The next few days were agony. For both of them. The news had spread, apparently, and whenever they were seen together, girls would giggle and point, while guys would sneer. Of course, anyone that was a homophobe and screamed exceedingly nasty words to either of them was promptly dragged by the ear by Scarlet or Alex (depending on the gender) into the bathroom. Screams could be heard from them, and the homophobe seemed to be scared out of their wits afterward.

Lumas also seemed to act more assertive than usual. For instance, they loosely clasped hands while walking to classes. Lumas, being Lumas, blushed like a pimply geek with a nasally voice talking to a buxom blonde. This would probably be his limit for a while.

So when Tuesday came, they all but sighed for relief. Since this was a bit more formal, Jake tried on a pair of pants that didn’t have rips in them. When he looked in the mirror, he groaned. That look was so not him. But it would have to do.

Scarlet had lent him her ginormous map (Why does she need too know where a hotel in Hawaii is…?), and it covered his windshield window as he started the car. He quickly memorized the location of the restaurant before wrestling the map into a somewhat folded state (meaning it was a huge crumple wad of paper in the passenger’s seat) and driving off.

Thirty minutes later, he had found the area. As he expected, Lumas was already there…but…there was definitely something wrong. With his outfit.

Holy $@#! (Bleeped for utter vulgarness)

Lumas stood, his arms crossed against his chest, with an expression that seemed like he was ready to kill one particular person. The tips of his hair had been dyed black, and he wore blue, kind of punk-rock clothing. Not only was Annabeth’s choker still around his neck, but spiked wristbands covered his arms. Two belts criss-crossed around his waist and his face was now powdered white.

“…Nice outfit, Lummy.” Weird, but fashionable.

“…Shut up.” Lumas wasn’t in the mood for teasing. Eep.

They made their way to the entrance, Jake saying “Why don’t you at least wash off your face? It would help…”

“Uh…well, there’s a bit of a problem.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Ah…you’ll see it… Though it’s really tiny.”

“What do you mean, ti—Oh…”

For there, lounging on a chair was Scarlet.

She gave a sickeningly sweet smile. “Oh, hello! Fancy seeing you two here!”

They both glared.

Never faltering her smile, her eyes narrowed at them. “All right, so I eavesdropped. So sue me. By the way, I invited a few friends—don’t look at me like that—but I am paying. So be thankful.”

They stared. Scarlet was crashing their date, but dude: free food. No guy in his right mind turned down free food. So they sat.

You have to admit, even when Scarlet was rather mean, you couldn’t stay mad at her for long because she could talk her way out of trouble quicker than a snake can strike. So the enjoyed each other’s company; until, that is, the friends dropped in.

Catherine and Hana came first. The former dressed in a fancy shirt and a skirt way too short to be legal in school. Looking around in awe, she exclaimed: “This is, like, and rockin’ place!”

Hana dressed in a Chinese dress, complete with a deep, almost black, purple fan. “Very nice, indeed.”

Next was Alex. He had his little condescending smirk on his face. “Having fun?” Lumas and Jake both resisted the urge to kick him in the shins. Hard.

At last, Devon burst through the doors, panting. “I’m so sorry I didn’t make it on time; I lost my watch today…”

“’S okay. So, now that we’re all here, let’s get something to drink!” Scarlet studied her menu carefully.

“Hold on. What about my friends, or the twins?”

She looked at Jake as if he were insane. “Crashing a date is one thing; do you want to ruin your date?”

Jake couldn’t argue with that logic.

Since they were all extremely wishy-washy people (except for Hana), the waiter passed them several times with a “Have you all made up your minds? What about you, good sir?”

At about the third route around, Lumas leaned over and whispered: “I think the waiter thinks you’re an adult treating us to some dinner.”

“Really?”

And Scarlet, being the annoying little person we all know, love, hate, and all that jazz, butted in. “Well, yeah! I mean, you’re, like, really tall.”

“What about me?”

“You sure don’t act mature, Alex.”

While the twins tried to glare each other into submission, Jake chuckled. “Maybe I should get the wine, or something…”

You’re a minor, Jake.”

Scarlet’s head snapped up. “Jake, if you order that, I will pour it down your pants and make Alex light them on fire.”

Needless to say, Jake ordered a harmless (and inflammable) glass of water.


The dinner was good. Minimal damage occurred to the restaurant and its occupants. The date-crashers all crammed themselves into either Catherine’s of Hana’s car (the others had taken the bus there), and Lumas and Jake drove back home.

The couple parked their cars and got out. Many readers would love to hear them speak, but truth be told, they had nada to say to each other.

“So.”

“I, uh, had a good time.”

“Even with Scarlet…”

“Yeah…”

Then Lumas, have-to-think-about-the-reaction-of-people-before-saying-hel lo Lumas, went on a whim and quickly kissed Jake. On the lips. Then ran as quickly as his skinny legs would go.

Jake’s legs felt wobbly as he made his way to the dorm. His head felt like it was spinning and wouldn’t stop. After all, how was one supposed to react to that?

Not that the kiss had been bad. In fact…Jake really didn’t know what to think of it. He kind of wished it lasted a little longer.

Then he shook his head with the ferocity of a dog with its favorite tug-of-war toy. He was pretty sure he needed some sleep before contemplating this. And when he saw Catherine sitting on his bed, Jake knew this night was far from over.


Meanwhile, Lumas bent over, hands on knees, gasping for breath. What had he done that for? It was about as spontaneous as his proposition of going out was.

He shook his head. He seriously, seriously needed some shuteye. So you can’t really fault him for screaming like a little girl when he was Baine sitting cross-legged with a too-big smile and his lovely double spear on his bed, saying “So, what happened?”

Fifty feet apart, both men burst into tears.
------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
Moral:  Don't buy liquor in the presence of Scarlet XD.  'Kay, guys.  I'm getting tired with the whole "looky but no writey" thing.  I feel like you all are frickin' stalkers.  How's about this:  Every five comments I get for one installment, I create a character/story/cookie for you.  If one o' y'all are the fifth, lucky you!

BTW:  Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXCgovqqFwA&feature=related.  Omigawd, shoes XD.

And with that, my friends, Axel's masculinity is ruined.
 WARNING: Do NOT watch when parents are over your shoulder or whatever. You have been warned.