Song recommendation: A Fine Frenzy - Electric Twist

Author's note: Good dates, bad dates, and shocking dates. Bet only some of you saw the end of this chapter coming. Yay dating! All feedback is appreciated. Brandon: Lindsay just thinks Scott is a dick. And she's right. She doesn't really hate him, but he definitely rubs her the wrong way. David could fold his wings up enough to wear normal clothes, but he looks oddly wide. And I'm going to go with a six foot wingspan.

July 28, 2012

"You're all fending for yourselves for dinner tonight," Melissa told the students before letting them out of the class. "Dave and Anne are eating out. So are Victor and Karah. And I'm going out with Alvin."

"And I'm going out with Raven," Scott said. "So, uh, can we get a ride with you guys?"

"No," Melissa replied. "The car's going to be full enough with me, Alvin and Victor. OK, class dismissed."

"I still can't believe we have classes on a Saturday," Lindsay complained to Kevin as they walked out.

"For, like, an hour," Kevin said.

"It's the principle of the thing. It's the summer, it's Saturday, and we had to go to a class."

"It's only an hour. It's not going to kill you."

"It might. I could've spent that hour exercising, but instead, I spent it sitting on my ass at a desk. That's bad for my health."

"You would've spent the hour watching TV," David said, "and you know it."

"Still not the point. And bite me."

"You're not my type," he winked.

"Your type is your right hand," Raven said.

"Actually, I'm a lefty," he corrected her. "But screw yourself anyway."

"Not like I'd get a good screw from anyone here."

"Hey, don't knock me 'til you try me," Scott told her. "I think you'd be pleasantly surprised."

"What, you suffer premature ejaculation so I'd be able to leave early?"

"I've mentioned how I can change any part of my body, right? You remember me saying that?"

"Wouldn't matter, if you didn't know what the fuck you were doing with it."

"Lucky for the ladies, I know exactly what I'm doing with it."

"Jerking into a sock, probably."

"That's your second masturbation joke," David pointed out.

"And it still works. Now fuck off, you make Bela nervous."

"Ugh," David made a face as he turned away to go to the living room. "One of many reasons I could never date that girl. I hate cats."

"I don't know how you can hate cats," Lindsay said. "They're cute."

"They're assholes."

"What about dogs?" she asked.

"Not a fan. They make me a little nervous. But I don't hate them."

"I wonder if it's because of your wings," Kevin said.

"Gee, you think?" David rolled his eyes. "Of course it's because of my wings. I'm bird-like. Cats hunt birds. It's not like it's some big mystery."

"You don't need to be sarcastic," Kevin said sulkily.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Sorry, man."

"It's OK," Kevin said. "So we all need to decide on what to eat tonight? That's not going to be easy."

"Why don't we just order some pizza?" Stephen suggested.

"Is that even kosher?" Kevin asked.

"Of course it is," David replied. "As long as there's no bacon on it."

"Oh. Right. I just don't really know how the kosher thing works."

"So let's figure out how many pizzas we'll need," Charlie said. "I'm a big eater, I would nae mind havin' a whole one ta myself."

"Steve and I will just split one," David said. "Go with a veggie pizza, I guess."

"Half of one for me," Kevin said. "Pepperoni."

"How many slices are in a pizza?" Lindsay asked.

"Eight," Kevin answered.

"I'll have three slices of pepperoni."

"Rika, how many do you want?" Kevin asked.

Rika thought it over. "That would probably work for me, too."

"Hidalgo?"

"Two slices, please."

"Faizal?"

"I will cook for me," Faizal passed.

"So does that leave anyone else?" Kevin asked.

"Only Janet," CASSI replied. "But she will not need anything."

"Cool. So we've got dinner for tonight. That was easy. I don't even know why we have cooks."

"Because if you did not," CASSI said, "you would eat pizza every night."

"And? I'm not sure I see the problem there."

"Because you would end up weighing three hundred pounds, and would die of a heart attack at age 30."

Kevin thought for a moment. "True. But I'd die happy."

"There is that," CASSI conceded.

. . .

Victor and Karah placed their order, and Karah watched the cute waiter walk away. "Gettin' a good mental image?" Victor joked.

"Sorry," she looked back at Victor with a blush. "I just, um."

"Don't worry 'bout it," he laughed. "You're allowed to look. I ain't the jealous type."

"I've just been feeling kinda . . . horny, lately."

"Well, we can get a hotel room later, fool around a bit."

"Still not the same as full-on penetration."

"Sorry."

