Lovebirds Since Youth

Chapter 14

After that game, I choose to play another one where we compete to see who's the best at shooting. We choose different teams and fight against each other.

He's definitely better than me, but my team ends up winning thanks to my partners.

"Hey!" He tells me. "That's unfair! You didn't win because you're good, you won because of your team."

"Well sometimes you just gotta accept you've been defeated," I say, standing up and mocking him.

He laughs. "We'll see about that later," he stands up as well. "Do you want to have lunch? I'm starting to get a little hungry."

"Yeah, I'm getting a little hungry too," I answer.

"What would you like to eat?"

"You don't mind eating something vegan, do you?"

"Not at all, do you want a sandwich maybe?"

"Yeah, I was craving for salmon so maybe a sandwich or even just a vegetable sandwich would be great. What do you say?"

"Sure thing! Let's go eat before I chew off my own foot, just like Five said."

We laugh and get out of the video game place to look for a sandwich place and find one not too far away from us. We take our seats at a table and wait until someone takes our orders.

Dante orders a normal vegetable sandwich and asks for eggs in it. I order a salmon sandwich with a glass of water.

"What have you been thinking about the cast so far?" Dante asks when we're done ordering.

"Everyone's so nice and funny," I say. "They've been very supportive as well. To be more specific, I'd say that Eden is very funny and chill, TJ is cute and gentle, Cameron is so sweet and fun to hang out with, Blake is hilarious and crazy, and Ethan is kinda shy and cute but very confident."

"That's so sweet," he looks at me cutely. "You speaking about them like that. I promise I won't say anything though, but they'd be so flustered if they found out you said that."

I chuckle. "Thanks for not telling."

"And..." he taps continuously on the table with his fingers, "...what do you think about me?"

I laugh. "You're amazing too. You seem kinda shy and introverted but I can tell that when you feel comfortable around someone, you're very outstanding and confident. I dare to say, it's so much more fun to play video games with you than with Cameron, but don't tell him that."

He laughs. "I won't, I promise. Secrets stay here," he points at his heart. "I feel so flattered as well, you're very amazing too. You're kind, you're sweet. There's probably no other person on the whole planet that might be more generous and kind than you. Trust me, I've met a lot of people."

"Aw, thank you Dante. You're so sweet." I smile. I think of another question to keep this conversation going. "May I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How do you handle fame?" I ask, intrigued. "It has been haunting me since the first time I was inside the set. When I think about it, it's scary. If you say one wrong word or make one wrong movement, you're finished."

"Yeah, that could happen," he says, "but don't let that affect or even scare you. You have to get two things stuck in your head, one is that you should be able to handle jokes and have an open mind, no one will even come close to you if you can't tolerate anything. Two, you should never let negative comments affect you. No matter what they say, nothing has to bring you down. And also, you should always stay kind, to your fans, to your haters, and to your cast members. Always."

"That's so helpful, Dante, I appreciate it. Thank you," I reply.

"Of course, anytime," he smiles.

Our waiter comes back with our sandwiches when we finish talking. I check that my salmon has the right amount of seasoning and throw in a bit more of salt. We start eating, still talking about the show and the cast until we're finished.

"Well," Dante says, "are you tired already? Would like me to take you back to your hotel?"

"I'd appreciate that, Dante, thanks," I reply.

He doubtfully helps me stand up from my chair. I take his hand, smiling, and continue walking to his scooter grabbing him by the hand. He gives me his helmet and drives me back to the hotel. I thank him for the great time we spent and tell him goodbye.

I jump on my bed, the food making me very tired to change my clothes, pull out my phone and start looking at my notifications.

I'm one of those people that when they go out, they don't like being bothered by their phone, so they put it in silence. I just like to disconnect in those moments, unless I'm getting bored, then I'd probably look more at my phone.

Oh. My. God.

Aidan called me three times already. For what?

I call him back and he answers almost immediately.

"Hi, Aidan," I tell him, "sorry I couldn't answer, I was at the shopping mall buying some things."

I don't tell him about me going out with Dante just because it sounds wrong to do so. I don't know if Dante told anyone that him and I were spending time together, so I wouldn't want to put him in a weird situation either. And, besides, why would I need to give Aidan that much explanation?

"Oh, that's alright," he tells me. "Sorry I was a little too intense, I should've known you weren't available at the moment."

"That's okay. Why were you calling me anyway?"

"I just wanted to know if you'd like to go bowling? Jane told me she was going shopping with a friend and I didn't want to hold her back, but I was planning to have a date with her and now I'm left with an extra ticket. So would you want to come with me?"

I didn't have any plans for the rest of the evening, so I thought that I could really do Aidan this favor and go with him. Now I'm wonder if Aidan asked Jane out on a date or not, but if he did and she decided to go out with a friend, then that's just rude. But I don't think she'd do that, or at least, I want to believe.

But I don't want to hang out with Aidan. I'm trying to forget him. I literally just returned from hanging out with Dante so I'm not in the mood to go out with Aidan now, because I might faint, metaphorically speaking. But no, I can't leave him all alone and with that extra ticket he spent money on, I don't want him to throw it away either. It's kind of a tough decision.

"Sure, I'd be delighted to go," I answer.