...finds out, late night, he can't

Richard laid down in bed, once again, still finding himself not able to sleep or focus much.

The afternoon had been spent driving around as Yvonne pointed out various places where kids liked to hang out, to eat, to shop, and generally where to go and not to go. It had been interesting as she introduced him to various people, including several of her friends from high school. He learned that she was one of those social butterflies but, to his surprise, they were all happy to see her leading a guy around. Richard didn't really say much but found himself talking a bit with one of the guys, name was David, who offered to play some basketball with him on Saturday. Richard had been a decent player as Annabeth, playing until his senior year in high school, so he figured he would take him up on the offer.

"David's captain on the Varsity team, btw, hope you don't get hammered too bad."

He laughed at that as they continued to drive around, she pointed out the school and they spent about an hour walking around. He found it easy to talk with her and as they returned to his car, Richard brushed his hand against hers, just slightly, and while she didn't take his hand, she didn't move it away either.

Still, after he dropped her back off at the shopping center, he found himself still more or less a bit confused. Dinner was okay, he filled his parents in on the places that they had gone through and mom was eager to chip in comments about her discoveries. Dad, for his parent, smiled a bit but said little except that he was happy Richard was settling in.

That evening, after they turned in for the night, and Richard had finished squaring away a bit more of his room, he picked up the phone and read through the texts. There was one from David who, after adding him on to his friend's list, told him that Saturday was on for the afternoon at the park. He continued to look down and there were several more from the school welcoming him and reminding him to set up his registration in the next few days. While the idea of going back to school didn't do wonders for him, Richard supposed he was 18 and he had to do it, at least for a year. Plus, as a wallflower, he didn't experience a lot of things that Seniors do in their final year. He aimed to remedy that.

He looked at two messages that were from Yvonne. The first one was right after he had dropped her off at the shopping center while she waited for her parents to pick her back up. HAD FUN TODAY! THANKS FOR BEING A GOOD SPORT AND MEETING PEOPLE!

He liked her friends well enough and it was easier to go into someplace new with at least knowing a few people. Plus, truth be told, the more he surrounded himself with people his age, the easier the integration into this life. He couldn't deny that it was interesting to be young again.

The second message came a few minutes ago. YOU AWAKE?

YEAH, SORRY, HAD TO CLEAN UP SOMETHINGS. WHAT'S UP?

HAD LOADS OF FUN TODAY. MY FRIENDS SAID HI TOO, THE ONES IN THE STORE?

Richard chuckled a bit and they texted a few more times. She wanted to know if he was free in a few days so that they could go to the beach. He supposed it would be okay and afterwards, she just sent a smiley emoji before saying "good night". He responded and placed the phone back down. It was only after he turned off the lights and laid back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, did he realize something profound yet blindingly obvious.

She liked him.

"Now what...?"