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I cradled the ball with my stick as I waited for Hayden to finish tying her sneakers. We had decided to practice for a bit on Elbel Field because I wanted to talk to Hayden and Asher about Luke. I could talk to Hayden whenever I wanted during lacrosse practice, but Asher played baseball. Not to mention Valerie would be on my ass about me and Luke going on a date.

"Okay, I'm ready," Hayden said as she held her stick up. I launched the ball to her and she caught it. We did this for a bit while Asher sat on the grass next to us. He was scrolling through his phone while giggling. Hayden smirked and glanced at him before passing the ball to me. "What're you giddy about?"

Asher put his phone down and played with his hair. "Well," he muttered while rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess we're talking now... I don't know!"

I gasped, "Asher! When did this happen?" I smiled widely as I threw the ball at Hayden.

"It was a bit after you left the frat party," he said. "He said that he wished he was a sophomore that way he could've invited me himself!" He kept rambling about Luca, and it was adorable. I was so happy for Asher now that he finally had his own love interest to talk about.

After a bit of talking, he stopped talking about Luca and looked up at me. I giggled, "What?"

He smirked, "I wanna hear about you and Luke. Hayden told me you went out on a date last night. How'd it go?"

I cradled the hall and giggled bashfully. I tucked some hair behind my ear before talking. "We went to an arcade last night and he won me a pink stuffed rhino." They must've known that there was more to the story because they kept staring at me. I looked down at my feet, the smile on my face growing on my face. "We... uh..." I licked my lips then giggled. "We kissed." I looked up at the two with a wide smile on my face.

They both stared at me with their jaws open. I looked back at them with my smile now fading a bit nervously. Asher hopped up from his spot on the grass and tackled me with a hug. He jumped around while cheering. "You did it! You finally did it!"

His arms held onto me so tight that I couldn't breathe. "Let go! Let go!" I groaned. He then let go of me and I took a couple deep breaths.

I looked over at Hayden and she was still smiling at me. She placed her lacrosse stick down and made her way over to me. She pulled me into a hug, but this one was way looser.

I hugged her back and fluttered my eyes shut as I rested my head on her shoulder. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered in my ear. That sentence warmed my heart.

Asher stood on the other side of us. "Is that a hickey?!" he gasped. I let go of her and glanced down at her neck. There were a couple big purplish hickeys all over her neck.

Bashfully, she covered her neck with her hands and laughed. "I couldn't find my foundation this morning," she said. Asher and I looked at each other and started laughing. "Whatever! I'm hungry. Let's go to Panda Express."

We all agreed and got our stuff together. I put the lacrosse ball in my backpack and grabbed my stick. We all started walking to the Panda Express that was further away from campus.

While we walked, my phone kept buzzing in my shorts' back pocket. I pulled it out and checked my phone. I saw 20 text notifications from my group chat with the Hughes Brothers.

GOLDEN GIRLS ❤️

Colby Jack
LUKE
ARE U FUCKING SERIOUS
LUKE
JOCELYN

Quinny
Dude calm down

LUKEY‼️
What?

Colby Jack
U AND JOCELYN????

LUKEY‼️
What about it?

Colby Jack
YALL ARE DATING????

Quinny
Wait what

Colby Jack
JOCELYN WHERE TF ARE U
WHY WOULD U PICK LUKE????
HE'S AWFUL

LUKEY‼️
We're not dating
Not yet

Colby Jack
YET???

Quinny
Yet?

LUKEY‼️
Yeah
We went out last night
No big deal

I couldn't help but laugh while reading the boys' text thread. Hayden and Asher looked at me sideways while I laughed at my phone. "Jack is freaking out about Luke and I going out on a date," I said. "I wonder how he found out..."

Jack kept repeating my name over and over in the group chat, so I finally responded.

GOLDEN GIRLS ❤️

Hey
Just got done practicing

Colby Jack
JOCELYN
EXPLAIN
YOU AND LUKE???

Yeah??

Colby Jack
WHY

Quinny
Bro stop texting in all caps

Wdym why?
I've always liked Luke

Colby Jack
Well duh
I thought it would've blown over

Quinny
Me too

LUKEY‼️
Well it didn't.

Fr.

I turned my notifications off and stuck my phone back in my pocket. It was best to just let the boys handle this themselves. Plus Luke said it best, we weren't dating yet.

...

I got out of the shower and threw on a hoodie and shorts before starting my skin care routine. My phone buzzed continuously, so I reached for it. It was Luke. I answered the call and put him on speaker, "Hey. I just got out of the shower."

"Caught you at the perfect time," he laughed. I giggled in response. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to eat with my family and I after my game on Saturday."

I smiled widely. I hadn't seen the Hughes family in forever, and I really missed them. "I can go," I said while rubbing in my face cream.

"Cool!" he said. "I'll let you know where we're going since I know you're busy with practice."

I nodded my head, "Sounds good! See you then!" I hung up the phone and finished up my skin care. I then heard my phone buzz again, I checked and saw that it was my mother this time. I furrowed my eyebrows and answered, "You miss me already?"

She laughed, "Of course I do! I wanted to check up on you."

"I've been pretty busy," I said as I made my way out of the bathroom and to my room. "I just got off the phone with Luke, I'm gonna see all of them on Saturday for dinner."

"That's good!" she said. "Speaking of Luke, Ellen called me and told me that you and Luke went out on a date."

Of course this is why she was calling. I rolled my eyes and smiled a bit. "Yes, we did."

"Where did you guys go?" she asked. I could tell she was watching a crime show on TV since I could hear the distant yelling and sirens. You don't typically hear that on a Canadian suburban street.

"We just went to an arcade and he won me a stuffed animal," I smiled. "We even kissed when we got back."

I heard the excitement in her voice when she said, "I told you time will only tell. I knew you would end up with him."

I giggled and flopped down on my bed. "I know. I know..." I opened up my laptop and pulled up my World Politics homework. "I'm happy it's finally happening."

"I know you are, Jocelyn. We all are. Even Ellen," she said. "Well, I'll let you go. Laura's about to get home from work. I love you."

I smiled widely, "Love you too." I hung up the phone and put it down. I let out a long exhale of relief. I couldn't believe it myself. Telling my mother about Luke and I was something I could only dream of. Now here I was.