It was a brand new day, and I felt enthusiastic as I stepped into the school gates. I went straight to my locker to get rid of the books that I didn't need in the lectures before the lunch break.

I shut the locker door and was about to turn when someone covered my eyes from behind. I went rigid for a second and then realised that I'm in the middle of a crowded school hallway. No one would be foolish enough to kidnap me from here.

"Hands off, Harvey," I said, trying to pry off his fingers.

"It isn't me," I heard Harvey snicker.

"Who is it then?" I asked.

"All I know is, that it isn't me," he said. I could detect the smirk in his tone.

"It is you. Liar!" I said, scratching the hands covering my eyes.

"No. See my hands are here," he grabbed my arms and lowered them.

"Who can it be then?" I mused.

"Think, Mary, think," he said.

"It's a guy. I can tell by the hands. And..." I trailed off.

"And?" prompted Harvey.

"Ralph?" I asked, not even believing it myself.

"No," said Harvey. I detected a scowl in his tone.

'Why is Harvey standing here talking for the guy covering my eyes?' I thought. 'Plus, the guy knows me well enough to cover my eyes. It can't be someone random.'

"Well," I said out loud. "All logic points to Jamie. But as he doesn't even go to our school, I can't say it's him."

"Do you wish Jamie went here?" Harvey asked.

"Sure, I'd swap you for him any day," I said.

"Hurtful," said Harvey. "So you give up?"

"Yeah, just uncover my poor eyes and let them see light again," I said dramatically.

The guy behind me uncovered my eyes, grabbed me by my shoulders and whirled me around to face him.

"Jamie!" I exclaimed.

"I uncovered your eyes and the first person you saw was me. You know when baby chicks hatch they..." he started.

"I know I know," I said, rolling my eyes and punching his arm.

"You have got to stop interrupting me when I'm saying my own created pickup lines," he said, grinning.

"They are so long. Besides what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Is it true you'd swap Harvey for me anytime?" he winked.

"No," I said. "I was joking."

"So you'd rather bear with me, instead of him?" asked Harvey, smirking.

Darn it! Both of them were trying to corner me.

"I'd rather both of you stay away from me," I said, pouting.

"Not if you make that face again," winked Jamie.

"Get lost," I said and pushed him out of my way.

"See you later. Bye!" he said from behind me.

A few seconds later, Harvey fell into step beside me.

"Jamie doesn't have history with us?" I asked.

"Nope," replied Harvey. "The guy got lucky."

I nodded.

"What happened to your hand?" I asked as my eyes fell on his right hand.

"Oh this," he wriggled the bandaged forefinger. "It's just a minor injury. I cut myself with a knife."

"Oh!" I said. "By the way, why did Jamie transfer here?"

"He's going to live with us now, till the end of high school. There is no one in his house except uncle Rich and he is mostly busy with his job. Jamie's previous school is far from our house. Plus, we also plan to go to college together," explained Harvey.

I smiled at a sudden vision of the three of us studying together in a college library.

~~~

"Dude help me," said Jamie sitting between me and Harvey at the lunch table.

I had started sitting with Harvey at lunch, after the day he got shunned from Hilda's table for pouring chocolate milk on her head.

"What happened?" my curiosity aroused.

"I got into detention," he turned to face me.

"On your first day?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Harvey.

"You have been in this school forever. Forge a note or something for me," he said.

"I can't." Injured finger, he waved his hand in front of Jamie's eyes.

"Maybe you can help me," Jamie turned to me. "I can't go to detention on the very first day. Dad will kill me."

"I can help," I mused. "Which teacher's signature should I forge?"

"Miss Harris would be perfect. Her signature is easy to forge and you can just write that she wants Jamie to spend his detention with her, because he's new and she wants to have a talk with him," said Harvey.

"Miss Harris, the counsellor?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Harvey. "It's foolproof. No one will suspect a thing. She always has talks with new students."

"Here," said Jamie, handing me a paper and a pen.

I wrote the note, forged the signature and gave it to Jamie.

"Mam, I would like to suggest that Jamie spends his detention with me. I want a few words with him. Thank you," read Jamie. "Sounds promising."

"It'll get you out. Don't worry," I said.

"Just bring it to the detention room after school," he said.

"I can't. I have to go somewhere," I said, feeling nervous all of a sudden.

"No problem. Harvey can you?" asked Jamie.

"No, I can't. I am going to skip the last lecture and head home early. I have something to do," he said.

"Mary, please," Jamie turned to me, his eyes pleading.

For a moment there I couldn't speak, getting lost in the blue depth of his eyes. I shook my head and tore away my gaze.

"Will you?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, still a bit dazed.

"Thank you," he said, placing the note in my hand.

I pocketed it without another thought.

