on the lookout, tags Gage, open

[Genny Bailey]

Genny had received Gage’s text invitation to meet for lunch and she had immediately texted her acceptance back. Now she waited, looking for a sign of him in the masses of students, wondering what was going on. They didn’t meet often for lunch as Genny didn’t feel comfortable with the jocks and cheerleaders that her best friend hung out with at school.

Today she was dressed in faded jeans and her favorite tee shirt, a simple white, over-sized tee that said ‘Dolphin Encounter 2008’ in royal blue lettering with a silhouette of a dolphin leaping. She had attended dolphin camp the summer before and it was one of her fondest memories. The only thing that had made it not perfect was that Gage hadn’t been there. She had her laptop bag on one shoulder and her lunch in her opposite hand.

Waiting was something that Gen did not do well. Especially in a situation like this where she couldn’t really do anything else. She was hyper and had been raised to always be doing something, so in her mind she was organizing a term paper that she was currently working on. It was hard but not impossible without her notes and cards

[Gage Foster]

Class ran a little late and Gage found himself hurrying from end of the hallway down the stairs only to have to run to the other end of the hall in order to get to the cafeteria. It was way too crowded but he managed to get to the cafeteria in one piece. All the way, he had to dodge a few of his team mates and rival team mates and then there were the girls who stopped him because they had spotted him with Hannah the day before. He skilfully dodged their questions and finally when he arrived in the cafeteria, he had to crane his neck over the crowds of people to find his best friend.

Once he spotted her in her favourite t-shirt, he grinned and yelled out her name, much to the dismay of the boy and girls around him. "GEN! I'll come to you! Wait a sec, excuse me, oh so sorry for the life of me I'm...oops...heh sorry dude. Coming Gen!" he tripped over a few benches and people's feet before finally managing to stop right in front of her. "What up!" He exclaimed, raising one hand for a high five. "Okay so I know I texted you to meet me here and I'm so sorry but I was afraid we'd get lost if I told you to meet me outside or at our lockers or whatever so...wanna get out of here and get to some place quiet? I really need to talk to you about something.

[Genny Bailey]

Genny smiled in relief when she saw Gage and couldn't help smirking a bit when some of the girls started wondering why Gage was having lunch with a nobody like her. "I have some meatloaf sandwiches and some of Nana's fudge cake, if you want to share," she said as they turned and left the cafeteria to head out to the quadrant where there were some stone benches where they could sit.

She suffered through being scanned by the metal detectors and then found a free bench. She sat and immediately began to pull food from her lunch bag which was a cloth reusable one that was Earth-friendly. Her grandmother always packed extra even though she told her that Gage rarely ate with her. For once she was glad she did. She gave him a juice box and a wrapped sandwich along with some sweet potato chips.

"So what's up? Your mom is all right? Has she said anything about her date with my dad Saturday night?" Genny asked a bit worried that something might be wrong and she had no idea about it. The lunch date was unusual after all.

[Gage Foster]

Gage was fussed over at the metal scanners but thankfully nothing was out of the ordinary and he toddled away behind Genny, completely oblivious to the stares the girls were shooting at him or at Genny. "Fudge! I love fudge. Fudge is heaven in a square. And Nana's fudge is...you get what I mean." Gage sat across Genny and started to rearrange the food Genny handed to him, glad that he never had to worry about edible food whenever Genny was around.

Sticking the straw into his juice box, he happily finished it in a few seconds before looking at Genny's worried expression. "She was all smiley when she came home. Dawson poked her a bit but she didn't budge. Apparently ladies don't kiss and tell. Not that we know if they kissed or not but one hopes." Gage grinned before unwrapping the meatloaf sandwich of it's Eco-friendly wrapping and munched on it. He was postponing telling her about Hannah but even if he wasn't, what could he say? I met a Gould cheerleader I really like but I'm scared of ruining my reputation and I don't want to sound like a complete jerk to you especially since I told you I didn't like cheerleaders? He couldn't do that.

But Hannah was sweet. And she didn't act like some dumb blond stereotypical cheerleader he was so used to seeing in school. But then he supposed it was because he was a jock. Cheerleaders acted differently with jocks and maybe Hannah was one of them? No...he can't think that. He shouldn't doubt his gut feeling and that was that Hannah was a nice girl. The fact that she was cute was a bonus.

"I met a girl." He blurted out before he could make an excuse not to.

[Genny Bailey]

Gen felt less worried when Gage's original focus was on the fudge. He would never blather on about chocolate if his mother was ill or she had decided she couldn't stand Gen's father. They had been dating for the last two weeks and it seemed like they really liked each other. At least she thought they would have stopped dating by now if they didn't. Two or three dates maybe, but beyond that meant attraction and they had been out seven times in two weeks. True some were just coffee or a drink, but still.

