Double Dating (ATTN: Gen, Hannah, Will)

[Hannah Bell]

Hannah struggled to stifle a giggle as Gage turned beet red upon responding to her underwear dilemma. Usually even mentions a girls' undergarments would send most boys into a flurry of mumbles and gasps, and if it didn't, the girl knew the guy was trouble. If this were a test, Gage passed with flying colors. Very cute flying colors, that is.

“You weren't obscene. If anything, I was a little indecent letting you in on my private business. So don't you worry your head about it.” She smiled and swung her arm back and forth, pulling Gage's with it. She wanted to start skipping, but she figured Gage would most definitely not enjoy that. Not to mention her heels weren't necessarily the best choice for such an active task. Nevertheless, she was skipping on the inside.

Corndogs reminded Hannah of all the numerous fairs and festivals they always had in the South when she was young. Carnivals would spring up over night in a large parking lot, full of games, rides, and delicious greasy food. “I would love a corndog, and we could split a funnel cake too!” She grew giddy just at the thought. She would have to work out a little bit extra tomorrow, though. “After that what we do is all up to you. You asked me on this date, remember?” She was finding it increasingly enjoyable to tease the boy. And in fairness, she wasn't too concerned with what they did so long as it was together.

[Will Owens]

“Sure,” smiled Will, “we can go see the dolphins.” A fish was a fish to him, or a mammal in the case of dolphins, but Genny seemed so excited so he thought it best to simply acquiesce to her wants while in the building. They started off towards the dolphin pools, traveling through dark rooms full of brightly lit aquariums. Some of the fish were neat, and some were absolutely terrifying. Will hadn't remembered seeing spider crabs the first time he was in the aquarium, and he found himself quite unnerved when he was around them.

There were a few moments when the pair were looking at fish, and Genny looked up at him. In the dim light of the aquarium, she looked very pretty and Will had to fight the urge to kiss her. He didn't want her to think he was just about trying to get into her pants (though that was an interesting idea to him) but those urges were present within him. Instead he simply smiled and listened to the mildly interesting facts she knew.

“Marine biology, wow. That sounds like it would be a lot of work! Like, what kind of job do you want to do with that, like the research part, or like a fish vet or something?” Will thought to himself how much biology in general interested him, but he had no clue what kind of career that would lead to. Plus, it was cool for a girl to be into marine biology, but for him to say something it would sound nerdy. “I dunno, I guess. Maybe like a coach, like my dad. Or, you know, I could be like a fireman or cop or something cool.” Will tried his best to impress Genny. He would hate to have her realize that he wasn't as cool as he was trying to be.

[Genny Bailey]

Genny noticed that Will tensed at one point and she noted he wasn't comfortable looking at the spider crabs. She wondered if it was just them or other multi-long-legged creatures as well. She thought it was cute. She personally was frightened of rodents so she wasn't going to hold it against him in any manner.

There were some times she thought he might kiss her, but didn't and she was kind of disappointed when it didn't happen. It would have told her that he was really attracted to her and not just doing Gage a favor. It was probably just as well as she had no experience in that sort of thing and she might be a really bad kisser.

"I can't wait really, I feel like I am wasting time in high school, there is so much more I could be doing. I would like to do research on a research vessel probably in conservation. The earth is 77% water and it is the most ignored when it comes to conservation," she said frowning slightly. Then after a brief mental conversation with herself she smiled again.

"Will, do you really want to do those? Are they something that makes your heart start pounding when you think about them? Being a crossing guard is cool, as long as it is something you really love to do. Following your heart is the most important thing in the world. I know that the world thinks being a lawyer is skeevy, but my dad is honorable and he loves helping people with all the knowledge he has about the law. That is really cool to me," Genny said clutching his arm a bit tightly as she poured out her philosophy of life.

[Will Owens]

Of course those jobs didn't make Will's heart pound, but they were respectable. They all had different challenges and would be neat things to do. There was nothing wrong with being a cop or a fireman. “I dunno, I guess. But I have a while to figure it out. Right now I just enjoy the swim team and stuff.” Stuff being classes, but no one cool liked classes. Will knew all the cool seniors were the guys who didn't really care one way or the other for anything but football or girls or something cool. Definitely not classes, especially science class.

But it was true that he liked the swim team and a lot of other great things about high school, especially the part where there were tons of very pretty girls, including the one standing right next to him holding tight to his arm. “And I don't really think school is a waste of time. I mean, there's all sorts of neat stuff we get to do. I doubt once I'm out of high school I'll swim competitively all that much. And, well, there's other cool things...” Will turned and looked down at Genny, catching her as she was gazing intently at a tank full of blowfish. She was so cute when she got caught up in her passions. Will wished he felt that comfortable with himself.

Will quickly turned away as Genny started to look at him. He didn't want to be caught staring at her, she might think he was a total weirdo. A quick glance showed that they were nearing the end of the hall and that the big, open, and brightly lit dolphin pools were next. If he was going to make a move, Will needed to act soon!

[Gage Foster]

Hannah's enthusiasm made Gage smile and blush even deeper than before. So Hannah really did have a thing for him. Which was good. He didn't think he'd be able to handle it if she only liked him for the popularity it might bring.

"Funnel cakes...yay." Gage laughed as he thought of other things they could share. But that can wait. Now all he wanted to do was get to know Hannah. As much as possible. All he knew was that she was a cheerleader and she was really nice. And judging by her accent, she wasn't from around here for sure.

"So...you're not from here. LA I mean..." Gage turned a bit to look at Hannah. The wind had picked up slightly and was blowing her hair every which way. He reached his hand forward and tucked her flyaway hair behind one ear before embarrassedly looking to the front and seeing a corndog stall. "Where are you from?" he asked as he pulled them towards the stall. "Two corndogs please." He held up two fingers before taking out a few dollar bills and handing it to the vendor.

