Hernán chose the meat pizza out of habit, still distracted by the issue. It wasn’t like he could afford to take her on a fancy date or anything.

“Ask Katie to come to the party, dude. It’s gonna be the best this year,” Madhur, his best friend, said, picking up the fruit thing that pretended to be pizza.

“With all that noise?” Hernán scoffed. “She hates crowds.” They slid their trays down to the salad bar so Madhur could get his daily pile of leaves—they were supposed to be high school students, not health nuts.

“That’s because she doesn’t know anyone.” Madhur slopped some ranch on the green pile. “Just introduce her to Aggie and she’ll love it.”

“Katie isn’t like Agatha.”

Madhur shrugged, “whatever you say, dude. She’s your girl.” The cashier gave them a loaded look as they approached him.

“I’m serious. I don’t know where I should take her. Can’t you help me at all?”

“Take her to the party.”

Hernán leveled a loaded look at Madhur as he handed his student ID to the cashier. “No. She’ll hate it.”

“If she’s such a deadbeat then maybe you shouldn’t date her.”

“She’s not a deadbeat,” Hernán snapped.

“Then take her to the party. She’s sure to enjoy it. Everyone does.” Madhur stopped in the middle of the cafeteria, like he was looking for something, “Look, she’s right there,” he pointed. “Go and ask her. I’ll even lend you my car to pick her up later.”

Hernán wasn’t planning to sit with Katie, today. She was planning to listen to a podcast. But there was no way he would trust Madhur to be anywhere near her. So, he followed.

Katie hadn’t dressed up today, but she still looked good. She had pulled her hair into a bun with a pencil at some point and it showed off her neck. She was sketching a dog in her sketchbook, at least Hernán thought it was a dog, when they Madhur slammed his tray across from her. She wasn’t very good, which had surprised him when they first started talking.

“So,” Madhur started, pulling out one of Katie’s headphones, “My man, Hernán here, wants to know if you’re coming to the party.”

Hernán kicked Madhur, Katie was gaping and on full alert. Madhur really had absolutely no tact. “Ignore him.”

“Okay,” she said, smiling. “shouldn’t be too hard.” She put her headphones on again, but not properly. They were skewed and she could definitely hear them.

“Come one, man,” Madhur whined, “ask her!”

Katie looked up at them disbelieving, but she didn’t look mad. That was a bonus, he supposed.

“Are you really trying to ask me out?”

Madhur, wouldn’t even let him respond. “He won’t shut up about it. Please just go out with him once.”

“It doesn’t have to be the party,” Hernán said before Madhur could ruin his chances even more. “We could go hiking. I volunteer at an animal shelter though on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we can hang out whenever you want.”

Katie looked excited, “An animal shelter?”

Hernán nodded, “Yeah, if you wanna come, you’re more than welcome to. We’re always looking for more volunteers.”

“Totally,” she was smiling from ear to ear, why hadn’t Hernán suggested this first?

“Great! So, you wanna go tomorrow? It’s just after school.”

“Sure. Sounds like a plan.”