A few days after I hung out with Kai and his friends, I met Dean outside the school side doors. He was leaning against the school building with his arms crossed. When he saw me come out, he pushed away from the building and walked towards me.

"Hey, Tamsin," he greeted.

I looked up from the book I was reading. He smiled and waved his hands. One of his backpack straps slung over his broad shoulders. The plain white t-shirt he had on was stretched tight on his upper body. His ripped light blue jeans hung low on his waist exposing a hint of well-defined abs. His light colored hair was soft and carried in the light breeze this afternoon.

I haven't seen him in a while. He looked good today.

On the other hand, I had my hair up in a ponytail and had no makeup on. I chose an old white t-shirt that I wore so many times that it was no longer the color white but a shabby white color. I had on black leggings and wore white casual shoes.

"Hey, Dean. What are you doing out here?"

"I was waiting on you." He looked shy when he scratched the back of his neck and shoved one hand into his jean pocket.

"How did you know I'll come out at this entrance?"

Dean chuckled nervously. "Would it sound creepy if I told you I've noticed it?"

Dean? Noticing me? It feels like I got pulled out of reality and put into a dream of mine. I never thought he would notice me in this lifetime. In this reality, Dean and I were different people in different worlds. He was the perfect kind of student. Every girl wanted to be his girlfriend—for him to notice them.

What was so different about me that caught Dean's attention?

I didn't want to get ahead of myself. I figured it might be due to the fact that we talked to each other several times before. It would make us acquaintances. Now that he waited for me outside, could we be considered as friends?

"No, not at all," I responded.

Dean took another step forward, "In that case, do you have time right now? I want to take you out to an awesome ice cream shop nearby. It is just a short walk."

I didn't have any plans this afternoon. I was just going to head home, finish my homework, eat, and then go to bed. Besides, to be asked by Dean was a rare occasion.

"Sure."

"Great!" Dean reached out and slipped his hand into mine. I looked down at where our hands were connected. He pulled out ahead and I followed him.

As we started walking away from the school, Dean turned his head to glance behind me. His hair shimmered beneath the sun.

"I want to apologize for the other night. I didn't think Ava would do that. There is nothing between Ava and I now. She broke up with me a few months ago. What we had is long gone."

"A few months ago? By the way she acts, it feels like she still has a lot of feelings towards you."

Dean sighed and shoved fingers through his hair to push the hair falling over his forehead back. Staring into the distance ahead, he remained silent for a moment. At that moment, I saw something else. He looked exhausted like the weight of being perfect on his shoulders was too much.

"How did you two..." I stopped myself. It wasn't my business. I shouldn't have asked. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

He glanced my way.

"No, it's ok. It's good to talk about these things. Besides, I have no one to talk to." We stopped at the corner. He glanced both ways before leading me across the street. There were a few cars running about. A jogger running on the opposite end of the street.

When we made it across the street, he continued, "Ava and I dated because it made sense to everyone. She was the school cheerleader. I was the school quarterback. We both were popular. She and I had good grades. We both had similar life goals."

What he said made sense. I was one of those people. They were perfect together.

"But what looks like it would fit together, might not fit together. Because of our demanding lives, we grew petty and angry with each other. Whenever we were upset, we would take it out on each other. Neither knew how to comfort the other. She expected me to be something I wasn't and I wanted her to be something she wasn't. What we were doing...it wasn't..." he stopped to find the word.

I looked at him and could see the stress on his face.

"It wasn't healthy," I responded.

Dean turned to look at me before nodding his head. He tugged on my hand so I would walk alongside him. Our shoulders rubbed against each other.

"It seems weird, but talking with you...I could be myself. I felt that I wasn't being weighed by how great I am, but the person I am."

"That's not true," I said honestly.

We went down another block before he turned the corner. We were nearing the busier streets that had several shops and stores on.

I was embarrassed to tell him this, but I did look at him as someone great.

"You're perfect in everything you do. For mortals like us, you are a deity in the school. Untouchable."

One corner of Dean's lips lifted at the comparison. He gave me a side glance.

"Untouchable, huh?" He lifted where our hands were connected. I looked at it and still can't believe it.

"You know what I mean," I said.

"I'm no deity, Tamsin. I'm a normal guy who wants to live a normal life. I lived my entire four years of high school with the constant reminder that I'm going to be something big. That I needed to prove I'm the best out of everyone."

We stopped in front of the small ice cream shop. When it was our turn, we walked up to the order window. The staff leaned out and I saw that it was Benny. He looked at me and then at Dean before his eyes dropped to our connected hands.

A second later, he looked back to his order pad. He pretended not to care, but I could see the irritated look on his face. I don't know why, but I felt like I did something really wrong. Like I just got caught like a criminal.

"What's your order?"

"I tried their sundaes before. It's pretty good. Did you want to try?"

"I-it might be too much. I might not finish," I said quietly.

"We can share."

Benny snorted. Dean didn't seem to notice, but I did. I glanced at Benny from beneath my eyelashes.

"No, that's ok. I'll just have a vanilla ice cream cone."

"Do you want any toppings?" Benny asked.

"What do you have as toppings?"

"Look at the menu in front of you." Benny didn't bother telling me. I glanced at the menu that was plastered onto their window and noticed a small section of topping at the bottom.

"Just chocolate syrup," I mumbled.

Benny scribbled on the order pad. Without looking up he asked Dean what he wanted.

"I'll have the same."

"That'll be 3.25." Dean handed him the cash. Benny handed back the cash and we moved to the other window.

I watched Benny continue taking the orders behind us. Not once did he glance our way. I felt awkward in this situation. I don't know why. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest.

