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 Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:16 pm
Tallulah needed to talk to Dani while the idea of prom was still fresh in her mind, or else the conversation might never happen. Furthermore, she had no idea when Jaimie was going to get around to asking Parker (if he got around to asking Parker at all), so she needed Dani to be ready to reinforce the idea. Tallulah didn't actually know Parker that well, but hearing the way Jaimie and Dani each talked about him sent totally mixed messages. So just to be on the safe side, she was going to get to Dani before Jaimie got to Parker.
Her motto had always been "if you want something done right, do it yourself." Well, maybe not always, but often. She'd nearly served out the terms of her grounding and was feeling refreshed and back to her usual old self again (whatever that meant).
"Dani, Dani!" she called, making her way across the lunch room while balancing a tray. When the bluenette turned, Tallulah offered her a cheery smile and said, "Hey, let's sit together, you don't have to be anywhere right now, right?"
On Tallulah's tray was what could easily be described as "the world's saddest taco salad." She sidestepped a passing freshman and caught up to her friend. "That table by the window looks nice," she instructed, motioning with a jerk of the head.
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:31 pm
Dani did not, in fact, have anywhere else to be. She could see Barnaby and Grayson across the cafeteria, deeply engrossed in a conversation about something that could be as important as state secrets and as innocuous as what to put on hot dogs, so she supposed they would live if she didn't sit with them for a day. Besides, she didn't hang out with Tallulah nearly as much as she ought to, so it was the perfect time to remedy that! Life was pretty good lately, what with reconciling with Parker and existing in the blissful bubble that came with coupledom, so she was in just about as cheery a mood as she could be lately.
Sure, she was sore from her battle with the long-haired Negaverse chick, but otherwise, she was pretty okay!
She grinned at Tallulah, and nodded. "Sure!" She didn't know what her friend wanted, but any excuse was a good excuse, and she made a beeline for the table.
Her own lunch was packed from home, a sandwich made with lean roast beef and topped with all sorts of delicious veggies, with a fruit cup and a stick of string cheese on the side. She had her customary water bottle with her, and after emptying out the contents of her lunch, she cracked it open to take a drink.
After a moment, she asked, "What's up?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:49 pm
As soon as they sat down, Tallulah began mixing her salad with a fork, as if mashing together the beans, cheese, and wilted lettuce could disguise its pathetic state. All while she was doing this, she maintained her smile - there had been a few weeks when Tallulah had turned into a groggy shadow of her former self, but she was doing much better now, thank you!
"You're going out with Parker, right?" she asked. Better make sure before you asked them to go to prom with you. She thought Dani had talked about him, but wasn't sure if that was still going on or what.
She abandoned attempts to make her salad look more appetizing and popped the cap off her chocolate milk. Clearly, Tallulah regretted her decision not to bring her lunch from home today.
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 7:55 pm
If Dani had been asked a couple of days ago if she was still going with Parker, she would have become broody and snappish all at once, been in a foul mood for the rest of the day as she worried the question over in her head and checked her phone on the hour for messages. Thankfully, it wasn't a few days ago, so she could brightly and cheerfully reply, as she straightened her shoulders, "Yep! Parker and I are definitely dating."
Definitely dating, back to holding hands and sneaking kisses, back to the way things should be. Maybe it wasn't quite perfect, but nothing really was perfect, anyway, and she and Parker were working toward what was perfect for them.
She watched Tallulah push her salad around, felt a little sorry for her friend. School lunches were definitely the worst. She could remember when her arm had been broken, and she'd been forced to eat school lunch, yuck.
After a moment, she asked, "Why? You and Jaimie are still going out, right?"
She highly doubted this was going to turn into one of those "Oh, I was seeing if he was free so I could snag him," but it never hurt to be too careful.
Because she'd just gotten Parker back.
And no, sorry, he was not getting away that easily.
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:10 pm
"Good!" nodded Tallulah, nodding happily as she took a sip from her chocolate milk. It was far sweeter than any dairy product ever ought to be, and she set it delicately on the far side of her tray.
"That's great," she enthused, and quickly continued, "Yeah, I'm still with Jaimie- I meant to ask- what are your plans for prom?"
