Anyone who has been around Keon Chappelle knows he'll never forget that chilly Friday evening in July, when he sat down for dinner with his best friend, Cash Hampton. His evening, however, won't be remembered that way; it will be remembered for the moment he met someone who would change his life forever.

"So, this is gonna be your last year of college," Keon looked at Cash closely as he grabbed a mozzarella stick from the appetizer plate.

"Yeah," Cash sighed, dipping a stick in the marinara sauce while looking at the ceiling decorations above them. "In a year or so, I'll be a forensic investigator."

"That's right."

Keon and Cash had been best friends ever since they were in diapers. They became neighbors when Keon was one year old and Cash was two, since both their mothers were co-workers at a credit union in their hometown of Doral, Florida. From then on, they became inseparable companions during most of their lives; it was quite rare for Keon to be seen without Cash, and Cash without Keon.

As the two began to gossip, Keon noticed a blonde girl eating alone at the other side of the restaurant. From a distance, he could see how beautiful she was, and he had a hard time turning his gaze away from her.

"So after I fed Bandit, I- wait a second, Keon, are you even listening to me?" Cash inquired after seeing that Keon's eyes had glazed over.

Keon looked at him in surprise. Shit, did I really stare at her for that long? he thought.

As Cash turned his head to see what Keon was staring at, he noticed the girl. Not bad, Keon, not bad at all, he chuckled silently.

"What?" Keon asked.

"You have great taste," Cash winked. "Why don't you talk to her?"

"Excuse me?" Keon widened his eyes. "Are you seriously expecting me to stand up and talk to a girl I literally just saw for the first time?"

"Duh. How are you gonna get a girlfriend if you don't have the balls to talk to women?"

"It's not that I don't have the balls to talk to women. It's just that I don't know how to talk to her without looking like a creep."

"Then listen to me. You're going to pretend you're on your way to the bathroom. You're gonna walk to that table, and you'll tell her 'bon appetit'. Then, pretend to drop your phone; trust me, she'll pick it up for you if she's nice enough. After you've done all that, make small talk with her, and maybe even ask for her number."

"Oh come on, Cash!" Keon complained. "She'll probably notice that I pretended to drop my phone just to get her attention."

"Yeah, well, do you wanna talk to her or not?" Cash crossed his arms.

"Of course I do."

"Yeah, well, stop making fun of me and start chasing that girl, for the love of gawd!" he playfully slapped Keon's arm and chuckled as he watched him walk away.

As he walked to the bathroom, Keon felt petrified as he thought about the possible outcomes of his attempt to talk to the girl; however, he decided to suck it up and carry on with the plan.

"Bon appetit," Keon nodded at the girl as he walked past her table.

"Thank you," she smiled. That's when Keon reached for his pocket and pretended to drop his phone. After it landed on the floor, the girl immediately picked it up.

"Excuse me," she called, making Keon turn in her direction. "You dropped your phone."

"Hey, thanks," Keon grinned, grabbing his phone from her hand.

In the midst of their exchange, Keon ended up staring at the girl and making eye contact with her, carefully scanning her features. Even though the girl had been nice to him, he was still a bit nervous; he felt almost intimidated by her beauty. She had mesmerizing green eyes that reminded him of gemstones, as well as some shiny pink lips that he would've already kissed if it weren't frowned upon to do so on the very first time they met. What an angel, he thought.

Meanwhile, the girl was confused, but at the same time interested in getting to know more about the handsome young man standing right in front of her. As he stared at her, she took the chance to take a closer look at him. His dark, playful eyes and goofy, yet alluring smile had her heart racing, even though this was the first time she had seen him. Goodness gracious, he's hot, she thought to herself. Within a minute, though, she came back to her senses.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, getting his attention in an instant.

"Yes," Keon coughed and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"Don't be," she lowered her gaze and grinned. "We all get a little carried away sometimes, don't we?"

"Indeed we do," he slid his phone back into his pocket. "Anyhoo, I gotta go now. It was nice talking to you."

"Likewise," she nodded. Before Keon could walk at least four steps further, the girl snapped her fingers at him. Confused, he turned his head to her direction again, wondering what was what she wanted to tell him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," she looked at him apologetically.