~~~

After the last lecture, which I had with both Harvey and Jamie, (but Harvey wasn't there because he had skipped the class) I quickly went to my locker and dumped the extra books and assignments inside.

I went to the ladies' room and looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a sleeveless zinc coloured top and my favourite pair of jeans. I had also borrowed a matching necklace and a bracelet from Lily's jewellery box. I wiped my black boots clean with a tissue paper. I brushed my straightened hair once again, and applied a coat of lip gloss.

When I was satisfied with my appearance, I took the note from my pocket and went in the direction of the detention room. My phone beeped and I swiped the screen to see Ralph's text.

'I'm waiting in the car. Take your time.' _R

'Have to deliver a note to a teacher. Be there in five.' _M

'Sure.' _R

I smiled and slid the phone into my pocket before knocking at the door.

"Come in," I heard the teacher say.

I opened the door and peeked inside. Mrs Fosbury, my geography teacher, was sitting at the teacher's desk. There were six students inside. Jamie was sitting at the back. He saw me come in and smiled smugly.

"Hi", I said to Mrs Fosbury. "Miss Harris sent this note for you."

She took the note and read it. Then she eyed me up and down. Trying to detect any traces of lying.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

Rule number one if you are being interrogated, do not look meek. If you hesitate in answering or do not look confident, you are sure to be suspected.

So I replied with the utmost confidence, "yes, of course."

"Can you tell me how you got hold of the note?" she asked.

"Miss Harris gave it to me personally," I replied confidentially but politely.

"Take a seat," she said, gesturing towards the students' desks. She crumpled the note before throwing it into the bin.

"What do you mean? What did I do?" I asked, aghast.

"Miss Harris was on sick leave today. I guess that answers all your questions," she said.

"But I... I have something very important to do," I said.

"You should have thought of that before you decided to get your friend out of detention by forging a note. Do you know forging a signature is punishable by law?" she said.

"I... yes, I do. But please. Let me go just this once. Give me detention for tomorrow," I pleaded.

"No," she said firmly.

"Two detentions, or maybe even three, but not today," I said desperately.

She shook her head and gestured to the seats once again. I tried one last time by squeezing a tear, but she had no mercy. Defeated, I went to sit beside Jamie.

"Hi," he said.

"I'm gonna kill Harvey. Couldn't he make sure Miss Harris was present today before asking me to forge her signature," I growled.

"Yeah, he's an idiot. Now we both are stuck here," said Jamie, not looking bummed in the least.

"I had the first date of my life and I messed it up," I said.

"Don't worry," said Jamie, patting my shoulder.

I got out my phone and texted Ralph.

'I got into detention. I'm so sorry.' _M

'You what? You just said you were coming in five minutes.' _R

"No texting, Mary," said Mrs Fosbury, from her desk.

"Sorry," I said. "One minute."

'I know. I'll explain later. Mrs Fosbury will take away my phone.' _M

'It's okay, maybe some other time.' _R

'Yeah.' _M

I sighed and turned off my phone before stuffing it in my backpack.

"Don't worry, Mary," said Jamie.

"It was my first date," I said.

"We can pretend we are on a date together. I have two sandwiches and two sodas and two chocolates," he said, taking out the snacks.

"Still, it's not the same. Plus, we were going to have ice cream," I sighed.

"Okay then, I'll take you to the ice cream parlour after school, and then drop you off at your house," he said.

"Thanks," I said, smiling at his efforts to cheer me up.

"No problem," he said. "After all, we are on a date, and as this is your first one, it should be amazing."

I rolled my eyes .

"Maybe I should light some candles," he said.

I laughed.

"So that's a yes," he said and extracted three candles and a lighter from his backpack.

"Are you serious?" I asked, amazed.

"You don't like them?" he asked.

"Of course not. Do you want to get into another detention?" I growled.

