MY BELOVED MAGNETS!
Incredible, right?
Can't believe we're here.

At first I wanted to write this because RAD is one of my most read stories and people love it, but then it become a much more interesting project.

It's like exploring deeper into this world, into this characters, and I loved the process.

Originally, it was meant to be a one shot. But it got too long so I decided to split it up in three parts.

This one is dedicated to two people that are there to support me in every story.
Also because they claimed it.

I love you both NatyJimenez484 alex_lt_28
✨❤️

This is for you.

Mag 🦋

RENT A DATE BETA VERSION

Part One.
[Harry's POV]

I didn't know how I got into this situation.
Yet, here I was.

Probably against my will, but I was being a good friend, so that must count for something.

That's how friendship works, right?
Sometimes you do things you don't want to do just to see your friends happy.

Or maybe you just accept so they'd shut up and stop bothering you.

Either way, it's part of the deal.
Sometimes you just have to give in to your group of friends' wishes.

Just like I did today.

Finding myself walking down through the large halls inside some Atlanta's Mall, helping Niall, Zayn, Liam, Roman and Ed pick their tuxedos for Prom.

The so waited and not at all needed prom.

Which I wasn't attending.

You'll see, it's not like I hate the event, it's just I didn't want to go on my own when all of my friends had invited their dates months prior.

I didn't have one.
And I couldn't get one either.

Everyone in my school was straight.
They didn't even acknowledged that I was gay, nobody knew except my close friends.

Just them.
And my parents, of course.

Everyone that knew was supportive though, nobody made a big deal out of it and that made me feel a little more confident with myself and with who I was.

But still, it didn't mean I could just ask any guy to come to prom with me.

I was confident, yes.
I was eccentric, yes.
I was gay, proudly.

But not many guys my age were. And at least in my school, I was the only one.
That's why inviting someone to go with me was out of the equation.

I didn't want to go alone either.
So my decision was simple, not going at all.

That didn't stop my friends from dragging me with them to shop, though.

So, that's how I ended up inside a store on a Saturday, surrounded by multiple suits and tuxedos of all shapes and colors and waiting for Liam to try his chosen options.

"Harry, this would look great on you." - Roman said, taking a translucent, light purple jacket and matching shirt from one of the racks.

"Oh my god, yes. That's perfect for you, H." - Zayn commented.

"With these!" - Ed said, taking a dark purple trousers and placing it next to the hanger Roman was holding.

All of them stared at me with hopeful eyes.

"Probably, but I'm not going to prom, so." - I shrugged, feeling like I have repeated those same words hundreds of times already.

"Oh, c'mon! You have to go!" - Roman said, taking the pants Ed was holding and shaking the clothes in front of my eyes.

I chuckled, moving them away and shaking my head no.

"The band has to stick together!" - Niall said, from where he was still gathering tuxedos for himself.

"Guys, no. I decided it already."

"But you need to go with us!" - Ed said, punching my shoulder softly.

"What about the group photo? We need a group photo!" - Niall shouted from the other side of the store.

"I'm not going to go just to take a photo with you and without a date. Not happening, guys."

"We can get you a date." - Zayn said.

"No, you can't."

"Yes!" - Roman cheered.

Then, the changing cubicle's curtains opened, revealing Liam, who was wearing a not-at-all fitting green tuxedo.

"Hey guys, how does this one look?" - He asked us.

"Awful, Liam. Try the next one." - Roman said, always without a filter, making Zayn and I laugh.

Liam huffed, returning to the changing cubicles, as we got back to our previous conversation.

"We can totally get you a dream man to take to prom." - Niall said, now walking back to us with lots of tuxedos in his hands to try on.

"Yeah? How? Our entire school claims to be straight." - I said.

"We can ask people out of school." - Roman shrugged. - "I'm sure you're not the only gay in Atlanta."

"Nick is gay." - Niall said.

"Nick has a boyfriend." - I said.

"Details." - Niall huffed and I snorted.

"Besides, I don't like him."

"Who do you like, then?"

"Nobody."

"Why is it that we never ask you that?" - Ed asked. - "I'm sure we never heard you say you liked anyone."

"Because I never liked talking about this with you I guess." - I shrugged.

"Why? Really?" - Zayn asked.

