Tonight is the night I’ll be going to dinner with Nathan Booker. Even as I get dressed in an outfit I think DeShaun would stand up and cheer for, I still can’t believe Nathan asked me out last night. I spent the entire drive home from Christiana in complete disbelief. Nathan had showered me with compliments as we stood in the book aisle, before asking to take me out, to which I promptly agreed. I ended up giving him my address and Snapchat, and he said he’d be over to pick me up tonight. I don’t know where we’re going, but I honestly don’t even care. Does it matter where the date will be if the person you’re spending the evening with is gorgeous, successful, and someone you’ve been a fan of for years? Even if nothing long-term happens between us, this night will still feel like a fairytale, so I intend to soak it all in.

Juliana sits on my bed swiping her way through Tinder as I move on from my dress and put the focus on my hair. I turn my head side to side as I look in the mirror, trying to imagine what style will look best with what I’m wearing. Is it weird that I want to make sure I look good standing next to Nathan, who’s unreasonably attractive? People will see us together and believe we’re a couple, so I feel like I have to step my game up for tonight.

“Should I wear my hair up or down?” I ask Juliana while I frown at my reflection.

“Definitely down,” Juliana says without even looking at me.

“You sure?”

“Yes. Guys have a thing about girls wearing their hair down. It makes them hard or some weird shit like that.” I turn around and glare at Juliana to see if she’s serious, and she shrugs without even looking up from her phone. “It’s true.”

“Okay,” I reply, dragging the word out, and while I think it’s weird, I’m going to listen to her and wear my hair down.

I spend the next ten minutes tending to my hair, before moving on to accessories. To offset the white, I choose black bracelets, black hoop earrings, and a small black necklace to tie it all together, along with black heels as icing on the cake. When I look at myself in my full-length mirror, I feel like I didn’t skip anything.

“I think I’m ready,” I tell Juliana, who finally closes Tinder and gets up from the bed to come to the mirror with me.

“You look amazing, girl,” she says, standing behind me and doing a close inspection from head to toe. “DeShaun would be gushing over this outfit.”

“I thought the same thing earlier,” I say behind a giggle. “But what will Nathan say?”