"Is there a rule in this school, stating that having a candlelit dinner date in detention is forbidden?" he asked.

"Yes," I said firmly.

I picked up the candles and the lighter and put them in my backpack.

"Okay then. I'll unwrap your sandwich for you," he said.

I smiled.

"Here you go," he said, giving it to me.

"Thanks," I said, and bit into it right away, savouring the delicious taste.

"Your drink, My Lady," he said, and opened the can of soda.

"What has gotten into you today?" I laughed.

"Nothing. Can't I be chivalrous to my date?" he asked, his face serious.

"Jamie, you do realise that we aren't actually on a date, don't you?" I asked.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," he said.

I laughed again, and straightened my face at the solemn look on his face.

We had our 'non candlelit dinner' as Jamie put it, in silence. Which only consisted of a sandwich and a soda.

"Here's the next course. Sweet dessert for my sweet lady," he said, and unwrapped the chocolate bar before handing it to me.

I rolled my eyes and quickly ate the chocolate bar.

"Can I ask you something, Jamie?" I asked, swallowing the last bite of my delicious chocolate bar.

"Anything for you, My Lady," he said graciously.

"Can I have your bar too?" I asked, pointing to it, which was still untouched.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed and picked it up at once.

"But aren't we on a date?" I asked, pouting.

"We are. But no one said you can eat my precious chocolate bar," he said unwrapping it.

I lunged at it, but he managed to take a huge bite. I let out a cry and snatched the chocolate from his hand. He lunged back, and I tried to stuff the remaining bar into my mouth. But I could only manage half of it.

Oblivious to Mrs Fosbury's words, and the stares of the fellow students, we kept fighting for the last piece, which was in my hand, but Jamie wasn't letting me put it into my mouth.

I stood on the balls of my feet trying to keep the piece out of his reach, but he was taller than me so it wasn't working. The piece of chocolate had melted and my hand was sticky, but I still held it tightly.

Suddenly, it was snatched from my hand and I turned to see who it was. Mrs Fosbury was standing with the piece of chocolate and had a very angry expression on her face.

"Are you two four year old kids? Fighting on a small piece of chocolate?" she yelled.

"It was mine," Jaime said.

"I don't care who's it was. If I hear one more word from any of you, you both are getting two more detentions. Do you understand?" she yelled.

We both nodded.

"Mary sit in that corner," she pointed to the right. "And Jamie, you sit in that corner," she pointed to the left.

We turned back to our desks to pick up our things. Jamie quickly grabbed my hand and licked the chocolate off my thumb.

"De-licious," he whispered and winked.

