Hope.

• Chapter 33 •

• Tyler •

My phone rang causing me to jump slightly in my seat, spilling over my paint water. I swore under my breath before reaching over to get my phone. I felt around until my fingertips wrapped around the vibrating object. I placed my finger over the phone until the name of the caller was readout. The automated voice read out the name of a person that made me nearly fall out of my chair.

I immediately picked up the phone pressing the cold screen against my ear. "Hi, Luca," I breathed, a small smile tugging at the corner of my lips.

"Hey," he mumbled, and I could sense the smile on his voice. "I told them,"

My heart rate jumped. "What happened?" I asked frantically.

"They were okay with it," he said, and a huge grin stretched across my face.

"That's great," I said, feeling relieved. Luca had told me about how stressed he was.

"Hey I was wondering if you wanted to go out today," he asked, his voice lowering slightly.

I felt my cheeks heat up. "Like, a date?" I asked, trying to sound smug but I just sounded awkward. I was not a smooth talker. Sure, I could pretend like I was cool and a confident around certain people even though I was dying inside. But with Luca, things were different. He made me not want to try so hard to impress him. He made me feel comfortable.

"Yes, you idiot," he whispered, with a small chuckle. I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly with my hand, totally forgetting about the fact that my hand was covered in paint.

"When?" I asked, biting my lip nervously.

"I'll pick you up in an hour,"

"An hour?" I said, my eyes widening slightly. I needed to do so much. I had to take a shower, get ready, brush my teeth.

"Is that okay?" He asked, this time, sounding more nervous.

"Yeah, it's okay," I said, quickly. "See you in an hour,"

"See you," he said, and the line went silent.

I found myself grinning like an idiot the whole time I was getting ready. I was excited but also extremely nervous. This was our first proper date and I couldn't help but freak out. My mind started working again, running all the possible scenarios and for some reason, each one ended up with me embarrassing myself. The chances of that happening was very likely after all.

I walked out of my room 45 minutes later my heart racing and my fingers gripping my cane with nervousness.

"Why do you look all dressed up?" Stacy said, and I felt my heart leap to my throat before I whipped my head towards her voice. I heard her footsteps approach me slowly. "Um, you good?"

"I'm good, who's not good? Shut up," I fumbled, my face heating up. I felt bad for lying to her. I just wasn't ready. Not yet.

"Why are you so jumpy?" She said, placing her hand on my shoulder causing me to flinch, her hand instinctively retracted. "What's going on?" her voice was now filled with concern.

"I'm fine," I said, lowering my head. "I'm just going out,"

"Why are you so dressed up?" She asked again, and I rolled my eyes in annoyance.