully, Theo and Tiffany are too busy discussing something to notice my anger.

As we walk, I take the opportunity to interrogate Nico. "You look nice," he says almost bitterly.

I try to ignore that. "Why are you here?"

"Thought I'd help you out. Get a double date situation going so it's more casual."

"This isn't funny," I snap.

"Isn't it?" he says. He turns his attention to Theo. "Hey, while we're all here, why don't we sit together?"

If looks could kill.

"Sure, that's cool," Theo says as he takes a seat.

Nico gives me a smile as I walk over to my seat. "Hey, can we switch? I wanna be closer to the edge," I say to Theo.

"Huh? I mean, sure," he says.

Three seats between me and Nico is enough, right? Forcing my focus on the screen, I watch a couple trailers intensely until I can practically feel a burning gaze on me.

I look to my right and Nico is staring straight at me. Just ignore him, I tell myself.

"I wanna watch that," I whisper to Theo about the trailer on the screen. I wasn't even paying attention to what it was. Oh ugh. It's some overdone action movie about being lost at sea.

"Oh, yeah. That looks dope," Theo says. "We can watch it together." With a smile, I nod as the movie begins.

A few scenes in, I start to hear giggling. I peek over and Tiffany is all over Nico, giggling and whispering in his ear but he's busy watching the screen. He glances over for a second, catching my eyes, and I immediately look away.

Pretty soon, they're both whispering and feeding each other popcorn and shit. The urge to gag fills me.

Theo's arm starts to wrap around my chair and I'm so shocked that I drop my candy on the floor. "Shit," I mutter under my breath and lean over to pick it up.

When I look up, I see Nico pull Tiffany into a full-on lip lock. His eyes watch me intently, smugly.

I feel sick.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," I say, getting up abruptly.

"Huh? Oh. Ok," Theo says, focused on the screen.

I trail outside and make my way into the bathroom, splashing my face with cold water.

Why would he do this? Why crash my date? And what's with all that PDA? I don't want to see that. Nobody does.

Closing my eyes, I start to walk back outside.

"Are you feeling okay?" Nico's standing outside of the bathroom, looking genuinely concerned.

What a joke.

"Am I okay? Are you serious? I'm on a date." I say.

"Oh, please. You don't even like that guy."

"And what's with all your cuddling? We're in a public place."

"Why do you care?" he challenges.

"I just don't get it, Nico. You know that I'm trying to be social and you're here to what? Make fun of me?" I ask.

His face falls. "It's not like that," he says seriously.

"Then what is it? Did I make you mad and this is your sick payback?"

"No!" he says. "I'm sorry; you're right. I shouldn't have come."

"No, seriously. Why are you here?"

I wait for his response as he clenches his jaw. There's an answer, I can tell, but he won't say it.

"I'm sorry, Jennie. I don't know what I was thinking."

I shake my head. "I don't get it. I thought we were friends," I say.

He tenses for a second before nodding. "Yeah. We are friends. I really am sorry, Jennie."

"Whatever," I say. I don't look at him as I walk back to the theatre. Nico doesn't come back in.

When the movie's over, I tell Theo that I can't go to dinner. I really can't. We agree to grab lunch another day.

We walk to his car together and at the door, I see Nico standing there. His eyes land on us for a second and I see him pause before he looks away.

It's not until I get into the car that I see his text. Sent 40 minutes ago.

Nico: I'm sorry, Jennie. Please just let me drive you home and I'll explain everything.

My grip on my phone loosens until it almost drops. "You good?" Theo asks.

No. I'm not good, but I can't say that. "Yeah," I say. "I'm fine."

A/N: HAPPY FRIDAY! idk why my chapter lengths r all so different but um yeah. thanks for reading and make sure to vote if u enjoyed this chapter hehe. love u all :)