After we had our ice cream, Dean suggested that we walk to the nearby park to eat. When we reached the park, we sat down on a bench beneath some trees. My eyes wandered into a distance while I worked through my feelings.

My thoughts stopped when Dean lightly nudged my shoulder with his shoulder.

"What's on your mind?"

"Nothing." I shook my head and took a bite from the top of the ice cream. The ice cream was good. It was soft and creamy. Not too hard and not too sweet. It did make me feel a little better.

"You look a little off after the ice cream shop."

I sighed and decided to push that feeling to the back of my mind. It wasn't worth thinking about it. Dean asked me out for ice cream, I should at least enjoy the time with him.

"It's nothing, really. The ice cream is really good." I took another bite of the ice cream.

Dean grinned before taking a bite out of his own. He looked like a little child eating that ice cream and that was a hard image to picture. Especially because he was such a big, tall guy.

Smiling, I turned my gaze to the loud activity in front of me. A family gathered around the playground. There were a pair of siblings running around and climbing the jungle gym.

"Do you have any siblings?" Dean asked me. He must have noticed me looking.

I shook my head. "My parents only have me. Kind of like you."

"How do you know?" he turned to look at me in surprise.

"It's hard not to know about you. You're a popular guy. A lot of people talk and I hear a lot of things."

"I'm not sure if that is necessarily a good thing, but I want to tell you that I am not special. I'm just like every kid in school. I work my ass off to get into a good college."

I looked him over and thought he might not like that I keep mentioning he was popular. He kept reminding me he was just like us.

I bit into my ice cream again. When I leaned back, I heard Dean chuckle out loud. I turned my head to look at him questionably. With his free hand he pinched my chin before using his other occupied hand to brush the corner of my lips. When he showed me what was on his thumb, I immediately wiped my lips with the back of my hand.

"Sorry. I didn't even realize." That was embarrassing.

Dean laughed and leaned closer to me. Our faces were a few inches from each other. "It's completely fine. I think you're cute."

I blushed at his compliment. Beneath Dean's gaze, I felt comfortable and a little giggly. He might have wiped away at my mouth but I noticed little chocolate syrup stains on his lips too. My smile widened even more and I have to agree with his earlier statement.

"You're right. You're very normal, Dean." I lifted my cone and tapped it on his cheek.

His eyes widened at the sudden coldness that hit his left cheek. Laughing, I got up quickly and ran away from him.

"Hey, come back here." Dean chased me.

I ran around a tree and then back to the bench where we were sitting. We chased each other around it several times before he caught me in his arms. Lifting up his ice cream, he rubbed it on my face too. It was really cold and I felt it all over my face and neck. I retaliated shortly after.

When we were done, both of us were dripping with cream on our face. Huge smiles were on our faces. He broke out into a laugh when he saw the damage he had done on me. I tried to wipe it with my hands but it only got dirtier. I got to say that he has a perfect smile with perfect teeth. The guy must have had braces as a kid. He looked like a model out of a magazine.

"We need to wash up." I walked back to the bench and slipped my arm through my backpack. Dean picked up his backpack.

"I think there is a public bathroom nearby."

We walked in the direction of the playground. People stopped to stare at us as we passed them and each time Dean and I fought back a smile.

"You're horrible," I said with a smile.

"You started it first."

"True. It is only right that you did it in return."

We found the public bathroom behind the playground. I walked into the girl's bathroom while Dean entered the boy's bathroom. Insides, I began cleaning myself up. After I finished cleaning, I took out my phone and glanced at the screen. We have been together for an hour now.

I stepped out of the bathroom to find Dean already waiting for me. When he saw me, he walked over to me.

"I should head home," I said. Then I thought about why I needed to be home, but for some reason, I felt I needed to go home.

"I'll walk you home if that's okay."

I nodded my head and we headed out of the park and towards my home. It wasn't too far from the park too which was nice.

When we made it to my home, we stopped at the front door. I turned to look at Dean.

"Thank you for walking me home."

"No problem. Thank you for coming out with me for ice cream."

I nodded my head and waited. For a minute, it was pure silence before I spoke up.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow at school. Walk home safe, Dean."

I turned to head inside, but was stopped when his firm hand wrapped around my wrist. He pulled me back to stand in front of him.

"I..."

My heart raced when I saw how nervous he was. What was he going to say?

"I had a great time, Tamsin. Thank you again."

I exhaled—in relief or in disappointment?

"No problem. Let me know if you ever need someone to talk to. I'll be here."

"Can I have your number?" He took out his phone, unlocked his screen, and went into his contacts before handing his phone to me.

I typed my number into his phone before handing it back to him.

"Ok, I'll see you tomorrow," Dean smiled and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

I unlocked the door and walked inside. When the door closed and I was alone, I leaned up against the door and exhaled again.

Did I just have a date with Dean? Was it a friendly hangout? I shouldn't think too much about it. Pushing away from the door, I walked to my room and tossed my backpack on my bed before walking to the bathroom. I still felt a little sticky from the ice cream fight. I needed to wash up.

While showering, my mind wandered back to Benny catching me with Dean. I didn't do anything wrong. Kai and I weren't dating. We were just friends. I shouldn't feel bad. Dean and I weren't dating. There was nothing to feel awful about.

After running through the many reasons in my head, I stopped the shower and dried myself off quickly. Wrapping the towel around my body, I hurried to my bedroom to put on some clean clothes.

Then I walked to the kitchen with my phone and cooked myself some instant ramen noodles. While waiting for my noodles, I picked up my phone and sent a text to Kai that we should complete our project tomorrow night. He didn't respond to my text right away. I set my phone to the side and ate my dinner before heading upstairs to complete my homework for the night.