Tyler

"Do you really think Jenna liked having lunch with us the other day?" I ask Josh from his living room couch.

No. You probably creeped her out. She probably can't sleep at night now that she knows that you know where she lives.

"Of course she did! Didn't you see how happy she was?" my buddy replies from his kitchen stove. He flips a pancake in its sizzling pan.

"I just hope I didn't freak her out or anything." I play with the corner of my plastic phone case.

"We probably did at first, but I think she ended up enjoying herself. Why are you worrying so much about this, anyways?" Josh slides the pancake onto a plate. I stand up and walk into the kitchen, taking a seat at the island. I pull some silverware and glasses out of a drawer and set them on the counter.

"Well, I want to see her again really badly, but I don't want to creep her out or anything."

"Well...you got her number, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but--"

"Why don't you just send her a text, then?"

"I don't--because--well--"

Josh looks at me. "Dude, you're overthinking this. It's just a girl."

"Just a girl!? Jenna is so much more than just a girl!"

Josh sets the plates, a bottle of syrup, and a carton of orange juice on the counter. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow. "You're making this way harder than it is."

"No I'm not! This is something I should be rationally nervous about!"

He rolls his eyes. "If you won't do it, then I will." His hands dart out and grab my phone.

I cross my arms. "Pfft. Like you know my password."

"Dude it's just 120188, your birthday." He holds the phone above his head and types in the pin."

I jump off the stool. "Gimme that!"

He holds it out of my reach, running through the living room. "No!" I see him going through my contacts list. "J...J...J...where's the Js?"

I lunge for the phone, and that's when he runs down the hall. He slides into the bathroom and locks the door before I can catch him.

"JOSHUA WILLIAM DUN, YOU GIVE ME MY PHONE BACK RIGHT NOW, YOU HEAR ME!!!??" I pound on the door.

He opens the door. "Fine. Here." He hands the phone back to me calmly.

I snatch it from him and open my text messages. Jenna read the message that Josh sent. Great.

Hey, this is Tyler, Josh had typed. I was wondering if you wanted to meet up somewhere this afternoon?

"This afternoon!? Josh! We have rehearsal this afternoon!"

"I don't mind rescheduling," he replies coolly. My attention snaps back to my screen when the three gray loading bubbles pop up.

Jenna: Sure, I'd love to! :) What do you have in mind?

"Oh gosh, she replied!" I cry.

Josh reads over my shoulder. "Aww, she sent a smiley face! That's a good sign. Tell her a walk in the park."

My brows furrow. "What?"

"Yeah, say you want to take her on a walk in the park. It's a good way of catching up."

"Um...okay."

Me: How about a walk in the nearby park, and maybe some food afterward? I'll pick you up.

Jenna: Great! What time should you be here?

Me: About noon?

Jenna: Great! See you then! :)

Josh claps me on the shoulder. "See? You got a date. Now, was that so hard?"

I hang my head sheepishly. "I guess I was making it harder than it really was. And it's not a date!"

"Oh, sureeeee." He smirks. "Now, since we finally got that out of the way, can we eat?"

I roll my eyes. "Yes, we can."

We dig into our pancakes and orange juice before they lose their temperature. I only manage to eat one pancake due to the increase of the swarm of butterflies in my stomach. I hope my "date" with Jenna goes well.

      Jenna

I stand in front of my bathroom mirror, combing through my hair for the fiftieth time. I wasn't expecting Tyler to ask me on a date. Or is this a date? I haven't been on one in so long that I don't know what makes something a date or not a date.

Well, date or no date, I'm going to treat it like one. I touch up my mascara and lipstick, then smooth out my yellow sundress. I check the time on my phone. 11:55.

Nervously playing with my locket, I walk into the kitchen and wait by my door with my purse. I breathe into my hand, then wrinkle my nose.

"Ugh, my breath is awful," I mutter, running back to the bathroom. I open my cabinet and retrieve my mouthwash. And that's when I hear a knock on my door.

I look at my reflection with wide eyes, then grab the bottle and run into the kitchen, the mouthwash burning the inside of my mouth as I make my way to the sink. I rinse out my mouth and leave the bottle on my counter.

I whip the door open and smile at Tyler, totally not worrying about whether he can see the open bottle of Listerine sitting on the counter or smell my minty-fresh breath from where he's standing.

He lets out a sigh of relief. "For a second, I thought I was knocking on the wrong door. That would've been awkward."

I laugh. "No, you got it right."

"So...are you ready to go?" he asks.

I fiddle with the strap on my purse. "Uh...yeah."

He grins. "Great." Arm-in-arm, we walk down the complex's stairs and out to the parking lot.

"Did you rent a car, or..." I start to ask.

"Josh let me borrow his," he replies. He leads us to a sleek, gray car, opening the passenger door just like he always used to when we were dating in high school. I smile at the memory.

Tyler studies me after he climbs in. "What?"

I shake my head. "Nothing. You just opened the door for me, that's all."

"Yeah...that's how I was raised. You treat the lady like a queen." He backs out of the parking space as I blush.

"So...you don't still have your old red car from high school, do you?" I ask.

He laughs. "No, I got rid of that a long time ago. It was time for an upgrade." He turns down a street, the park straight ahead. He pulls into a parking space and turns the car off.

"Well...that was a short drive."

"Yeah, it was." We both open the doors and climb out, a hot August breeze hitting us roughly. The park is fairly empty being how warm it is. Looks like we have it to ourselves.

