"You should ask him out."

I snapped back to the present and realized two things: that my eyes were glued to the back of someone's head, and that Giana had noticed.

"What? No." I shook my head and took an aggressive bite of my sandwich.

"Come on," she pleaded, pulling her frizzy hair back as the wind blew it into her face. "You obviously like him."

"I like spacing out," I corrected. "Which is exactly what just happened. Are you good?"

Giana was obviously struggling, her rowdy curls bouncing and breaking free as she tried to wrestle them into a ponytail.

G.G. and I went to a "cool" school, which really meant we had no money for a cafeteria, so we ate at the picnic tables out front while our English teachers doubled as lunch ladies. At times, it was beautiful outside--other times, it was gray-skied and blustery, and you had to use rocks to hold down your stuff.

"Fine," Giana muttered, letting out a small "ha" as she finally confined her hair to its rubber-banded fate. "But you know what's not good? It's sophomore year, Lily, and you still haven't had a significant other!"

"Oh no," I muttered. "I hope you're coping all right."

"All I'm saying is that high school is a time for romance and adventure! Not..." She trailed off, looking at my lunch with a raised eyebrow. "Ham sandwiches."

"You know what's adventurous," I said, lunging forward and grabbing my plastic bag as it blew across the wooden table. "The walk to Mr. Cassady's math class. You could be trampled any moment."

Giana glared at me, her lips doing their usual pouty thing. "You're impossible."

I grinned despite myself. "I'm Kim Possible."

"Your name's not even Kim."

There was a small silence, and I could tell something was bothering her. Before I could ask, Giana slid off the picnic bench, stood, brushed off her black leggings and started striding over to Jalen.

"G.G. wait!" I hissed, grabbing her wrist. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm saving your love life and my sanity all in one go!" she whispered back. "You ask him out or I do, Lillian! Your choice."

I was honestly surprised. Giana could be pushy, sure, but she'd always respected my choices. I wasn't sure what was wrong.

"Okay, okay." I gently tugged her back over. "Just wait here."

Giana sat, and I allowed myself one glance at Jalen before standing. I was still too unnerved by Giana's reaction to think much, and before I knew it, I was right beside Jalen and knocking on his table.

"Hey," I said as he glanced over, taking out one of his black earbuds. In a split second, I realized the roots of his hair were blonde--an odd detail, but he was too tall for me to ever see the top of his head. "Nice weather huh?"

He glanced at the sky, then back at me. "I hope you're joking."

"Of course I am. Mind if I sit?"

Jalen shrugged, and I sat.

Now, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I really didn't want to ask Jalen out, but I didn't want to disappoint Giana. I certainly didn't want to lie to her and say I did something I most definitely didn't.

"So, listen," I said, figuring it was best to just be honest. "Giana--the girl in the white crop-top over there--she wants me to ask you out."

Jalen blinked, and it seemed to take second for him to process that information. "Uh....okay."

"But I really don't want to." I paused before realizing how that sounded. "No offense! It's just--"

"Yeah, no, that's fine, honestly," he said hurriedly, wrapping up his earbuds as a particularly forceful gust blew his other one out. "I couldn't really date you anyways, so..."

"Mm." I nodded, trying to figure out what to say. "Parents?"

He shook his head.

"Girlfriend?"

"Um, no--"

"Gay?"

"I'm, uh..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm ace, actually."

"Oh." I nodded again, trying to force words past the wall of "crap what do I say" building on my chest. "Makes sense."

There was another moment of silence, in which Jalen slowly put his earbuds in the pocket of his black jacket and I sat there wondering if my brain was still working.

"Well, good talk!" I said, probably a little too cheerfully. I got to my feet and gestured back to my table. "I've got to get back to Giana, but uh...see you in Chem?"

"Yup," he said, not meeting my eyes. "Chem."

"Right." And with that, I turned on my heels and hurried back as quickly as possible.

"No go, huh?" Giana guessed as I slid into my seat. "Didn't like you back?"

"Don't like him," I grumbled, "and something like that."

"Gay?"

"Ace." I stuffed a bite of ham sandwich in my mouth and didn't say another word. 

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To all my ace spec peeps, has this ever happened to you? XD 

This was for a story me and my friend spontaneously came up with over text at like, midnight, but honestly, it's pretty great XD