A normal school day is long but a normal school day with Hafsa throwing concerned looks in my direction is even longer. Even though she witnessed yesterday and even met Justin, she couldn't help it. It was in her nature.

"Do not go anywhere private with him. Also, don't tell him where you live. Don't forget to message us if you need a fake emergency phone call." She had given me every single scenario today of what could go wrong. I think I had a backup plan for every single thing that could happen from being ditched to stalked to trying to be kissed.

"Of course, mother," I teased. If I am being honest, my own mother did not know what I was up to. I just told her I was going out with a friend after school so I wouldn't be able to collect Adam at the usual time. She was fine with it and luckily didn't ask too many questions.

"Just stay in public and let us know when you get home safely," Hafsa said after sighing. If I didn't know she loved to overthink then I would be concerned about her. Kim had far less to say on the matter, letting Hafsa vent her concerns. She agreed with a few concerns, making them, well concerning. I suppose all the experiences hadn't been good ones before Nathan came along.

"I will make sure to call you tonight too. I really need to leave if I want to drop off my school bags at home and not be late." I greeted them and started my short walk home. I didn't bother changing out of my uniform for this date. We agreed for a time so close after school, we could've even left together. However, I decided to decline since Hafsa said something about quick escapes.

We decided on a simple date. A popular ice cream place by the beach. It was a place that everyone in town knew about so it wasn't some mysterious place. If anything this date would give Justin and me plenty of time to get to know each other. If he showed promise, I would go on another date with him. While I had started this out as a bet, I could be lucky and find love as Kim puts it.

The ice cream palour was still a little busy with parents and their children in line but there were plenty of vacant seats for us. I was not the first to arrive, despite my rush here. Justin was already seated at the table with high chairs near the shop front. Anyone who would walk past would see us. Not the best place to be when you were on a secret date without telling my mum.

There were two bright red menus on the table already. Justin was fiddling with one of them before he spotted me. His face lit up with a smile. I returned the smile, just as excited to be on my very first date ever. We won't count the date with Tommy in preschool since he moved town and didn't even try my imaginary tea.

I sat on the high chairs as gracefully as I could. At least there were no friends to push me over this time. Justin was still in his uniform too but he had lost his tie and blazer along the way. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbow and shirt untucked. He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, making it stand up in all directions. It reminded me of Adam moments before our mother would whip out a comb from nowhere and start fixing his hair. I didn't say anything, in case he was nervous and I just made it even worse.

"Hi." He slid the menu in my direction. I picked it up, opening it up without actually looking at it. I already knew what I wanted to have even if I did say I would try something new next time.

"Hi, how did you get so fast?" I asked. If he had a super secret method of teleportation then maybe I would be able to get the best of this date and find out more. Hafsa hadn't mentioned anything about secret teleportation devices.

"I had a free period at the end of the day so I left a little earlier than the school bell. Just don't tell anyone." Justin was still smiling brightly. I matched his energy but the corners of my mouth were starting to hurt a little.

"Damn, there goes my email to the headteacher."

Justin laughed.

Not a small chuckle, or polite laugh. No, he did that loud, high-pitch laugh that had everyone looking in our direction. I avoided all eye contact with random strangers and changed my somewhat real smile into the polite smile that is used when there are no other options.

"So Justin, what are you ordering?" I asked, trying to end his laughter and move on to the next topic.

"I am getting your favourite, two scopes of cotton candy ice cream." It was true, it was my favourite. I had mentioned it before. It was great to see that he was paying attention to the things I liked. I heard Kim tell me that one time a guy insisted he order for her and she hated every single part of the meal. Perhaps that was just the way he laughed all the time.

"You've never had it before?"

"Nah, but after hearing that you always order it, I wanted to try it." He rested his head in his hands, leaning on the table. I sat up straight, leaning back. The table was too small and I didn't want to be in personal space just yet.

"Well, you won't regret it." The waitress came to take my order while looking at Justin with side eyes. I did most of the talking even though I tried to give him a chance to give his order but he insisted we get the exact same thing, down to the sprinkles. When she left, I turned to the only safe topic aside from the weather; school. We spoke about the annoying teachers, and the weird rules that we hates and then we turned to football practice.