"I am glad they are getting along, maybe we can have them engaged by the Dolphin Festival after all," she said hopefully. Gage was acting strangely though and she was about to make him tell her what was going on when he suddenly blurted it out and Genny paled. Even though she wanted their parents together, she still couldn't help having a crush on her bff. She recovered quickly though and smiled as genuinely as she was able to. "A girl... wow... that's great Gage. What's she like?"

[Gage Foster]

Gage didn't notice how pale Gen went because he was concentrating on his sandwich. "This is some good sandwich." He commented, hoping it would make the conversation less awkward. When he looked up, Gen's beatific smile made Gage relax. So maybe this wouldn't be so awkward. As long as he didn't tell her that it was a cheerleader, it would all be okay.

"She's a Gould cheerleader." He blurted out once more without thinking. He felt like slapping himself for not having any control over his speech. He crammed his mouth with the meatloaf sandwich and waited for Gen to react.

He was so sure that Gen would get a little overexcited about him finally meeting a girl. The last time they had spoken about it, she seemed to think that all it took was some confidence. Her less than enthusiastic response worried him. Maybe he made a bad choice? Again, his thoughts brought him to the fact that maybe Hannah's interest in him was purely because of status.

What if all she wanted was to hook up with a Silver basketball player to gain more popularity? But why him? He was only a sophomore. He hadn't even played that many matches so why did she give him her number? Maybe she wanted to play a prank on him? It could make sense. But she seemed so nice...

"She's really pretty. Her name's Hannah. She's sweet...but I'm not sure about her. I mean she's Gould. And a cheerleader...what do you think?" He looked up expectantly.

[Genny Bailey]

"A Cheerleader?" Genny asked, her smile becoming strained. Well that took the cake! Apparently everything he had said about she not needing to be a cheerleader to be special cause they weren't special either had been pure BS. She didn't really care what school the girl cheered for. She didn't have the Jock mentality of School Loyalty that Gage did. It wasn't that big a deal for the swim team.

Gen looked into Gage's anxious eyes and just couldn't tell him her thoughts. "I don't think it matters about which school you go to if you really care about each other," she said keeping the rest of her thoughts to herself. She was losing her best friend so she shouldn't make it worse by saying something that might ruin all their wonderful memories together.

"Have you asked her out yet?" She asked. "Just be careful, some of them only care about popularity and how things look." She said this quietly, just for his ears.

[Gage Foster]

This time, Gage saw the strain in Gen's eyes. She knew it was a bad idea. Of course it was. But then she started reassuring her, much like how Ashton did earlier in the gym. What was he supposed to believe?

"Have I asked...? No I haven't. I had to come to your first. I can't handle this alone, Gen. And what better way than to ask my best friend who happens to be a girl? What do you think I should do?" Gage asked and when he heard the last words coming out of Gen's mouth, his heart panged with the anxiety and fear he had felt earlier.

So even Gen felt the same way. Maybe it was a bad idea all around. He shouldn't ask her out. Not now not ever. Cheerleaders were bad business. Gage couldn't break his own heart knowingly. Could he? But she had been so nice...

"I know, Gen. I do. But...do you think...maybe there's just one...you should meet her. Maybe we could all go together. We'll bring that Will Owens guy that's always hanging around you during swim practice. Double date yeah that's it. Come on, Gen...please. Just one date. And then if it's not the right fit, I'll call it off. I promise...what do you say..." Gage gave Gen his puppy dog look, one he wasn't sure if it still worked on his best friend or not. But he had to try.

[Genny Bailey]

Genny's eyes became more strained at the request. The last thing she wanted to do was sit and watch Gage with another girl for a whole evening especially while on a fix up date with a guy that was only being nice to her out of pity. "I don't know Gage. I don't really think Will likes me and I think he wouldn't want to go out with me. But if you arrange the date I will go, but you will owe me big." Will was nice and good looking but it would be so awkward and she would hate that he would feel obligated to go out with her.

[Gage Foster]

Gage's best friend's inability to see how incredible she was was simply astounding to Gage. He simply could not remind her any often how special she was.

"Will is probably in love with you and has pictures stacked up on his wall. Come on...weren't you the one talking about confidence just the other day? I mean it works both ways doesn't it?" Gage asked, taking her hand in his. "And thanks a lot, Gen. This means a lot to me. Especially coming from you. You have no idea. And yes. I do owe you. A lot. Anything you want, I'll get it for you. I mean...within reason of course. I can't buy you a dolphin aquarium." Gage laughed before squeezing her hand and returning to his sandwich.

"Tell Nana when I get home, I'm going to ask her to marry me. These meatloaf sandwiches are so damn amazing. It's unbelievable!" He munched on it until there was nothing left. "Fudge, fudge!" Gage reached a hand out to Gen with a huge smile. "Do not deprive a man of his fudge, woman!"