Heart's Dice

[Ruggahissy]

Jonah checked the time on his cellphone as he walked to the gym with his gift in hand. Basketball practice would be letting out just about now. He'd kept the present in the fridge in the nutrition room with the teacher's permission and had gotten the OK to leave baseball practice a little early, again, with permission from the coach and Abel. He wasn't exactly dressed to impress, walking towards the gym from the baseball diamond in a forest green t-shirt and knee-length, black athletic shorts. His face also had a bit of dust on it from practice, with a swipe of reddish brown under his right eye.

The present was shielded safely inside a small box. He walked into the gym in time to see the girls start to disperse back to their gear. Some were drinking water and some were chatting. Jonah suddenly thought that although this was a place he knew for certain she'd be, maybe it wasn't a great place to do this. If she rejected him then he'd just be standing awkwardly, surrounded by a gaggle of her friends.

But it was too late now. He was here and he had the present.

If she says no, that's ok. It's not a big deal, he thought, trying at least a little to convince himself that that was the case. It's not like he'd never been rejected in life. He stood for a moment and looked on. She was so pretty and so dedicated. Although he knew of her previously, Jonah first noticed her recently when they were both in mutual workout areas frequented by student athletes. She was so strong and fast and such a hard worker. He saw her and after that it was over for him. He thought about whether or not he should ask her to prom for a few months and had made an effort to say hello and make fitness small talk when they were both in the gym. She probably had someone she wanted to go with, he thought. However, he didn't think he could be at peace without knowing he'd given it a try. Yes, he would try and then no matter what the outcome, he would know that he gave it a shot. Jonah walked up to Arizona.

"Excuse me," he said, smiling sunnily, clutching the small white box at his chest. "I don't mean to hold you up from heading home, but do you have a quick minute?" Jonah could feel the eyes of the other girls swivel and lock to where he was, but he kept smiling at Arizona.

[Deamon]

A silence fell over the entire gym. Arizona had seen Jonah coming but had assumed he was going to talk to someone else. As such she had been toweling off her hair and face as he approached. She hadn't been expecting him to want to talk to her. But it was whatever.

Everyone was watching them. They were all waiting for her reaction. It made sense, they were probably curious as to what he wanted.

Not that there was anything wrong with Jonah. He was friendly, helpful and just plain nice to people to the point of almost being a pushover. He was into working out, they'd spoken a few times in the gym in fact. His hairstyle was kind of weird but it worked for him. She knew other girls found him handsome and she could see their point to a degree.

The box was a bit weird. As was the fact he had seemingly come straight from the baseball teams practice. It was a little strange sure but it may have just been something urgent he had been asked to do.

She returned his smile with a grin of her own.

"Sure." She said, pointing at what Jonah held with her free hand. "What's with the box?"

[Ruggahissy]

Jonah sharply inhaled when she smiled at him and let it out as an anxious sigh. He nodded and looked down at the box that she had pointed to.

"Oh. It's for you. I made it. I heard you liked coconut so....." he trailed off.

Jonah opened it and revealed a cupcake with a basketball iced on to it. There was also a little backboard stuck into the basketball cupcake with a peanut butter cup hoop.

"I frosted a graham cracker to make the backboard and I also used the frosting to adhere the peanut butter cup to the backboard and to get it to stick to the tooth pick," he rambled.

In the event that she said no he still had a whole bowl of frosting in the fridge that he'd likely eat with a frosting spatula in front of the television while he watched David play Call of Duty. He chewed on his own lip as he watched her.

"I wanted to know if you had any plans already for prom," he said, pushing the box towards her. "You can keep it either way," he added, quickly.

[Deamon]

Oh. Oh shit.

The silence remained, casting a shadow over the gym. She hadn't been expecting to be asked. She had assumed that her attitude would have driven anyone away. But then she was aware of the talk around George Hunter about her.

Everyone was watching her. They were all waiting for her reaction. She wanted to ground to open and consume her.

Not that there was anything wrong with Jonah. In fact, she would have picked him. He was into working out, was on the baseball team and cooked. His hairstyle was kind of weird but he made it work. It looked cute. Plus he was in good shape and that helped. He wasn't the problem. He had just caused it.

She didn't know what to say. Ok, she knew what to say. It was a simple yes because Jonah was close to perfect as a prom date. The problem was that she felt like vultures were watching her. Normally she was able to keep everything up regardless of what happened. That wasn't the case in her current situation. For a brief moment, she felt exposed to the world. Her eyes darted over every face in the room before finally coming to a stop on Jonah.

"Uhh, what?"

[Ruggahissy]

Ouch.

He put a hand over his heart, as if wounded. Well, maybe it wasn't totally over yet, but that certainly wasn't a good sign. She was looking bewildered and he could see her eyes bouncing between the girls behind him.

"I'm just here to deliver this to you!" he said an uncharacteristically loud voice. It wasn't showcased very often due to his normal way of speaking, but his voice could have a surprising booming quality. That seemed to deter a few of the people looking on. He moved in a bit closer and dropped his voice so that they wouldn't easily be heard.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make it a spectator event," he said quietly. He took her hand and turned it palm up, putting the cupcake on it. "I really admire your dedication and drive."

Which was excellent because that is what all teenage girls wanted to be complimented on, right? 'You have beautiful work ethic.' Look at that bangin' commitment. But he had just sort of said it and though maybe not the most romantic thing, it was true.

[Deamon]

"Oh, thank you."

