ten
"no. effing. way."

—

—

"GOD, I HATE VALENTINE'S DAY."

Lynn closely followed behind Bobby and Buck as they stomped over previously precious flowers-where she delicately paraded over them-that were now completely ruined by water; thanks to a van filled to the brim with flowers that hit a fire hydrant and tipped over.

"Wow, I'd think Mr. Buckley would love Valentine's Day, all the single ladies with broken hearts," Lynn teased, her tone of voice was easily spotted with sarcasm. "I mean, Evan, have you ever actually had a girlfriend on V-Day, and not just a one-night stand?"

Buck turned over his shoulder to give the girl a fake hurt expression, placing a hand i've this chest with drama. Lynn then rose her helmet up a bit, mostly because it was still too big for her small head and it would fall sometimes in her vision, which she knew she really needed to fix.

"Everywhere you look, it's perfume ads, candy ads, jewelry ads," Buck continued to complain, swinging the metal pole over his shoulders back and forth. "It is a fake holiday designed by women to make guys feel guilty and go into debt."

"You think it's just women who run the companies that are trying to sell you those things?" Bobby questioned, and he motioned for Lynn to hand him the small metal pipe that was used to go in between the large on Buck was carrying, the tools they needed to lock inside the fire hydrant in order to stop the water.

"Well, they're at least in on it."

"Well, I know plenty of women who don't like Valentine's Day and plenty of guys who love it," Bobby answered, stopping halfway through his sentence due to grunting from locking the hydrant.

"Exactly, like how I hate Valentine's Day," Lynn added, shrugging her shoulders lightly as she once again rose her helmet a bit higher so she could make eye contact with them. "I always curl up on my couch and watch sad romantic movies while eating discounted chocolates. Well, not this year I guess, my sister has this damn date set up for me tonight."

"Wait, you're going on a date?" Buck questioned, and Lynn tried her best to not sound offended. "I didn't know you did those."

"Why yes, Evan, I do in fact go on dates," Lynn retorted, rolling her blue eyes as the water finally stopped spraying from the fire hydrant. "Just because I don't share all my personal events at work doesn't mean they don't happen."

Buck tried his best to put on a regular face, not trying to be surprised by the fact Lynn suggests she goes on dates, with other guys. The words just didn't seem to settle well in his stomach, for some reason.

"Yeah, I guess I'm being forced to go on a V-Day date anyway," Buck stated, and Lynn questioned why just as soon as she mentioned she had a date, he just so happened to have one too. "My friend said this girl is a total babe, but, like, kinda depressed. I owe him a solid, so I guess my job is to make her happy tonight."

"Oh, and by that you mean give her a fake compliment and then sleep with her," Lynn commented with attitude, and she almost regretted sounding jealous. It wasn't that she wasn't the one going on a date, but more because she felt bad for this poor girl. Having a man go on a date with you simply because his friend owed him one.

"I'll tell you what, you have someone to share it with," Bobby finally spoke up, giving both the young adults weird looks for sneering with the other about Valentines dates. "It could be pretty great."

•••

"Okay, I'm having second thoughts, do I really have to go on this date?"

Lynn awkwardly glanced at herself in the tall, full-length mirror, and she wasn't even sure the reflection staring back was herself. Lizzy had convinced her, somehow, to go in one of her tiny black dresses; saying she never went out of her comfort zone and needed to start pushing herself more. The tight fitting, long sleeve dress was a v-neck, so it showed off the bust that Lynn hardly had, and the length went to a few inches above the knee.

Her older sister had finished her makeup for her, too, with a light grey shadowy eye look and a darker pink lip than what she was used too. Lynn's usual straight brunette hair was now in slight waves, and she was reminded why she always refused to do anything with her hair, due to the amount of hard work that actually went into it.

"You are not backing out now!" Lizzy scolded, and she moved a few feet so she was standing behind her younger sister. "You look amazing, Lynn, like seriously."

Lynn anxiously swallowed the spit growing in her throat, and started to shake any any negative vibes she was sending herself. Then, staring back into the mirror, she let a smile cross her pink lips.

"Yeah, I do, don't I?" Lynn commented, and her smile only seemed to grow further as her confidence rose up. "If anything, I come back here and we watch romantic movies with candy and popcorn."

"Exactly," Lizzy grinned, stepping in front of Lynn instead of behind her, and she tucked a piece of ruffled hair over her ear. "Me and Joe are gonna be at the movies, but I'm one phone call away, okay?"

Lynn felt like this was prom, or homecoming, or quite literally any event where she was clearly uncomfortable. Her mother was almost never there, so it was up to Lizzy for making a spectacular night.

"You ever feel like you're a mom?" Lynn chuckled, sending a soft half-smile towards her older sister. "I mean, after dad...you practically raised me."

"Eh, what are sisters for," Lizzy waved off, and she tugged Lynn by the shoulders, and pulling her into a tight hug. "So, Joe is probably outside by now so I'm gonna run, but seriously! If you need anything, just call me."

"I love you, Liz," Lynn smiled, showing off a white, toothy smile. And she pointed towards the door, giving her a supportive nod. "Thank you for...all this, really. Have fun!"

And with that, Lizzy bid farewell to her little sister and skipped downstairs for her excited date. Lynn gave herself one last glance in the mirror, and then deemed it was time for herself. The nerves started to settle in as she wasn't sure what to expect, because Lizzy left out plenty of details about the man.

The drive was quick, only about ten minutes away, and when Lynn pulled up to the address she was almost taken aback. The restaurant looked utterly beautiful, and expensive, she might add. Sucking in deeply, she reminded herself of how damn good she looks and that even if the guy was a total dick, she still could feel sexy as can be in the matching dark red underwear set she was wearing.

Entering the fancy restaurant, she was greeted almost instantly by a gorgeous looking blonde. She smiled politely, and then asked what the name would be under for reservation.

"Uh, this is actually a blind date so I don't know his name," Lynn awkwardly chuckled, and she nibbled down on her bottom pink lip. "Has a, hopefully, charming and cute man walked in the last ten minutes or so?"

"Wait, oh my gosh!" The woman excitedly jumped up and down, and Lynn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Once she realized how cryptic she sounded, she continued on. "This totally hot guy came in and all the waitresses were so confused why he was all by himself, but you must be the girl he's waiting on!"

Lynn was silently praying that indeed this hot man was her date, otherwise she would look like a total dork in front of everyone. The greeter quickly waved for the woman to follow her into a separate section, but abruptly came to a hault as she rounded a corner and nearly ran straight into the blonde.

"There he is."

With nervousness and excitement bubbling on Lynn's face, her blue eyes followed the woman's slender index finger towards a tall man who was sitting alone at a table in the middle of the dinning room.

"No. Effing. Way."

"Yeah, right!? He is so cute!" The greeter happily clapped her hands together, and then quickly patted Lynn's back as she made her way back up towards the front. Lynn shook her head, muttering the words to herself as she just stood there in that single spot, completely dumbfounded.

"There's no way."