"It's OK. So, how's the new arm treating you?"

"It's perfect. No problems at all. I'm completely back to normal. Actually, I'm lookin' forward to a chance to use it in a fight."

"Mm," she made a small noise.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she waved her hand vaguely.

"Somethin' buggin' ya?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I'm just not really sure how I feel about you being a superhero."

"Where's this comin' from? You brought it up yesterday, too."

"Well, it's just . . . When you had to go into hiding a couple months ago, I started to realize how much I cared about you. When I saw you with your arm missing, I realized I could've lost you, and I didn't want to. I'd kinda hoped you'd retire from superheroics. But you didn't. But I wanted to be with you, so I decided I would just have to accept it. Then when you told me you almost got killed by that Tremor guy, it got me thinking again about how easy it would be for me to lose you. And I don't want to lose you like that."

"I know. But I'm tough. An' we're a good team."

"But how many times have you almost died?"

"Almost is the key word there. Ain't happened yet."

"But you go up against incredibly dangerous people. It would be so easy for you to die."

"Yeah. I can understand that."

Karah was silent for a long moment. "If I asked you to give up this life," she asked slowly, "to give up being a superhero, and to make a normal life with me . . . would you?"

Victor rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, I dunno. I'm good at this. An' I'm helpin' people. I'm keepin' the world safe. I got these powers, so I got the responsibility to use 'em for the greater good, ya know? This is my callin'."

"So you wouldn't."

"Not right now. I'm sorry." They lapsed into a long, awkward silence. "So what does this mean for us?"

"I don't know. I'll need to think about it."

"Yeah. Awright. Did'ja wanna go home now, or we still eatin'?"

"We placed our order, so I guess we'll eat. I'm sorry for making this so awkward."

"Don't worry 'bout it," he smiled gently. "An' I'll give ya as much time as you need."

"Thanks."

. . .

"Have I mentioned how gorgeous you look tonight?" Alvin asked.

"Yes," Melissa replied. "This is the third time. Not that I mind, of course." She took a sip of her wine, in order to hide her smile.

"Well, you do. That's a great dress." She wore a black dress, cut low at the top, and hugging her figure well.

"Yep. Can't argue with that. And I don't want to argue with it, either."

"So have you made a decision about Scott yet?"

"Yeah," she said, a little embarrassed. "I'm going to turn him down. I was only considering it to get back at Janet, but it's not worth it."

"Revenge is a pretty bad motivation. You should never act out of vengeance."

"It may be awful, but it still would've been fun."

"Revenge will never bring you satisfaction," he said sagely.

"Sure it would. The price was just too high this time. But I still plan on getting back at Janet. Anyway, I made the bet with Scott to humble him a little. I guess that ship's sailed at this point. He'll have to clean the house for the next month, but he almost got to date Janet and me."

"It's not all lost. Here's what you do. From now until the deadline, whenever he brings it up, just tell him that you're still thinking about it. Then, on the deadline, when he asks, you just act all disgusted. You say something like, 'What? No. Fuck no. Of course not. What the hell is wrong with you?' Then he feels like you've been toying with him all along, and it makes him feel humiliated. And make sure to do it with some of the other students around, too."

"Yeah. OK, that works. Thanks."

"Anything to cockblock a douchebag."

"Maybe I'll let you get to second base tonight."

Alvin opened his mouth, then paused. "I'd better not say anything. You almost revoked first base privileges that one time."

"Ooh, you're learning. It can be done."

"Those kids have a chance after all, huh?"

"If I can teach you, I can probably teach a monkey."

"That's a terrible thing to say about Charlie!"

Melissa laughed, louder than she'd wanted to, and quickly tried to cover her mouth as several of the restaurant's patrons looked at her. She kicked Alvin under the table. "Way to embarrass me!"

"You? I'm the one sitting with the loud lady. I feel positively mortified."

"Your second base privileges are on the edge."

"They're probably only admiring your beauty," he quickly added.

"Much better. By the way, I was going to be going back to Atlanta soon. My sister's birthday is coming up."

"Oh, cool. Wish her a happy birthday for me."

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to come along."

"You want me to meet your family? Really?"

"Sure. We've known each other for close to a year now. We're good friends, and now, we're also dating. Besides, I don't want to go alone. Please don't make me go alone. My family is insane."

"Heh. Yeah, so you've said. Your parents still trying an open relationship?"

"God, yes, unfortunately. I'd invite Victor, instead, but with him seeing Karah, it wouldn't really be appropriate. So, please come with me?"

