Lei felt like she could pass out on the sofa, but more importantly she really wanted to throw something to get Yuri to stop doing his little "victory dance" in the living room. The homework was passed with just a few minutes to spare and Yuri was ecstatic. However for Lei, the remaining time they spent working on it managed to get her more stressed than working at Grand Prix Pizza ever did. She was glad that was finally over.

Speaking of Grand Prix Pizza, and as if to act as a valiant reward for her services towards Yuri that afternoon, her phone trilled its familiar ringtone.

Yuri grabbed the phone off the table in a flash.

"Give it baaack," Lei whined, dragging herself off the sofa in an attempt to snatch her phone back. "Shouldn't I be the first one to read my first ever text message from Otabek?"

"How sure are you it's from Otabek?"

"I have high hopes," she said, reaching her arm out for the phone. "Give it."

Yuri placed the phone on her hand soon enough, "since you helped me." He skipped his way to their shared room, and happily announced, "I'm gonna go take a nap. Wake me up for dinner. Tell me what happens."

Lei made sure Yuri was safely inside the room before she fell back to her original position on the sofa, phone clutched in hand. She hasn't even looked at the screen yet because Yuri had a point- what if it wasn't Otabek? Then again, what if it was? There was a strange sense of nervousness that washed over her as she mentally and emotionally prepared herself.

"It's just a text message," Lei said to herself as she took a deep breath. "Stop being so nervous."

It dawned on her suddenly that she actually developed a crush on Otabek in a span of less than 24 hours, and a good part of her wanted to blame her friends but she knew that it was all her fault as well. It was bad enough that Otabek was adorable over the phone, but there was also the fact that the boy was equally adorable and even attractive to a certain degree in person, even if they didn't really get to talk much apart from phone calls. He was easy to tease, and his reactions made it even better, and Lei found herself smiling without even realizing it.

The realization that she actually liked Otabek, however, made her much, much, much more nervous to check her phone. Finally, she released her death grip on her phone just enough to see the screen and unlock it. It came from an unknown number, and it wasn't the same number Grand Prix Pizza had (so she may have kinda memorized it, just in case).

Hi, Lei ^^ 
- Otabek

Before Lei could come with what to say, another message followed it.

I hope I'm not interrupting or anything D:

It may have taken Lei a longer time than usual to reply to the first message since she did spend some time worrying over it and reading Otabek's first ever text to her over and over again, which sent her into a panicked state because of course Otabek wasn't interrupting anything and she quickly texted back to tell him just that.

You're not! I was just processing that this is actually happening. Hi, Otabek!!! :D

"Does three exclamation points look too eager..." Lei mused out loud as she stared at her phone, glad that her roommate wasn't around because she would have gotten an eye roll and a snarky comment from him one way or another, not to mention, a comment about how she was totally head-over-heels for the guy; which she didn't need to hear anymore since she knew it just fine. While waiting for Otabek's reply, she took the time to save the number on her phone. She didn't know his last name yet so she settled for labeling it with 'Otabek' and a pizza emoji, smiling to herself afterwards because it was actually a cute idea, just like Otabek.

Their next few text messages went smoothly enough. Otabek asked about how the date thing was going to work, making Lei smile widely to herself the whole time they exchanged messages because she was pretty sure Otabek was being all blushy and shy himself. If he could stutter through a text message, he probably would. They discussed school, each other's courses, regular small talk, really. They gave each other's class schedules to compare, and found that they actually have two breaks at the same time. Lei's classes ended earlier than Otabek's though.

Does dinner tomorrow sound good? It's a Saturday~

Lei read the text again and again before she hit send, her heart thumping in her chest as she waited for Otabek's reply.

Sounds great! ^^ 
Where are we going?

Lei replied without really thinking it through.

We could always go for some pizza :D

The idea of being surrounded by her friends during a date suddenly seemed like a really stupid idea and Lei desperately wanted to undo the text she just sent but that wasn't possible. Otabek had replied.

Sure~ I can meet you there~

Well, it was too late now. At least she realized the mistake of saying 'It's okay, I can pick you up, I know where you live' because that would have made things very weird. Lei agreed, and after a few more tidbits of texting, they set up a specific time for them to meet up. It made her feel all warm inside when she actually texted the words 'see you!' and having it sent back to her. It was satisfying to some extent and she spent some time reading through their messages again that she hadn't realized Yuri standing by their room's doorway till he spoke.

"You totally forgot about dinner, didn't you?" Yuri asked, not really expecting an answer as he walked over to the kitchen. "Ramen for tonight then. How was texting Otabek?"

Lei got up from the sofa and made her way to the kitchen to fix his share of ramen, "it went absolutely great. We have a date tomorrow."

"Where?"

"I'd rather not tell you."

Yuri pouted as he heated a pot with water, "why not?"

"You are either going to laugh at me, or be there when the date happens, and I want to avoid both," Lei replied, laughing at her roommate's reaction.

"No way!" Yuri exclaimed, shaking his head violently to prove a point. "I'll be good. Unless..."

He paused, and slowly turned to look at Lei, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Don't tell me your date is at Grand Prix Pizza."

Lei scratched at her neck sheepishly, "well... That's where it all started?"

"I am judging you on so many levels now," Yuri said seriously at first, before breaking into a fit of laughter as Lei attempted to throw the nearest thing to her- a powder packet from the ramen- but decided against it, choosing instead to grin at her friend because her mood was really too high up there to be brought down.

"Dinner at a pizza place," Yuri said, shaking his head, "that's something."

"Quit judging and get started on the ramen," Lei shot back, grin still in place.

"Sure," Yuri smoothly replied. There were a few moments of silence before he continued:

"Oh and also? I am definitely going to be there tomorrow."