Time seemed to slow down as Anya looked around the cafeteria helplessly, feeling the slow burn of embarrassment on her cheeks.

Students seated around her were snickering, and every laugh felt like a stab to her.

"Anya! Oh my god, are you okay?" Faith ran up to her, concern written all over her face. She reached out and shook Anya by the shoulders. "Are you hurt?"

She winced. "No, but if you keep shaking me like that, I sure as hell will be."

Faith dropped her hands immediately. "Sorry. I was just worried."

Anya looked down at herself. Her clothes were ruined, every inch of her covered with spaghetti. Thankfully, her tea had only spilled onto her arm, but the skin there had turned red.

Her eyes travelled down from her arm and she realized that Aiden was still holding her hand. Lifting her head, she raised an eyebrow at him, and pink spots appeared on his cheeks as he let go of her.

Faith began talking to her again. "How did you fall? Was it because your shoelaces were untied? If that's the reason for all this, then I swear to God, Anya, I-"

"Stop," Anya interrupted. "Stop talking. It's alright. All I need to do is change into clean clothes and I'll be fine."

"Okay," Faith frowned uncertainly. "You can borrow a tee shirt from my locker, but I need to get going- Mrs. Price wants to talk to me about something."

Anya's eyes rounded. "You were called to the principal's office? What did you do?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Nothing. I have no idea why I've been called. Will you be alright without my help, though?"

"I'll be with her," Aiden volunteered quietly. "I'll make sure she's alright."

Anya only stared at him. It was the first thing he had said after his teasing comment about her shoelaces. Faith, on the other hand, beamed as she glanced between the two.

"Great," she chirped. "I'll see you guys later." She tossed them a smile before skipping away in the direction of the principal's office.

Aiden tugged at her hand. "Let's go."

After they had picked up the clothes from Faith's locker, Anya instructed Aiden to stay put as she headed to change.

She slipped into the girl's bathroom, which was thankfully vacant. She really didn't need a bunch of girls staring at her right now.

She turned on the tap and splashed water on her face repeatedly, sighing in relief as she washed the gunk off her face. Once her face and arms were clean of all food, she directed her attention towards her clothes. Her top was most definitely ruined, but there was still hope for her jeans.

She quickly locked herself in a stall. Her top covered her hands in spaghetti sauce once again, so she dropped it to the floor in disgust. Much to her relief, there wasn't a lot of damage done to her skin, so she slid into Faith's top and smoothed it down.

She let herself out and washed her hands again, then attempted to rinse the food out of her hair. When she was satisfied that she was as clean as she could get, she stared at herself in the large mirror over the sinks.

She was wearing a deep blue tee shirt that belonged to Faith, which read "Your only limit is you". Anya rolled her eyes; her best friend was crazy for motivational quotes. She had tied her brown jacket around her waist to hide the food stains on her jeans, and let her damp and curling locks loose. She nodded with approval and turned to leave.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Aiden was leaning against the wall outside. He pushed himself off it when he saw her, and tossed her a smirk. "Look at you, you clean up pretty well," he teased.

Anya shoved him gently. "Shut up, Aiden."

"What? No 'Clearwater' now? Did you give up so easily on that whole nicknames thing, Brooks?" He chuckled.

"You're not worth the effort that's needed to think up nicknames," she joked.

"Ouch," Aiden feigned hurt, putting a hand over his heart. "I thought we had something between us, Brooks. I'm offended."

She swatted at his arm. "Save the drama."

But he continued to rant, "I thought we were like two peas in a pod. Anya and Aiden. Aiden and Anya. Brooks and Clearwater-" he broke off, a broad smile on his face. "Hey! We can be Brookwater."

Anya snorted. "That is so not happening."

He instantly went back to pretending to be hurt. "But Anya," he whined, stretching the a in her name. "I thought we were past that awkward stage in our friendship and were on nicknames now. You know what I mean. What would you prefer to be called? Cupcake? Muffin? Kitty? Sw-"

"Aiden Whatever-your-middle-name-is Clearwater!" She cut him off loudly. "Do you have a point here, or can I head to class now?"

"Actually, I did have one," he said, sobering immediately. He tilted his face to the side and studied her. "What would you say to going on a date with me?"

"A w-what?" She stammered, blushing and caught off-guard.

"A date. You know, we can go get some ice cream tomorrow after school. Just the two of us."

"Um, okay. Sure," she smiled tentatively.

"That's good," he grinned, clearly relieved. "So you can go home and get ready once school is over, and I'll come by in an hour?"

"Sounds awesome."

"I'll see you later, then," he turned to leave. She watched him stroll down the hallway, fighting the urge to dance with happiness.

"Oh, and Anya?" He called over his shoulder just as he reached the end of the almost-abandoned hallway.

