Page 121 of Let's Pretend I'm Okay

At this point, my face hurts from smiling so much. I don’t have to be told twice.

“Hey,” I say once I’m back in my room.

“Hi,” she says.

I lie down on my bed, staring at the ceiling. “Why’d you call?”

“Annie just told me she’s working tomorrow, so I’m free if you want to do something.”

Of course I want to do something. “Like another date?”

Her nervous laugh fills the line. “Well, yeah. Unless you don’t want it to be. It doesn’t have to be, but then again, if you wanted to—”

“It’s a date,” I say.

“It’s a date,” she echoes.

“So what do you want to do?”

She hums as she thinks. “I think you should pick. I picked the fair.”

I agree because I want to be with her, but I have absolutely no idea where we should go.

The next day

I need help. I want to spoil Margo but I have no idea how to do that. I sit in the back of the library tapping my pencil against one of the tables.

“What’s wrong?” Annie asks.

I let out a sigh of relief. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come.”

She raises an eyebrow and shows me her phone.

Daniel:

SOS come to the library immediately.

Olive comes running up too. Her long hair is pulled back into a high ponytail. “What’s the emergency?”

I tap the table with both of my hands. “I’m supposed to take Margo on a date.”

Both girls give me a look.

“I thought something bad happened,” Olive says.

“Same,” Annie says. She eyes Olive cautiously.

“The date is tonight, and I don’t know what to do.” I’m not good at this stuff. I’m going to mess it up somehow, and I can’t do that.

Olive takes a seat across from me. “Well, what have you figured out so far?”

I rub my face and scratch the back of my head. “Nothing.”

Annie pulls out the seat next to Olive and sits. “Oh boy, it really is an emergency.”

I groan. “I know. I read this article online that said I should take her on a picnic because that’s one of the most romantic dates, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea because it says it might rain. I also don’t know what to make for it. Is Margo allergic to anything?”

Annie laughs. “I was joking. You’re overthinking it. Margo is going to like whatever you decide to do.”

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