I recently came across fanfiction, and thought it to be insanely cool! What better way to express your creative side and let your imagination take it's toll on some of your most favorite stories! When I read the Rockett's World series, 'So It's A Date' fanfiction by ebidebi, I got so wrapped up in this totally talented author's engaging storyline and unique plot. I edited some of the story and added the possibility of what might have happened next. I am responsible for the editing of the chapters, as well as chapters 3-5. Chapters 1-2, as well as the story's underlying theme belong to ebidebi, who created this marvelous masterpiece. I hope you guys enjoy:) And again - this is ebidebi's plot - not mine!
So, It's A Date?
ebidebi & Ezia523
Chapter 1: The Invitation
"Hey, Rockett!" Upon hearing her name, Rockett Movado paused in her steps, and glanced over her shoulder.
"Why'd you stop?" Jessie Marbella inquired, still a few steps ahead of her.
"I heard my-" Rockett began.
Suddenly, Ruben Rosales dashed around the corner. "There you are!" he panted. "I've been looking all over for you!"
"You have?" Rockett asked shyly, and maybe with a little bit too much excitement.
"I need to ask you something!" said Ruben.
"Sure," Rockett replied eagerly. "Ask away!"
"Um, well, you see . . ." he hedged, shyly looking away from Rockett.
"Yes . . ." she coaxed. Now she was definitely curious. Jessie smiled knowingly, lighty poking Rockett in the ribs.
"I was wondering...if..." Ruben continued.
The bell rang. Dilemma! Rocket shoved her left hand into her red hair and cringed. "Oh, Ruben, I'm sooo sorry, but I can't be late to math again! I'll get another detention! But, leave me a message or something! Bye, Ruben!" she called, as she ran off to class.
"Bye, Rockett," Ruben muttered, turning around.
Rockett pouted as she slid into the math room. "Sorry," she whispered under her breath.
Jessie followed her into the classroom. "What's wrong, Rockett?" she asked.
"Oh, nothing. I guess I'll talk to Ruben later," Rockett said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Hey Jessie, Rockett. What's going on?" Miko Kajiyama asked, sitting down behind the two of them.
"Hey Miko!" the girls replied at the exact same time.
Immediately, Miko whipped her head to Rockett, her smile wide. "So, Rockett, saw you talking to Ruben out there! Are you two an item or what?" she inquired, reaching out to poke her friend's shoulder.
Rockett's eyes bulged. "We are NOT!" she protested, blushing bright red.
She had attracted more attention.
"Someone's defensive!" Cleve Goodstaff interjected.
"Uhh . . ." Rockett groaned. Where had Cleve come from? Had he overheard, too?
Soon, several kids had gathered around her, as her blush got deeper by the second. Just what she needed, more onlookers. Since when was she this popular? Rockett was suddenly even more thankful than usual that Nicole Whittaker wasn't in her math class.
"Come on, Rockett. Tell me," Miko pleaded.
"He didn't even get to say what he wanted to," Rockett supplied. "Look, he just probably wanted to ask me something about school."
"Whatever, Rockett," said Miko, obviously not convinced.
"Yeah. He looked awfully intense for school stuff," Cleve added.
"Were you watching, too, Cleve?" Jessie asked. "You should mind your own business."
"Class, may we come to order?" the math teacher demanded. She was usually a laid-back woman, but today was different. She seemed quite tense. This could only mean one thing...
"Now, as you know, the National Math Competition is coming up soon, and last year, Miko Kajiyama and Arnold Zeitbaum led us to second place," she said. A few people clapped for this. "This year, I want us to go beyond our minds to the Mathematical Nirvana that I know we all can achieve. That's why I'm expanding our team to three or even four people! So, do I have any volunteers?" the teacher asked.
Miko's hand shot up. "I'll be there to defend and surpass my title!" she shouted eagerly.
"Great!" the teacher replied.
"Count me in! Get it? Count?" Arnold cried, letting out a snorting laugh.
"Excellent!" said the teacher. "Any others?" Her question was followed by a long silence.
"...Anyone?"
The teacher hung her head. "...Slackers," she muttered under her breath.
As soon as class got out, Rockett checked her GMG, delighted to find a very important message...from Ruben! Thinking no one was around, she clicked on the voice message.
"Hey Rockett, it's Ruben. And how's my favorite new girl? Well, I guess you're not so new anymore... so, I have to ask you something. If I don't see you, call me tonight. Umm, see you later, new girl."
"Listen to that," sneered Dana St. Clair. "How romantic."
How Dana had appeared out of nowhere was a mystery. Still, Rockett had to hand it to her. Snooping around certainly was Dana's forté.
"Mind your own business!" Rockett blurted. "And besides, it's nothing."
"How do you know?" asked Dana. "He said he wanted to ASK you something." She practically made a broadway play out of drawling the word "ask." "I think you know what that means."
"What?" asked Rockett, now both annoyed and curious. "Well, hey Dana, I want to ask you something: Why do you care?"
Dana let out an exasperated groan. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"Chill, you guys!" Nakili Abuto said suddenly, sliding up next to Dana. "I can hear your arguing from all the way down the hall! And I'm having a really good day, and I don't want you two bringing me down!"
"Sorry," Rockett muttered.
"Yeah, sorry, Nakili," said Dana.
"Why are you apologizing to me? You should be saying sorry to each other!" Nakili demanded.
"...I guess. Sorry I blew up at you, Dana. It's just kind of a touchy subject," said Rockett.
"Yeah. I'll keep out of your love life," Dana resolved.