She had managed to get three words out and they formed a complete sentence. Progress.

Arizona let Jonah manipulate her hand and place the cupcake in her palm. It was well made, he had put a lot of time and effort into it. He was also right. She did like coconut. Fucking thing looked delicious. The backboard was also a cute touch.

He had moved in closer meaning all she could focus on was his face. She looked over his features before settling on his dark blue eyes. She felt a warmth in her gut. They reminded her of a night sky.

A dark part of her was convinced he wasn't actually going to do it. That he was just giving her a gift. No matter how unlikely it was that fear lurked in her mind, a constant whisper in her head.

She needed to hear it.

"I don't have any plans."

A small pause. She could feel her heart.

"Do you?"

[Ruggahissy]

Jonah stared at her, blinking a few times in confusion and taking his turn to look bewildered. So she did not have another date nor another engagement she was committed to already. Good. But she also did not accept his invitation. Bad. Jonah struggled to understand where exactly he was sitting in relation to Arizona and her answer. If she was being polite then she probably would have said something like "I have plans."

Despite not knowing where exactly they were going with this line of discussion he decided to let her guide him.

"Ah, mmm, not yet," he said. Suddenly he had an idea. He reminded himself that it was no hard feelings either way and balled the fist behind his hand briefly before letting it loose, squeezing the tension out.

"I mean, I wanted to go with someone," he said, biting his lip and sweeping his hand through his hair in a way he hoped looked dashing. "A really cute girl that I'd had my eye on. I made this fox a coconut cupcake and I came over after her basketball practice and asked her in front of all her friends like a very cool person and not like dork."

He dropped the posturing and gave a very small smile, nudging just under his right eye with his curled up pointer finger, fading the dirt smudge a little. "I'm not sure how it went though. What do you think?" he said, leaning back on his heels with his fingers crossed behind his back.

[Deamon]

As Jonah finished speaking she looked down at the cupcake and then back at him.

There was a pause as she took a deep breath as stealthily as possible. Her paranoia had been alleviated by his joke explanation of his plan.

He had passed the ball over to her. She had been given control of the situation for the first time. The combination of factors saw her nervousness melt away as excitement started to take shape in its place.

Then a genuine smile spread across her face and made it to her eyes.

"I'd say it went well." She said, "And I think the girl is going to say yes."

There was another small pause as her smile shifted slightly. The excitement continuing to build.

"Y'know to that question you're about to ask."

[Ruggahissy]

He waited for her response, leaning in a little in anticipation. She said that it went well and his eyes lit up. He clenched his fists and curled them inward in a motion that implied an unsaid "Yes!"

A connection clicked in his mind. Jonah got her now. She wanted it done according to tradition. He'd had thought that the initial invitation was enough, but he respected that she really wanted it done right.

Sweep her off her feet? No, that's too much.

"Um. Arizona Butler, will you come with me to prom as my prom date?" he said, holding out a hand.

[Deamon]

Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it. Say it.

Arizona waited breathlessly for Jonah to respond.

She wanted to hear it.

When he finally started speaking she had to keep herself from interrupting.

She let the words linger in the air. She felt them dance around her head. It was like music.

Her free hand reached out and lightly took his.

Her eyes met his dark blue ones. She loved the night sky.

"Yes."

[Jilly]

Heh. So this was why he needed to leave practice early this time, huh?

Abel was just gonna grab something from his locker real quick after practice let out, but a familiar shout from the gym drew him in like a siren's call.

He opened and peeked in the door, just enough to get a good look. It looked like the girls' basketball team was finished for the day, and with them was Jonah with the mysterious box talking to one of the players.

Though that was putting it lightly. Jonah was definitely more like working on her if anything, the girl he never took his eyes off of at the gym. Arizona.

Whatever was in that box, the magic was working. They just calmly looked at each other, moving ever so closer.

And then their hands touched.

Abel smirked.

He had to do it. He had to embarrass Jonah.

He set a foot in the gym door to stop it from closing, cupped his hands around his mouth to create a makeshift megaphone, and shouted, "Yeah, that's my booooiiii!"

Abel signed off with a fist pump and retreated back from whence he came, making a break for his locker before Jonah could kill him.

[Ruggahissy]

Jonah tried to contain his smile and shrugged a little, tilting his head when she took his hand. Although he tried to keep his grin sly, joy still radiated out.

-Until he heard Abel hoot from the wings. Jonah's entire face turned bright red and his smile became a look of bewilderment. He squeezed her hand before letting go.

"I-uh-"

He looked around wildly to see if he could figure out where Abel had been and saw him fist pump before sliding back out of the gym.

"I'll text you to coordinate," he said, walking backward, nearly tripping over a duffle bag on the floor. He gave a short wave before trotting quickly towards the door Abel had escaped through, ready to tackle the team captain.

((Jonah Heartgrave continued elsewhere))

[Deamon]

Then the moment was destroyed by Abel.

Arizona was dragged out of the fantasy she had been dwelling in. As her awareness returned she realized that everyone was attempting to watch them. They were trying to look busy doing other things, but it was still obvious.

Annoyance came over her face for a flash before being replaced with a more embarrassed smile.

"Yeah, you do that." She said with a smirk as he backed away and nearly fell over.

Once Jonah had exited the gym Arizona turned to look at the other members of her team who gave up all pretense and just looked at her with varying smiles and grins.

There was a brief pause.

"You all fucking would too."

((Arizona Butler continued in We Gonna Do The Basic Steps))