A text from Fern

Apparently she was going to be arriving early to pick up Adrian to take him to school. The short boy had met his tall best friend soon after moving to this town and they had been fast friends ever since. At the time Fern was as tiny as her new bestie, but within months she sprouted up. Now she's nearly six feet tall but not at all twiggy like her namesake might have suggested. Pretty with an abundant figure, the tall young woman was the nearest thing to a goddess in Adrian's eyes, and all the more so for deigning to spend a little time with him. Many of his dreams - both innocent and of the sort a healthy teenage boy is bound to regularly have - were occupied by his bespectacled friend with her hair like midnight and eyes as brilliantly green as a well-manicured lawn. He finds himself glazing over with fresh thoughts of Fern, and for a moment Tara simply watches him while cooking her own breakfast. When the dopey expression persists his stepmom chimes in, shattering the daydream with her typical keen insight. "Isn't it about time you ask that girl out? Even if she said she wasn't interested - which she wouldn't - you'd still be friends afterward. Don't you ever wonder why a girl like that is still single?"

Adrian frowned, wondering if the sharp woman was right and it was his lack of spine that was all that kept him friend-zoned or if his own hunch that she saw him as a literal invertebrate in that sense was the correct one. "I don't know... I guess I'm just afraid of screwing up our friendship is all. She can have any boy she wants, or probably almost any girl too," he mused with a lascivious smirk from the last thought.

"Boys..." Tara mused with a roll of her eyes. It wasn't like it would be that weird for him to think about that given the uncommon number of lesbian couples Adrian had grown up around - even if he didn't grasp their true nature. "Tell you what: if you ask her out and she says no I'll get you that new VR headset you've been pining after as a late birthday present. Win-win," the incorrigible matchmaker offered, dangling the juicy bait in front of her stepson. If she said yes it's not like he'd be having a whole lot of solo time anyway. It was clearly enough to give him pause, but he was still on the fence about his position.

"I'll have to think about it," was all he said, and Tara smiled. His phone chimed again to announce the arrival of his ride.

"Saved by the bell. Better not keep her waiting." Tara shook her head as the blonde boy grabbed his backpack and hurried out the door to catch his chariot. The red Ford Escape idled in the driveway with Fern at the helm, waving at Adrian with her usual friendly smile.