"So...I hope this has a good walking path. I should've done my research before taking you here," Tyler admits, blushing.

I chuckle at his awkwardness before replying. "Yes, I've been here before. There's a good walking path."

"Good."

I lead him over to the concrete path, and we start walking. We walk in silence for a few minutes, Tyler staring at his feet and kicking at rocks while I look up and admire my surroundings.

"So...how's life?" Tyler asks. I can tell he's struggling with the small talk, so I take over.

"Good," I reply. "Do you want to play 20 questions?"

He sighs in relief. "Okay. That may be able to relieve some of the awkwardness here."

I grin. "I'll start." I think for a moment. "What was the last thing you ate?"

Tyler looks up in thought, biting his lip cutely in the process. "Josh made pancakes this morning. So pancakes, syrup, and orange juice."

"Nice. I had cereal being the broke young adult that I am. Okay, next question. What's the best gift you've ever received and why was it the best?" (ya'll can answer these questions in the comments if you want to lol)

"My keyboard," he instantly replies. "My mom gave me a keyboard for Christmas one year and that's kind of how my whole music career got started. Without it, I don't know where I'd be right now. What was yours?"

"Probably my first ever camera, which was just one of those rectangle ones about the size of a deck of cards. My parents got me one for my birthday one year and I wore that thing out. That was also probably the turning point of my career," I reply. He chuckles. "Okay...who do you call when you're upset?"

"Normally Josh, but sometimes I just keep it to myself. But if Josh thinks something is up, he'll force it out of me. You?"

"Well, before Brett died, I would talk to him, and after that, I'd talk to you, but now...I don't really have anyone. I mean, sometimes I'll call my mom or my sisters, but not that often."

He frowns. "That makes me sad. If you ever need to talk, I'm here to listen."

I smile. "Okay. So...what's your least favorite fruit?"

"Bananas," he replies almost immediately. "They're abominations to the fruit kingdom."

"Um...I'm actually not sure what mine would be. I like a lot of fruits. I'd probably have to say grapefruits though because they're just so salty."

"I know right!? Like, what's grapefruit's problem??? Why can't it be sweet like all of the other fruits?"

"That and lemons and limes," I reply.

"Maybe there was a war between the fruits and the lemons, limes, and grapefruits all lost and united, vowing to make the lives of humans miserable by tainting their mouths with salt and sourness," Tyler says intensely.

I laugh. "You have such the imagination. Okay...what do you do when you're mad?"

"Mmmm....punch something and then write a song, then rip up the song because it would probably sound like crap."

"I bet it would be a good song. You should keep one and let me hear it. Let's see...I'd probably yell at someone and then cry."

"At least you're not punching anything."

I tip my head at him. "True. Let's see...favorite actor?"

"Jason Statham."

"Wow. I'm honestly surprised you didn't say Will Smith."

"No, that's Josh's favorite. Let me guess, your favorite actor is Ryan Gosling?" he teases.

"Pfft, no."

"Brad Pitt?"

"No."

"Chris Hemsworth?"

"Why do you keep guessing all of the hot guys!?" I ask, laughing. "My favorite actor is Jennifer Lawrence."

He pauses. "Really? Why her?"

"She puts her heart into acting and is nothing but raw emotions. It's like she becomes the character. She did a great job in The Hunger Games."

"You make a good point."

We continue to walk and ask questions until Tyler gets down to the last few that he's asking me. I have no clue how much time we've burned up, but it's been really fun.

"Okay, so did you run away from home when you were little?" Tyler asks.

"Nah. I was never that tired of my family. What about you."

He hangs his head and blushes. "Yeah, twice. The first time, I went to my treehouse, which you know is the first place my parents looked. The second time, I went to live at Josh's house in his closet, which is the second place my parents looked."

I laugh. "That's great. Would the Dun's have let you stay at their house?"

He shrugs. "Maybe to an extent. So...I probably already know the answer to this one, but what's your favorite accessory?"

"My locket," I answer automatically, my hand reaching upward to touch the smooth, pink glass.

He smiles. "Called it. I'd probably have to say my shoes, I guess. I mean, I'd have some bad foot problems without them. Okay, so do you prefer sweet or spicy food?"

"Sweet. I can't live without my chocolate and doughnuts."

"I honestly like spicy food. That's probably because I love Mexican restaurants. Okay, second-to-last question: Do you prefer the beach or the mountains?"

"Oh gosh, that's so hard!" I exclaim. I squeeze my eyes shut. "It would probably depend on the time of year. I think I'm going to have to go with the mountains, though, just because there's more to see there. But the beach comes in a very close second."

"I'd also have to say the mountains because of all of the trees and the pretty forests and whatnot."

"Not all mountains have trees," I state.

"True, but I like the ones that do."

"Didn't you say you had one more question?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, right!" Tyler stops in the middle of the path, facing me. He grabs my hands and looks me in the eyes. "I've been thinking really hard about this ever since you said you lost your job, and so I'm wondering: Do you want to work for us as the band's photographer?"

My eyes widen and my heart skips a beat. "Ph-photographer? For the band? Is this a joke."

He shakes his head, still keeping eye contact. "I mean, if you don't want to, I totally understand. It's up to you."

   I stop and think for a moment. He's offering me a dream job I've been wanting for a while. Sure, it's not for a magazine, but I still get to do what I love.

   A smile spreads across my face. "Of course, I'll work for you!"

He beams and hugs me tightly. "Great. Now, let's go get some food to celebrate." We sling our arms around each others' shoulders as we walk back down the path toward the car.