"I didn't want to bother you with my likings, that's all."

"That's bullshit!" - Niall exclaimed and Roman hit his chest.

"Be quiet, idiot."

"What's your type of men then?" - Ed asked me again, curious.

"I don't really know. Guess I like someone who can make me laugh, and you know, someone who doesn't care about the way I dress or yeah... someone who I can be myself with."

Niall snorted.

"Oh c'mon, just say you want a guy with big muscles and a huge dick."

"Niall!" - I screamed, covering my eyes with my palms and shaking my head. - "God, no. I just want someone nice and, yeah, maybe good looking, but it doesn't matter as much."

"Yeah, sure man."

"Hey, what about that web Nina and Juliet named the other day?" - Zayn asked.

"What?" - I asked.

"That date web they were talking about during lunch."

"Oh, that one where you can hire someone?" - Ed said.

"Yes! You could totally do that, H."

"Hire a date?" - I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Yes, at least for prom."

"No, I'm not doing that."

"Why not?" - Niall asked.

"Because I'm not a loser!" - I said, already exasperated.

"But you need a date!" - Roman insisted.

"I don't because I'm not going!"

"You're not going because you didn't get a date, but if you got one..." - Niall continued.

"I'm not hiring anyone."

"Why not?" - Zayn said.

"First, I don't have money. My parents won't give me money for that. Second, because it could be dangerous!"

"I'm sure it's totally safe." - Niall said.

"It could help you not look like a coward." - Roman snorted.

"Why am I a coward now?" - I asked, now clearly annoyed at them.

"Because you had months to invite someone to prom and you didn't. Coward."

"Because no one in our school is gay! I couldn't just invite a straight guy, they would have laughed in my face."

"Yeah, well, even more reasons to try that web." - Zayn said.

Liam returned to where we were, now dressed in a grey boring suit that made him look thirty years older.

"What about this one, guys?"

All the boys booed at him, including me.

"More awful than the last one." - Roman concluded.

Liam sighed, returning to the changing cubicles yet again.

"Why don't you try this suit, H? I bet your date would appreciate it if you look sexy." - Roman said, still holding the hanger of the translucide purple suit.

"I don't have a date." - I pointed out once again.

"You will once we get you into that web."

"Guys, no! I don't want a date. I don't need to go to prom!"

"Yes you do." - They all said in unison.

"I don't have money for hiring. Or to buy that suit for that matter."

"Your mother gave me money today when I picked you up so I could convince you to buy one." - Zayn smirked.

"What?" - I frowned.

"She said you need to go to your prom." - He shrugged. - "Important time in your life and all that."

"Fuck."

"And the date... well we can ask the guys of that website how much it costs." - Zayn continued.

"Maybe they don't want money." - Niall wriggled his eyebrows.

"Maybe they just want sex in return of their services." - Ed said and they all laughed, making me roll my eyes.

"I won't have sex with a stranger."

"If you keep being a coward you won't have sex with anyone." - Niall said and Roman highfived him, all of them still laughing.

"Just try the suit, H." - Zayn smiled, patting on my shoulder. - "We still have two weeks to get you a date."

I frowned, taking the suit from Roman's hands and walking towards the changing cubicles, still cursing at my friends for being so damn stubborn.

I was entering one of the cubicles just as Liam came out again looking even worse than before. This time with a suit very much like Ron's outfit in the goblet of fire movie.

"Try another one if you don't want to be bullied forever." - I said as I passed by him.

Liam sighed again, and without letting anyone else see his horrendous suit, he returned to his cubicle.

I tried the purple trousers with the translucide purple shirt and jacket, noticing some beautiful details on the way it was sewn.

It even had some pearls attached to the neck of the shirt, making it look amazing.

My friends do know my taste.

It fitted incredibly well on me.
Just like it was made for me, for this occasion.

I smiled at myself in the mirror one last time before walking out to show my friends how it looked.

Their reactions were movie like.
Zayn's smile grew ten times bigger, Roman and Niall had their jaws hanging low and Ed started clapping and whistling at me.

"You need to buy that, H." - Zayn said.

"I really like it." - I answered.

"It's the one." - Roman said, now clapping along with Ed.

I nodded and sighed.

"I'm buying it."