I wiped my finger on his face and quickly went to my seat.

~~~

"Here we are," announced Jamie. "But wait, don't get out yet."

"Why?" I asked, removing my hand from the door handle.

He got out, circled around the car, and opened the door for me.

"My Lady," he said, bowing a little.

I got out and he closed the door before running to the ice cream parlour and opening the glass door for me. He also pulled out a chair for me at the table.

I must say, I was kind of enjoying being treated like royalty.

We ordered our ice cream sundaes and waited for the waitress to serve them. Mine was 'Chocolate Delight' and Jamie's was 'Strawberry Delight'.

"The names of the sundaes are so plain," I said, reading the menu. "Chocolate Delight, Vanilla Delight, Strawberry Delight, Blueberry Delight, and so on. Can't they come up with something which can make ordering more interesting?"

"For example?" asked Jamie.

"Like, Cheeky Chocolate, Vibrant Vanilla, Scrumptious Strawberry, Blasting Blueberry..." I started.

"Here are your sundaes," I was interrupted by the waitress.

"Miss, I want to talk to the manager," said Jamie.

"Is there a problem, sir? Maybe I can help?" she asked.

"You can't. I have to talk to the manager," he insisted.

"What happened?" I asked, surprised.

"Tell the manager to come talk to me," said Jamie again.

"Yes, sir," she said and went away.

"Jamie? What do you want to see the manager about?" I asked, suddenly feeling very uneasy.

"You'll see," he winked.

We had only eaten half of our sundaes, when the manger came to our table. He was stern looking man, with a huge moustache.

"You wanted to talk to me?" he asked Jamie.

"Yes. See this lady here," he said, pointing to me.

I gulped.

"Yes?" The manger prompted. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, a huge problem. Mary here doesn't like the names of your sundaes, and she wants you to change them," said Jamie.

"What? No!" I exclaimed, shrinking back from the manager's stare.

"I don't like people who joke around. I am a very busy man. Enjoy your sundaes," he said and turned to leave.

"Who said I was joking around," said Jamie. "I am serious, and I can prove it."

He tore the menu into two. I gasped.

"Jamie, please," I grabbed his arm, trying to stop him. "What has gotten into you?"

"Get out," growled the manager, pointing to the door.

"Yes, sir," I said at once, pushing away my half eaten sundae, and standing up.

Jamie grabbed my arm and made me sit down again.

"Do you know who I am?" asked Jamie, mirroring the serious look of the manager.

"I don't give a damn!" The manager lost his cool, turning redder by the second.

"I am Jamie Richard McDonald," he puffed out his chest. "The one and only nephew of Anthony McDonald, the owner of this place."

"McDonald?" The manger asked, his anger vanishing. "Mr. Richard's son?"

"Yes," nodded Jamie.

"You little brat. Look how old you are now. I remember you from when you were in diapers," the manger ruffled his hair, chuckling.

"What?" asked Jamie, embarrassed.

I started laughing at the look on his face, and also because the manager was not red with anger anymore.

"And who might you be?" the manger asked me.

"A friend," I said simply.

"What were you thinking, saying the names aren't good and tearing the menu? I really didn't like the joke. And I'm sure your uncle won't either, when I tell him," the manager said to Jamie, turning serious again.

"No sir, I wasn't joking. Mary can make a list of more interesting names and you can change them on the menu," said Jamie. "She just told me some."

The manager looked at me, and I blushed.

"Can you?" he asked.

I nodded.

"That's great then. I'm sure Mr. McDonald will love the idea."

He shook our hands and went away.

"What was all that for?" I asked. "Couldn't you ask him civilly?"

"Nope," he winked.

"Drama Queen," I said, rolling my eyes.

We finished our nearly melted sundaes, and got up.

"Where's the bill for the sundaes?" I asked the waitress.

"It's free for you both," she smiled. "Mr. McDonald's orders."

"Here's a tip for you," said Jamie and handed her a couple of bills.

"See you," I said to her and followed Jamie to the door.

He held it open for me.

"Our date is officially over," I said.

"Okay then," he winked and let go of the door. It slammed shut in my face.

I pushed open the door and saw that Jamie was already in the car.

"You idiot. What if I broke my nose?" I said, opening the car door. Myself, may I add.

I sat on the front seat and shut the door with all my might.

"Easy there, don't break off the door," he said.

I rolled my eyes and tossed my backpack at the back seat.

"So how was your first date, My Lady?" he asked.

"The best not-so-real unplanned first date in the history of the best not-so-real unplanned first dates ever," I said, beaming.

He gave me a mysterious smile.

"I gather you enjoyed it too," I said.

"Enjoyed is an understatement. I had the time of my life," he said, winking.

"Me too," I said.

~~~

I had done all my chores, my homework, some light reading, and I was exhausted when it was time for bed.

I was snuggling into my blanket when I remembered the candles and the lighter in my backpack. I smiled to myself.

'Who keeps candles and lighter in their backpack? And the snacks? Maybe he got into detention everyday. He licked my thumb. And then winked. His blue eyes, shining like stars. Blue ocean. A boat, rocking on the waves. A waterfall.'

With those jumbled up thoughts, I fell into a deep sleep.

Author's note:

Hi guys. Mary's photo is attached above/to the side, when she was dressed up for her date.

What do you guys think about her missing her date with Ralph and having one with Jamie instead? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

On a serious note, I want to say that votes and comments are an inspiration for the writer. I feel sad when when I see that the views are way more than the votes. How long does it take to click on the vote symbol?

So please, if you like the chapter, show your support by just clicking on the cute little star button.

Now for the mentions,

AimanShoaib
septgrl17
Rahhmy
IftisAdan

I loved all your support whether it be votes or comments.

This chapter's special mention goes to,

AyeshaThahir

For your amazing comments on the first chapter. I hope you continue reading the book.

Thank you everyone. For reading, voting and commenting.

See ya!