Hailee isn't sure how to respond to that. Krystal sighs, and she smiles again.

"Come on." She grabs Hailee's hands and leads her towards the cafeteria. "Eat lunch with me."

"Okay."

The two enter the cafeteria hand in hand.

"You want a gum?" She asks Hailee.

"No thanks."

"'Kay."

Krystal causally strolls over to a table, picking up the tablet that is already there. Hailee is suddenly aware of all the people laughing as they look at their devices.

"Wow..." Krystal says.

Hailee looks down at the girl's tablet that is in her hands. Krystal looks at her.

"Is that you?"

She sees what it is. It is an edited photo of Hailee's face pasted on the body of a half-naked Playboy model.

The caption reads: VIRGIN MARY?

"Nice bod." Krystal says with a smirk, also eyeing the girl viciously.

Hailee takes the picture in and looks around at everyone in the room, realizing they're all laughing at her. This includes Casey, Laura, and Matthew. Andres is at another table laughing with another buddy of his.

They and everyone else in the room had all been airdropped the photo and saw the work the cool kids had done. She breathes noisily, almost hyperventilating, as her eyes tear up.

After a moment, not able to take any more humiliation, she turns to bolt out of there and crashes right into Y/N, who catches her in his arms.

"Whoa." He says softly.

The teenager holds onto her as she shuts her eyes and buries her head into his shoulder. He exhales a shaky breath.

"Look. This is about me, okay?"

Hailee opens her eyes to look up at him.

"This is not you." He reassures her and puts his bag down. "Stay here."

Hailee watches him walk away from her, tears still in her eyes. Y/N angrily snatches the tablet from Krystal's hands and slams it back down onto the table before making his way to Matthew.

"Hey, man." He greets Y/N, holding up his phone and showing him the edited photo.

"God, no wonder you've been keepin' her locked up, man. This—I had no idea that this was underneath all that."

Matthew laughs. Y/N bites the inside of his cheek and nods before shoving him roughly, completely pissed off. Matthew reacts by pushing him back.

"Matt, stop it." Laura calls out.

He wheels around to face his girlfriend, an irate expression on his face.

"You stay out of this!" Matthew turns back to Y/N. "This is—"

Y/N doesn't let him finish, punching him in the face and looking at him in a loathing manner.

Everyone looks on at the scene. Laura tries to comfort Matthew, but he's not finished fighting yet. Andres's buddy gets up to try and break the two of them up, but Matthew pushes him away.

"We're through." Matthew tells Y/N with a glare.

Y/N nods. "That's great."

"We are through."

Y/N turns away from him and walks back to Hailee. Matthew keeps shouting.

"We are through forever!"

Y/N's angered expression changes to concern as he rejoins Hailee. Nearby, Krystal looks at them unhappily and is filled with jealousy.

Y/N cups Hailee's face and speaks to her gently.

"Are you okay?"

She nods. Matthew continues to yell, but Y/N pays him no mind.

"You made a mistake, Y/N!"

Y/N's attention is focused on Hailee only. His shouts are basically brushed aside.

"Are you sure?" Y/N asks her. "Let's get the hell outta here."

Y/N picks up his bag, and they leave. Matthew is still outraged and keeps shouting. Andres gets up to hold him back.

"Hey!" Matthew calls out and points. "You're a bitch! You hear me?!"

Y/N leads Hailee outside. They walk down the steps, his arms around her. She feels miserable, and her face is tear-stained. Y/N looks at her tenderly.

"Baby, baby, I'm sorry, okay?" He says softly. "They're animals, all right?"

Hailee shuts her eyes tightly. Y/N runs a hand through her hair.

"You want me to take you home?" He asks, to which she nods.

"Okay. Let's get outta here."

Y/N and Hailee are in the Camry parked in front of Hailee's house. They'd been sitting there for a couple of minutes as Hailee relaxed a bit.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asks her.

"Mmhmm." She nods. "I'm fine. But thank you for everything."

His response is softer than usual. "Oh, you're welcome."

Hailee turns to open the car door. Y/N quickly speaks.

"Hey."

She turns back to him.

"Um. I—I wanna ask you something."

Hailee nods. "Okay."

The girl waits patiently. There is a moment before the boy finally musters up the courage to say what he wants.

"Will you go out with me on Saturday night?"

His question comes out with a hopeful tone, and he gingerly smiles. Hailee is surprised by the request and looks down.

