Cassidy The Bully Hunter

Chapter 17

It was 8PM. And for the first time, Dylan WASN'T in his house.

He was at a cafe instead.

Why?

Because Cynthia had asked him out.

It was out of nowhere, too. He had nothing to do anyway, so why would he say no? Besides, he liked hanging out with her. It was nice. He asked for five extra minutes and decided to bake some cookies with his mother. Cynthia was absolutely delighted and surprised to learn that he could cook. The cookies were, between the coffee cups the two had bought.

"Hey, Dylan," Cynthia said, sitting across the table. "Question. Have you ever had a girlfriend before?"

"Huh?" Dylan said. "Oh, uh... I mean..." Dylan sighed. "No. I've never really had a girlfriend before. Once I tried asking Cassidy out, she hit me with the 'I'm-not-into-guys-but-I'd-date-you-if-I-was' line. But uh, other than that, no luck."

"Really?" Cynthia asked. "I thou-...Heh." Cynthia snickered. "I was about to feed ya the same compliment you gave me."

"You still remember that?" Dylan asked. Cynthia nodded.

"It was the first compliment I've ever gotten from a boy. Course I do." She said with a smile.

"Ohhh..." Dylan said, blushing a bit. "R-right."

"Also, how do you do a quarter-circle again?" Cynthia asked. Dylan raised his eyebrows. Cynthia told him earlier that she bought the game for herself to try to do better against him. He was glad she found the little rivalry they shared as fun as he did."I tried it at home but it didn't work too well."

"I'll show you before the next time we meet up again, okay?" Dylan said.

"...Okay... " Cynthia looked down on her coffee. That meant she was going to ask something, wasn't she? Oh boy, he said. Here comes the heart attack. "Uhm..." Cynthia hesitated. Uh-oh. This was turning into an awkward silence. He had to think of something to talk about. Anything, quick!

"Wanna know one embarrassing story I had as a kid?"

"Is this as bad as the ripped pants one?"

"No. Worse." He said. Embarrassing stories, the easiest way to kill awkwardness, he thought. "So basically when I was a kindergartner in class I kinda...pooped my pants."

"You-...Nooooo..." Cynthia started snickering.

"Yup. In the middle of class, I just pooped. People had no idea who it was, so they started investigating. They eventually figured out it was me. Everyone laughed at me! I don't know why I remember that. I really wish I didn't, but now it's in here," He pointed at his head. "No way it's getting out now." Cynthia laughed.

"That's pretty funny." She said. She sighed deeply. Dylan smiled. This would be the part where she started talking again.

Nope.

Another awkward silence. Cynthia squirmed uncomfortably.

"Cynthia?" Dylan asked. "Why are you so quiet?"

"I...wanted to ask you somethin' but... it's too outside my zone."

"Huh?"

"Cassidy told me I should be more aggressive in my approach, but I'm too scared." Dylan's eyes widened.

Did she...just use the word... 'scared'?

He knew time and time again that she was a human being just like everyone else, but he never thought she'd use that word.