Back to Destiny's POV

Marcus and I decided to go bowling. Something fun, cheap and something that doesn't imply we're on a date. I tell him I'll be right back because I'm going to tell Aria and Derrick I can't hang out now.

"Hey guys!" I say out of breath from running all over the place. "Hey, ready to go?" Aria says. "Yeah, about that." I say. "Marcus and I are hanging out today." Aria's face falls. "Marcus? The same guy you told me you weren't going to go out with?" She says motioning her head towards Derrick. Derrick doesn't look at me. Does it bother him this much?

"We can just hang out another time!" I say. Aria rolls her eyes and Derrick still is not looking at me. "Y'know lately, you've been spending a lot of time with people that aren't us." Aria says. "We just went out to lunch yesterday!" I say. "Whatever." Aria says and walks out. I'm standing in the hallway with my face blank.

Derrick turns to leave but I grab him by his arm to stop him. "Derrick what is wrong with her?" I say. Derrick lifts his head up to look at me. He looks....hurt. "Have fun on your date Des." He says and runs to catch up with Aria. "It's not a date!" I say, but he can't hear me. He already left.

I walk back over to Marcus. "Hey, ready to go?" he says flashing a smile at me. "Yes." I say and he opens the door for me as we walk out.

We walk out into the parking lot and walk to Marcus' car. "My dad needs it by 6." He says. "Okay." I say. "And what does Selena say about all of this?" I say as I'm buckling my seatbelt. "Selena doesn't control who I hang out with. You just let me know if she gives you any trouble." He says and I smile at him.

We drive for a while, listening to music, talking and we finally get there. I get out the car and we walk inside. This bowling alley is so dry. There is almost nobody here and even the workers look like they don't want to be here. "Sorry." Marcus says and shrugs. I laugh. "It's fine Marcus." I say. We go over to the place where we get our shoes and claim an aisle.

These shoes smell horrible. "Are you ready to get your ass beat?" Marcus says playfully. I scoff. "I'm not going to lose." I say. We take our turns bowling and Marcus as of now if 20 whole points behind me. No way he's winning. That's what I thought. Turns out, Marcus is really good at bowling. He hits three strikes in a row, then after I go and only knock down a total of five pins, he goes and does two more strikes. Great. Marcus has won.

"Ayeeeeeee!" He shouts as he does this little weird dance. "I won baby!" He says and I'm pouting while crossing my arms. "I want a rematch!" I say and Marcus shakes his head. "Take your 'L' like a true loser." He says and laughs. I shove him a little bit so he falls. We both end up laughing. "I'm hungry." He says. "I am too." "I don't really want to eat this bowling alley food, do you want to go somewhere." I nod. I already know where I want to go.

We return our shoes, grab our stuff and walk out the door. Marcus is driving us to Buddy Burger.

We get out once we're there and ask for a booth. I love sitting in booths I don't know why. I sit close to the window as Marcus scoots in from the opposite side to sit across from me look at my menu and have no idea what to eat. I don't really want anything too messy...... "You want to split this?" He says showing me on his menu this dinner for two including, 10 mini burgers, two small fries, two drinks, and two desserts for $35. 

"Sure." I say and the waitress whips around the corner. "Well hello lovely couple, my name is Ariana and I will be serving you this evening. Can I get you started with some water?" Marcus and I just look at each other wondering who should tell the waitress we're not a couple first. I wait a little, then Marcus says, "Oh, we're not a couple." he says and laughs nervously so I just smile. "My apologies!" She says, she takes our order and walks away.

Marcus and I talk about everything, school, drama, etc then he asks me the big question. "Why did you get a new look Des?" He says and I stare at him. I take a deepbreath. 

"I wanted a change. I didn't want to go through high school being the nerdy girl everyone ignored. I wanted to be popular, and I thought that with me changing my appearance, I would get what I wanted." I say and wait for his reaction. 

"I know you've probably heard this a million times, but you don't need a new look Des. You're beautiful now no doubt, but you were even more beautiful then." He says. My heart melts. He is so sweet and cute!

I just blush when the waitress comes back with our food. After we're finished I go into my bookbag to pull out my wallet. "What are you doing?" Marcus says looking at me weird. "I'm getting my money." I say. "Des, put your money back in your bookbag." He says as he pulls out a 20 dollar bill, a ten, and another ten leaving a $5 tip for the waitress. 

"Thank you." I say and put my money back. We walk out, and go to his car. I pull up the location to my house and he drives me there.

"Thank you for today Marcus." I say and I hug him. "No problem Des." He says and bites his lip sensually. "I'll see you tomorrow." He says and goes back into his car. I wave, and walk inside my house as he drives away.

It wasn't a date, It wasn't a date, It wasn't a date. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.