Him: “I want you to go to the mall tomorrow dressed in full retro clothes. You’ve got to run around asking people what year it is, telling everyone that your time machine has worked!”

                               Him: “And you’ve gotta be serious about it!”

                               Him: “I want the whole nine yards!”

                You: “You are joking right?”

                Tomorrow happened to be Saturday, the weekend, the busiest day of the week. The mall would be teeming with people, people you knew! If they saw this you would never, ever, live it down.

                Him: “I don’t joke about things this serious.”

                               Him: “unless, of course, you admit that you’re a meanie.”

                You: “I am not!”

                Him: “If only there was a way to prove it :P”

This guy….

                You: “Fine. I’ll do it.”

                Him: “YES!!!!” 

                               Him: “Remember you have to dress retro!”

                               Him: “Bright colours, headband, sequins, everything!”

                You: “Yeah yeah.”

                Him: “XD”

                The next morning you picked out the clothes you’d be wearing later that day. You almost regretted the ‘retro dance’ you’d gone to a couple months ago, because that just meant that you had a perfect outfit ready.

                Pulling the leg warmers over your thick-heeled boots, you looked at yourself in the mirror. You had to admit, you looked pretty kick-. You added the final touches, the long necklace, the rose tinted glasses, and the sequined headband, and were finally ready to go. It was only at your front door that you found something to hinder you, in the form of your group of friends on your doorstop.

Their happy banter stopped almost instantly as they saw you, and only the bags of snacks in their hands reminded you of the study session…

“Going somewhere?”

You sighed, explaining the situation to them because frankly, there was no other explanation you could give them. A little confused questioning later and you found yourself packed into a car with all of them who had also grabbed all the retro clothes they had and were excited to join you on your quest.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” You groaned, but a smile was pulling at your lips. You’d dressed to the nines to avoid detection, and now the wig and makeup were pretty much disguising your identity giving you the freedom to roam and actually put your whole self into this without actually fearing for consequences. It was all rather liberating.   

Everyone pulled on their big coats to cover their outfits and then hurried into the mall, rushing over to the small alcove of a hallway that led to a set of bathrooms.

Him: “Done it yet?”

You smiled at your phone, the chatter of your friends dulling into the background.

You: “Someone’s eager.”

Him: “oh you have no idea.”

               “So have you?”

You: “Just about to actually, any other special requests before I get started?”

Why on earth would you say that.

Him: Just make sure you do it at least once in the cafeteria!

Of course, the busiest part of the mall. You should have known better. You adjusted your glasses and bandana and looked to the crowds in determination. “Let’s go.”

Your friends cheered with you as you ran out of the alcove to the first group of people you saw, a group of girls on a shopping trip, “What year is it!”

“er… what?” The girls giggled at your attire,

“What year is it?” You asked again.

“Er, its 2016…”

“We made it!” You cheered, hugging your friends, “our time machine worked!!”

The girls were laughing with you all now, “can we get a picture with you?”

About 4 group selfies later, you and your friends were hiding in the back room of a shoe store, waiting for an unsuspecting group to walk by.  

You let your friends take the lead the next few times, but when you got to the cafeteria, that was when you took control again.

“Ready?”

They all nodded, super into the whole scenario.

You looked out, and saw a group of 6 guys chatting lively at a table nearby. Target acquired. You ran out, hearing your friends behind you.

“What year is it?” You asked one of them, a tall blond. Really tall. He just looked at you as if you were insane but one of the others jumped in front of him.

“woah, you guys look incredible!”

“You guys looking for a 60’s party?”

“Duh, we came here in a time machine.”

The group laughed, and you once again found yourself posing for a picture with them, your cheek squished between a dimpled boy and one with a cheeky smile whose mouth turned up in the corners. After eventually bidding them all goodbye you and your friends made it back to the car before they finally dropped you at home. So only when you were away from them all and they excited yelling could you check your phone.

Him: “the sunglasses were a nice touch”

What? How? … No way.

You: “You were there????”

Him: “Your friends are awesome”

Oh god. Had he been in one of the groups? Or had he just been a bystander? You frantically opened your pictures and looked at the faces of each group. Was it the blond in the shoe store? The brunette near the chocolatier? Or had he been one of those in the cafeteria?

Wait… didn’t he say he lived with 5 other guys? You counted the last group, there were 6 of them! And that would mean…

You: “You planned this! That’s why you told me to do it in the cafeteria!”

Him: “Guilty as charged ;P ”

You sighed, this guy….

You: “so which one are you then?”

Him: “You can’t guess? I’m insulted.”

You: “It’s not my fault, there’s no camel-saurus’s here!”

               “Give me a hint”

Him: “Nope!”

You swiped away from his messages and looked back at the picture. The first guy was the tall blond, but you were fairly sure it wasn’t him. There was a tall black haired one, but he looked too badass to be your marshmallow eating idiot. That left the 4 shorter ones. Dimples looked like too much of a sweetheart, but the other three… they all looked like they had tricks up their sleeves.

You: “You’re one of the three in the front, on the right?”

Him: “Maaaaybe.”

This guy! You swear….

Him: “I’ll give you a clue.”

               “Ready…?”

               “Set…”

               “Remember I told you I’m the handsomest guy you know?”

Honestly, this guy’s ego was something to be admired. You looked back at the photograph, at the remaining 3. The first had almost exotic cat-like eyes. The second was the one who had stood beside you in the picture, on the side that dimples wasn’t standing. And the third actually looked like a sweetheart, but he had to be hiding something behind that cute eye-smile. Your eyes drifted back to the one next to you, his eyes were crinkled adorably, almost hiding the mischief behind them. All of the boys were attractive, there was no denying that, but the one with the Cheshire smile had to be your favourite.

Not that you’d ever tell your mystery texter that, it would give him too much of an ego boost if it was actually him, and it would just be super awkward if it wasn’t.

Him: “are you just staring at my picture now? I should have warned you that could happen.”

You: “You wish.”

Him: “Tell you what, how about we settle this properly?”

You: “I’m listening.”

Him: “because I’ll admit, I want to see you without the wig.”

Wait, was he suggesting…

Him: “Coffee?”

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Just a short update because exams and all!