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Sometimes the best ideas hit you when you're not looking for them.

Like right now, watching Lucy, no, Luna photograph the night sky from Sarah's back deck, I'm struck by an idea so perfect and nauseating it almost makes me laugh out loud.

The fairy lights strung around the fence cast the backyard in this dreamy glow, and there's something about the way she's completely lost in her own world that's surprisingly appealing.

I make my way across the yard, weaving past a couple making out on the bench swing and dodging a wild game of charades by the fire pit.

Music drifts out from inside, but it's muffled here. A breeze rustles through the trees, making the fairy lights dance.

"Getting any good shots?" I ask, climbing the deck steps.

Luna startles, lowering her camera. She looks cute when she's surprised, her big round eyes going wide is a thing you'd want to see twice.

"Oh! Um, no. Too much light. You can barely see the stars here."

"But you're trying anyway," I say, moving to stand beside her at the railing. "I like that."

She offers me a sideways glance, like she's trying to figure out if I'm making fun of her.

I'm not.

I just find whatever this is admirable.

"I can show you what I mean," she offers hesitantly, fingers fidgeting with her camera settings. "About the light..."

"Please do."

She hands me her camera carefully, like it's an egg, showing me how to look through the viewfinder. The sky is mostly blank to my naked eye, but through her lens, I can see faint pinpricks of light struggling through the orange haze.

"It's like magic," I muse, handing the camera back. I'm a bit tipsy and might end up breaking it. Something tells me she isn't going to like that. "You can see invisible things."

I notice the blush on her cheeks and the fairy lights are only making her skin glow more pink.

"Just long exposure. Anyone could do it if they knew how."

"But they don't, you do." I turn to face her, my legs swinging alongside hers. "That's special."

I don't know where I'm going with this but if I keep going, I might just land myself a target for the stupid dare.

Luna's eyes dance around my face.

"Why are you out here, Naomi?"

Fair question.

Why am I here?

We've never really talked before tonight, and I know we share AP Lit. I've seen her there and we might have some mutual friends too like Ethan. But that doesn't answer why I'm here.

"The photos," I mutter, glancing away. "Kinda stuck with me."

Luna nods and goes back to playing with the belt of her camera.

The silence drags on and I notice she won't say anything.

"I have a proposition for you," I say, deciding to just go for it. That's always been my style anyway.

"A proposition?" She sounds uncertain but interested.

"Date me," the words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Well, this is not how I imagined it. I wanted to start gentle and slow and not go straight to the point like a lunatic and scare her off.

Luna's jaw drops. "What?"

"For three months," I continue. I've already messed up, why hold back?  "Y'know, just ...I think I like you."

What in the actual fuck Naomi? Where's all this coming from? I don't like her for heaven's sake. Am I that high?

"You're messing with me?" Luna asks, more a statement than a question.

I shake my head. "No. I'm serious."

C'mon, now's the time to come clean. To say you're really just messing with her and you can both laugh about it.

"What's this about?" She asks, her eyes roaming over my face violently if I wasn't so confident, I would have looked away.

"Do you have a boyfriend? Or whatever?" I redirect, raking my brain for the contingency plan.

Luna parts her lips and shakes her head but her eyes don't leave mine.

"No, it's just..." She trails off before I notice the realization on her face. She pushes a lock behind her ear. "Is this about the dare?"

Fuck, my throat is dry.

I shake my head and hold her gaze. "Luna, I might be a terrible person but I would never...and if it makes you feel better, the dare isn't even about dating."

Wow. Get a fucking grip on the lies will you?

Luna is quiet, she isn't looking at me anymore. Maybe she is stunned by the amount of lies one person can let out or if she actually believes me.

"I meant what I said, you're interesting, Luna. And I like you, I've been seeing you around and it's only today that I've seen an opening to come clean with you."

She's quiet for a moment, her fingers moving restlessly on her strap. The party continues behind us, but it's  distant, like we're in our own little bubble of fairy lights and lies.

"Why?" she finally asks. "You can get anyone you like, hotter even but--"

"Maybe that's exactly why I don't want to ask them," I say. "I don't want someone who's just doing it because I'm Naomi Hayes. I want you because I like you."

Luna exhales and jumps off the deck.
She hangs the camera around her neck and stashes her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

"Sorry, Naomi. I'm having a hard time believing that, it's just so random and... I don't do too well with randomness."

I swallow, an unfamiliar feeling in my chest.

This is the first time something like this is happening to me. Something like rejection. No boy or girl has ever said no to me so all this is just too new.

Who the hell would not want a piece of the thrill and fun that I bring to the table? And for three months?

Just wow.

Luna shrugs. "Have a goodnight...I guess."

I open my mouth to say something, anything but I close it again. I don't know what to say. I've never been in a place like this so I am having trouble understanding the rules.

Do I beg? Do I let her go? What do I do?

I nod.

"Well, can you at least give me your number?"

She groans, but there's a smile there like she is just not sure why I keep pushing when she's made it clear that I'm too random.

"And if I say no?" she asks.

I shrug, trying to be nonchalant. "I will just get it from someone else."

She nods like the point makes sense.

"People will talk," she mumbles and I'm lost. Is she talking about the number or the dating stuff?

"Let them," I say. "I think you and I can make a fire couple." I jump off the deck and stand in front of her. My tall frame towers over her petite one.

I tag at the strap around her neck. "FYI."

That gets me an almost-smile. It's addictive, this thing of trying to get her to smile, I want to do it more often now.

Luna looks at my hand, then at the fairy lights, then back at me.

"Yes." She nods.

My chest flutters. What does she mean yes? Is she agreeing to date me?

"Yes?"

"Yes," she says more firmly. "But like I said, random is not my jam. I'm more of a romantic, if you will."

My jaw touches the ground and this time, Luna actually chuckles at my misery.

"Why are you allowed to mess with me like that?"

"Why not?"

I let out a laughter to bury the moment. After a second, Luna huffs and checks her time.

"I should go."

I nod. "Cool."

Luna takes a deep breath.

"Nice hanging with you."

"Luna," I say softly, "I think you still owe me a finished product show of your photos. "

Her adam's apple shifts softly but she smiles. "Of course." She gives a tiny bow and turns on her heel.

"You haven't given me your number!" I want to scream after her but Sarah has just popped up beside me.

"What are you doing with the yearbook girl?"

I cock an eyebrow.

"I have no fucking idea."

And it's true.