In the school cafeteria sat the trio of Elly, Kelley, and Sammy on one side of a lunch table. Across from them were Mike and Myra, as they typically sat. However, on this day a new face came to sit on the typically-vacated seat beside Myra.

“Um… hi,” said Lyn.

She took a seat on the opposite side of Myra compared to where Mike was sitting. Sammy took the opening shot in this development.

“Uhh…. why are you joining us, Lyn?” she asked.

Lyn looked at Sammy, not hiding her nervousness well.

“Ummm… Myra asked if I could join you,”

Elly was next up to ask a question.

“Myra, how did you get through to Lyn?”

Myra, in the middle of a bite to eat, finished it before answering the question.

“What do you mean, I just talked to her,” Myra said.

Elly gave Myra an annoyed look, clearly missing what she was asking. Following up her question, she dove into the perception of Lyn at the school as evidence to the nonsense that was Myra’s answer.

“But she blows everyone off! Where did you even find the opportunity to make friends with her?”

“Oh, you mean like that. We ran into each other at the football game over the weekend, and I just started talking to her, that’s all.” Myra answered.

Mike, chowing down on his food while this was going on, caught on while working on a bite of his food that wasn’t even remotely close to what happened. He let the others continue, not wanting to interrupt (or talk with his mouth full).

“You met at the… oh, right, that was last weekend.” Elly conceded.

Myra thinks that’s the best answer… Mike thought. He figured that Myra was giving a good answer, because the truth was far more complicated. Lyn probably wouldn’t like the truth, either. 

“Yeah. She’s actually pretty shy, so don’t go too hard on her,” Myra added.

The others nodded. Myra then took a bite of her food to continue on her lunch. Kelley was next to speak up.

“So… Lyn, have you had anyone invite you to the prom this Friday?” she asked.

“A few… I’ve turned them down, however,” Lyn answered.

“Oh, cold,”

“Are you going to go anyway?” Sammy asked.

“I wasn’t planning on it… maybe next year,” Lyn said.

“Oh, bummer…”

“Guess there’s hope for next year at least,” Kelley added.

“Are any of you going?” Lyn asked.

“We’re all going as a group!” Elly proclaimed.

She put her arms around her friend's shoulders. She looked at Lyn with a smile.

“You should come!” she added.

“I’ll… consider it,” Lyn said.

Kelley looked over to Myra and Mike, sitting beside Lyn.

“What about you two? Are you going?”

Myra was in the middle of a bite of food, while Mike was not. He took the opportunity to answer the question, before Myra could do something with it.

“Yeah, we are,” he said.

“Oooh, look at him, taking our advice,” Elly chimed.

“Good for you,” added Sammy.

“Eh… really?” Mike said.

Myra, meanwhile, finished her bite of food, but was simply choosing to let Mike play this conversation out for a moment. Internally, she was cheering him on.

“Of course! You’re got one of the cutest girls by your side, you’d be silly not to,” said Elly.

“I- okay,” Mike stammered.

“You know, for having someone like her with you, you are very conservative,” Kelley noted.

Elly and Sammy concurred.

“Don’t you think it’s weird, Myra? He’s a boy, and yet he doesn’t seem to do anything untoward,” Kelley asked.

Myra took a breath before answering the question.

“At some level, I’m not complaining. Much rather than someone like Johnny. But…”

She looked over at Mike, trying his best to appear as small as possible.

“He’s so much in the other direction that it’s kind of concerning. You know you can do stuff, right?” she asked.

“...what do you mean by stuff?” Mike asked.

“Well, you could ask for a date, which you haven’t really done,” Myra said.

“He hasn’t what?!” Sammy asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I know, he hasn’t asked about a date other than the prom,” Myra mused.

“I- but you come over all the time, and--” Mike started.

“Yeah, but is that really all you want?” Myra asked.

“I mean…”

Mike stopped to think about the question. Was that all he really wanted? Help with homework? He thought about the concept of their relationship being just that, and the answer he came back with was a solid no. However,

“No… but I’m not sure what else I’d ask about… right now, I’ve been plenty happy being around you… and the rest of you, as well.” he said.

He looked over at the trio of Elly, Kelley, and Sammy. The trio looked at him with a warm, almost sympathetic smile. Mike continued his speech.

“...can I get back to you on the answer to that?” he asked.

Myra looked at Mike, and ruffled his hair.

“Sure, why not,” Myra said.

She gave one last pat on Mike’s head, and pulled her hand away.

“I suppose that’s fine.”

Myra then turned her attention to the rest of the people at the table.

“Speaking of doing stuff… can I ask you for some assistance?”

Elly looked at Myra at an angle. Confused, though personally interested in something Myra would actually need help with, she offered to listen to what Myra’s request was.

“Mike needs a costume for the halloween prom. I can figure out my own, but he has a single dad and tends to be on the busy side. So I’d like you to help pick out one for him, since he won’t if I leave it to him,” Myra said.

Mike didn’t protest the idea, though to say he actively supported it would not be the truth either. Elly and company looked over at Mike, pondering the idea. After a moment, Elly said with an expectant tone:

“Can we?”

“Yes… you probably want to meet up at his apartment beforehand. You can let them in, can’t you?” Myra said.

Mike figured this would happen regardless of protest, so he resigned to his fate and said yes.

“Neat. Unfortunately, the place I’m staying at tends to be a mess, and my aunt probably would be less than happy to host a bunch of guests,” Myra said.

“Hey, …Myra, can I ask something?” Lyn said.

The rest of the group looked at Lyn, not expecting her to speak up.

“Sure,”

“Why don’t you help Mike with it?” Lyn asked.

“Because I want Mike to meet people, he’s too good of a boy to have friends beyond me,” Myra explained.

After a moment for the rest of the group to process Myra’s noble line of thinking, she added a less noble one:

“Also, because I want to be surprised by what outfit you put him in. It’s more fun that way, you know?”