30 Days

V.

"She invited you out?"

"Yeah..."

"She did? Blanche did?"

"Yeah..."

"For... cake?"

Ashe gave his best friend an irritated look. "Do you have some comprehension problem I don't know about, Finn? I already told you everything, didn't I?"

Finn scowled at him. "I'm still mad you skipped class to sleep and made me look for you, you lazy moron."

"And I'm still mad at you for forcing me to come back to the classroom, you meddlesome i***t!"

"Lower your voice, geez! The teacher might hear us."

Their heads both turned at the same time to the teacher lecturing in front of the class. Fortunately, the teacher went on, undisturbed. And fortunately, the teacher was old and almost deaf so. They weren't the only people chatting. Most of their classmates were.

"Ashe..." Finn started again.

Ashe groaned as he planted his face back into his arms again. "Yeah?" he grumbled.

"I know you love cake but don't just focus on eating, alright? Remember what you're actually there for."

Ashe twisted his head to look at him. "For the cake?"

Finn looked like he wanted to throttle him. "No, you moron. For her. You've got to make her fall in love with you, remember?"

"Oh. Right."

"Don't just 'oh, right' me. Remember to show her your good points alright? You have to charm the socks off her and, if you must, amaze her with all your art stuff."

While his friend kept on hissing instructions at him, Ashe paid no heed and just closed his eyes. His dislike for this stupid punishment grew and he had a feeling Finn was only doing this because he knew Ashe didn't like it.

And why was Finn so adamant to make her fall in love with him?

*********

"Alright," Jill declared as she dumped the contents of her make-up bag onto the sink in the ladies' room. "Let's do this. "

"If you think I'm wearing all that crap, you've got another thing coming, Jill," Blanche told her friend, eyeing the assortment of tubes and compacts.

Jill put her hands on her hips and frowned at her. "You have to look at your best when you go out on a date, Blanche."

"It's not a date."

"It's so a date."

"And besides, we'll both be in our uniforms," Blanche pointed out as she leaned against the edge of the sink. "I'm going to look like an i***t with my face all dolled-up while wearing this."

"You've just insulted over half the population of girls in school."

"I'm only going to treat him to cake, Jill."

"Fine," Jill acquiesced with a scowl. "But at least wear lip gloss, alright? And can you please remove all those pencils in your hair and let me fix it for you?"

Blanche grinned, happy she got her way, and turned around.

"And don't play with my make-up again."

She immediately capped the lipstick she uncapped with the intention of drawing on the tile with it.

"Make sure you act all cutesy and stuff with him, alright?" Jill continued. "Keep smiling and don't talk too much. Let him talk about himself too. Guys like girls who listen and who aren't chatty."

"Speaking from experience?" Blanche teased with a grin.

Jill glared at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm serious, Blanche. This is your first date, after all."

"It's not a date."

"Whatever. Just make sure he falls in love with you before you finish all the cake."

Blanche let out a long sigh. Jill was making it seem so easy to make a person fall in love with her. Maybe she should really take this seriously so she could get this over and done with.

And why was Jill so adamant to make him fall in love with her?