"Um. I'm sorry. I...can't go."

He is crestfallen. Y/N glances at the steering wheel and drums his fingers on it.

"Oh. Um. You have somethin' else going on or—?"

Hailee shakes her head. "No. No. It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

She sighs and looks at him.

"I'm not allowed to date." Hailee replies sadly.

Y/N frowns.

"Oh..."

Reverend Henry is alone in his church, standing at the podium reading some passages.

"Do not be deceived. God is not mocked." He clears his throat and quietly tries again. "Mocked."

He underlines the word with his pencil. At the same time, the church door opens. He doesn't hear and continues.

"For whatever a man sows that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap—"

The reverend stops upon his eyes suddenly fixating on the young man before him. Henry picks up his cup of water and is about to take a sip.

"Can I help you?" He asks Y/N.

"Uh, yes, sir." He responds rather shakily. "I'd like to ask your daughter to dinner on Saturday night."

"That's not possible." He replies quickly and drinks his water.

"Well, with all due respect, sir..." Y/N says. "I ask you to reconsider."

Reverend Henry looks up from his book.

"With all due respect, Mr. L/N, I've made my decision."

Y/N looks at him, unmoving. Still, the older man's mind hasn't changed.

"You can, uh, exit the way you entered." He adds and returns to his passage.

Y/N waits a moment. He wrings his hands a bit and swallows.

"Listen, I'm sorry I haven't treated Hailee the way I should've. She deserves more than that. I am just asking you for the same thing that you teach us every day in church."

Reverend Henry finally looks up again. Y/N continues.

"And that's faith."

The man begins to tap his pencil loudly on the podium, pondering the boy's words. He sighs.

• • •

IT WAS SATURDAY EVENING. Y/N and Hailee arrive at the restaurant, which is a pretty high-end venue in Granada Hills. Y/N wears a blue button-down shirt and beige pants, while Hailee wears her purple shirt and plaid skirt. She also has on the pink sweater Y/N gifted her.

They walk hand in hand to a table outside, overlooking the hills and city and passing other couples and people on their way. A small band nearby plays music for the patrons.

"I can't believe you asked my father's permission," Hailee says with a smile.

"It was no big deal." He chuckles. "He was cool about it anyway."

They reach their table, where he pulls out a chair for Hailee. She thanks him.

"Thank you."

He circles over to his side and sits down. A waiter is already there and hands the girl a menu.

"This is for you."

"Thank you very much."

Y/N takes his menu from the waiter and mumbles a thanks as well.

"Would you like to start off with something to drink?" The waiter asks.

She scoots herself closer to the table. "Sweet tea, please."

"Make that two." Y/N adds with a smile.

"Right away." The waiter says and leaves.

Y/N looks up at Hailee as she looks down. She then looks up at the same exact moment he looks down. Finally, their eyes meet, and the young man smirks.

"Um. This restaurant's really nice." Hailee says. "Are you sure this is okay?"

"Don't even worry about it." He reassures her, folding his hands on the table. "Okay?"

Hailee nods. "Okay."

"Choose whatever you want."

They both smile. Hailee looks down at her menu.

"So..." Y/N glances at his menu too. "What'll it be? Me...well, I'm feeling this breakfast burger."

She looks at him. Y/N looks back and snickers.

"Hey, sometimes I feel like having something with eggs and hash browns for dinner. Does that make me weird?"

She chuckles. "No, not at all. Sometimes...I feel the same."

"Really?"

"Scrambled eggs and pancakes in the evening? Sign me up."

The two share a laugh. Y/N smiles. They surely were going to get along just fine.

Hailee is just finishing off her dessert, which is banana cream pie. Y/N's barely touched his pie and has only eaten some of it. The waiter comes back.

"Is everything okay?"

"Mmm. Mmhmm." She nods as she chews. "Thank you very much."

The waiter picks up her plate. Y/N, who is staring at Hailee, finally turns to the waiter.

"Y—Yeah, me too. Thanks."

He picks up the boy's plate, too, and leaves. Y/N exhales slowly as Hailee focuses on the dancing couples nearby.

Y/N follows her gaze and then looks back at Hailee worriedly. He knows exactly what is coming.

"Would you like to dance?" She asks him.

"Uh, sorry." He says with a stammer. "I don't dance."

