“Good morning, Romeo,” I smiled in greeting as he sat beside me at the bar.

            “G-Good morning, Wendy,” Romeo nodded, staring down at the bar as he spoke.

            “Is everything alright?” I asked. He was usually so upbeat.

            “Everything’s fine,” he said, still staring at the bar.

            “It—“

            “Are you busy today?” He asked, abruptly, looking up at me.

            “No,” I told him, startled.

            “Do—Do you want to go shopping with me?”

            “Shopping?” I asked, confused.

            “Dad wanted me to get a few things for him,” he explained.

            “Oh,” I smiled, “sure. I’d love to go with you.”

            He blushed a little as he stood up. “G-Great. I’ll come find you after breakfast.” I watched, a little confused, as he ran off.

            “What was that all about?” I pondered, returning to my toast.

            “Really, child,” Carla sighed.

            “What?” I asked.

            “He was obviously asking you on a date,” she said.

            My eyes grew wide as I watched her sip her tea. “D-Date?!” I squeaked, feeling my entire face turn pink.

            “Yes, child, a date,” she told me. “Couldn’t you tell by the way he was fidgeting around?”

            “I could tell he was nervous, but—“ I shook my head. “Oh, that can’t be it! Romeo definitely doesn’t like me.”

            “Of course he does,” Carla said, matter-of-factly. “He has since we all came back from Tenrou Island.”

            “If this is a date, then I’m really under-dressed,” I moaned, looking down at my outfit. I was wearing a pink shirt that had two purple stripes going down either side, and a purple bow at the top. I wore simple black leggings and a pair of black ankle-boots with it, so there was nothing fancy about my attire at all.

            “You look fine,” Carla chuckled.

            “You think so?” I asked, running my fingers through my short blue hair. Lucy had asked Cancer to straighten it out for me after I had cut it, so it was even now, but I sometimes felt self-conscious of it, wondering if it looked alright compared to my former long hair.

            “I know so,” she nodded. “Now, stop fussing because here he comes.”

            I straightened up with another squeak, and clasped my hands together tightly to keep them from shaking.

            “Are you ready to go?” Romeo asked.

            “Y-Yeah,” I said, hopping off the stool and walking beside him as we went into Magnolia.

            “Thanks for coming with me,” he smiled.

            “No problem,” I told him, smiling back. My heart was beating so loud that I was sure he’d hear it. I kept my hands firmly at my sides, forcing myself not to mess with my hair again. It’s alright to be nervous, isn’t it? After all, this is my very first date.

            After a few minutes of silence, I looked over at him. “So, Romeo, what do we have to buy for Macao?”

            “Just some random stuff,” he shrugged. “Is there anywhere you wanted to go first?”

            “Me?”

            “Yes, you,” he chuckled.

            “W-Well, no,” I said, finding myself running my fingers through my hair nervously. “I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way—“

            “Anywhere you want to go is fine by me,” he smiled. “Where is it?”

            “It’s a ribbon shop, actually,” I sighed. “You probably wouldn’t—“

            “Let’s go!” He cheered, grabbing my hand and running towards the shop.

            “You don’t mind?” I asked, blushing.

            “Not at all!”

            I smiled, running with him to the shop. Even after we entered the store, I noticed Romeo never let go of my hand. That just made me blush harder.

            “Good afternoon,” an older gentleman smiled. “May I help you find anything?”

            Romeo turned to me, waiting for me to answer. “I—I wanted to find something for my hair,” I said. “It’s rather short, but I’d still like to have something to put in it.”

            “How about hairclips?” The man asked, walking to the left of the shop. Romeo and I followed him. “We have several different kinds, and in just as many colors.”

            I stared in awe at the rows of hairclips. “They’re all so beautiful.”

            “If you see any you like, please try them on,” he smiled.

            I nodded, reluctantly letting go of Romeo’s hand so I could go through the clips. One immediately caught my eye. It was made with silver, and decorated with blue and white gems that swirled together in intricate patterns. I pinned the left side of my hair back with it, and smiled into the mirror.

            “Do you like it?” Romeo asked.

            “I do,” I nodded, “but it’s way too expensive.” I had glanced at the price after I picked it up, so I knew I shouldn’t buy it. He frowned, but nodded in understanding.

I tried on a few others, but couldn’t decide on any. In the end, I left the shop empty-handed.

“Sorry you couldn’t find any clips that you liked,” Romeo said.

“It’s alright,” I smiled. “I’ll get one next time. Sorry you wasted all that time in there.”

“It wasn’t wasted,” he chuckled. “I had a lot of fun with you.”

I quickly looked away from him as I blushed, “S-So, how about we go buy those things for Macao now?”

When Romeo stopped walking, I turned and frowned at him curiously. “What is it?”

            “I-I lied about that,” he mumbled, looking embarrassed.

            “What? Why?”

            “I just wanted an excuse to spend the day with you,” he sighed, meeting my eyes, “I’ve always thought you were really cute, and you’re so nice to everyone. I wanted to ask you out for real, but I didn’t know how, so I made that up about shopping for my dad.”

            My face grew increasingly redder the longer he spoke. “You—You like me?”

            He nodded, smiling at me as his cheeks turned pink. “I really like you, Wendy. And I think your new hair cut looks good on you, too.”

            “You do?” I asked, my hand moving up to touch my short hair.

            “Y-Yeah. I’m really sorry for lying to you.”

            I giggled. “I forgive you, Romeo. Truth is, I was excited when you asked me to go with you today because I like you, too. Also because this is my first date ever.”

            “Seriously?” He asked, surprised.

            “Seriously,” I nodded.

            He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box, holding it out to me. “Here,” he said.

            “What’s this?” I asked, taking it.

            “Open it,” he chuckled.

            I did, and gasped when I saw the hairclip from before. “Romeo,” I looked up at him, “you bought this for me? But, it was so expensive.”

            “I know, but I could tell how much you liked it. This is my first date, too, so I wanted to really impress you.” He scratched his head, looking embarrassed.

            “Thank you!” I smiled, hugging him tightly. He tensed momentarily before hugging me back. “Well,” I said, pulling away and smiling awkwardly, “what do you want to do for the rest of our date?”

            “I don’t know,” he chuckled, “I hadn’t really thought that far ahead. Do you like ice cream?”

            I put the clip into my hair with a smile, and nodded. “I love ice cream.”

            Blushing, he held out his hand, walking after I had taken it.

            “This was a really fun first date, Romeo,” I told him, smiling.

            He grinned. “Same for me, Wendy.”