She sampled the taco salad experimentally, and made a face. It tasted as sad as it looked. Tallulah wiped her mouth on a paper napkin somewhat surreptitiously, looking sheepish. "Do you think Parker would be interested in you two double dating with us?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:18 pm
Tallulah didn't know it, but she'd said the magic words. Dani wasn't a frivolous girl by any means, or at least, she tried to say that she wasn't, but the thought of going out with another couple her own age was enough to make her want to squeal. She didn't have a lot of close girlfriends, and Tallulah was probably actually the closest. The fact that both of them were dating guys who happened to be roommates was too good an opportunity to pass up, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. She'd harbored a secret and deep desire to double date for a while, and had been hampered in the past by not having a steady boyfriend.
She had a steady boyfriend. It was time to start double dating.
Her enthusiasm had her leaning forward, a wide smile on her face. "That sounds so great! I'm sure Parker won't care," she added, waving a hand and dismissing it as though it were no big deal. It really was No Big Deal, too; she was sure she could convince Parker, and if he seemed reluctant, she'd just kiss him until he forgot what they were talking about. It was a foolproof plan.
She laced her hands in front of her, beaming. "This is going to be great. Have you gone dress shopping? I haven't yet, and it would be so fun to go together." She hoped Tallulah hadn't gone yet. "And we can like, do dinner and whatnot, and dance together at prom, too. It'll be great."
The wheels were turning, and fast, as she picked up her sandwich and took a huge bite.
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:29 pm
"Yes!" agreed Tallulah to everything, and took a bite out of the miniaturized lunch room apple that came with her poor, unfortunate salad. Unlike everything else in her lunch, it was surprisingly edible, if somewhat mealy. She leaned forward in a way she had practiced in Model United Nations that suggested, 'I'm listening to you!'
"I haven't been dress shopping yet," she continued, excitement creeping into her voice, "but we should definitely go! I'm almost ungrounded, but I'm sure mom and dad will be happy to see me act like a 'normal teenager.'"
This statement included air quotes, for emphasis.
"We can have a 'total prom experience.'"
More air quotes. Tallulah was, as a general rule, a bit of a reformed tomboy, but prom had her ridiculously excited. (Although maybe it was just because everyone else was ridiculously excited about it, too.)
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:36 pm
Had anyone been looking in at them from a distance, they would have seen two girls almost brimming with excitement, and it was a little cute. Dani didn't notice how cute they were, but she could definitely feel the waves of excitement coming off her, mingling with the ones bouncing off Tallulah. This was so cool. Not only was she going to prom (she and Parker had not actually discussed it, but if he thought he was getting out of it, he had a rude awakening coming his way) but she was going to go dress shopping with the only girl she could think of that she more than tolerated, and they were going to have the whole prom experience.
She nearly wiggled in her seat.
"I am so looking forward to this." As if that wasn't obvious, she repeated, "Really looking forward to this. Do you have my number?" And just like that, her phone was out, and she was scrolling through her address book.
"Tallulah, I don't have your number." This was obviously a crime, and she offered her phone. "Swap and we'll punch each other's deets in?"
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:46 pm
After a little bit of muffled swearing and some digging in what was obviously an overly cluttered purse, Tallulah finally managed to pull up her phone by its lima-bean shaped strap. (Before she found her phone, she produced four ballpoint pens, a stick of juicyfruit, three peppermints, a pad of post-it notes, a miniature stapler, and twelve cents in pennies.) She smiled sheepishly and passed it to Dani in exchange for the other phone.
"Sounds good to me," she said, scrolling around in search of the "New Contact" option. She found it and tapped her number in. "I'll call this weekend and we can decide when to go shopping! I mean, technically I'm not ungrounded until the ninth, but they let me out for good behavior-"
And she had been good. She'd only snuck out once!
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Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:56 pm
Info was exchanged, and phones were handed back, and the world was good. Dani attacked her lunch with verve, pausing only every so often to exchange a comment with her friend and new double-date partner, as they wove plans for their unsuspecting boyfriends.
It was good to have a friend, definitely good to have a friend.
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