"Me neither. I mean, not usually in front of anybody."

"Well, no. I mean, I—I don't—" Y/N shakes his head. "At all. I c—as in, I can't."

He tries to cancel out his embarrassing honesty with a smile. Hailee found his bumbling reaction very cute.

"Everybody can dance." She smiles. "Come on, you can't be that bad."

Y/N looks at her, not sure how to respond. She gives him puppy dog eyes.

"Please? For me? Come on."

Ultimately, Y/N caves. Hailee smiles and gets up from her seat, grabbing Y/N's hand and taking him out of his seat.

The two walk up to the dance podium, holding hands. They awkwardly take a moment to get situated near the few other pairs of dancing couples. Y/N places a hand on Hailee's waist, she latches onto his arm, and then places her other hand in his. He is a bit hesitant on where to touch her.

"Hey, I don't bite..." She says. "Maybe."

He chuckles. "Ha. That's funny."

They move slightly, but Y/N accidentally steps on the girl's foot.

"Oof." She reacts.

"Sorry." He apologizes. "I told you I was bad at this."

He inhales and exhales loudly. She looks back at him with a soft smile.

"But in all fairness, you did warn me, right?"

"That's right."

Hailee laughs. They continue to move to the music.

"So, um, what's number one on your list?" He abruptly asks.

She shakes her head in a nuh-uh, not telling manner and simply smiles back. Y/N lightly chuckles.

"Okay, um, number one on my list is getting out of Granada Hills. Well...the Valley." He admits. "Valley of San Fernando."

"Mmm. I don't think getting out is gonna be a problem. It's more like figuring out what you're gonna do when you get somewhere."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...you can do anything."

Y/N takes in her words. No one had ever told that to him before, or at least not in a very long time. He's had dreams before. He has dreams now. But recently, the jaded teen just never had the drive to pursue them.

"Really?" He asks her softly. "Anything?"

She nods. "Anything."

The music continues to play as they both gaze at each other, barely moving but still in their dance pose underneath the star-studded night sky.

Y/N drives the Camry down the barren road. Hailee sits in the passenger's seat. They've been on the move for quite a while now.

"Where are we going?" She asks.

"Just hold on." He answers. "You'll see."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

I love to see you shine in the night
Like the diamond you are

Soon, the car stops by the side of the road. Y/N goes around the front of the vehicle to meet up with Hailee, who is emerging from the passenger side.

"Come on, come on, come on. Let's go."

He shuts her door, takes her hand, and starts running.

"What are we doing?" She asks.

"Running!"

He stops in the middle of the street.

I'm good on the side, it's alright
Just hold me in the dark

"Okay, okay. Uh, stand there."

Hailee looks down. "All right."

"Okay, one foot there."

He points to the left side of a chalky line on the road. She nods.

No one's gotta know what we do
Hit me up when you're bored

"Okay."

"And one foot here."

"Okay."

"There you go."

Hailee sighs happily and shakes her head. She smiles.

"You're acting so crazy." She says. "What's going on?"

'Cause I live down the street, so we meet
When you need it, it's yours

"Okay, right now, you're straddling the state line." He replies.

"Okay...?"

Y/N motions to a sign behind him that says Welcome to Nevada.

"You're in two places at once."

That was one of the things on the girl's list. It just dawns on her what he's done, and she is surprised. The two start grinning like fools. Very cute fools.

All I hear is...

Hailee laughs and hugs him. Y/N picks her up and spins her around in the middle of the road, the moon above and the headlights from their car lighting their surroundings.

Nothing feels better than this
Nothing feels better
Nothing feels better than this
Nothing feels better, oh, nah
We don't gotta hide
This is what you like, I admit
Nothing feels better than this

Y/N and Hailee sit in the car parked (rather crookedly between spaces) by the Santa Monica Pier. The lights from the attractions illuminate the lot that they are in. Better by Khalid continues to play on the radio.

You say we're just friends, but I swear
When nobody's around

"Okay..." Y/N begins.

Y/N has three sheets of temporary tattoos. Getting a tattoo is one of the things on Hailee's list. She looks over them.

"Butterfly, rosebud, or star?" He asks.

Hailee shakes her head and smiles at him.

"You choose."

You keep my hand around your neck, we connect
Are you feeling it now?

Y/N holds up his choice and smiles.

"A star."

"Mmkay." She replies with a nod.

'Cause I