Word Count: 1328

Marlene opened the door, revealing James in a white shirt, and his letterman jacket for our school's football team. 

"Wow, Lily, you look amazing," He says, mouth hanging open slightly.

"Well thank you. You don't look too bad yourself." I wink at him. I grab my purse from the coat rack, and I wave at Marlene. I  slide out the door, and Marlene gently shuts it behind me. "Ready to go James?"

James vigorously nods his head, and he leads me to his baby blue two seaters. I'm not good on cars, so I can't tell you what type it was. All I know is that it's one of the coolest in town.

James opens the door for me, and I plop myself gently into my seat. James hops around to his side after shutting my door and jumps into his car. He starts up the engine and takes off down my neighborhood. 

I enjoy the breeze in my hair as we zip down the roads to the diner. James glances at me a few times, each time the grin on his face getting wider. I laugh to myself about how idiotic he is, already thinking about what I'll buy with the fifty bucks I'll get in six months.

James smoothly pulls into the diner, and we both get out of the car simultaneously. We walk across the parking lot, and into the quaint little diner.

"Julianne! Can we get a booth?" James calls, shutting the door behind us.

"Of course, don't you always-" A middle-aged women in a diner uniform, around forty-five, comes out from behind the counter, stopping mid-sentence when she sees us. "Oh! I thought all of you were here today. Didn't know you brought a date." 

A light scarlet sprouts from the bottom of James's neck as he glances from me back to the lady in the black dress and white apron. Julianne. 

"I'm guessing you'll only need a two seater." Julianne smiles at us, reaching her hand out to shake with mine. "I'm Julianne, Remus's aunt."

I smile back at her, her warm brown eyes brighten up the room. "Lily."

"Oh, so you're Lily. James talks about you all the time dear. Come this way."

James's blush spreads up to his cheeks, and I laugh quietly. Julianne leads us to the right side of the diner, where a few two people booths are. James slides onto one of the red cushions, and I onto the one across from him. 

"Here are your menus. Would you like something to drink? I'm assuming you want a chocolate shake, James?"

"Please." James nods his head.

"I'll take one too please," I say. I've always loved chocolate. Makes everything better.

Julianne smiles warmly at us and quickly walks to the kitchen to get our shakes.

"I didn't know Remus's aunt worked here. I come here with the girls, usually, Beth serves us," I inform.

James lets out a hearty laugh. "She doesn't just work here, she owns the place. Been coming here with the guys since we were little. My mom and Remus's mom were best friends, that's how we became friends. We met Sirius when we were six, and he was hiding from his mom here. We became friends with Peter when he moved here in seventh grade, this was the first place we met him too."

"So it's a place of memory." I grin.

James nods. "Yeah, we spend a lot of time here, it's our go to."

"Here are ya shakes, do you know what ya want to eat?" Julianne says, placing a chocolate shake in front of both of us. 

"The usual," James says, handing her the menu.

"And you dear?"

"I'll have a mini burger, side of fries." I also hand her my menu, taking a sip from my shake.

"Alright, coming right up you two." She waltzes away as if she was on a cloud.

There's a moment of silence after she leaves until I decide to break it. 

"James? Why were you so persistent on asking me out. You kept it up for, what? Two years? Since freshmen year. We're Juniors now. Why keep it up if I kept saying no."

"Well, honestly. I don't know. I mean, like you, I've dated one or two other people, but I was never really interested in them. I always found myself comparing them to you. So I'd break it off before they got too attached. If they'd get attached. I've just always found something about you that I liked. I dunno if it's your red hot temper, or your ability to put people in their places, or your striking beauty. I've just always liked you."

I grin, "I'm not strikingly beautiful."

"Well Lily, you may not think so, but I sure as hell always have."

I blush, matching my face with my hair. I take another sip of my drink to cool myself down. "Thanks, James, that's really sweet."

"And you thought I was a prick." He smirks.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I still do. Just a sweet prick." I smirk back.

"Am I ever going to get out of the 'being a prick' stage?" He groans.

I laugh, "No idea, it sort of describes you. Maybe that'll just be your new nickname."

"Obviously, this time it'll be a term of endearment right?" He asks childishly.

I roll my eyes at him, "Sure James, what ever you want."

We talk for a few minutes. Comfortable banter. I never thought James could actually be someone I enjoyed spending time with. Not that I am enjoying my time, I just said I could be.

Half way through eating our food, James glances up at me.

"Hey, so I know I didn't ask earlier, but there's an amusement park in the next town over. Would your parents be okay with you coming with? We'd be out pretty late."

I think for a second. "I don't know if they'd agree to that. But I do know something they'd agree to hold on."

I jump from my seat and skip over to the pay phone in the back. I press the numbers to dial my parents home phone, and on the third ring my mom picks up.

"Hello?" She asks into the receiver. 

"Hey, mom! It's Lily. I forgot to ask before I left, Marlene wanted me to stay at her house tonight, is that all right?"

"Of course sweet heart, call if you need anything. And I want to hear all about that date of yours when you get home tomorrow!" She squeals into the phone.

"Alright, I love you, mom." I laugh.

"Love you too sweetie!" And with that, I hang up the phone, put in another quarter, and I dial Marlene's phone.

"Hello?" She asks, probably lounging on her bed, cord stretched across her.

"Marls, It's Lily. I need you to do me a huge favor, You're parents aren't home right?"

"No, they won't be back till Sunday, why?"

"I need you to pretend I'm at your house incase my mom calls, I'll actually come over late at night, maybe early in the morning. Is that cool?"

"Why? What's James getting oh so innocent Lily to do?" I can practically hear the laugh in her voice.

I roll my eyes, even though she can't see it. "We're just going to a carnival in the next town over, you know my parents would not agree if it was this late, in a different town, on a date."

"True, your parents can be stick in the muds."

"You can say that again." I sigh. "Anyways, thanks for covering for me. I'll see you later."

"Better tell me everything. Remember, no kissing on the first date."

"Don't worry Marlene." I laugh. "I'll see you later, Bye!" 

I put the phone back into place, and I make my way back over to James.

"Everything alright?" He asks.

I nod my head. "Yup, and I can go to the carnival."

"Awesome."

We finish our food and pay, leaving a nice tip for Julianne. Who waves at us as we leave the diner.

We both slide into our seats in James's car, and once again we're zipping off down the road to a new destination.

Yeah I know I said updates every Sunday. I'm not very good at keeping schedules. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed that, and I made this a two-parter so that you could have this up sooner. I plan to have the next update up next week, but who knows how that'll go. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!