"And you're going to prom!" - Niall exclaimed.

"Without a date." - I said. - "But I'm going."

"We'll get you a date."

"You'll kiss someone that night! I'll make sure of it." - Roman said.

Liam came out of the changing cubicles once again, wearing some blue pants with a bordeaux patterned jacket on top.

"How about this one?" - He made a little twirl, a smile on his face.

Roman shook his head and sighed.

"Still awful, Liam."

🌻

"Hey darling, how was your day?"

"Hey mom." - I said, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her cheek. - "It was good."

"It was great!" - Zayn said, following me inside the house and holding our suits in his arms. - "He got a really really sexy outfit for prom, Anne. You should be proud of me for convincing him."

My mother laughed, kissing Zayn's cheek.

"Thank you, dear."

"You're welcome! We're super excited to get Harry a date now. It's the only thing that's left to do."

"A date, huh?" - She smirked, looking at me.

"It's not happening, mom. No one would want to go with me to Prom."

"Why not, darling? You're so handsome. I'm sure any guy would like you."

"Not if all of them are straight." - I rolled my eyes, collapsing on the living room's couch.

"Stop saying that, idiot!" - Zayn said. - "There's a lot of gay people in this world."

"Yeah, well try to find one of my age that lives nearby and that wants to date me." - I huffed.

"Oh honey." - My mother said.

"Don't pay attention to him, we have a plan." - Zayn whispered to my mother, but I could still hear him.

"What's the plan?" - She asked, giggling at Zayn's wiggling eyebrows.

"We will probably need some money, but we'll make sure he has a good, proper man to take him to prom."

My mother frowned but then nodded.

"Okay, anything you need, just ask. Anything to make my son's night unforgettable."

"Great!" - Zayn cheered. - "C'mon Harry, let's get your computer." - He said, already running upstairs.

"Now?" - I whined.

"Yes! Don't leave for tomorrow things you can do today!"

"Why is he so enthusiastic about this?" - I growled, standing up from the couch and walking up the stairs.

"C'mon c'mon!" - He shouted from my room.

I rolled my eyes, hurrying up the stairs until I reached my room, finding Zayn already sat at my desk in front of the computer.

"What are you doing?" - I groaned, grabbing a chair from the corner and placing it next to his'.

"Finding you a date, c'mon keep up." - He joked.

"I know that, what are you doing now?" - I asked again, seeing he was typing some random words on a site I've never seen before.

On top of the page it was written: Rent a Date Beta.

Then a bunch of buttons underneath, and I could see Zayn was now on the tab where you could sign in.

"Key words to find your match."

I quickly read over the things he was typing on the screen: gay, prom, sexy suit, flowers, ball, boyfriend, need a kiss, need sex, sexy guy to take me to Prom, I need a man, guy, gay guy, male date, young gay man.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Why?"

"You can't put need sex in the key words!"

"It's true though." - He laughed, deleting the sentences I told him to.

"That's none of your business."

"Fine." - He sighed, pressing the 'next' button and showing the profile settings. - "Pick a photo." - He said, opening my photo albums on the screen.

"That one." - I said, pointing to one that was taken last summer, smiling at the camera, sunglasses pushing my hair out of my face, and a red shirt on.

"That's boring." - He said, instead, picking another one from the same album where I was shirtless and laying on a lounger and winking at the camera.

"But..."

"No buts, this is it." - Zayn said, establishing the photo as my profile picture.

Then, he moved forward to the rest of the settings.

Name? Harry Styles.
Area? North Atlanta, GA.
Gender? Male.
Age? 17.
Occupation? Student.

Age range for future date? 17-20.
Gender for future date? Male.
Price range you're willing to pay?

Zayn turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know. I don't want to pay for this at all." - I shrugged.

"Your mother said it was fine, we can spend a little on this."

"A little? We don't know how much it could cost."

Zayn frowned but then nodded, typing the answer.

Price range you're willing to pay? $1 - $500.

"Five hundred dollars?! I'm not spending that amount of money on a date!"

"It's just to set something, they won't ever ask for that much."

"I'm not going to hire anyone if they ask for five hundred dollars, I'm telling you."

"I know, H." - He laughed, going forward with the matching questions.

