The candy grams came during third period. A red envelope with a heart-shaped sucker taped to the front. Inside was my ticket to the movie and a note from Andre.

I rolled my eyes at the corny line and stuffed the note back into the envelope.

Last year, Romeo sent me a candy gram. It was the deal with our group. Romeo sent mine, and Keraun sent Nia's. Romeo's note just said, " You're buying the popcorn." He actually didn't let me pay for anything and held my purse hostage when I kept trying. We cracked jokes about the movie the whole time, making up our own lines and outlandish predictions. Nia kept shushing us, making us laugh even harder.

Why was I even thinking about that? It was Nia's fault. She put thoughts in my head about Romeo and now I can't shake them. Especially not when he was very obviously avoiding me after I told him about my date with Andre.

In all the years I've known him, I've never once seen Romeo skip lunch to do homework in the library. Yet he'd been in there almost every day that week.

If Nia was right, he had years to say something. I even eliminated the guessing on his end when I asked him to the dance in middle school. He knew how I felt. He knew I was open to us being more, and he shot me down. Now all of a sudden he wants to be all moody because I wasn't waiting around for him anymore?

Well, that was his problem, not mine. That's why, when class let out, I didn't bother waiting for Romeo to come out of the classroom a couple doors down like I usually did. Instead, I passed him by, finding Andre goofing off with some of his friends.

Whatever confidence I had leaving that classroom dried up when I got in front of Andre. Because who was I walking up and interrupting people's conversations? Then Andre smiled at me and knees turned to jelly.

"You're Daya, right?" One of Andre's friends, a Latino who was my height with spiky hair, stepped in front of me. He didn't wait for a reply as he plowed on, "Is it true he was musty when you met him?"

"Oh my God," Andre groaned, running a hand over his face.

Again, I didn't have to answer the guy's question. "And you still agreed to go on a date?" He shook his head at the idea. "Look, if you're looking for a man with respectable hygiene habits," he said, narrowing his eyes at an exasperated looking Andre, "Then forget musty and get with Gusty."

Andre grabbed Gusty by his backpack, pulling him away like a rag doll. "Has that line ever worked on anyone?" His arm easily wrapped around my shoulders. The closeness felt comfortable.

"It was about to," he said, winking at me, but Andre was already leading me out the double doors.

Indy stood at the counter, eating the last of my favorite cereal while my mom talked her ear off about her magic mug that wouldn't let the ice melt. Indy seemed genuinely interested in whatever she was saying.

"That would be perfect for dance practice," Indy was saying when I found them in the kitchen.

Andre had texted that he was on his way and I still hadn't told my mom I was leaving with him. We were just going to school. It shouldn't have been an issue. Yet my stomach felt like it was full of rocks.

"I'm leaving for the movie," I said, wring the strap of my purse in my hands.

My mom did a double take, noticing I was a little more put together than usual. Indy helped with my outfit--a pink ditsy print dress with a pink sweater over it. It was cute and wouldn't be too uncomfortable to sit in the grass in.

"You look nice," my mom said before turning to Indy, who was still in her warm-ups from dance. "You're not going?"

She dumped her empty cereal bowl in the sink. "Sitting in damp grass surrounded by couples groping each other in the dark? Pass."

I shot her a look. Did she have to word it like that? Indy didn't seem worried that my mom's eyes had nearly popped out of her head. She urged me to tell my mom about my date. We went over it while I got changed. And, even though my mom had been very against me dating anyone she hadn't vetted herself, Indy was sure she'd be fine with it.

All I could think about was having to tell Andre I couldn't go because my mom hadn't done a background check on him yet.

"Remember the guy who was here with his sister trying to get their cat from under your car?" She nodded slowly. "He asked me to see the movie with at the school."

There it was. That look. The frown. The head shaking. I was going to have to cancel the date.

"It's Andre Walker," Indy jumped in, sensing the no herself. "He's cool. His mom is Bethany Walker. She owns that hair salon you like going to."

Just like that, my mom's face softened into a smile and I was sitting in Andre's car on the way to school.

The sun had started to set, the sky painted blue and orange and yellow. Movie night was being held on the football field. A huge inflatable screen played a slide show of photos, most likely taken by the yearbook staff.

Andre went to stock up on snacks and drinks before the movie started. I laid out the blanket. Or, I attempted to. The wind made it difficult. Thankfully, Nia appeared out of nowhere to help.

"So..." she said, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "I don't think Rome is coming."

I stopped smoothing down the ends of the blanket, looking up at her. "I thought you were coming together?"

"We were supposed to," she said with a shrug. "But he hasn't responded to any of my texts. I guess he didn't want to see the girl he loves on a date with someone else."

I should've seen that one coming. "Or his phone died and he's running late. Whatever the reason, it has nothing to do with me and Andre."