"I love watching sports practices after school. It is always interesting to see different people playing."

"So you've seen us play before?" This wouldn't be the first person. The girls' football was surprisingly popular at our school without the whole crushing of boy's egos. I had met a few students who enjoyed watching the sport just as much as I enjoyed playing it.

"Once or twice. I'm not on the field every day and I know the schedule rotates." Justin shrugged. There were plenty of students who chilled on the edge of the field after school. Some came to watch practices and others were waiting for friends or just generally procrastinating going home,

"That's nice, why don't you join a sports club?"

"I'm too lazy for that. It requires too much discipline. I prefer to study." He leaned back, off the table. The waitress dropped two identical orders onto the table. I snapped a quick photo to post later on and another one to send to the group chat.

"Study like schoolwork?" I sent the picture without a caption onto the group chat and quickly got off my phone so I didn't look rude. I got off in time to notice the shift in Justin's smile.

"People."

"Oh, that's nice." I didn't know how to reply really. I wasn't even sure what studying people meant. The vagueness reminded me of a red flag that Hafsa mentioned. All the scenarios were blurred together so I could not recall exactly which red flag it was.

"I am so glad you asked. Not a lot of people know about my hobby, I like to watch people and get to know everything about them."

"So like psychology sort of thing?" I hoped it was that and not something else.

"No, I have no interest in the mental side of humans. When I find a person I like, I want to know everything about them. I want to see how they live their life and then I want to do the same as them."

"Oh okay," I replied, hoping to end this conversation and move on to something else. The speed at which I ate my cotton candy ice cream increased. Just so I didn't have a chance to say any more while he spoke more about liking a person. I think I didn't want to be that person anymore.

"Since I like you and want to make everything a little easier for my studies, I will ask you a few questions. Firstly, what type of deodorant do you use?" I suddenly felt like when you sign up to a new website and they kept asking for more and more information when all you wanted in the first place was to compress a pdf. This time I signed up for a date and an interrogation.

"Pardon?" I heard the question, but I was giving him a chance to back out.

"Like roll-on or the spray?" He actually took out his phone and looked ready to type. His ice cream was slowly starting to melt. I was tempted to start having his too since he hadn't touched it yet.

"I am still confused." I played dumb rather than ask. I didn't even want to know what he would do with this information. I'd hate to find out that the next question was about the brand. He scrolled down his phone, with a slight frown until he landed somewhere.

"Never mind, let's move on to something simpler, what alarm sound do you use?"

"The normal one." Despite my alarm being the first thing I hear every morning, I don't pay attention to it. Its purpose is to be switched off as fast as possible. Plus, I am not sure I want to even give Justin an answer.

"Which is the normal one?"

"I don't know, I've never changed it." Do people use any other alarms except the default? Does anyone even have time to change it?

"You should check later, next question, how long do you let your alarm ring in-"

"Why do you need this information?" I had finished my ice cream and waved in the waitress's direction, asking for the bill. I had the exact amount of money with a tip in my blazer pocket.

"So I can be just like you."

"What?" All politeness had flown out the window. He wanted to be just like me? Like identify theft without the credit cards? I opened the uber app planning my quick escape.

He sighed like I was a student that didn't understand a basic concept, "If we are going to be together, I need to know these things. I need answers before we can move forward."

Luckily the service at this place was great because the bill was dropped in front of us like a sign from the heavens to leave. I dropped my money before the waitress could leave us and replied, "I need to go look after my brother right now. It's late."

I had no idea what time it was or if Adam actually needed me but I needed him now as a great excuse.

"Let's share an uber so we can finish the questions." Justin was ruffled, trying to find the money for his ice cream while saying goodbye to me. I didn't give him a chance to follow.

"I can't, I have to rush and my uber is here." I had no idea if it was but it did say like 3 minutes away so it should be. I checked when I got outside and left Justin inside before he had a chance to say anymore. When I was safely inside my uber, I started updating Kim and Hafsa on the red flags. They needed to help me stay away from him tomorrow.