chapter 6

Andrew's POV:

Asking Carmen out had to be one of the most nerve wrecking things I have ever done. I mean it wasn't like I asked her out on a date date, more of a 'please forgive me for being an ass and I want to make it up to you' type of thing. Right? The little voice on my head questioned. Ever since the night I danced with her at the party she hasn't left my head. I don't know why and it was frustrating me.  

It was like something happened that night that made a switch turn on inside of me. Carmen wouldn't leave my mind and I just kept picturing myself with her. That was definitely something I never have thought of before. I would find myself drifting off in class just thinking about what she would be doing right now, which in turn made me angry. I was not suppose to think like this.  

Carmen has always been this constant in my life. She has been here my entire life, always been around to see through the wall I put up around myself because of my parents. She never judged me but did make sure I was behaving. I have always thought of her as a little sister, or even sometimes Cris's annoying goody-too-shoes sister but even then I liked that about her. I liked how innocent and sweet she was...it was Carmen.  

But now here I am in my bedroom staring up at the ceiling trying to figure out why I was so nervous and awkward talking to her earlier. I mean come on it was me, I don't get nervous talking to girls. But with Carmen I was nervous that she wouldn't forgive me for what I did at the party and that she wouldn't let me take her out tomorrow. Me, Andrew Hawke, was scared that a girl wouldn't say yes to me asking her out.  

I could see Carmen's light blue eyes staring back at me shining as she said yes. Just thinking about her saying yes and accepting my apology made me heart soar. I was just glad she accepted my apology because I couldn't stand her being mad at me. All week we didn't say more than 2 words to each other, even when I was in college and she was still in high school we said more words than that. I think that was the push for me to try and get back in her good books. Why it mattered so much to me, I have no idea.  

The reason I chose tomorrow, Sunday, to take Carmen out was because I knew Cris would be busy. He told me earlier he was planning on staying in to study which was a perfect opportunity to take Carmen out without her brother knowing. Even though this wasn't a date, I knew he would be weird about it. I hadn't even realized until now how over protective each of us were towards Carmen.  

Sighing I broke out of my thoughts and looked over at the clock. It read 11:45 pm. I planned on taking Carmen out all day tomorrow so it would be wise for me to head to bed. Just thinking about all the things I had planned and imagining Carmen's face when she realizes it made me grin in the dark. My insides warmed thinking of Carmen as I got comfortable in bed. Tomorrow was going to be a great day even if I had no idea why I was nervous.  

Maybe a switch had been turned on inside of me.  

*****

Carmen's POV:  

If it wasn't for my alarm I probably would have never gotten up this morning. It took me forever to fall asleep last night because all I could think about was Andrew. I tossed and turned all night until around 5 o'clock sleep finally caught me. Everything about yesterday played in my mind like a movie on a repeat.  

I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep but the moment I remembered what today was I was immediately awake. I flung the covers off my body and in my rush to head to the bathroom my legs got tangled in the covers making me fall face first to the ground. I'm so graceful I tell you.  

Groaning I laid there waiting for the pain in my hands and knees to subside. While I laid there Mia came into my room an amused expression on her face. She leaned against the door frame and raised an eyebrow at me.  

"What happened to you?" She asked making me look up at her.  

"I fell."  

"I can see that."  

"You know helping me out would be great." I muttered sarcastically. 

"Eh you're good." She waved me off grinning. Huffing I got to work on untangling my legs.  

"Some friend you are." I said softly under my breath but I'm pretty sure she heard me. Once I was free I jumped up and practically ran to the bathroom to shower.  

"Why are you in such a rush?" Mia asked following after me.  

"I got that date with Andrew remember. Well not a date date but still!" I moved around the bathroom trying to figure what I'm doing.  

"Oh right! Do you know what you are doing?"  

"Not a clue but he did text me last night saying he'll be here around 9 or so to pick me up." From the corner of my eye I could see she had a huge grin on her face.  

"I am so happy for you. This is the perfect opportunity to see if he has any feelings for you and what not. Plus it sort of is a date in a way."  

"Wait it is?" I asked turning to face her.  

"Yeah I mean it is only you guys hanging out so technically it could be classified as a date." She pointed out. My eyes widened and my heart started to race.  

"It is a date. A DATE! Mia I didn't think it would be a date. What am I going to do, wear?!" I could feel myself starting to panic.  

"Carmen breathe." Mia grabbed my shoulders staring right at me. "Calm down. It is okay, it may not be a date. You are just two friends going to hang out, nothing serious." Her words did little to calm me but I nodded along with her. "All you have to worry about is looking fabulous. Go shower and I'll pick out your outfit okay?"  

"Okay. Okay that sounds good." I nodded. Just be calm Carmen. I chanted to myself. With a pat on my shoulders she turned and left me alone to shower.  

You are just over-reacting Carmen. Seriously calm down. It is just Andrew. Yeah Andrew who i've had a huge crush on forever, no big deal.  