Eye color? Indifferent.
Skin color? Indifferent.
Hair color? Indifferent.
Height? Indifferent.
Personality? Funny, Nice, Relaxed.

We went on like that for a while, Zayn answering almost everything for me and most likely with things I hadn't actually agreed to, but I shrugged it off, knowing I wasn't going to end up hiring anyone on this random website nobody knew anyways.

When we finally finished the settings and my profile was ready, I could understand that the format was almost like Facebook, except that instead of adding friends, you chatted with people you would possibly hire as your date.

Zayn smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at me the second he started adding people to my list of candidates.
Those candidates were sorted by my previous choices, all of them men between 17 and 20 years old, living questionably close to my area.

"C'mon H, give some feedback, mate."

"I just don't know." - I shrugged.

"Someone has to have caught your eye. Was it big muscles?"

"No, he wasn't my type. Too superficial." - I shook my head.

"Why didn't you tell me? I added him!"

"Because you're not exactly listening to me anyways."

"Okay, I'm cancelling him. Who did you like?"

"The one with that curly blonde hair seemed alright."

"Okay, I'm messaging him."

I rolled my eyes, watching as Zayn opened a new chat with the guy, called Billy, and sent him a greeting message.
Then, he returned to the main page, scrolling down more recommended profiles.

There were a few more that seemed nice, Junior, Devin, Drew, Ashton and Elliot.
All of them were from around, all gay, all in my desired age range, and all of them received a message from Zayn (aka me) as soon as they were added to the list.

One of them, Drew, replied almost immediately, not wasting a second in small talk, just sending us his hourly fees, which were descomunal.
A hundred dollars per hour.

Sure.

We laughed it off, deleting the chat and continuing with other profiles that caught our attention.

After a while, I started to actually enjoy scrolling down through the different options, different guys.
I was surprised to see how many guys had their profiles there, how many gay guys were actually selling themselves to date another man.

It was both sad and funny at the same time.

Zayn and I found some of them hilarious too, people got really creative on their biographies, always wanting to bring attention to them, to get hired.

Just like this guy we were stalking at the moment.

I'm a super cool lad. I spend all of my time watching Christmas movies, eating carrots and annoying my family.
I have a huge obsession with flowers, I hate avocados and my bed is my best friend.
Now, two truths and one lie:

- I am originally from England.
- Cats are my favorite pets.
- I play piano.

Do you want to know which one is the lie? Message me!

I'm sure I'm incredible for your event.
Fun guaranteed.
If you don't have fun with me, I'll return your money.

"I'm going to send him a message too, just because he's hilarious." - Zayn said.

"Oh, c'mon, no. He seems stupid."

"He's the most creative one we've read so far!"

"I don't like him. He's weird."

"He's funny. Just like you wanted."

"Zayn." - I whined.

"He's going to return your money if you don't have fun." - He smirked, trying to convince me.

"I just..." - I huffed. - "Fine, send him a message if you want. But I'm not choosing him."

"Alright." - Zayn clapped before opening the chat with the guy called Louis.

He quickly typed.

I bet the lie is that you can play piano.

"That's an awful first message." - I huffed after he pressed send.

"You can message him yourself if you're so brave."

"I don't want to message him at all."

"Darlings? How are you doing?" - My mom asked, peeking her head inside my room.

"We're fine, mom."

"How is the date search going?" - She smiled.

"Awesome!" - Zayn screamed, pushing his wheeled chair away from the desk and twirling around. - "I'm going to become cupid soon."

"No, you're not." - I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, yes I will. I can feel it." - He smiled.

"Are you staying for dinner, Zayn dear?" - My mother asked him, Zayn nodding in response. - "Alright. It's almost ready, I'll wait for you downstairs. Harry, is your turn to set the table."

"I know, I'll be there in a second."

My mother nodded, leaving the room and returning to the kitchen.

I quickly took control of the computer, much to Zayn's dismay, I closed the website and turned the computer off.

With no intentions to ever log in that website again.

🌻

On Monday at school, more specifically while we were in the locker room after P.E, Zayn told every single one of our friends that they should call him cupid from now on.

Which of course earned him a couple of laughs from the rest of the guys, but he sucked it up.
Because, he claims he is convinced that one of the many people he messaged for me on that website was going to be the one.

