Totally Not a Date [scarlett]

At him declaring himself heartless, she squinted herself to mirror him, pursing her lips slightly as she did so, "Suuuuure." A heartless person who was in fact anything but. Kind and sweet. A marshmallow. A lovely marshmallow. "Whatever helps you sleep at night tough guy." She was kind of being sarcastic but not really. He was tough. Protective was probably a better word. It was nice. 

When he spoke up again she smiled slightly, "I'm hyped. The banter will be real." She frowned to herself as she stepped inside the restaurant and looked around, "I used to speak normally before I met you." She was quiet for a minute before she smiled at him again, "Ask me if you want help." 

She held her hands up at his protests, stepping back as he talked to the girl at the desk, listening casually behind him. When the girl headed off to check on the table she moved over to stand next to him, "I'll just bite my tongue, how about that?" She smiled, "He came, he conquered. By the way, you don't suck at Japanese, don't be hard on yourself." 

When the girl came back she had two menus and showed them to their table next to the window. Scarlett smiled primly, moving over to sit in her chair and resting her bag between her feet. She was taken aback at how... nice the restaurant was. She'd known they were coming here and yet at the same time... maybe she'd been prepared for something else? It didn't matter. She was really happy. 

"This place is really nice." She looked out the window for a moment, menu sitting open in front of her, "I feel kind of under dressed." She smoothed her skirt, patting her knees quietly. She was nervous. This was supposed to be a date... wasn't it? 

The waitress came over to take their orders and when she left Scarlett tapped the table nervously, "Spencer... Just so I know where we stand... Is this a date?"

Suddenly she sat up straighter. She didn't know why she was suddenly more self conscious. She'd already been pretty sure it was a date but now hearing it directly from the source... Her heartbeat had sped up and she could feel the heat rising in her ears and cheeks. 

'Calm down. It's just a date.' 

She looked up and blinked, holding a hand up and opening her mouth to protest, "No!" She stopped, "I mean, No don't cry yourself to sleep, yes I want this to be a date!" She could feel her cheeks getting warm again and she looked away quickly, hiding behind her hair. She clenched her hands on her knees, pressing her lips together for a moment before looking up again.

"You know I like you. I'm really happy this is a date." She smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear, "Did you really think I'd just ditch you? I know I'm mean but really..." She smirked slightly.

Scarlett raised her eyebrows and then laughed slightly, waving a hand, "I pay them, you know that, I paid you last week to take me out today." She smirked, leaning forward and looking up through her eyelashes at Spencer. 

The waitress came back with their drinks and she leaned back from the table slightly, looking down at her lap and busying herself with setting her napkin over her lap. Once the waitress left again she reached for her drink (it was supposed to be apple and raspberry) and hesitantly pulled the straw to her mouth, drinking quietly. 

When he spoke again, her gaze turned sad for just a moment but the look vanished soon enough. She reached over and hesitantly put her hand over his, then shook her head. "No. You're not weird." The edges of her eyes crinkled as she smiled, "You're special." The heat rose in her cheeks as she realized what she'd said and she leaned back, red faced, holding up her hand and speaking quickly, "Just saying, you're not a senior citizen or anything! So it's not weird! You're not that much older than me!" She pressed her lips together and looked away quickly. 

She made herself seem more impressive than she actually was around classmates when it came to dating. She tried to believe it herself but now she felt simultaneously happy and embarrassed. This was pretty much her first proper date. But she wasn't going to tell anyone that! 

Eventually she looked up again, "You're not weird. You're not bad or anything either... I've already said you're special, so there." She tapped her fingers on the table, "I'm not taking it back." 

"Well, I don't know about that." She shot back quickly, smiling slightly, "I think that might be too much, I couldn't possibly say that you're special and super cool." He always managed to make her feel slightly more easy in a situation. She was grateful. Her cheeks still felt very warm though. 

She sipped from her drink again, choosing to look at a particularly interesting spot on the table. She was a little concerned about what people would think if they saw her out with Spencer. She liked him plenty and he made her laugh, he was smart, he was kind, but at the same time he was a high schooler. He was only two years older than her but still... She didn't say anything for a moment.

She didn't know what to say. 

"You have to call me neat forever then. And you have to call me 'super cute' because I am!" She folded her arms, "Honestly, I think you can do better than just 'neat' but we'll work on it." 

Scarlett's glass had been halfway to her lips when Spencer spoke again and she stopped, lips slightly parted, then put her drink down again, with a little more force than she'd intended. After a minute she blinked and pressed her lips together, looking down at her nails. She opened her mouth to reply then promptly closed it again. 

How was he so casual about all this?! It made her feel concerned. He better be freaking out silently in his head! 

She sat up straight, but managed to retain a somewhat casual air. She leaned an elbow onto the table, resting her chin on the back of her hand as a small smile played on her lips. "Yes. It is." Her smile widened and eventually she laughed slightly, looking down for a moment before looking up again, "I'd like that, a lot actually." She sat up straight again, left hand in her lap and her right hand held up against her chest, fingers curled towards her palm. She smiled so bright, her eyes crinkled at the corners, head slightly tilted to the side, "You should definitely call me your girlfriend!"