"Why not? Sure, I'll go with you. I may only be your second choice, but I'll make sure you don't regret it."

. . .

"I'd better not regret this," Raven warned Scott. It was 9:30, and they approached a goth nightclub. There wasn't much of a line-up, but there was a small group of people standing around smoking cigarettes.

"Just relax," he told her. He had taken the form of a 30-year-old in a nice black suit. "It'll be fine. They'll only card me, and I've got a fake ID. Just stay close to me."

Raven didn't reply, and they soon reached the door club. "ID?" the bored-looking bouncer demanded.

"Here," Scott took it out of his wallet, along with a hundred-dollar bill, which he folded up behind the fake ID. He handed it over. "And, uh, if anyone asks about me, I'm told I have a very forgettable face. I'm sure you see a lot of people who look like me."

"And who can keep track of 'em all," the bouncer agreed with a smile.

Scott and Raven entered the club. "What was that all about?" she asked him. She had to yell to be heard over the loud music playing.

"Just a little distraction," he explained. "I just wanted to make sure he would forget to card you. Just a little trick I learned from my parents."

"Huh. Pretty clever, I guess."

"Impressed?" he smirked, shifting his form to look closer to 20.

"Yeah, your ability to break the law is stunning," she replied sarcastically.

"You'll be singing a different tune once I buy you some drinks." They went to the bar, where he ordered a Sam Adams for himself and a rum and Coke for her. "So do you like the music?"

"Yeah, I love the Cruxshadows."

"I've never heard of them. I doubt I'll have heard of anything. But I guess it's not bad. At least we can dance to it."

"That was the plan. But I'm going to wait for the dance floor to fill up a bit first."

"I'm looking forward to showing off my moves."

"You can dance?"

"A little bit. I was in some musical theatre. Picked up a few things."

They chatted some more as they drank. Once the dance floor was full enough, Raven grabbed Scott and pulled him towards the dance floor. Scott had been watching the people, and realized that none of the moves he picked up in theatre would be much help. Luckily, few people there seemed to be very good dancers anyway, so he figured he could probably flail randomly and fit right in. But he did his best to match the rhythm of the music. Raven mostly flailed, at first. But she kept an eye on Scott, and much as she hated to admit it, he actually was a pretty good dancer. Without even realizing it, she started duplicating his movements more and more. She still wasn't good, she still had no rhythm, but she did a better job at hiding her lack of ability.

They danced for an hour before Raven decided she needed a break. She pulled Scott off the floor and back towards the bar, so she could get another drink. This time, she went with a Harvey Wallbanger, while Scott stuck with Sam Adams. They found a table and sat down on one side of it. "You're a better dancer than I expected," she admitted.

"It's all about rhythm," he said. "If you've got rhythm, it barely even matters what you do."

"So you're an actor and a dancer. Can you sing, too?"

"Yeah, actually, I can sing pretty good. Mostly theatre shit, though, which most people don't really want to hear. I've been trying to expand into more commercial styles, though."

"So you're a triple threat."

"Well, don't forget the shape-changing thing. But yeah. Yeah, I can pretty much do it all. It's going to make me very famous. And I've got the shape-changing for when I feel like fucking with people."

Raven took a big drink of her cocktail and slid a little closer to him. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm actually having a really fun time."

"Hey, what'd I tell you? I know you think I'm a dick, and you're right, but I know what it takes to show someone a good time. Partying is in my blood. Doesn't matter the party, doesn't matter the people, I know fun. Luckily, this is a good party, and you're great people."

"God, do you ever stop flirting?"

"How else am I going to get pretty girls interested in me?"

"You could try being a nice guy."

"Girls don't like nice guys. Girls like bad boys with hearts of gold. The badder they are, the more chicks love 'em, as long as they've still got that little bit of decency in them that the girl can bring out. Unless the guy's abusive, then he's just an asshole."

"And you think you're a 'bad boy with a heart of gold'?"

"I got us into a club, bribed the bouncer, and bought us drinks, so I've got bad boy down. As for the heart of gold, well, it's up to you to see it in me and bring it out. That's usually done with sex, I think."

Raven put down her empty glass, after finishing her drink. "All right," she said to herself.

"You want another-" He was cut off when Raven grabbed his head and pulled him in for a kiss. He barely had time to register what was happening before he felt her tongue in his mouth.

God, I love being me, he thought with satisfaction.

Next: The aftermath of Scott and Raven's date, as well as a small revelation from Victor, in Training Period.