"Even if I end up hiring someone, which won't happen, it's only going to be for one night, Z." - I replied.

"Or not." - Niall said. - "Maybe you find the love of your life and you'll have to thank us eternally for that." - He smirked.

"Thank me." - Zayn said. - "I'm cupid, remember? I was the one that did all the work."

"You did nothing yet." - Liam said. - "He still hasn't got a date."

"It's only been two days. We have plenty of time to confirm one of those guys." - Zayn said, sticking his tongue out at Liam. - "Did anyone answer the messages?" - He asked me.

"I haven't checked the website after you left my house the other night." - I shrugged.

"What? Why not?!"

"Because I'm not interested in doing so." - I rolled my eyes.

"But you need to interact with them!" - Zayn said. - "Do I really have to do all the work?" - He sighed, taking his phone out and opening the browser.

"You're going to answer them now?" - I asked.

"Yes, I'm picking the guy for you since you aren't cooperating."

"Well, wasn't that cupid's job?" - Roman laughed and Zayn flipped him off.

"You better choose someone who can join our group." - Ed told Zayn.

"Oh yes! You know what?" - Niall said. - "We all need to approve of the guy. Because if he ends up being your boyfriend, he needs to be compatible with us."

"If he wants to be your lover..." - Roman smirked.

"He's gotta get with your friends!" - Niall and Ed screamed, making all of the students around us stare at us in confusion.

"He's not gonna become my boyfriend. This is just for prom, okay? Nothing more. And please embarrass me."

"So, we already convinced you to date one of them." - Zayn smirked, already logging in the Rent a Date Beta website with the password he invented days ago.

I sighed, knowing I had already lost the battle.

"I guess. But I'm only doing it for you, guys."

"Woohoo!" - Roman screamed. - "I tell you, H. It's going to be the night of our lives!"

"Look! You have five messages." - Zayn said, showing me the screen of his phone.

"Can we not do this now?" - I groaned, pushing his phone away from me. - "We have class in fifteen minutes."

"We're totally doing this now. First chat, everyone listen up." - Zayn said. - "His name is Junior. He says." - Zayn cleared his throat and started speaking in an exaggerated tone. - "Hello Harry, you seem lovely, I'd love to join you for your prom, it's such an important event. My services usually costs eighty dollars an hour. How many hours do you think it'll be?"

"He's an asshole." - Roman said.

"I don't like the name Junior." - Niall commented.

"Eighty an hour? Who does he think he is?" - Liam said.

"Guys, I think I'm going to start working on that website." - Roman spoke at the same time as the rest of them.

I only rolled my eyes, reaching for Zayn's phone and deleting the chat with Junior, also cancelling him from the list of candidates.

"Okay, I take that as a no." - Zayn laughed. - "Next one, guys?"

"Yeah!" - All of them shouted.

I could see Liam already picking up his things and motioning us to start walking back to school so we wouldn't miss the next class, while Zayn read the next chat.

We all followed him, listening to Zayn.

"This is from Nate. Nate is twenty and he says: Harry, it's nice to see another white guy from Atlanta!"

"Wait, white guy?!" - Liam asked, stopping all of us from walking.

"He's fucking racist!" - I said.

"Yeah, sorry for messaging this asshole." - Zayn said, quickly typing something and deleting the conversation. - "There. I sent him to fuck himself."

"Good. Next one, Z." - Niall said and Zayn hummed.

"Oh, this is the fun guy." - He laughed, staring at his phone.

"Oh no. He's stupid." - I groaned.

"Who?" - Roman asked.

"Louis it's his name. He had a really funny bio. Okay, so he says: What are we betting?"

"What?" - Niall asked, all of us frowning in confusion.

"Oh, because I told him I bet it's a lie you can play piano!"

"Oh right, the two truths one lie thing." - I said.

"So, he didn't went straight to the fees nor he's racist." - Niall said. - "He's the best one so far."

"He's still stupid." - I huffed.

"You don't know him." - Ed said.

"Still." - I shrugged.

"I say we should give this one a chance. Zayn, answer the guy." - Roman said.

"On it."

I rolled my eyes, walking ahead of them and ignoring whatever shit they were saying.
Stepping into the halls of my school again, I quickly found my next class and forgot about my stupid friends.

