sorry it's been so long guysss

LLAASSTT TTIIMMEE:

Connor FINALLY asked Rachel out.

THHISSSS TIIIMMMEE:

Connor and Rachel go on their date!! <3

~~~~~~~~

(Rachel's POV)

I'm having a panic attack.

Okay, maybe it's not that  extreme. I'm just freaking out. Connor finally grew some balls and asked me out! And I was so excited. But now I don't know what to do, at all!

I looked up a "getting-ready-for-a-date" Broadway playlist, because I'm that extra, but it was mostly...how do I put this...All That Jazz  -y. If you catch my drift.

I face-planted into my bed and screamed into a throw pillow. We're gonna eat at Katie's work, Café de Roses, and then run around the mall. I don't think Connor knows it's Katie's work, now that I think about it. He wouldn't bring me to his brother's crush's work for our date.

And everyone in drama club will find out soon enough. We're big  gossips. I bet all those kids clapping told everyone that Ram asked out Heather McNamara, which is actually accurate to the story. But anyway, it's gonna be weird.

Oh jeez, and when we do the play? If we're dating at that point, we have to have many implied "mish-mush" scenes, and a scene where I leave Piper for goners by him. How wonderful. All the gossip for Drew.

I finally decided on a salmon pink tee with white stripes and short, distressed, washed out denim shorts. I grabbed a pair of Vans (which, by the way, don't always land upwards. That's a dumb story) and sat at my mirror. What to do with my hair? Should I leave it? Should I braid it?

I decided on pigtails, like when he asked me out. I grabbed a pair of round fashion glasses and put them next to my makeup. Oh, jeez, makeup! What am I going to do about that? I can figure something out, can't I? It's only makeup. I do makeup everyday. I took a deep breath and started.

I managed, even though I messed up my eyeliner about twenty times. I pretended it looked fine, even though if you looked really closely, you could tell it was uneven. I put on the glasses, and hat's when I heard Connor's car honking outside.

My hands scrambled to open the window, where I signaled as much as I could for Connor to stop honking. Dad couldn't know. He's way  too overprotective. I looked down, making sure my dad didn't come outside, and he didn't. Checking behind me, I sighed, and grabbed a small purse.

Now, ever since I was thirteen, there's been a vertical row of shingles under my window that I broke specifically for sneaking out. Since my room is facing the left wall of the house and not the front, my dad's never noticed.

I climbed out the window and down the broken shingles, Connor looking at me skeptically. I hopped in the door, and laughed at Connor's face. "What was that?" he asked.

"I just...don't want my dad knowing I'm on a date," I said, blushing at the word "date".

"Why not?" Connor crinkled his nose, and started to drive. He's one of the oldest people in the friend group, already having his driver's license. "Won't your dad notice you aren't home?"

"If he asks, I'll just use an excuse from the List of Excuses. Katie, Piper, Calypso, Will, Frank, and I made it in middle school," I shrugged.

"Seriously? I want in," Connor quipped. I laughed.

After a quick car drive, we made it to the mall and Café de Roses. Oh no, it just sounds  romantic. Katie will freak.

Café de Roses was right in between fancy and Starbucks. It was nice enough to the point where it had stone walling and round tables with detailed legs, but you could dress casually, no problem. Except for the waitresses. They all wore a tight grey shirt and a black skirt with reddish pink roses decorating it.

Once we sat down, we kind of awkwardly sat for a good five minutes. I was praying Katie wasn't our waitress. Please no, please no!  I mean, this is a date with my soulmate. And yes, I did find out for a fact. I can't have my best friend making it awkward. Well, more awkward then it already is.

But of course, my wishes were ignored.

"Hi! Welcome to Café de Roses, I'm Katie, and I'll be-" Katie's eyes bugged out at me. "Rachel? What are you...Conn-" she gasped. Katie turned to me with her wide eyes and I rolled my own eyes. Continue on, I mouthed to her.

"Um. Hey, Rachel. Connor," she nodded to us. "What do you guys want to drink?"

"Uh, a coke," Connor shrugged. Katie turned to me again. Are you kidding me? Him?  she mouthed. I blushed and shrugged.

"Strawberry Lemonade," I spoke up.

Katie rolled her eyes. "It's Rose Lemonade here."

"You know what I mean."

Katie sighed and flipped her notebook closed. "I'll be back," she huffed.

While Katie walked to the kitchen, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Connor seemed almost stunned now that we were in private. "So," he muttered. "Katie works here."

"Oh." I blew raspberry. "Yeah. I, uh, thought you knew. Sorry. We can leave, if you want."

"No!" Connor protested, and I jumped back. He sighed. "No, no, it's okay."

Katie eventually brought us our drinks, and we ordered after. I wasn't so hungry, so I ordered Raspberry-Spinach Salad (which is actually amazing irl) and Connor ordered a literal mountain  of pasta. Katie later gave us the check and gave me a wink, and Connor and I started our walk around the mall.

"Rachel," Connor fidgeted with his hands. "I just wanted to say-"

"Connor!" My vision tunneled. Right down the hallway, was none other than Connor's brother. Travis. Freaking. Stoll.

"Connor-"

"Rachel, let's go!" Connor grabbed my hand and led me down a different hallway. The rush of the chase made me start to crack up, and I giggled the whole way. 

But maybe it was the rush of Connor holding my hand. I mean, he never did that before. Maybe for drama club or maybe to help me up after I fell, but never genuinely. My face started to heat up, but looking back, maybe it wasn't because I was running.

Eventually, Connor started laughing, too. If we ran into Travis...Lord. What would he say? Especially since we're holding hands now.

"There!" I pointed to a row of photo booths, one of which was stuck in a weirdly shaped corner where nobody was. A big fat "OUT OF ORDER! " sign hung on the door. "Go in there!" I ordered Connor.

I turned around and Connor stopped. I dug into my purse and grabbed my iconic blue plastic hairbrush. Travis came down the hall, and I got ready to throw, but another figure stepped in the way right as I let go.

"Ow!" Connor yelped, cupping his hands over his right eye. He cursed repeatedly. "What was that for, Rach?"

"It doesn't matter!" I laughed, grabbing the hairbrush from the floor. "Let's go!" I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the photo booth.

We hopped in and I closed the door. We laughed the rush off of our shoulders, which I tried to quiet, because I didn't want anyone knowing. We could get in trouble for being in here.

"I can't believe you hit me in the eye with a freaking blue plastic hairbrush." Connor scowled at me, and I only laughed back. He sighed and looked around the machine.

"What if we tried to take pictures in here? What would happen?" Connor asked. He dug his hand into his sweatshirt pocket and took out a two dollar bill and entered it into the machine. It asked us to pose, like it normally would.

We casually smiled, and the first picture was taken. "Huh," I commented. "It's asking for another pose. Silly face?"

Connor crossed his eyes and gave me bunny ears. I laughed before anything could happen and another picture flashed. I dragged out my mouth and I didn't notice that Connor wasn't doing much, only a peace sign. After the camera flash, we had another fifteen seconds. "What should we do?"

He didn't answer, and I turned. I suddenly felt an urge to kiss him, and I mean a strong urge. At the same time, we grabbed each other's jawline and kissed.

I hadn't kissed anyone since Percy in the third grade (we're not going to remind him or tell Annabeth, or I will  throw my hairbrush at you, too). I didn't expect the spark in my brain, I didn't expect the flash of the camera, and I certainly forgot to expect the flashing of our soulmate tattoos.