collaborate - ber.

026.

"Hey, I'm going to the arcade with some friends toning, you should come too," Blake's voice sounded different, almost like he was nervous. Blossom, still being surprised that Blake called her, tried to conceal the excitement and fear that she immediately started feeling, "Uhm, what?"

"My Friends and I are going to an arcade tonight," Blake repeated. "Yeah I understand that, but, did you just say I should come too?" Blake let out a short laugh and even though the phone made his voice sound different, Blossom liked the sound. "Yes, you should come too." 

Fear came up in her throat, like she was about to throw up. "I... I don't think I can do that," Blossom stammered, not being sure if Blake could even hear what she was saying.

She did want to go, but what if Blake's friends would not like her? What if she was going be awkward once again? What if she- "Yes you can," Blake stated, "you said you wanted to meet new people, right? This is your chance!"

The girl did not know how to answer. Yes, she wanted to see Blake again, and yes, she wanted to meet new people (she was surprised that even Blake remembered that), but the nagging anxiety that was already growing in her stomach did not let her say yes.

"What if I told you that," The dark-haired boy was silent for a few seconds, "you would make me really happy by coming?"

Even though she did not want it, her lips curved into a smile. Blossom sighed, "you won." "That was easier than expected." A grin was clearly hearable in his voice. 

"How could I say no?" Blossom gasped as she realised what she'd just said. "uhm, okay, so tell me the general info," she added. 

 "We're planning on going for dinner first, so we'll meet around six. I'll text you the address." "I hate that you're making me do that," Blossom joked, rolling her eyes. "Love you too!" Without saying anything else, he hung up.

Blossom looked down at the sweatpants and way too big shirt she was wearing. "Great," she said, knowing that she'd have to change into something less comfortable. The girl had been doing nothing else that chilling on the couch for the past days. The only thing she had done since she went to Manchester was doing a few groceries, and going for walks with Aurora.

Then, Blossom checked the time. Three o'clock, which means she had an hour and a half to get ready. Hopefully, that would be enough. The thing that made her a little stressed out, though, was the fact that she did not know at what time Grace and Austin would be home from work.

She glanced over at Aurora, who was sleeping beside her, leaning against her shoulder. Blossom carefully picked the young girl up and brought Aurora to her room, where she laid her down in the bed.

Hoping that her niece would stay asleep, Blossom took a short but definitely needed shower. Back in her own bedroom, she opened her closet and looked at her clothes. What the fuck was she going to wear?

Finally, she decided to wear dark green plaid pants, with a black turtleneck and a black belt. She looked at herself in the mirror. She liked the outfit, but would she impress Blake with it? Probably not. Whoa, wait. Did she just ask herself if a boy would be impressed if he saw her outfit? She shook her head. "No, Blossom," she told herself, "fuck that. You like the fit, that's what counts."

So, she brushed her hair, that was about shoulder length, and put the top layer in a bun on the back of her head, gathered her things and put them in her purse, and got Aurora out of bed.

Time moved slowly when she put on some make-up and waited for anyone to come home. If she wanted to be on time, she should be leaving right now. Every few seconds, she glanced at the clock, before looking back at the table and nervously tapping her nails on its' surface.

She looked at the clock again. 4:39. Blossom felt bad. She would not only have Blake but a whole group of people, that she did not know, wait up for her.

The girl wanted to call Blake and tell him that something came up, that she had to stay home, but if she was honest with herself, she wanted to look into his brown eyes again, feel his arms wrapped around her, see him smile. She did not want to flake out on the plans he'd dragged her into.

Finally, after twenty stressful minutes, Grace came home. "Hey, Blossom..." Blossom snuck past her in the hallway, grabbing her black corduroy jacket and Converse, quickly putting them on. "are you leaving?" "Yes, I should have left twenty minutes ago, but no one was home yet," Blossom explained. "Oh, have fun, I guess." The girl smiled at Grace, "thanks."

Roughly ninety minutes later, Blossom parked her car on a parking spot right in front of the address Blake had texted her. She was late, which made her feel even worse than before.

While she was driving she had a good conversation, with herself. The girl knew that she did not want to keep it a secret to Blake that she found out that he was in a band, even though it scared her a little bit. 

The day after she'd found out, she looked them up on Instagram. He had a literal few hundred thousand people following him, mostly girls. That made her a little insecure, but thanks to this she also realised how much she liked this guy.

Confronting him in an accusing way did not seem like a good option, mainly because the girl did not care. Well, she did care, but she could see why Blake hadn't told her yet, hence she decided to bring it up in a conversation, as casually as possible.

Meanwhile, Blossom looked around to see if she could find Blake. Her eyes scanned the sidewalk. There he was, leaning against a brick wall. She could not help but smile.

She got out of the car, blocking out the nerves that suddenly were flying through her body.

At the same moment, Blake looked up, and the corners of his mouth curled upwards. "Hey," he said, putting his phone in his pocket. "Sorry I'm late," the girl apologised. "It's okay. You're here, that's what counts, right?"

After a moment of silence, Blossom asked: "So, where are your friends?" They were probably already inside the warmth of one of the restaurants located in this street, she figured.

To her surprise, Blake's face got red. "Yeah, about that..."

*  *  *

another delayed update, sorry guys.

okay so i wrote this about three months ago, comparing this to something i'm working on now really shows me how much my english writing style has changed and grown in a short period of time, it's kind of mind blowing to me. 

-ro.