I could deal with them later.

🌻

Later that day, I was laying down in my bed, my laptop settled over my stomach and my neck bended forward to be able to see the screen, as I read over and over again some blog about the people who actually used the Rent a Date website.

Most of the people were just explaining their one time experiences with renting. But there were also a few of them that actually used it regularly, with the hope of finding love or maybe just because they needed a permanent partner for social events.

I just can't imagine paying a guy more than once to be my plus one at parties.
How much of a loser you have to be?

The experiences were all positive though. Nobody ended up murdered by using the site, so that was a relief.

Knowing I had already accepted doing it, and staring at the purple suit hanging outside my closet, I decided to log in the website and 'cooperate' -as Zayn put it- with the process.

Because if I was doing it, at least I wanted to get an opinion about my candidates.
Not leaving all to my friends would be nice for a change.

First thing I saw once I got in was that I had three unopened chats.
One of them was from Elliott.

As I was opening it, I noticed Zayn had chatted with the guy earlier today.
The conversation went something like this.

Hey there Harry! Great pfp, sexy af.
First time here, huh?

Thanks!
And yes, Only looking for someone to invite to prom if I'm being honest.

Prom?! Omg, love that.

Really? That's good. I was wondering if you'd like to join me.

I almost puked when reading the whole conversation.
Even more with Zayn's texts pretending to be me.
Why is he speaking like that? Do I speak like that?

But that wasn't the end, the last unread message was Elliot's response that said:

Only if I can join you for the after-party too 🍆💧.

That was it.
Cancelled.

Why can't guys be normal in this web?!

I deleted Elliot's profile from my list of candidates and opened the second unread chat.

Steve's chat was empty except for one message.
That meant Zayn hadn't texted him before. Not even a greeting.

Harry Styles, such a powerful name for someone as young as you are.
I saw you added me, but you didn't have the courage to text me?
Let me say, I've been wanting to hear from you since you added me to your list. I'm intrigued, what brought you to this platform?

I decided to answer the guy.
He didn't seem too bad yet, did he?

Hey there, Steve.
Thank you for reaching out to me.
You could say that I'm still a bit nervous about this whole renting people thing, sorry.
What brought me here? My friends mostly, they're insisting I should get a date for Prom.

Yes, that would do.

I pressed send and closed his chat, feeling a little better with myself.

Well done, Harry, gold star for you.
Maybe this site isn't as bad as it looked at the beginning.

I hummed to myself, slowly warming up to the idea of at least chatting with these people to see if I liked any of them.

The last unopened chat was from the stupid guy with the dumb biography, aka Louis.
I went through the whole conversation he had with Zayn, a little surprised by how long it already was.

I bet the lie is that you can play piano.

What are we betting?

If I'm right, you'd have to get me a discount on your services.

And if you're wrong?

You play piano for me.

I don't believe that's fair. You're winning something either way. Already trying to cheat me, Harry Styles?

Oops, you caught me.

Funny. But you'll see, you're wrong. I do play piano, my mother says I'm the next Chopin.

Your mother is lying to you.

Probably. But a guy can dream. Right?

So which one was the lie then?

Dogs are my favorite pets. I also love the doggy position if it counts for something.

Wow, bold one, mate.

Sorry, too soon? Was a joke. Idk if you could tell.

Not a great one. But I laughed, so it's fine.

I made you laugh? Yes! My only goal in this life is to make cute guys like you laugh.

Then try your best, because I'm looking for a guy who can make me laugh.

Looks like you found yourself a match.
I'll try my hardest.

I'll be waiting.

What do you call an old snowman?

That was the last message.
Guess Zayn went inactive after school.

The whole conversation was just weird. It made me feel really uncomfortable and awkward knowing Zayn was actually speaking for me to this guy.

They didn't even mention the prom or the fees, or anything that had to do with this site or the renting at all.

I frowned, typing a response to the guy, noticing he was online at the moment.

Idk, how?

Water!

I snorted.
If he was trying his best, he really needed to step up his game.

Awful joke.
Try harder.

Tough public, I see.
How many tickles does it take to get an octopus to laugh?

Idk, how many?

Ten tickles.

…

Oh, c'mon, it's funny.

It's stupid.