She bit her lip. "Yeah?"

"My middle name is Everett." He winked at her and disappeared round the corner.

******

"I'm telling you, hon, you've got yourself the catch of the century here," Faith squealed.

"For the millionth time, stop saying that, Faith," Anya groaned, picking up a dark red dress and holding it against herself. "How does this one look?"

The two girls were at the mall, shopping for the perfect outfit for Anya's date.

"No, no, no!" Faith said, wrinkling her nose. "That one's too formal. We need something fun, flirty and casual, something that says 'I'm ready to go out under the sun and have some ice cream with a gorgeous boy". Besides, you need a day outfit, not a night one."

"Fine," Anya said, abandoning the dress. "But don't forget that winter's almost here, and I don't want to be shivering the whole time."

"Ah, but the key word there is almost," Faith grinned. "It's not winter yet, which means you don't have the luxury of putting on multiple warm layers and getting away with it."

"Okay, okay," Anya sighed. "You pick something out for me, then."

Faith nodded and began rifling through a rack of clothes behind her. "So, how are you planning to charm the hottie on your date?"

Anya frowned, worrying her lower lip. "I don't know. It was kind of a spontaneous decision. I didn't really think of it; all I know is that it's an opportunity to finally try to move on from-"

"-Zayan. Yes, I know," Faith sighed. "Don't worry, hon, whether your date goes well or not, we'll definitely get Aiden to fall head-over-heels for your look."

Anya laughed and shook her head. "You're unbelievable."

"Thank you, " Faith beamed at her. She pulled out something from the clothes rack she was looking through and tossed it to Anya, who caught it deftly. "How about this one?"

She looked down at the silky piece of fabric in her hands. "Are you sure? It looks pretty simple."

"Just try it on, will you?"

Still dubious, Anya went into the changing room and shut the door. "So how's it going with you and Ethan?" She called over the door to Faith, while discarding her clothes and slipping into the new garment.

"It's not. I haven't even gathered the courage to speak to him yet, let alone be friends with him."

"Hey, it's alright. I'm sure you'll get there," Anya soothed, struggling with the side zipper of the dress.

"But how?" Her friend almost whined. "I would love to talk to him now, then gradually go on dates, then get married and have a zillion babies once we grow up, and then grow old together. But he's just so damn cute that everytime I look into his hazel eyes I forget how to speak english!"

Anya laughed at her friend's little outburst. "Yeah, I don't-"

She stopped short and stared at herself in the mirror, finally seeing how the outfit looked on her.

The dress was sleeveless, a lovely shade of baby pink. It clung to her slender frame, and flared out from the waist. It was simple, casual and yet incredibly pretty and cute.

"Anya? Hey, Anya? You still in there?"

Wordlessly, she opened the door and moved to stand before Faith, whose eyes promptly widened.

"Oh, wow," she breathed, "You look so pretty, An."

Anya broke into a big smile, and twirled around. "I love it."

Faith flashed her pearly white teeth. "Wait till tomorrow, An, you're going to knock him dead."

******

"Alright," Faith instructed. "You need to up your game if you want a second date."

They had picked up the dress and were now on their way home, after deciding to pair the dress with a denim jacket, white sneakers, white sling bag and a cute little pendant with an arrow on it. The arrow had been Faith's idea- for some unknown reason she was crazy for that particular symbol.

"No!" Anya protested. "There's nothing wrong with my date strategy."

"Oh, the one where you simply go on the date and 'try' to have a good time?" Faith rolled her eyes. "No pain, no gain, girlfriend! First things first: you, my friend, need to flirt."

"And you have some tips for me?" Anya asked, amused. "This is coming from the girl who can't pick up the courage to talk to her crush."

Her friend scowled at that. "Hey, leave my love life out of this. Do you want my help or not?"

"Yes, ofcourse," Anya said quickly. "Go ahead."

"Okay, good. The first thing you need to do is know your pick-up lines."

"Oh, no way. That is not going to happen."

"Why not? Pick-up lines are a great way to flirt, and sometimes they get so silly that they can serve as an ice breaker for those awkward moments."

"Alright," Anya sighed, gesturing for Faith to go on. "Get on with it, then."

How did you react to Aiden asking Anya out? Confession: I loved writing that part! Aiden is just TOO cute! Do you agree? Or do you not like Aiden?

Thank you all for the views and votes! For all those silent readers out there, I'd love if you would take a second to vote or comment because I love you guys and would love to know what you think :)

As always, I'd like to remind my readers who have been here from the start to vote and comment as well if you like the story so far ❤ it would make me so, so happy!

Finally, here's a picture of Anya's outfit for her date with Aiden (comment and let me know if you like it!):

What's your top tip for a first date?