Snow spun herself around her room happily. There were practically hearts shooting out, and she couldn't erase that smile onto her face. She made her way to the bookshelf, touching the spine of her romance books. "Sorry, I won't be spending my time with you tonight. You're just going to have to wait. I have a date coming soon, can you believe it?"

She had a plan to start on a new book, but with her mind on Harry, she wouldn't be able to focus on reading. She had dreamt of being the main character going out on a date with a nice handsome boy, and that will all happen soon? She could've never guessed it.

She walked to the kitchen, grabbing a strawberry banana smoothie. Her mom was in the living room who just casually watching tv. She liked to spend time watching drama series when she's not spending time at a hair salon. Snow twisted the bottle cap on top, and then she brought the drink to her mouth. She always loved the fruity taste of strawberries and bananas combined.

It tasted unusually better today, or was it because of her good mood? She loved them anyway. Quickly glancing at the television screen, it looked like the girl was laying on the lap of another girl as they were in bed. It looked like she was telling her about her problems as the girl laying looked sad about something. Snow didn't want to interrupt her free time, but she needed something urgently from her mom.

"Hey, mom," Snow said.

Her mom turned her head from the television screen to look over at Snow. "Hi, Snow."

"Can we go shopping for new clothes tonight?" Snow asked. She needed something extra amazing for her date with Harry in two days. Whatever it takes, she wants to impress him.

"You know I'm always happy to get you new clothes when you need them, but what's the occasion for tonight?" her mom said, pulling up a smile with an inquisitive expression.

"Can't a girl just have a little bit something for herself occasionally?" Snow replied.

"Are you sure? You have that look in your eyes that says, 'oh, I really, really need it urgently'," she pointed out considerably. "So, what is it?"

She joined her on the couch. "Oh, mom," Snow began, sighing to herself dreamily. "That day is finally happening."

"What day?" Her mom asked confusedly, as she examined Snow's expression. "Does it have something to do with that boy, Casey?"

"No, it has nothing to do with him, but he did help me boost my courage to ask a boy out on a date. He's so cool to do that when I was a stumbling mess." Snow's eyes gazed up to the ceiling with her hands clasped together, affection taking over her eyes.

"Wait," she paused. "You asked a boy out?"

"Uh-huh. Isn't that wonderful?" She could feel herself dancing on a spring field full of flowers in her mind.

"It's not Casey?"

Snow looked at her mom funny. "Of course it's not him."

"Oh, it's just that you've been spending a lot of time with him, I thought—" Her mom shook her head. "Never mind me. That's great for you. I always thought that you'd be the one to wait to be asked out."

Same. "It'd be nice if that happens, but since I want to see something, I just... tried it? It's nerve-wracking." Yeah, in her fairy tale dreams, she'd love more than anything for a guy to take notice of her and do the honors first, but since this was reality, she had to be the one to push a little. At least she could say that she did something that she never thought she would be able to. 

"You're very brave then to do that. I'm just glad your dad was able to take that move first." She and her mom were alike in that they never knew what to do with themselves and ended up just keeping to themselves because they couldn't voice out their thoughts.

"Yeah, Dad is such a romantic," Snow agreed.

Their little love story started when they met at college. Her mom was twenty-one, and her dad was twenty-three. It was kind of like love at first sight in their case. Her mom worked in the library for work-study, organizing books, answering telephones and taking messages, and good with information services. The first time she saw him, it hit her so quickly, and she fell in love with his good looks and his smile. When his eyes met hers across the room, she bashfully looked away. He kept coming to the library often, and she was pretty certain it was unhealthy to stare at him, for she didn't even know his name.

But they did secretly looked at each other when the other wasn't looking. He looked like he had hefty assignments he was working on whenever she caught him sitting on a table and reading a textbook. One day, he walked up to her, asking her to help him find new books to research. Her heart was pounding against her chest from seeing him up close, and she didn't know how to act around him. Though she nodded and helped him find the books he asked for.

Every time she saw him, he looked better every second more than the previous times. She'd observe him as all the days pass by. She was okay with just admiring him from afar. She liked how studious he looked whenever he came into the library. It built up slowly from shy glances to cute smiles whenever they spot each other.

At one closing shift when the library had to close up, and all students exited the building, she saw he was the last one here. He slowly came up to the counter where she was working, and he brushed some hair locks sticking on the front out of the way cooly. Finally, he introduced himself to her. They talked for several minutes, and already there's a connection that they couldn't explain.

It was something magical at that moment when he said he'd like to get to know her better over coffee and directly asked her out.

Snow loved that kind of love story in which the two already had that building chemistry between them going on.

"So can we go shopping tonight?" she asked again.