I bet you laughed and you're only trying to make me sad.
Are you trying to make me sad, Harry? :(

Maybe. Do you have more (better) jokes?

Plenty.
Why did the sperm cross the road?

Oh no. Why?

Because I put on the wrong sock this morning.

And if I have to admit it, I laughed.
Cackled even.

Biting my lip to stop myself from smiling, I straightened up in bed, sitting with my back against the headboard, placing my laptop on my lap and typing a response to Louis.

Okay, I might have laughed.

I'll take that as a win then ;)

Think more jokes for next time.

It's going to be a next time?

Chatting? yes.
You still haven't told me about the prices of your services.
Isn't that why are we here?

Idk, is it? I was just trying to make a cute guy laugh.
Besides, services? That sounds so cold.
I like to think of my job as a way to make others happy, to have fun (even at funerals if that's the kind of event you need me to) and be the best company for whoever it's on the other side of the profile.

Funerals? Really? Do people actually hire you for funerals?

It happened once so far. Loved the flowers.

That's so weird.

I don't judge. So, what's your event?

Prom.

Well, that's a fun one.

Maybe, at least if you want to go.
Not my case, though.

Why not?

I didn't have a date and I don't want to look like a loser.

Well, but you're trying to solve that, right? Though, I can't promise you you won't look like a loser by my side. I mean, I'm quite a loser myself, you could catch it by standing too close.

Is this your way of convincing me not to hire you?

I'm just using reverse psychology. Is it working?

I laughed as I read his response.
I thought for a second before answering.

Idk. First things first. What are your fees?

I'm not doing this for the money, so my prices aren't high. For you, $15 an hour.
And as I said in my bio, if you don't have fun with me, I'll return your money.

That's… suspicious.

Okay, true.
I'm going to be completely honest then.
I'm a serial killer, I will take all your money once I murder you, so yeah.

And you believe you're funny?

Why are you so mean? Seriously. You're just trying to make me sad.

Sorry :(

I was kidding, Harry. All good.

So, why only $15?

I don't want this to make you feel like you're hiring someone.
You're young and you deserve to spend the greatest night of your teenage life with a person you trust and consider a friend, not someone who's only borrowing their services.
I usually put higher fees for older men who only want companions, but I understand that your case is different.
I don't even know why, it just makes sense in my head.

I smiled fondly at my screen, feeling a warm sensation of comfort inside my chest.
He was thoughtful, I'll give him that.

So, no serial killer?

Hahaha, no. No serial killer.

Thank you.

You're welcome.
Hey Harry?

What?

What does the receptionist at a sperm bank say as clients leave?

Oh no. I don't even want to ask.

'Thanks for coming!' 😂

Okay, he made me laugh once again.
Actually, I laughed so hard I must have scared my mother because seconds later she knocked on my door to check on me.

"Everything alright, dear?" - She frowned from the frame door.

"Yes, mom. Sorry." - I giggled, still staring at the stupid joke.

"What is so funny?" - She smiled.

"Just… a guy." - I shrugged, looking now at her.

She raised her eyebrows and smirked.

"A guy?"

"Yes…"

"From school?"

"Yeah." - I lied, lowering the screen of my laptop so she couldn't see the website.

"Alright, won't bother you. Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Okay, thanks mom."

She smiled and with a last nod she left the room.
I opened my laptop again, reading over the joke again and shaking my head amusedly.

I laughed.

Cute guy laughed? Guess I fulfilled my mission.

You did.

Nice. I can die in peace now.
Imma go say goodbye to my family then.

Ha. Ha.

My last wish is that my funeral is full of flowers.

What's with you and flowers?

I just love them. The different meanings, all the situations you can give them away, how they make the other person feel. There's at least one flower for every situation, it's a great way of communicating things.

Wow, really? I had no idea.

Yes. You can tell everything through only a flower.
Besides, their colors bring joy to people no matter their significance.

That's true.

You can even say you despise someone with a flower, you knew that?

No, I didn't.

It's my favorite hobby. I'm a bit of a flower freak.

Only a bit? :)

Ha. Ha.
I'm already thinking which flower could be great for your prom.

Which one?

You'll see it when I'll give it to you, cute guy.

You're not invited.

Yet :)

Ha. Ha.

🌻