of course not

Eric felt pretty much off his game with Olivia.

What was he trying to do? Did he want to be a boyfriend? A friend? What was he going for?

The cool whip conversation had to be the dumbest conversation ever. It was just dumb. He now swore off cool whip entirely even if they'd spent most of their time giggling, feeding each other that rich chocolate cheese cake with raspberries while watching Nick & Norah back at Roger's house.

How was he going to tell her this? Did he just come out and say it. "I think I love you." No, in fact there was no thinking about it. He did. But was that too much too soon? And why was he like this? Why? Did he just fall in love too easily and want too much after that thinking it was all a part of this road of pulling someone in, wanting them all at once, physically, for the most part.

No, this had came about rather mental. He had fallen in love with her words, actually. He loved that about her. And she was so thoughtful. And she was so amazingly comforting. What if thats all this was about?

No. She was just astonishing to be around. He wanted her. He did. But was it for all the right reasons?

"You know, you do mean a lot to me," he told her afterwards, when they were alone in his car back at her place. He'd done his best to get her home before midnight. But still he wanted to talk.

"You mean so much to me, too." She'd told him. "Its not like I can talk to anybody about, well, writing. I was sure you'd think I was stupid."

"You are not stupid." He felt as if someone had punched the air out of him. How could someone even think that about Olivia? "I love your stories. I do. I can't believe you'd even let me look at them."

"What is it?" Olivia looked at him as if there was a but somewhere in all of this. Something that put him off. Something that just couldn't be right.

"Nothing." He just smiled. "Do you have a date yet for Prom?"

She shook her head, no.

"Can I take you? Would you come to prom with me?" He needed her to see he was serious. He didn't care if Steve might be mad. It didn't matter. It felt like the right thing to do.

She just smiled. And when they kissed. It was more than just an invitation of what might come, but a reason to be happy with each other. It was so much better than Eric even imagined.