❥

Snow had finished her finals and was let out early. The studying left her some kind of brain damage, and when she got to the questions, she had to wrack up her brain and reread them again. And when she couldn't figure them out with the difficult ones, she skipped them and went to the easier ones first. As always, she prayed that she miraculously passed them and left all her core subjects on a good note.

She could go home if she wanted, but Kyle was still taking his exam so she would wait for him. She looked down at the water, catching a small glimpse of her reflection as well as all the other coins thrown into it. A lot of pennies at the bottom were stacking up, and she wondered if people recently had made a wish on a penny. During the free times she attempted visiting her usual spot at the water fountain, she checked how many new coins are thrown in.

It was plenty. People who still throw in coins must have some type of prayer they want to go well. When Casey was going through an emotional rough patch, she threw a coin in for him to gradually pick himself up. She always makes silent wishes for any crisis she encounters.

And she wished that her date with Harry will go well for her. Before she could bring out a penny from her coin pouch, she looked up to find Casey coming up to her. Snow brought a light smile to her face.

"Hi, I thought... you finished your finals in the early morning, so you should have gone home already," she said unbelievably, chuckling.

"Yeah... just thought I stick around and just... kind of look at the emptier-looking campus? I took a nap in the library so... that's that." Casey looked slightly antsy for some reason as he rubbed his hands together with his lips pressed tightly.

"I supposed..." Two people further away walked across the grounds of the quad. She shifted her gaze back to him. "Anyway, I'm glad you're here. I could use some more advice." Her eyes lit up brightly. "Come sit," she urged to the empty spot by her.

He stood there pausing before he sat beside her. Snow clapped her hands together loudly facing him. "So... this may sound silly, but I'm getting this kind of butterflies all over my stomach, and it won't seem to leave. Tomorrow, I'll go out with Harry, and I just hope it goes well."

"You're you. He likes you enough if he said yes," he said reassuringly, cocking his eyebrow.

"Maybe, but I'm freaking out... tell me how you deal with first date nerves. I'm thinking so many things at once. I'll be on my own... I'll look at him, but I don't know if I look nice enough, or maybe my words will be kinds of weird... could I have something stuck in my teeth when I'm eating? How does one look so cool and not look like they're a nervous wreck? Or what if—"

He interrupted. "Stop yourself. Why don't you just breathe in and out?"

Nodding her head quickly, she closed her eyes and breathed in slowly. She counted ten seconds in her head and breathed the air out through her mouth. "Okay, I'm good," Snow said slowly, relaxing her shoulders.

"All right, what you need to know is remember what I said before: you're already good enough. Your nerves are just scaring you, don't focus on them. Worry about the after result. If it hasn't happened, then it hasn't. Just remember what we went through together. He's probably not that much different. Just be natural... everything will flow accordingly. If you can't think of a topic, take a look around you that interests you and talk about that, or get to know him, like how you did with me. I was nervous too on my first date, but once I get settled and think about what I seriously want, I take charge." He put a hand to her shoulder firmly. "It's going to be all okay," Casey spoke in a way that made her believe in him. His voice calmed her.

She smiled in relief. Casey was so cool for a guy who looked like he was unconcerned by everything. "Thanks. I needed that."

He nodded.

"But do you think you can help me a little more with just rehearsing out the dinner date? Just from the very beginning, of course. I still feel like I'm going to mess up somehow." It was silly, she knew, but going on a real date was a huge deal for her. She wanted everything to be perfect. With the days of their practice relationship, it was easy with them since it was a setup for trial and error, and now this will be the real count.

"I guess," Casey said hesitantly.

"Awesome!" Snow exclaimed, her eyes resolutely focusing on his. "Okay, so the setting is at a Chinese Restaurant. We talked about it, and he loves Chinese food. Malloy said he wishes he was going on this date too." 

She tilted her head, a confused expression taking over her face just thinking about it briefly. Malloy loved Chinese food, and he would often order takeouts from any chain restaurants, or Panda Express was the way to go.

"Back to the task," she instructed forcefully. "We sit across from each other." Her hands gestured to the space between them. "We look at the menu. We're deciding what to think we want to eat. After thinking about our food and the server comes by and takes our order, we have to wait. I know I want to talk to him, but then I get nervous after looking at that gorgeous face of his..."

Snow went into details about how she knew she could possibly freeze up or feel like she didn't know what to say. And if she did say something, it might sound forced, and she wanted to look natural but being natural was hard when she had a crush on him. Casey was there to listen, to observe. Her speech, her movements, the way she presented herself.

She tried to put a compliment on Casey but added nervous laughter when she did. She then thought about if she should ask him family questions or if it was too soon. But Harry looked like a family guy if he got along with his cute younger sister. Then the whole flirting thing. How could she tell she was flirting, or if he was flirting?

