•Tyler•

         Friday rolls around before any of us realize, and I find myself in front of my bathroom mirror getting ready to take Jenna out to dinner. I button the last button on my blue shirt, run a comb through my hair, and tie my floral vans. My phone reads five fifty as I go to Jenna's text thread.

    "You ready?" I text.

   "Yes," she replies. 

  "Good. See you soon." 

  I do one last once-over in the mirror, then bound up the stairs and toward the front door. "Have fun!" Mom calls from the kitchen before I run outside. 

   "Thanks!" I exit the house and skip to my car, a buzzing energy filling my body. My stomach squirms in excitement. Our second official date. I hope the voices in my head will shut up long enough for me to enjoy it.

    Think again. 

    I hit my head against the steering wheel, then try to occupy my mind with thoughts of Jenna. She keeps the others quiet. I pull out of my driveway and drive down the street where I see the beautiful blonde already waiting on her porch. I step out and open her door, marvelling at the bright, yellow dress she's wearing. A smile spreads across my face when I see the sunhat I bought for her sitting lopsided on her head.
   "So, where are you taking us?" she asks as I pull out of her driveway. 
   "Should I tell you or leave it as a surprise?" I ask, thinking out loud. 
    Jenna is quiet for a moment. "Surprise me," she finally says.
      I grin and take the route that brings us into the heart of Columbus minutes later. Taking a few side streets, I drive downtown until park in front of a brick building, its neon sign illuminating the sidewalk and the buildings around it. 
    "Olive Garden?" Jenna asks. "Nice." 
   "I hope you like it," I state, shrugging. 
   "It's perfect. I've never been here before, but I've heard the food is good." 
   We climb out of my car, walking toward the entrance. I take Jenna's hand, entwining my fingers with hers as I use my other to open and hold the door for her. 
   "Table for two," I tell the waiter before he leads us to our seats. He hands us two menus and scribbles down drink orders on a notepad. I squint at his name tag. His name is Al. 
   "I'll give you guys a few minutes to order," Al says, leaving to serve other customers. I watch Jenna's eyes skimming over her menu before I snap out of my daze and turn to my own. 
   "Spaghetti sounds good to me," Jenna says. "I bet it's ten times better than the radioactive worms that they serve in the cafeteria." She glances up at me from her menu. "What are you ordering?"
   I don't have the heart to tell her that my demons are devouring my appetite. Instead, I glance at the menu. "I might get some fettuccine Alfredo."
   She nods just as I see Al the waiter returning with a basket of bread sticks. He stops at our table and sets the basket between us, then takes out a notepad, his mousse-greased hair catching the light as he tilts his head toward the paper. "What'll it be for you two?"
   Jenna glances at me, then up at Al. "I'll take some spaghetti."
    Al turns to me. "I'll have some fettuccine," I recite.
   "Will that be all for you guys tonight?"
   Jenna and I look at each other, then both nod in unison. Al leaves us to place the orders and get us drinks.
   "So." Jenna leans forward as I reach for a bread stick and start to nibble on one end. I raise my eyebrows for her to continue. "I seem to know so much about you, but I'm obligated to ask you your darkest secret." She squints her eyes in a teasing way, giving her a cat-like look.
   "Um....okay?" I agree awkwardly.
   She giggles, making my heart sing. "What's your favorite color?" She whispers.
   I smirk, playing along. "I'll never tell!" I exclaim dramatically.
   "C'mon, please?" she begs with puppy dog eyes.
   I lean across the table, sure that anyone watching us must think we're crazy. "You're my favorite color."
   She slaps my hand. Swat. "Seriously! I want to know!"
   I grin. "Blue. What about you?"
   "I like pink and yellow a lot," she states.
   I laugh. "I can tell." I gesture to her yellow dress and the pink locket fastened around her neck. Her laughter meets mine.
   Al brings us our food within minutes, and we soon start to eat. "Guess what holiday is coming up?" I ask Jenna in between bites.
   She raises her eyebrows. "What?"
   "Halloween."
   She sets down her fork and tries to stifle a laugh. "You still dress up?"
    "Yep."
    "Why?"
    I shrug. "It's the one day I can put on a mask a get away with it."
   Her face morphs into a suspicious look, her eyes trying to see through my clouded thoughts. "You haven't been wearing masks around me, have you?"
    My body tenses, then I sigh. "I've been trying not to since you want to help me."
   "Well of course I want to help you," she proclaims. I wince.
   "Could we just...could we change subjects? Please?" I drum my fingers and bounce one of my legs up and down.

   Great, you've said the wrong thing as usual.