"Oh, it's, uhhh... my... my name is Keon Chappelle. What's yours?" he stammered.

"It's Aria West," she grinned.

Keon smiled and walked away, after which he went to the restroom and did what he had to do, before going back to his table.

"How'd it go?" Cash asked eagerly.

"It was embarrassing," Keon sat down. "I got carried away and kept staring at her for a whole minute. Thank goodness she was nice about it."

"I'm glad she was nice," Cash looked down, taking a small sip from his drink. "I gotta ask you something... did you get her phone number?"

"Fuck! I forgot!" Keon held his head with his hands.

"You're lying!" Cash widened his eyes.

"I'm not! I was just so embarrassed, my dumbass self forgot to ask for her phone number! Goodness gracious, I feel so stupid!"

"Oh for fuck's sake, Keon Darius Chappelle, that was the main point of this idea!" Cash leaned back on his chair and covered his face with his hands, shaking his head. "Please, tell me you at least asked for her name."

"Actually, she was the one who asked for my name," Keon smirked.

"She did?" Cash raised his eyebrows as Keon nodded. "Boy, she's a brave one. Tell me, Keon, what's her name?"

"Her name is Aria West," Keon answered. "It's a beautiful name fit for a girl like her."

"That's a pretty name, indeed," Cash took another sip from his drink. "We gotta look for her on Instagram later when we hang out with the boys."

"No, no, no, are you wildin'?!" Keon shook his head. "If she didn't already think I'm a creep after what happened today, she will surely think I am one if she sees that I liked or followed her Instagram page!"

"Yes, yes, yes, you should look for her Instagram page!" Cash widened his eyes, flashing a mischievous smile. "Boy, you don't even know if she's from the Miami area! You should've asked her that! Otherwise, how would you expect to see her again?"

"I dunno," Keon scratched his head. "Can't we just talk about this later with the boys?"

"Fair enough," Cash raised his eyebrows and nodded, checking his phone. "But remember, this conversation's not over yet."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Keon rolled his eyes and looked outside the window.

When will he ever learn how to flirt and talk to women? Cash shook his head, muttering to himself.

"I heard that," Keon told him.

"Heard what?"

"You said something along the lines of me not knowing how to flirt and talk to women."

"Well, I wasn't lying."

"Shut up," Keon snickered.

After finishing their meal, they went back to Doral, where their friends, Joe and Devon, were waiting for them at an abandoned parking lot; their favorite hangout spot. They had known each other since childhood, and even when Keon and Cash moved to Coral Gables, and Joe began studying for his bachelor's degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, they still kept in touch.

"Yo!" Devon high fived Keon. "What's up?"

"The ceiling," Keon chuckled.

"Don't be a liar, bro," Joe lifted his right eyebrow. "I know there's always much more up than 'the ceiling'."

"There's a lot going on indeed," Cash slapped Keon's back. "Tell 'em, Keon. Tell 'em about that girl you met today at The Burger Lab."

"You met a girl?" Joe covered his mouth.

"You gotta tell us how it went," Devon pleaded. "Come on, Keon, don't be shy."

"Tell them everything," Cash pinched Keon's arm. "Or I'll tell them myself."

"Y'all promise you won't call me stupid?" Keon raised his eyebrows.

"Cross my heart..." Joe began.

"...and hope to die," Devon completed the phrase.

Keon proceeded to tell them the whole story, without leaving any details. His friends looked at him in awe as he told them how he felt when he saw Aria for the first time, how Cash persuaded him to approach her, and what it was like to talk to her. However, their smiles quickly turned into looks of annoyance when Keon admitted that he had forgotten to ask for Aria's phone number.

"How could you have been so stupid?" Joe complained.

"Aye, you promised you wouldn't call me stupid!" Keon laughed.

"Bro, at least you asked for her name, right?" Devon asked expectantly.

"Actually, it was her who asked for my name," Keon bragged.

"Whoa, you found yourself a brave one," Devon raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"That's what I said when he told me about it," Cash looked at him.

"So what's her name?" Joe asked. "We gotta know so we can find her on social media."

"Her name is Aria West," Keon replied. "But I don't wanna look for her on social media, if that's what you were thinking about doing."