For the first few minutes, Casey played along and gave her more practical tips such as how she should become self-aware and read the situation. Soon enough, this talking about her first date looked like it's giving him a headache now. "This isn't working."

"What isn't?" she asked.

"This. I came over here because I need to get something off my chest." He scratched behind his ear, his expression voluntarily shrinking.

"Oh, okay. What is it that you want to say to me?" Snow said and sat up more.

Something was weighing on his mind, and she could tell that he's looking for the right words. Then he had a face that went 'screw it,' and he opened his mouth. "I'm sorry to say this, and if it comes off rushed, but... I think I like you."

Like? He said like... I heard it right. He couldn't mean anything else, could he? "Aww, that's nice. I like you too," she responded.

"No, I mean I like you."

"You mean you like me as a really good friend?"

"Past that."

"You don't mean that." Please tell me he doesn't mean that, she thought with a strained smile.

Snow studied his facial expression to determine whether he was genuinely truthful. His eyes, his dark abyss-like eyes stared right at her, and she thought, did they grow any darker? They were, as always, mysterious as she remembered them. After a short moment, she picked up on how serious his confession was.

The shock went to her eyes immediately. "What? You like me?"

"I thought about it; I thought about how I should say it. You were only trying to help me get through my own stupid mess, and I appreciate how you cared about my problems even though we barely knew each other from the start. I only cared about one girl whom I loved and even thought that by the end of our practice, I could try again to win her back. You were my guiding partner through everything. You were looking forward to better days, and when I was ready for it." He pushed his dark hair back roughly. "I was fine ending our relationship run and even accepting you as my friend, but at that very last moment on our last day, you stole a piece of me. You weren't intending to, either."

He swallowed hard, collecting himself as though he didn't want to overwhelm her. "I had to say it. It's causing my chest to ache for some unknown reason, and I thought if I say it now, I could get rid of it a little bit." Casey placed a hand to his chest, and it must have seemed like his heart rate was slowing down, according to him nodding subtly. He gazed back at her. "So yes, I think I like you, but I don't expect a response back."

She never thought she would hear it. She didn't understand. Her eyes transformed into a glare, and she rose briskly, feeling bitter and confused. "That wasn't part of the plan. Don't you remember that everything was just a trial and totally platonic by the end? The last rule: no feelings should be fostered, and thus, falling for one another is prohibited."

"We both signed a paper and agreed on that," Snow emphasized.

How could he do this to her? She didn't have a plan of what would happen if one were to fall for another.

Casey stood up, trying to offer more of his explanation. "I couldn't help that it just happened. I thought about how absurd it was, and as much as it is... you've been on my mind recently. I'm just as confused as well."

He was a great guy, but what she couldn't put past her mind was that she wouldn't be the person for him. She's not the right match for him. She didn't want to be a replacement when it seemed like Casey could still have lingering feelings for his first girlfriend. She wouldn't compete with that.

Her eyebrows knitted together. "What happens if Raquel wants you back? Then what?" she asked sharply, feeling the tip of her tongue.

There was a hint of hesitation like he didn't expect her to ask that. Now she was certain there are conflicting emotions inside him. There was a long pause between them. She stepped back four steps and waited cautiously. She put a closed-up fist to the center of her chest, biting her cheek nervously. Why was her own heart on guard right now?

Or even if you might realize this was a mistake... 

"Ah fuck," Casey muttered angrily. He looked at her. "I don't know. I don't know how it looks like." His voice was beginning to waver, and she saw the hurt in him.

So he didn't know how to answer. What good was his confession when he broke the important rule? He was helping her a moment ago with date advice for another boy, and now he just sprung this on her unexpectedly.

"I still plan to go out on a date with him." Snow stood her ground firmly.

He looked crushed, his eyes taking off from hers to stare at the ground. His shoe rubbed against the pavement. "Yeah, okay," he said quietly. "It doesn't matter... You should know you kind of encourage me to say that whatever it is inside of me, I should just say it now."

She never thought she would have to be tough around him. 

"Just go."

Casey didn't say anything else, and he turned his back to her, walking away only for him to disappear and leaving her conflicted. 

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Hello. Happy Saturday. Was today's chapter... shall I say heartbreaking for you? I'm sorry it had to come to this. Do you feel bad for Casey? What do you think about his confessing? Probably should have warned last chapter to have a sad playlist while reading this chapter. 

Do you agree with Snow here? Are her concerns valid?

We still have like two or three chapters to go, and then the epilogue! Look forward to them because I'll make it up to you if you hate me now. This story is not over just yet.

Please vote and comment as it means the world to me.