Between the Cross and the Flame

Chapter 6: Haniel

"You're smiling?"

"Oh, how dare I be happy."

Del punched him in the arm. "I'm trying to keep you happy, Dummy."

Haniel beamed. "I know."

Irvin, Chaya, and Mavet joined them at the lunch table. Wednesday was already halfway over, but Haniel was glad for the quick passing of time. He was feeling better by the minute. His dad had taken Cooper back to the house, and Haniel was able to visit while his mom was staying elsewhere. He and Ari had gone to see a comedy at the movie theater the night before to cheer each other up. Haniel cracked another smile at the memory of his dad laughing so hard he was crying.

"You're grinning like an idiot," Irvin whispered. "Is Chaya particularly beautiful today?"

"Shut up," Haniel said, punching him in the arm. "You know he's always beautiful."

"You're running out of time to ask him to homecoming, you know. It would be perfect; you could introduce him to it, make him feel all special, and before you know it, he'd be falling into your arms."

"Irvin! Stop it! I don't know if he's into guys, let alone whether he'd like me!"

"Haniel, he's in awe. Literally every time he sees you his eyes light up. Don't take the adorableness away from me! And besides, you'll never know unless you try!"

Haniel groaned. "Fine. I'll ask him...today? Tomorrow? How am I going to pull this off?"

"Forget being all smooth and professional. He's going to be flattered no matter how you ask. Just be yourself and ask him after your practice today. We need to go dress and tux shopping, so you even have the perfect segway after he says yes! It won't be awkward or anything!"

"Alright, but you better not make fun of me!"

Irvin gave him an exaggerated wink. "That's what friends are for, aren't they?"

Haniel rolled his eyes. Leave it to Irvin to kickstart his love life. He ate his lunch in a content silence, listening to his friends' ridiculous conversations. His attention span was minimal, however, as his thoughts continuously circled back to asking Chaya to homecoming. He'd never had a boyfriend, and he'd definitely never asked someone out. This was far worse; he was about to introduce Chaya to one of the most romantic high school traditions! How was he supposed to make it a night fit for such a perfect human? The least he could do was start with a cute homecoming proposal, but how on earth did one keep their cool when laying their heart on the line?

Lunch ended, and Irvin gave Haniel a pointed look as he walked away. Haniel brushed him off, but it once again reminded him of the pressing circumstances. It didn't help that Chaya followed his schedule the whole day, and he had to get distracted by the blonde's beautiful complexion every five seconds. Haniel almost failed a trigonometry test because Chaya started braiding his hair. He pinched himself so hard that he accidentally yelped, then finally got on with the test. He had to get a grip on himself! His coach would never approve of him daydreaming on the field!

The end of the day arrived, and Haniel drove Chaya and Del to the Alden's house. After a quick change of clothes, he was out the door, jogging down the street to the stadium where his soccer practice took place. He was finally able to forget about his nerves for a short two hours, but the moment he changed out of his cleats, the reality of what he was about to do came crashing down. Anxiety bubbled up in his stomach and threatened to send his mind into pandemonium. He didn't even have a plan! But he couldn't make plans! He was terrible at plans! So what was he supposed to do?

Del, Mavet, Irvin, and Chaya were waiting for him on the back porch, and Haniel's heart nearly stopped when he saw Chaya. He silently cursed at Del. She had french braided Chaya's hair and decorated it with flowers of every color of the rainbow. Chaya was even prettier now! How was he supposed to focus when the blonde was so overwhelmingly adorable?