"And why is that?" Joe crossed his arms, lifting his left eyebrow.

"Because she'll think I'm a weirdo," Keon rubbed his hair with his hand. "If she doesn't already think I'm a creepy dude, then she'll definitely think I am one if she sees me stalking her social media."

"But then you wouldn't be able to invite her to our beach hangout tomorrow in the afternoon," Joe claimed.

"Why would I invite her? I literally just met her!"

"Oh, come on, think of it as a Tinder date," Devon began. "You ask her out, and then you get to formally meet her on your first date."

"Wow, a beach hangout with people she's never met or seen before," Keon said sarcastically. "What a perfect first date."

"I'd die for a first date like that," Cash smirked.

"Because you're a different breed," Keon poked his belly button.

"Anyway, this would've been so much easier if you had just asked for her phone number," Cash rolled his eyes and giggled.

"Let it go, alright?" Keon complained. "I was nervous. I wasn't even in my right mind at that moment."

"Mhm, I can see that," Devon widened his eyes.

"Yeah, that's why you stared at her right in her face without even trying to hide it," Joe shrugged, pursing his lips.

"I hate y'all," Keon stuck out his middle finger at the boys as they chuckled.

Keon had trouble sleeping that night. Aria was all he could think about from the moment he showered until he went to bed; no matter how hard he tried, he could not help thinking about her. Keon had seen many pretty girls before, and he had even been in a relationship just three years back, but no girl had managed to surpass the beauty of Aria, even though he had only met her once. You literally saw her for the first time in your life today, and you're already obsessed with her? That's quite pathetic, stop thinking about her and go to sleep, one part of him thought. But how can I stop thinking about her when she's basically the most beautiful girl I've ever seen? That's impossible, another thought crossed his mind.

Meanwhile, Aria was at her house talking to her older brother, Hunter, about what had happened to her at the restaurant a few hours earlier. Hunter was just one year older than Aria, and they were as close as brothers and sisters could get, so it was no surprise that Aria eagerly told him about Keon.

"I met a guy tonight," she giggled.

"What's his name?" Hunter asked curiously.

"It's Keon Chappelle," she replied. "He seemed nervous when we talked. He had told me to enjoy my meal when he walked past my table, but after that he dropped his phone. Here's the thing, though... it didn't look like an accident. I'm pretty sure he dropped it on purpose, to have an excuse to talk to me."

"For real?" Hunter widened his eyes while Aria nodded and chuckled. "What does he look like? Is he attractive?"

"He actually is..." she blushed. "He's a bit taller than me, I suppose. He's black, he has these short afro twists that I absolutely love... and, gawd, he's got such a cute smile! I don't know what is it about him, or even why I'm talking about boys with you, but–"

"Because I asked, duh," Hunter widened his eyes.

"Damn right. But anyways, what really caught my attention about him was his perfect fucking smile. I don't even know why, but I swear I felt my heart racing at that moment. And he stared at me for a long time, okay?! He stared at me even after I gave him his phone!"

"He likes you, Aria. He definitely likes you."

"I don't buy it... I think he's too attractive for me."

"Now, now, why would you say that, Aria?" Hunter asked sternly. "You're beautiful, and plenty of guys have already begged to be with you, only for you to leave them in the friendzone."

"Okay, yeah, maybe I'm beautiful," she rolled her eyes and scoffed. "But they're only interested in me because of my looks, they could care less if I'm a good person or not. Besides, none of them were my type."

"You didn't say that about Keon."

"Keon's different."

"How so? He doesn't even know your heart, he hasn't seen your true beauty yet."

"I don't think he will. He left before I even had the chance to ask for his phone number."

"Well, that's on him," Hunter crossed his arms. "Aren't guys the ones who are supposed to ask for a girl's phone number?"

"Hunter, it can happen the other way around," Aria sighed. "But his smile had me so hypnotized I barely even had time to think about asking for it before he walked away."

"Both of you were stupid in this situation. If I were you, asking for his phone number is the first thing I would've done."

"If you knew how nervous we both were, you'd think twice before making such an allegation," Aria giggled.

"Fair enough, fair enough," Hunter nodded.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading my first story! If you enjoyed the chapter, please support it by voting. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!