He took the corndogs and handed one to Hannah before starting to walk again. They were headed towards the carousel.

[Hannah Bell]

Hannah leaned in towards Gage, almost touching her nose to Gage's chin as she looked up at him and shook her head playfully. “Well aren't you just the best detective! What gave it away?” She smiled at him, but when he brushed her hair even she couldn't keep her cool. She looked down, biting her bottom lip, not wanting Gage to notice that all of a sudden she was quite flustered.

“I was born in Nashville.” For once, Hannah didn't have much to say. She stayed focused on cooling down. Though she usually played it cool, the fact was she hadn't been out on many dates and this was a boy she really seemed to like. She was glad when he handed her the corn dog, and immediately brought it to her mouth, nibbling on the end. Then, as an afterthought, she stepped over to where the ketchup bottle was a squirted a little along the corndog, making sure not to splatter anything on her pretty dress.

The batter wrapped hot dog was nearly halfway gone by the time Hannah had calmed herself down enough to say something. It was a thought that had crossed her mind before, but had never said aloud until now. “So... you're a Silver jock and I'm a Gould cheerleader. What would you do if your teammates saw you with me?” Originally she had thought to tease him with it, but as it came out of her mouth she realized there was an earnest desire to know what he thought and felt. Again she felt flushed, and took another bite of the corndog, awaiting Gage's answer.

[Genny Bailey]

Genny's grip lessened on Will's arm when she realized he didn't understand what she was talking about and didn't really care either. It seemed that no one really did, but it wasn't her problem if other people ended up in jobs that would bore them silly by the time they were 40. It was a shame though for Will always seemed intelligent to her, though lately he seemed to worry more about people's opinions than in anything lasting or worthwhile.

She slipped her hand down into his, not wanting him to think she was mad or anything. "Do you have any plans for Spring Break?" she asked, something rather neutral that anyone might ask. Even Hannah might ask something like that Spring break affected everyone.

[Gage Foster]

When Hannah stepped up close to him that they were close enough to do more than just touch, Gage stopped breathing momentarily and his heartbeat increased exponentially. He was at loss for words and he was glad when she moved away and mentioned that she was from Nashville. "R...right. Nashville. Uh...that's where Keith Urban was from right? And...Elvis...oh wait he's from Memphis...okay I should just shut up now..." Gage mumbled as he bit into his corndog.

They finally arrived at the carousel and as he was about to pay for the ride, Hannah brought up a question that had been bugging him the moment he had asked her out on this date. What WOULD he do? Ashton had practically given him his blessing but what did that mean? Did everybody else feel the same way Ashton did? Or would some of them be adverse to it? He supposed if Ashton, as the captain of the basketball team, didn't care...why should they? And why should he?

He opened his mouth, wanting to answer but he couldn't say anything. He had everything in his mind but he couldn't voice it out. He frowned and got the tickets before going on the carousel with Hannah in hand. He held her up onto one of the fake horses before getting on one beside her himself. He held on to the pole and turned to her. "I'll...introduce you to them." He answered with a slight smile. "I...it's going to be hard for them to swallow I suppose but...I dunno...Ashton seemed okay with it so..."

"What about you? You don't...care do you?"

[Will Owens]

Will thought about Spring Break, and the plans his parents had made. “I dunno, I guess my parents want to go to Canada, but that seems so lame. I may not go, just hang out.” He had thought about it often, and he had decided long ago he liked L.A. much, much better than anywhere he had been in Canada. Not that he disliked Canada, but there was just so much more to do in a big city. He did miss camping, however.

“I was actually thinking of maybe trying to throw a party if I do get to stay home.” He tried to think of a cool way to invite Genny without seeming overeager. He didn't know if she'd drink alcohol or anything, but hopefully she'd still like to go to a party with friends from the swim team and all. “And, you know, if you wanted to come that would be cool. I'd probably invite a lot of people. Your friend Gage could come with his girlfriend, too.” Will just hoped they were all cool about it. If Genny told anyone and his parents found out, he'd be stuck heading to Canada that week for sure!

They had wandered to the end of the hall, and now light streamed in from the dolphin exhibit. Will was disappointed he had missed a good chance for a romantic moment. He had chickened out. But, on the other hand, they had made it to the part of the aquarium Genny had really wanted to see, so no doubt she'd be really happy. And they had the rest of the evening for romantic moments.

“It looks like a dolphin show starts in about ten minutes. We could go get front row seats and wait, or we could look at other stuff for a little bit and come back. What do you think?”

[Hannah Bell]

Hannah sat on the bobbing horse as the Carousel moved along in circles, pondering the boy's words. What did Gage mean by “Ashton seemed okay with it?” How did Ashton even know Gage had asked her out? The boy had barely gotten up the courage to ask her out until the day was almost through, and she had practically flashed him that morning. What had taken so long?

Wait. Could it be possible? No, Gage was a nice boy. She glanced over at him as he waited for her reply to his question. There's no way that he had run and tried to get Ashton's permission before asking her out. Right? What if he did?

Hannah's started thinking more and more about it. Why would he do that? Was he really that worried about what other people thought? She felt completely ashamed. No doubt by now the whole school knew she was on a date with Gage, and he probably just wanted to get an okay from Ashton to get in her pants! She would be thee laughingstock of all the Gould cheerleaders if she did anything with a Silver jock. And maybe that was his plan all along!

She was getting very upset, but she knew she was getting ahead of herself. She turned to Gage, the smile gone from her face. She really wanted to yell at the boy but knew it wasn't fair. He should at least get some chance to defend himself. She tried her best to stay calm, but it only managed to make her words come out slower and more direct. “How does Ashton know you asked me out, and why do you need his permission?”