A Simple Question
goatFanatic
It was simple. Just walk up to him, say words, give flowers, and in a week, go to the dance. It was simple. Right?
Neil cleared his throat and checked his hair in the front-facing camera on his phone. It was decidedly not simple. There were so many unknowns. What if he said no? What if he laughed in his face? What if he never talked to him again? Lost in thought, Neil almost didn’t notice the hand reaching onto his tray.
“Nikki!”
The girl sat up quickly, still managing to snatch one of Neil’s chicken fingers. “Oh come on. Just go over there already. You’re killing me here.”
Neil glared at her. “It’s not that simple, Nikki, you know it. I’ll do it I just… I need to make sure it’s the right time. Look, if I went over there right now I’d interrupt him and that would not help my chances.”
Across the mess hall, Harrison was in fact in the middle of an argument. But one from which any distraction would be welcome.
“Oh come on, he’s looking right at you! Just go over there and ask him out.” Nerris picked at her potatoes as she said this, fighting the urge to just force the two to ask each other out. The sexual tension was killing her, and soon they’d have to graduate as Campbell Campers. And like hell she was going to listen to Harrison’s stupid pining for the last summer of her childhood.
“Oh Nerris, you don’t get it. He has to find the perfect moment, the perfect words to woo him, to sweep him off of his feet and onto the dance floor!” Preston gestured with his fork sending a piece of green bean flying onto Nerris’s tray. “Perhaps a poem? Or a song?”
She rolled her eyes and flicked the green bean back in his face. “This isn’t a fanfiction, Preston, that’s not gonna work. Harrison just needs to go up to him and ask him to the dance. It’s not that complicated.”
Harrison took a deep breath and stood up. “You’re right. Have my back.” He started over to Neil’s table, hoping that he looked more confident than he felt.
Neil stood up from his table, pulling a bouquet from under his seat. Checking his hair one last time, he turned and walked toward the other end of the room, stopping in the middle as he met Harrison.
All eyes were on them, it seemed. Preston and Nerris were standing behind Neil, just within Harrison’s line of sight. They each gave a thumbs up and Harrison cleared his throat.
“Neil-”
“Yes that’s me.” Neil was sweating. Why was he sweating? They got air conditioner last year, why was he sweating? “Harrison-”
“I was just wondering if-”
“I um wanted to tell you that, um-”
Both boys were redder than a tomato, both knowing exactly what they came to say but both at a complete loss for words. After a moment of silence, they both began to speak at once.
“Do you want to go to the dance with me?”
“Can I have a sample of your blood?” Well, that wasn’t what he’d meant to say.
Harrison stopped, his mouth still hanging open. “I- I’m sorry what?”
Neil covered his mouth with his hands, his eyes widening in horror. “I said- I mean-”
“Jesus fucking Christ.” The two turned to the table where Nikki was still sitting, now with a clearly exhausted boy in a blue hoodie next to her. “He means yes, absolutely, I share a tent with him, I know this. Now please just sit the fuck down.”
The two boys looked at each other for a second in silence, until Harrison let out a cough, held out his hand, and spat into it.
He held out a rose to Neil, who took it wordlessly.
“So… I’ll pick you up at your tent around 6?”
Neil nodded and the two went back to their tables. Slowly, the others started talking again, the scene just about forgotten.
Max took a sip of his coffee, rubbing the weariness of his nap out of his eyes. “A sample of his blood?”
“I panicked, ok? I didn’t know what to say so I just asked for his magical blood!” He gripped the rose tighter and his face split into a grin. “But we’re going to the dance! Mission accomplished.”
Nikki nodded and patted his back. “I knew you could do it.”
“Hey, Neil?” Max raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah?”
“Wasn’t that… in his mouth?”
Neil blinked and set the rose aside, wiping his hands. “Oh… Right.”
Across the mess hall, another argument was starting.
“So now that I asked him out…” Harrison grinned, putting an arm around his friend’s shoulders. “When are you going to ask Nikki to the dance?”
Nerris blushed and looked across the mess hall at the girl with the green pigtails and bright smile. “Maybe soon. Tomorrow.” But for now, she wanted to let the boys have their moment.