Forcing myself to not think about it I undressed and hopped in the shower. I was on serious edge today when just a sentence can send me over. I needed to be calm and not let Andrew see how nervous I was. It was just a day out with a friend, that is all. With that in mind I pushed all of my feelings to the back of my mind and locked them up with a key. I shouldn't be acting this way in general.  

It only took me about 20 minutes in the shower to get everything done I needed to. With my hair washed and my legs shaved, because who knew what I was going to wear, I was out wrapping a towel around me. I wanted to look my best even if we were just going to a movie or something. But knowing Andrew we wouldn't be doing that.  

With a towel wrapped around me I headed back to my room. As expected my room was a mess. Standing in the middle of the mess was Mia with a proud look on her face.  

"Why does my room look like a tornado blew through it?" I asked coming to a stop at the edge of the pile of clothing.  

"I found the perfect outfit for you."  

"I didn't even know I had this much clothing."  

"Yeah, yeah whatever. Here go change!" She shoved a pile of clothing in my hands before leaving my room. I let out a sigh as I weaved my way through the path of clothing. Once I was in a place I could stand without stepping on anything I started putting on the pieces of clothing Mia picked out for me.  

I started with the dark blue skinny jeans. I was thankful no one was around to see me bounce and hop trying to get them on, I knew I definitely looked like a freak. Once I had those on I reached for the top. Holding it up I stared at in confusion. When did I get this? I wondered. It didn't look familiar at all al though it looked super cute. Shrugging I slipped on the black and white crop top.  

Once I had adjusted it right I glanced over in the full length mirror to see how I looked. A grin spread across my face liking the outfit. Mia was right it was the perfect outfit, simple yet really cute.         

"You finally dressed?" Mia yelled through the door.  

"Yes I am!" I yelled back at her. Hearing her come back inside I got to work refolding my clothes.  

"Man I'm good." Mia whistled at me. I rolled my eyes but grinned.  

"How did you even find this shirt?" I asked leaning back up.  

"In the very back of your closet. Anyways though lets get started on your hair and makeup. If Andrew is on time we will be cutting it really close." With that I was dragged right back to the bathroom and forced to sit on the toilet seat while Mia did her magic. She knew how much this moment meant for me and it warmed my heart she wanted me to look good. I definitely hit the jackpot with her as my best friend.  

It had to be about 20 minutes later when Mia was finally done. I let her poke and prod me silently while inside all I wanted to do was move. When Mia finally let me look in the mirror I was glad I didn't tell her to stop a little bit ago. I looked severely better.  

She had done a great job at not caking the makeup on me. The only place that looked heavy was my eyes but I didn't mind because the blue popped out even more. With nude lipstick on my lips, and my brown hair pulled into a high ponytail with a few strands wavy I was good to go. All I needed now was shoes and my bag.  

I was more than impressed by how fast Mia got me ready. It was only a little bit after 9 and Andrew would be here any minute. While I packed my small handbag with the necessities Mia went to find me some shoes.  

"What are you going to say if your brother calls you to see what you are doing?" Mia asked coming back into my room a pair of black heels in her hand.  

"That I'm either studying, or that I'm hanging out with you and Amy." I sat down on my bed to slide the heels on because we all know I would just fall if I stayed standing up.  

"What if he asks me?"  

"Uh..." I trailed off not having thought that far yet. "I don't know. I mean I guess it doesn't matter if he knows Andy and I are hanging out but I know that he will ask a ton of questions and go all Cris on me." I just didn't want my brother to ruin this moment for me. Knowing him he would be here in a matter of minutes to put a stop to our plans. I couldn't even imagine what he would do if he knew I hung out with Gabriel and Daniel the other day. He definitely would have blown a gasket.  

"If you don't want to lie to him that is okay. I'll deal with my brother." I said to Mia once I had my shoes on. Standing up I slowly turned for Mia to see. "Do I look okay?"  

"You look hot!" She grinned at me. I sent her a smile back running my hands down the front of my jeans. I was glad they were high waisted for only a little bit of my midriff show. I did have a lot of skin showing and felt slightly uncomfortable but I did not want to change now and plus the outfit was really cute. The heels made it look slightly less casual which I did like. I planned on taking some flats with my though just in case. There have been multiple times I have worn heels or appropriate shoes when we have gone places that makes it hard to walk in or hard to do things. I did not want to be stuck with heels if we ended up bowling or something. I did wish I knew what we were doing so I would know if my outfit wasn't right.  

"Car don't over think anything okay? Just go out and have fun. Let Andy sweat a little as well. He deserves to gravel for your forgiveness." I nodded with her. I did tell Mia everything that happened the night of the party. I kind of had to when she questioned me why I wouldn't stop smiling the entire day. I told her what happened with the girl while I danced with Andy, how Gabriel took me somewhere to make me feel better, and of course that Andy wanted to take me out to apologized. I couldn't keep anything from her, it was a miracle I kept the whole party thing a secret until now.  

"Make him buy you tons of stuff! Then when you get home you will tell me everything." She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at me. I shook my head at her but grinned. I just hoped today would be a good day.