Time Limit

Lucas

I THINK I ACTUALLY MADE A FEMALE FRIEND

Let me get this straight. Her name was... Brooke? So she was with the rich guy. And I was with Camille. And we just, swapped?

She looked all sweaty and shaky. "You okay?" Hopefully she wasn't going to start bawling all over, waving her bony hands in the air desperately and passing out on the spot, like that stupid Camille did. Urgh. Girls. Can't they ever grow up?

"I guess I'm fine?"

Good. You'd better be. But somehow, I had this feeling that she wasn't. Hmmm. What do you do with a girl who is on the verge of going bonkers? 

By now we were basically standing there in the middle of the ballroom doing absolutely nothing, and random people without eyes started bumping into us. Add Brooke who was over-the-top terrified, and I knew we had to get out of that place. 

I gestured to the door, and she seemed comforted. We made our way out of the ballroom, and she was beaming. Funny how girls are freaking out the first minute, and feeling full of rainbows and unicorns the next. I don't know why, but I laughed a bit. Out loud.

"Why...Lucas...I mean... you look faaaaabuuulousssss." Brooke's voice sounded slightly strained.

Well. Always nice to know that you've done something right, especially when it's the first time. "Thanks. I like the colours too. Yellow and green. How corny!" Suddenly I felt like a giggly little boy, in his first ever tuxedo, holding a lovely little girl in a pink fluffy tutu. Brooke obviously didn't wear a tutu, even I knew that would be inappropriate, but the feeling was similar enough.

I didn't know if Brooke laughed or coughed or choked. "Y...yes. Corny." The corner of her lips twitched a bit, and all of a sudden, she began laughing. So hard that she clutched her chest, gasping for air. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING BROOKE EVERYONE IS LOOKING AT YOU!!!" Simply ignoring me, she continued, and I pulled her to a corner, waiting for this nonsense to end. I tilted my head and sighed. Now that escalated quickly. 

Her laughing fit finally ended. "Boys." She rolled her eyes. I knew she wanted to grumble, but she sounded happy inside.

Girls. 

I shook my head, and for no reason at all, I giggled, and she joined in. Standing at a corner, we just laughed while holding hands. For once today, I was genuinely delighted, and actually willing to be with someone. Like Brooke. I gazed into her eyes. Maybe girls weren't that bad after all.

Today was definitely the weirdest day ever. Both of us just tensed up again. All the rainbows and unicorns simply disappeared. She bit her lip, and made that oh-my-gosh-I-need-some-mental-support-now-or-I'm-gonna-freak-out-big-time face again.  I plastered a smile. Lucas, you're the GENTLEMAN. You go and solve this awkward situation. Think, Lucas, think. Is doing something appropriate really that hard?

Glancing around, I found a flashy, crimson coloured motorcycle behind me. Sure, I'll use that.

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For some reason I was probably making her even more worried. Her hands were freezing cold and I was pretty sure that she didn't smear that much white makeup on her face. "You...you sure about this? It's illegal."

Running out of the stinky orphanage, diving into a random hole and falling into a random but awesome magic school was illegal too, right?

So she nodded, we held hands, and I did it.

During my orphanage days, I would go out onto the streets outside the gym and played with motorbikes parked along the roads before any cop came along. It was risky, but definitely worth it. To this day, I still don't get how you can just put random pieces of metal together in the right place and the whole thing just moves. Man, science is cool.

Anyways, I kinda knew what to do with the bike. I hopped onto the seat, played around with the buttons and eventually got the hang of it. I held out my hand. "Join me, Brooke?" She grinned and leaped onto the seat. 

No, don't get me wrong. We were absolutely not in love. Yes, I might be from an orphanage, but I do know about those cheesy, cliché moments in movies where they go on motorbikes under the moonlight. Somehow, that night, the moon was shining quite brightly, and Brooke's long, smooth hair was flying with the wind, but TRUST ME. EVERYTHING WAS SIMPLY A COINCIDENCE. 

And there came another problem. Where was I taking Brooke to? It'd better be somewhere she would like. I didn't want to be that not-very-observant boy who brought his dance partner to some awful place and the girl would just sit there awkwardly for the whole night. Eventually, I remembered. Brooke likes books. 

I knew a library not far away. It was simple but cosy, just how Brooke would like it. I zoomed along the roads while watching out for Brooke. It was a little hard to see in the dark, but I had loads of fun. Ah, the good old days when I pranked the dumb orphanage manager.

We were there quite quickly. I told Brooke all about the library, and prayed that she would like it. She smiled, and I did too. Her glossy teeth were shining in the cold darkness, and I loved it. Other than the girly fits, she wasn't bad at all. I think, I actually think that we would become pretty good friends. 

The library was huge. I ventured around, and pulled out a book that she probably would like. The fault in our stars. We sat down, and began to read. Her head leaned against my shoulder.

I smiled. I think I actually made a female friend.

(Group A/N: sorry for the late chapter, hope you like it!)