   Jenna's face softens. "Sure, of course. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable."
   I run a hand through my hair. "No, you didn't. I just don't like talking about stuff like this in public."
   She touches my hand lightly. "I understand." She's quiet for a moment. "So, who are you dressing as for Halloween?"
   "I don't actually know yet," I say.
   "You, Josh, and me should do a group costume."
   I cock my head. "I kind of like the sound of that, actually."
   Jenna starts to rattle off costume ideas, as if she's had this planned all along (even though I was the one to bring up Halloween), which is kind of cute. I grin as I think about the three of us seniors dressing up and going out for Halloween. Thoughts for my costume sprint through my head. 
   "Would Mark want to come with us?" Jenna asks. 
   "I don't think he's really into trick-or-treating anymore. But we could take Jay and Maddie, being that they're only seven and eleven," I venture. 
   She pauses to consider this. "Well, we have a few weeks to plan."
   "Yeah. Now, to figure out what to go as..." We both sit in quiet thought. "Oh well, we have at least a month to think about it."
    "Yeah." We both turn back to our food, eating quietly. I've always found it intriguing that the human body needs at least three meals a day to function correctly. That's a lot of food, if you think about it.
   "So Jenna...," I start to say, but trail off when I see her staring straight ahead, her face as white as a sheet adorned with an expression of utter shock. "Um...what's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost."
   "Um, I have to go to the bathroom." She jumps up from the table and breaks her gaze with whatever was behind me before I could turn around to identify it.
  I rise from my chair and reach for her. "Are you feeling sick? Do you need anything?"
  "N-No. Just...keep eating."
    I give her a confused look, then reluctantly sit down as she rushes down the aisle of tables toward the bathroom in the back. I rack my brains in trying to figure out what might've scared her so much.

                •Jenna•
     I splash cold water on my face and look in the mirror, trying to slow my breathing down. I swear, he's stalking me. The black haired boy was sitting four tables behind us. Alone. Watching us.
   Tyler noticed that something was wrong; I could see it on his face. I just don't want to add to his pile of worries about his band and school. He'll try figuring out who the boy is and might cause trouble.
   The only accurate excuse I can compose is the "my period suddenly started" excuse or the "I'm not feeling good" excuse.
    "Pull yourself together," I hiss to my reflection. "This is a date. You're supposed to be enjoying it. The other boy probably showed up out of sheer coincidence." I inhale deeply one final time before checking my hair and striding out of the bathroom.
   I return to a very concerned Tyler. His brow furrows in worry as I slide back into my seat.
    "Are you okay!?" he frets after I pick up my fork again.
    I nod. "I wasn't feeling very good. Sorry."
   Tyler grabs my hand and massages it with his thumb. "Don't be. Do we need to leave? I'm fine if we do."
   I risk a quick glance over his shoulder to the boy beyond, his attention focused now on the food in front of him.
   "No, no, I'm fine now."
   "Are you sure?" Tyler persists.
   I nod, then take a bite of my food, which is now slightly cold. Tyler watches me chew, his hand still grasping mine across the table. "It's not the food, is it?"
   I shake my head and swallow, despite the lump in my throat. "I don't think so. I mean, I did feel a little nauseous, but the wave passed." That part is true. Seeing the boy did make me feel sick to my stomach.
   "Okay, we can stay," Tyler says reluctantly. "But we'll leave if you start feeling like that again. I don't want you getting sick from the food."
   "Okay." I watch Tyler pick at his Alfredo before turning back to my spaghetti. Twirling a noodle on my fork, I think of ways to lighten the mood. The spaghetti suddenly brings back a childhood memory. "I remember when I was little, Brennan told me that spaghetti noodles were really worms that would start squirming in your stomach after you ate them because they wanted out. He told me 'They'll start yelling 'set me free!' if you listen careful enough.' I didn't know that the discomfort was coming from stomach gas."
    Tyler chuckles. "I guess the spaghetti really is radioactive." He pauses for a moment, looking lost in thought. "When I was little, I would use a big stick to smack leaves off of trees and yell,'Quit hitting yourself!'"
   "Why does that sound like something I would do?" I chortle.
    Tyler catches his breath, visibly loosening up again. "Okay, here's another one." I lean forward in interest. "He was named 'Batman' because bats were his biggest fear. So if I fought crime that would make me either 'Salad Man' or 'Heavy Door Man.'"
    This time, I laugh until I snort. My hand darts for a napkin as I cover my mouth in embarrassment.
   "Oh my gosh, the snort mixed in with your laugh is adorable," Tyler says, laughing himself.
    I blush. "I don't like it."
   "I do," he counters. "Keep the snort."
   We laugh until I almost forget about the black-haired boy sitting four tables away. I don't notice him watching me again until we rise to leave. Tyler escorts me to his car after we pay as we laugh about other silly things we've done as children.
    "Thanks for taking me tonight. I had fun," I tell Tyler when we reach his car.
   "I enjoyed it, too. How are you feeling?"
   I cock my head. "A little better. The worms are starting to squirm in my stomach, though." We both giggle.
   "Will this help you feel better?" Tyler kisses me tenderly. I pull away too quickly, making it awkward.
   "Sorry. I'm still getting a hang of the whole kissing thing." I wring my hands.
   Tyler smirks. "You're getting better."  He opens my car door for me, then climbs into his side and starts the engine. My eyelids start to droop after about ten minutes, causing me lean against the window as Tyler cruises down the road.
   "Don't worry," he whispers when he glances in my direction. "I'll just avoid the holes so you sleep fine."
   His soft singing filling the cab is the last thing I hear before drifting off, making me fall asleep with a smile on my face.