We reached the Black Café. Despite the name that made it sound like a hangout for Goths, the place looked very classy with wood paneling and wood floor. The tables were round and they were all next to a window, except for a large one that was in the middle and I guess it was for a less romantic situation. I found a table for Steely where I could totally see him from outside the window. He seemed to be impressed by the place and I couldn’t blame him; there were a lot of paintings to look at and many different wall hangings as well. Thankfully, all of that visual jazz helped him to calm down.

“So, uh, you good?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah I guess I’m … fine.”

“So I’ll just leave now, but don’t worry. I’ll keep an eye on you from a distance, although I know you got this.”

“I hope so.” He still sounded nervous and doubtful, but that’s normal for his first date.

“I guess I’ll see you later, lover boy.”

“Yeah, me too, and … thanks for everything.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I left the café and went to find a nice spot to settle down and watch the action. Luckily there weren’t many cars near the café so I just moved my motorcycle to the right spot in front of the window where Steely was sitting.

I took out my phone and messaged Sunset.

-we are settled, are you coming?

-We are done, we will be there soon.

Meanwhile I went and bought some sandwiches and drinks cuz I was hungry! I no sooner made my purchases and got back to my spot than Wallflower appeared. Rarity had provided her with a brown shirt, blue long skirt, and a pair of brown shoes. I wasn’t sure but I guessed she had also brushed her hair and given it a new style.

Just after Wallflower went into the café, I called Sunset.

“Hey, she is in now.”

“Yeah I can see that.”

“Uhm ... where are you exactly?”

“Turn around.”

When she saw me she ended the call and started walking towards me. Meanwhile I was watching how Steely was doing. They both were sitting on the table and the waiter had just come to them. As far as I could tell things were looking good. No sad or mad faces so far. Just the basics.

“Nice spot you got there!” Sunshine announced that she has arrived.

“Take this, you are probably hungry.” I gave her a sandwich and a can of soda.

“Thanks, I had almost forgetting I even have a stomach!”

She also leaned against my motorcycle and started eating her sandwich.

“Are you sure they will do fine on their own, like shouldn’t we help them or something?” she asked.

“Well, I don’t know about Wallflower but the Steely I know is making a list of what he should say in his mind already and is checking it right now. So no, he is not doing fine, but he’ll get it. It’s his first time, after all!”

“I hope Wallflower doesn’t panic; she is not much of a talker and she’s had problems with engaging others previously. I wish we could at least hear them.”

“We can’t just go and sit there, that will throw them off.”

“Yeah, but, we don’t have to do that.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked at me and smiled. “Eat your sandwich first, then I’ll show you.”

We both ate our sandwiches as fast as we could and drank our drinks as we hadn’t drunk anything for a day.

“Now, follow me.” So I did. We went right beneath the window that they were next to. I really didn’t know what she had in mind but it didn’t take me long to realize. “Now lay low and be quite.”

“What are you doing?”

“You’ll see.” She took out her phone. I didn’t know what she was doing but I guessed she was messaging someone.

Soon after that, the window opened outward, and we could hear everything from there. They both were talking and it seemed they were still warming up.

“Uh ...” I guessed it was Wallflowers voice; it was strange, it was completely new to my ears even though she is my classmate. “Shouldn’t we order something?”

“Oh, yes, yes. I almost forgot. So uh, what do you prefer?”

“I’m not sure, uh, let me … take a look.” You could hear from Wallflower’s voice that she was as nervous as Steely.

“Um, do you like pizza?” Steely asked.

“Yes.”

“So, we order pizza?”

“Sure, seems like a good idea.”

When he said that I wanted to shout out: “No! It’s not a good idea. The pizzas in this café are usually a piece of flatbread with a sliver of cheese and other ingredients which makes them not very tasty and overall it’s not worth spending money on.”

They called the waiter to give him their order. Meanwhile Sunshine and I were staring at each other, cringing from how awkward that conversation was. But it got way better.

“Steely Armor?” Wallflower said.

“YES!” Even with us sitting underneath the window I could sense his panic.

“I just … wanted to thank you for telling me those beautiful words in the note you put on my locker.”

“I, uh ... I … and I wanted to thank you for coming today, it really meant a lot to me.” As painfully slow as it was getting up to speed, they were actually starting a nice conversation.

“This is a nice place. I’ve never been here before.” Wallflower said.

“I don’t come here very much, either. Well, never to be honest.”

“So, uh, why did you choose this place?”

“Because, uh … I wanted … I wanted this night to be special.”

I was shocked by how well he was handling the situation. Soon after we heard the waiter bringing their order. That helped them to keep the flow going and they even started to talk about some nerdy stuff and so on that I almost thought they were communicating in a different language. But even so, I could still feel that things were going well.

“Pst!” I tried to gain Sunshine’s attention. “Hey, what exactly did you do?”

“I messaged Wallflower and told her to make sure the window is open because fresh air helps to calm her down.” I was kinda amused by how fast she thought of that.

“How did you learn that?”

“She’s president of the Gardening Club; fresh air comes with the job.”

“Clever girl.” I said unintentionally.

“What?”

“Uh, nothing.”

A while later, we felt that they were heading out.

“Wait, what is happening?” she asked.

“I think they are leaving.”

We walked to the other side of the café and stayed behind a wall and peeked to see the action.

“Is he?” she said.

“He is.”

Steely was asking to walk Wallflower home. And it seemed that Wallflower really enjoyed his suggestion. So they started walking together. They were both still shy and kept a little distance between one another but they were walking together and that was what mattered.

I was so happy. My best friend just succeeded in his first date and it seems like they will probably go out together again. I was having a blast and I even hugged Sunshine, which was a little awkward.

“UH, sorry, I uh just..”

She smiled. “It’s fine, I … I understand.”

“So I guess our second project is also done.”

“It felt more like a mission than a project. A shipping mission you could say.”

“Yeah, whatever. Mission accomplished.”

“So, what now?”

“They will probably tell us about it tomorrow. For now let’s just head home. And if you want, I can give you a lift.”

“Hmmm,” she thought about my offer, “it’s quite late, I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“Unless we crash, that would hurt a lot. Considering that I only have one helmet.”

“Yeah, maybe I should rethink my decision.”

“Oh, c’mon. I don’t drive that fast!”

We both headed to my motorcycle and she sat on the back. I didn’t drive very fast, at least I tried not to. She gave me the directions to her house, and once we got there I dropped her off. Her house seemed to be pretty small, even for one person. I really wonder how she lives there.

“Thanks. See you in school.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you too.”

I headed home, and went to bed right away since I was really tired. But I just couldn’t wait to hear the story from Steely tomorrow.

Author's Notes:

Stay paitiant for other stories

Special thanks to my editor Daniel Drazen.