(Kyle Cordero Above)

Carson's POV - (Wednesday)

"Don't have the guts anymore, huh?" Eli chuckled under his breath, watching Kyle play with his hands. 

"Dude, you have to ask her." I said to Kyle.

We were sitting in his room with Eli, trying to encourage Kyle to ask Amy to the Winter Formal. 

"I know, but I can't do it." He said and ran his hands through his hair.

I groaned and crossed my arms. 

"Dude, we know you're shy and cautious, but this is Amy we're talking about. It's not like she's out of your league or anything. Just ask her." Eli said.

I agreed and patted Kyle on the back.

"You have ask her dude, she might just get another guy to go with." I warned him.

Kyle shook his head.

"No she won't, she-" he was interrupted by screaming from Rachel's room.

Eli, Kyle and I jumped up and ran to their room. We burst through the door and looked at them. They were all on Rachel's bed, but they had fallen because we startled them. 

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Are you hurt?" Kyle asked Amy.

She grinned.

"I'm great, I just got a date to the Winter Formal!" she squealed, the girls joining in on the squeal.

Kyle's face dropped and he just stared at her.

"Uh," he gaped, but covered it with a small smile.

"W-who's the guy?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets; obviously hurt and disappointed.

I looked to Eli while she explained and frowned, we both knew how much he liked Amy. 

He nodded and smiled.

"Well that's great, I'm so happy for you, um..." he said and turned to us.

"I-I got to go," he said then left.

I sighed and Eli ran after him. Amy looked to me and frowned.

"Is it something I said?" she asked me, generally concerned, but oblivious to what actually happened. 

I smiled at her, but didn't answer her question.

"So, when are you asking Rachel, Carson?" Emily bellowed out, pushing Rachel toward me.

She tripped and landed in my arms, which made everything a tad more awkward. I laughed nervously then helped her stand on her own.

She shyly moved away, blushing,  and played with her hands, sending Emily a glare. 

"I, uh, eventually." I said and quickly walked out of the room, repeating the word idiot and coward in my head over and over again.

I found Eli in the backyard looking up.

Oh brother! 

Kyle was on the roof again.

"Kyle," I called out, but all I heard was a groan.

"It's not good, he won't come down." Eli told me and crossed his arms.I rolled my eyes. 

Sometimes I think Luke is more mature than Kyle, and this just proves my point. 

"Look dude, let's just go get a drink and talk about it somewhere else, okay? It'll be good for you." I asked him and waited for a response.

I watched him as he looked down at me after a while and nodded his head.

"Awesome," I said to Eli and watched as Kyle carefully climbed down off the roof of the house.

"Let's go," he said and Eli tossed his car keys at him.

We followed him and all piled into the car. I looked up at the house and saw Rachel, Emily and Amy inside Rachel's room, laughing and singing something. I smiled as we drove off. We remained silent in the car, the only sound being Mirrors by Justin Timberlake playing softly out of the stereo.

I sighed inwardly and thought about Kyle's situation. Amy had been his crush forever, and now she was going with another guy. My eyes shot up when I realised something. I didn't want the same thing to happen to me. I quickly grabbed my phone.

Me: Wanna go out tonight? At 6?

I shoved my phone back into my pocket and got out of the car, since we had arrived. We walked toward JJ's and grabbed a booth at the back. JJ's was short for The Juice Joint, but they served food as well. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and pulled it out. It was a message from Rachel.

Rachel: Sure, see you at six ;)

I smiled and shoved my phone back into pocket and we ordered out shakes.

"What should I do?" Kyle asked, breaking the silence.

"I can't make her break up with the guy who asked her, but I don't want her to go with him." he complained, pulling on his hair.

"Well dude, I get your point, okay? But unless you tell her how you feel, nothing's going to change." I said. He looked at me.

"You think I should tell her how I feel about her even though she has a boyfriend?" he asked me, as if I was crazy.

"He's not her boyfriend, he's just a date." I stated. He looked down.

"Well, where do most dates lead?" he asked, yet it wasn't a question. Eli sighed.

"Dude, not always. Focus on the fact that you have to win her over. You're fighting for her hand." he said, dramatically. 

Kyle looked up at him with a smirk.

"I'm not asking for marriage, just to the Winter Formal." he said.

Eli chuckled and waved it off.

"You know what I mean." he said, which made us all laugh.

The waiter then arrived with our drinks. I took a sip of my vanilla milkshake.

"You're so boring, dude. Vanilla?" Kyle asked me, as he sipped on his strawberry milkshake. I nodded.

"I love Vanilla." I said with a grin.

Kyle smirked and pushed his milkshake towards me.

"Here, try a real milkshake." he said. I shook my head and pushed it away from me.

"I'm allergic to strawberries," I said and took another sip of my milkshake. Kyle nodded.

"Good to know." he said.

"What are you doing about Rachel?" Eli asked me. I shrugged.

"I don't know. I organised a date for tonight, but that's it. I'm probably just going to ask her just like that." I said.

Eli and Kyle looked at each other and shook their heads.

"You're so unromantic, dude." Eli said. I scoffed.

"Aren't all guys unromantic?" I said. He nodded.

"Yeah, to an extent, but girls want a guy to be romantic and ask her in a special way." he said.

I sighed and sat back in the booth.

"So, what do I do? Buy her roses?" I asked. Kyle chuckled.

"Yeah, just be original and yourself." Eli said.

I nodded and thanked him.

"What about you, Romeo?" Kyle asked Eli sarcastically.

"Who are you asking?" I asked.

Eli smiled and shrugged.

"I told you," he said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes and leaned forward.

"Tell us." I said. He sighed and smiled.

"Sierra Jenkins from youth." he said. I whistled.

"Nice one, dude! She's quite the beauty." I said while Kyle nudged him, giving him suggestive looks.

Eli blushed and laughed.

"You guys are the worst friends ever." he laughed.

"When are you asking her?" I asked. He smiled.

"I already asked her." he smirked.

"What?" Kyle and I exclaimed, forgetting that we were in a restaurant and earned a few glances from the people around us.

We apologised then turned back to Eli.

"How, when and where?" I asked. Eli laughed.

"You spend way too much time around our sisters," he said, gesturing to Kyle and himself.

I laughed. "Just answer the question." I said.

"I asked her after youth last week and I didn't buy her anything." he said.

"Smooth." Kyle said and I laughed.

"Come on, let's go. I have stuff to plan for tonight." I said, getting up; the two soon following after me. 

We paid the bill and walked out of JJ's. We walked around town for a bit, but stopped when I saw a baby store.

"Hey, let's go see if we can find something for mom's baby." Kyle said.

"But we don't know the gender?" I said, as we entered the store.

"Well, we'll  improvise." he said and marched down the diaper aisle.

"So, pink or blue diapers?" he asked, staring intently at the large packs stacked up above him on the shelves and rubbing his forehead. 

"This stuff is confusing..." he said. "Like women..." he chuckled. 

I looked to Eli and we both nodded, thinking the same thing. 

Run.