Even as I said it, for a second, a part of me wondered. Then I quickly shook the thought away. Not my problem.

"I know you think I'm making this up," she started, twirling a braid around her finger. "But you should've seen him at lunch today when you sat with Andre instead of us--"

I stood, crossing my arms. "I don't care."

Nia clamped her mouth shut, flinching at my tone. I immediately felt bad for snapping. "Why not?" She said, almost a whisper.

"Because you're the one standing here right now."

Once the words were out, I realized how true they were. Maybe, maybe, if it was Romeo asking me to give him a chance, I could've overlooked his timing. But he wasn't. I didn't know what Nia saw, but from where I stood, Romeo had made up his mind.

Nia's phone chimed. She held it up, showing a message from Romeo. "Guess you were right. He's looking for parking."

Andre was on his way back. It seemed like everyone he passed had something to say to him. Before Nia walked away, I stopped her. "Leave it alone," I said, borderline begging. "Please?" If Romeo had anything to say to me, he'd say it without Nia having to meddle.

When Andre reached our blanket he dropped his backpack, overflowing with snacks. It was enough to feed a half the people sitting on the field.

"I didn't know what you'd like," he explained when he caught me gawking.

Once the sun had completely disappeared, Christine, the blond I saw Andre talking to the other day, stood in front of the screen with a microphone. Andre glanced at me, a smirk on his face. My face burned. Was I ever going to live that down?

After she thanked everyone for coming and reminded them to keep their hands to themselves. The movie started and she scurried out of the way.

Andre had his backpack in his lap, pulling out chips and candy and sodas, each in about four different flavors and varieties. I took a Sprite and bag of Cool Ranch Dorito's and he nodded his approval before picking up a pack of sour gummy worms.

Once he stuffed everything back into his bag, he sat it aside, he moved to close the space between. His shoulder bumped mine, sending my stomach into a frenzy.

Before I left for the movie, Indy told me not overthink, to enjoy my first date with a really attractive guy. So I didn't hesitate to curl into his side.

Then I realized what movie we were watching. It wasn't To All the Boys I've Loved Before, like Nia had guessed. No. It was Kazaam. I'd watched the movie so many times with Romeo that I knew the words to the opening song by heart.

But why was it playing? It wasn't even a romance movie.

Maybe Romeo had something to do with it...

"Suprised?"

"Huh?" I said, turning to Andre.

"The movie," he said, nodding at the screen. He was grinning his perfect grin. Romeo had nothing to do with the movie. Why'd that disappoint me so much? "That day you saw me with Christine, I was talking her into playing this."

All I could do was stare. It was a nice gesture, sure. But the movie belonged to me and Romeo. It felt weird watching it with all these people and not on Romeo's couch. "Why?"

"After I saw that drawing you did of Shaq, I got curious," he said. "I figured it was one of your favorites and that's why you were drawing fan art. Was I wrong?" He frowned, doubting himself.

"No. I like it," I quickly said. "But I don't know how people will feel about you hijacking the movie. It's not even a romance."

His smile was back. "Trust me, this is better than that Netflix movie everyone already seen," he said, face scrunched as he tried to remember the title, "To The Boy's I Loved or something."

So Nia was right. She was gonna be mad I ruined her streak. I scanned the field until I found Nia's bright yellow blanket that practically glowed. Only she was sitting alone.

After the movie, Andre and I stopped at the café for cupcakes--vanilla with pink frosting and heart sprinkles. Apparently, he needed even more sugar in his system after tearing through two bags of gummy worms.

Romeo never made it to the movie. I felt bad that Nia was watching alone until two of her teammates from basketball joined her. She was clearly the third wheel on their date, but at least she wasn't alone.

Now, I sat in Andre's car, parked outside my house, eating a Valentine's day cupcake. The lights were still on, which meant my mom was waiting up. To delay getting the third degree, I savored every bit of my cupcake.

"Christine looked mad."

Andre laughed around a mouth full of frosting. "You noticed that too? She said I ruined the last movie night she'll get to put on."

"Kazaam is an acquired taste," I said, reaching over to wipe frosting off his cheek. I immediately pulled my hand back. "Sorry."

As much as I tried not to, I enjoyed watching the movie with Andre. He didn't seem to hate it like other people who got bored and pulled their phones out halfway through. It was easy to take Indy's advice and to just go with it.

I was enjoying myself too much to freak out about how comfortable I was around him. But now, sitting in the car wiping frosting off his face, I felt self-conscious.

"It's cool." He gave a bashful smile. "You had fun tonight, right?"

"Of course," I said, turning so I was facing him and tucking my legs beneath me. "Having a guy hijack a movie night for me is a once in a lifetime experience."

"Not with me," he said. "I'll hijack anything you want. Just say the word."

I hadn't known him for long, but I believed him. Before I thought too much about it, I leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Thank you," I told him, before leaving the car.