ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ˚. ୭ ˚○◦˚.˚◦○˚ ୧ .˚ₓ

the drive back home was pretty quiet, other than niki and wilbur's occasional snickers. i try my best to ignore them as tommy holds my hand. i feel a grin spread across my face. i don't even bother to hide it.

once we arrive home, tommy and i consult about when we should tell everyone about us, and we agree on doing it after dinner.

turns out, that'd be a lot harder than we realized.

"GUESS WHAT I GOT?" alex shouts, meeting all of us in the living room.

"not an inside voice," nick says. i laugh.

"you suck. anyway, NO. didn't get that, but i did get tickets to go ROLLER SKATING TONIGHT BABY!" niki lets out an "ooh" while george groans.

"what's wrong, george? can't skate?" clay asks with a laugh.

"yes i can, shut up," george replies.

"don't worry, clay will help keep you on your feet," karl says.

"i said shut up." george covers his face with his hands.

"how long are we staying there?" tommy asks.

"it closes at midnight," alex says. "AND WE'RE STAYING UNTIL MIDNIGHT!" alex jumps up and down and cheers.

"that might make things difficult," tommy whispers in my ear. i nod grimly.

"it's fine. we'll figure it out," i whisper back.

i decide to change for roller skating, since i didn't think my dress was exactly fit for the occasion. after a few minutes of rummaging through clothes i put this together:

over the next hour, almost everyone changes into comfier clothes. including tommy, who's now wearing a dark blue hoodie and black converse with his black jeans.

"looking sharp," he tells me.

"as do you," i reply. we both quietly laugh.

"stop flirting in main!" toby shouts at us. our faces turn beet red as we both turn towards him.

"whatever," i say as i go to sit on the couch. tommy follows shortly after.

once it's time to go, we all pile into the van and drive over. when we get there, it's about 4. there's a roller skating rink, arcade, and small food court. plenty to keep us entertained for a while.

"i wonder if they have any vlog guns," tommy says to wilbur.

"NO. no. absolutely not," wilbur responds. tommy rolls his eyes.

"we'll see. i AM the dirty crime boy after all."

"i thought that was me?"

"i'm dethroning you, bitch."

"yeah right, child."

we all rent roller skates and i begin to lace mine up when tommy skates over next to me.

"there's an arcade," he says.

"i noticed," i say with a laugh.

"there are prizes."

"don't you dare tell me-"

"MORE VLOG GUNS!" i face palm as tommy enthusiastically cheers and laughs.

"we're gonna have so many vlog guns. also, why did you do that? you just embarrassed yourself," i laugh.

"it was funny though."

"never said that."

"you're laughing." i click my tongue.

"i guess you're alright." i stand up and make my way into the rink, not even waiting for him. tommy quickly skates into the rink after me and we skate next to each other.

"that was rude," he says.

"it was funny though!" i mimic his exact words from earlier and even whip out a fake british accent. tommy groans.

neither of us are bad at skating, but we're not necessarily good either. we don't need the wall to skate (unlike george) but we don't look like professionals. just average, i guess.

"let's go get a walker thing for googie," tommy says. my eyes widen.

"do you actually want to..." i mutter. tommy looks at me with wide eyes and nods. we skate around the rink and exit, earning a confused glance from clay, who is desperately trying to keep george on his feet.

we rent one of the skating trainers (i guess they were called skate mates) and roll back into the rink. tommy and i hold both ends of it as we skate through the rink, approaching george.

"neither of you can skate? you NIMRODS!" karl shouts at us from across the rink. tommy and i both laugh.

"it's not for us," tommy says as we approach george.

"no," george says, gripping onto clay's t-shirt to stay on his feet. "not happening."

"you kinda need it, george," clay says.

"i'd rather fall."

karl, alex, and nick skate next to us.

"aww, that's so sweet!" nick says. "they got you a walker, old man!"

"yeah. i'm not wilbur. i don't need it."

"you sorta need it, bud," alex says. "you're kinda... how do i put this nicely... you're not even standing up. you're relying on clay. you're horrible at this."

"you're not great either," george shoots back.

"at least i can stand and i'm not like-" alex dramatically throws himself onto karl and pretends to struggle. karl and alex laugh.

"TRUE!" karl shouts.

"at least do it for the picture, googie," i say.

"FOR THE PICTURE!" tommy shouts. george sighs and grips the skate mate.

"this is the most embarrassing thing i've ever done in my life," george says. everyone laughs, including wilbur, niki, and toby who have also skated over.

"look at googie and his skate mate!" wilbur calls out.

"can you NOT?" george says.

"this is actually really embarrassing for you, george," toby says.

"thanks, toby." george nods briskly.

everyone snaps a few pictures of george with his skate mate, then we proceed to carry on with our own routines.

"can we get some water?" tommy asks after about five minutes.

"if we HAVE to..." i say giggling.

"fine, i'll go by myself." tommy starts to leave the rink and i grab the sleeve of his hoodie.

"no, i'm coming," i say. tommy chuckles.

"clingy, are we?" tommy asks confidently. i scoff.

"no. i just need water all of a sudden." tommy smiles and rolls his eyes.

"whatever you say."