Archer sat up so quickly that he got dizzy. "Wait.... Why did we skip the part where you get mad, and I coax you to do it by giving you coffee jelly?" A part of him was disappointed. He was actually creating mini-scenarios in his mind. He imagined the type of conversation they would have and the perfect answers to win him over. Everything went well on his made-up scenarios.

Clyde rolled his eyes and annoyingly looked at him. His eyebrows were furrowed. "Do you want me to go or not?" 

"It's in two weeks." He immediately answered.

He took out his phone and looked at his calendar. The only thing he had going for this month was the supermarket sale for next week. Besides work, of course. Looking at his empty calendar made him question his life choices. He had nothing exciting or new planned. He wondered why he doesn't have any wild parties, wine nights or even a book club to attend.  "I can go. I have vacation days I haven't used up." 

"Cool, cool, cool, very nice. Don't worry though, there are like five cafes on the way to the school. Surely one of them sells coffee jelly. I'll treat you to how many you like."

"As it should be." He arrogantly spoke. He was still thinking about his pathetic calendar. He wanted to do something more in addition to what Archer dragged him in. He lives in a big city, and he has barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. He was thinking of visiting an oceanarium over the weekend or the nearest museum. Adventure suddenly surged his blood. He was looking forward to new experiences. He knew what he was going to do tonight- fill up his calendar.

"Just a sec. You're going to meet them, and I don't know anything about you." Archer spoke with his eyes squinted. He had just stopped Clyde from leaving his room. 

"For once, I see where you're going with this. I am going to assume your class and colleagues are nosy. We'll get caught if our answers do not add up."

An idea lit up on top of his head." Maybe we can do one of those dates. I read it here." Archer said as he searched for something on his pile of comic books. After a few seconds, he held up a Latch Comic.

"You seriously read that?" Clyde asked. He knew of his roommate's obsession with Shout but not with magazines whose primary target market is young girls. He is neither young nor a girl. Yet again, Shout is for young boys, and his roommate is definitely not young nor a boy.

"What? I bought this when Shout sold out. Let me tell you this, I got hooked up on a story here called Dumplings, and I swear to shit, If Maddie does not end up with Sam. I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the author. I mean, Jonathan's good and all but he's an----." 

He cut him off before he could finish his sentence."Please get to the point. I don't need to know your...whatever you call that is. "

" I already went to the point, I'm asking you out on a date. Like in Dumplings." He spoke in an as a matter of fact tone.

Clyde's eyes popped out in surprise " Wait, wait. You can't just ask me out on a date!" He shouted.

" Should have I given you a confession letter or a box of handmade choco's before asking you out like what I read here?" He said nonchalantly and pointed at the book.

He shook his head. "No! You idiot. I can't go out on a date with you!" He clarified.

 Archer got up from his bed. He placed his hand on his waist. "But isn't the school fair kind of a date?" He confusedly asked.

"That one involves us mingling with different people. This one does not involve them. It's just us. Us. Have you thought about that? It's never been just us." He quickly spoke. 

Archer scratched his head and was even more confused. "But isn't right now just us? I mean you're in my room, I could turn this into a sexual situation if I wanted to." He wiggled his eyebrows with a cocky smile.

Clyde burst out laughing. He wondered if Archer has ever tried that on anybody and if it ever worked. "Yeah, sure. Even if you were standing naked, I wouldn't feel a thing."

"If you're that comfortable with me, then we can do the just-us date." He explained.

"Fine, but it will cost you." 

"Everything will cost me in this capitalistic society." He spoke in a monotone voice.

"Why do you always have to bring capitalism into this?" He tiredly asked.

"Because capitalism is death. What's the price, oh corrupt one?"

"You'll pay for my food on our date." 

"Small thing! but please do not order the most expensive thing. I am not a rich man." 

"I know. " Clyde replied as his eyes looked at Archer from head to toe.

"You don't have to be rude." He scoffed and grabbed his blanket to cover himself up. " When are we going to do this?" He continued.

" I can do next Wednesday. After 4? I'll make sure to leave work as soon as possible."

" Wednesday, yeah, sure. I can push some workload for the next day. " He lied. He'll be swamped if he doesn't pull an all-nighter starting tomorrow until Friday. Truth be told, he has been neglecting his work since the deadlines seemed so far away before. But now, it's nearer than ever. He can't ask to change it to a weekend because he had already booked it with sleep. 

" I'll pick you up from work?" Archer asked.

"No need, I'll be the one picking you up."

" What?"

" I am positively sure that you'll either forget about it or arrive late. I hate tardiness."

" Can't argue with that, text me when you are there. Wait for me by the gate. Don't bother coming in." He did not want him to be seen by the others yet. He does not have the energy to deal with Louis and his colleague's endless questions and meddling. 

"You're too demanding." He shook his head. He twisted the doorknob and finally left the room.

Archer threw himself back to bed. He shouted on his pillow as his legs rhythmically thumped on the mattress. 

What is wrong with me? Why did I have to ask him out on a date? We can get to know each other without this dating bullshit by just asking questions back and forth for an hour or so at home! 

He repeatedly banged his head on his pillow until he felt dizzy and was out of breath.

The worst part about this is that I'm somehow happy about this.

He faintly smiled as he caught his breath.