"Whoa, girl!" cried Nakili. "Love life?" She had completely switched gears. In less than ten seconds, Nakili had gone from peacemaker to extreme gossip girl.
"There is no love life!" Rockett retorted. "Ruben just left me a message, saying he needed to ask me something, that's all!" Rockett sighed shortly. She was really getting tired of relaying this story.
"Ooh, girl! You are scoring some major points with that boy!" Nakili exclaimed.
"There aren't any points! We're just friends!" Rockett protested, her face suddenly matching the hue of her hair.
"Whatever, Rockett...I'll believe it when I see it," Nakili replied.
"I see what you mean by 'touchy subject'! Someone mentions Ruben, and our little Rockett is ready to blast off," Dana joked.
"I'm sorry. I haven't been having the best of days," said Rockett. "I gotta go eat lunch. See you guys in art class!" With that, Rockett dashed off to the cafeteria, hoping that it would temporarily slip Nakili and Dana's minds that they all had lunch together. She was so preoccupied, that she didn't even notice someone approaching her in the hallway.
"Rockett!" Ruben said, tapping her on the shoulder.
"Yaaaa!" Rockett cried, dropping her home-packed lunch.
"Oh, man! Sorry, my bad," Ruben apologized, bending over to help her pick it up.
"That's okay, you just surprised me," Rockett replied. "Thanks for helping me clean up."
"Hey, it was my fault anyway. Should have noticed that you were off in space there, Rockett." He paused. "No pun intended, honest!" For a moment, there was an awkward silence between them, as Ruben slowly gathered his thoughts. "...So, uh, Rockett, want to walk to lunch with me?" he asked shyly. "I mean, since we're both headed for the same place."
"Sure," answered Rockett. She fell into step with him as they walked.
"Well, Rockett, I wanted to ask you," Ruben began, as they veered closer to the lunch room. "You know my band, Rebel Angels?" he asked.
"Of course," Rockett replied.
"My brother Carlo wants us to play at his party. It's his birthday, and he said...he said I could bring a date. Everyone does," he explained.
Rockett perked up. "Really?" she asked.
"Yeah. Pretty strange, huh? ...Well, I wondered, since you seem to like the band and all, and since you're a friend of mine...would you be my date?" he finally asked. "I mean, just as friends."
"I...I'd love to, Ruben. When is it?" Rockett asked.
Ruben answered, "Saturday, eight o'clock, my house. I can tell you where that is...or I could come and get you. And don't worry, my mom and stepdad will be there, chaperoning, so it should be cool with your folks."
"I'm sure it will be," she said. Rockett tried to hold everything in - she was about to burst with excitement! Maybe Dana was right about her and Ruben after all!
"That's great!" said Ruben excitedly. "So, will you sit with me at lunch so we can work out the details?"
"Sure," said Rockett, taking a seat at a nearby lunch table. "I'll just sit down here while you get your lunch."
"Cool," he replied. "I'll be back in a flash."
Just as Ruben walked off, Rockett's best friend, Meg Durrand appeared in the window.
"Hey, best friend! What's all the excitement about?"
"Meggie, you will NEVER believe what just happened to me! Remember Ruben Rosales, the guy who calls me 'new girl'? Well, he asked me to come to his brother's party, a real party! I just wish that some of my other friends can come too, so I won't have to make conversation with Ruben the whole time - I'd be too nervous! I barely got the nerve to talk to him today, but I'm sure glad I did."
"Wow, Rock! That's totally awesome! Your first date!"
"I know! I can't believe it either, Meggie Muffin. I'll probably-"
"Hey Rockett, did I just see what I think I just saw?" Jessie asked, sitting down next to Rockett. "Ruben asking you on a date?"
Rockett turned and looked back at the window. Meg was gone.
"You saw, Jess!" Rockett exclaimed, now facing her friend. "But it's just a friendly thing, I'm sure."
Before Jessie could reply, Ruben came back to the table, smiling at Rockett. "Hola, Jessie," he said, when he noticed she had joined them. "Hey, you remember my brother Carlo, right?"
"Of course!" said Jessie. "He used to babysit me when I was little," she explained to Rockett. "Isn't his birthday coming up?" She unwrapped her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and took a bite.
"Yeah. He's having his party this weekend," Ruben said. "You can come too, Jess, I'm sure he won't try to embarrass you. The only thing is, you probably want to bring a date. Carlo's orders," he added, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah. So you're taking Rockett, huh?" Jessie smiled knowingly, looking in Rockett's direction.
"Ummm, right," said Ruben. "Just as friends. Hey, how'd you know?"
"Lucky guess. Maybe I've been hanging around Mavis a lot lately and I'm catching the 'sixth sense'," she replied. Rockett giggled.
"Soooo, did I hear something about a party?" Cleve interjected, sitting down next to Ruben. Max Diamond followed.
"Yes you did. Carlo's birthday bash slash Rebel Angels gig. He doesn't want too many junior high kids there, so I guess that's why he made up this date rule," Ruben mused. "Scare us away. If you ask me, it doubles the number, but whatever."
"Date rule?" Max asked.
"Yeah. You have to bring a date to the party." Ruben told him.
"That's cool. Hey, who's invited?" asked Cleve.
"Rockett and Jessie, and I guess you, too." Ruben answered in between bites.
"And I bet you invited Rockett to be the lucky little woman who you take, eh, Rosales?" Cleve smirked.
"We're just going as friends, Cleve," Rockett protested.
"Ahhh, so you are going together!" Cleve exclaimed. "Say, Ruben, I do believe that this is your first date!"
Ruben kicked him under the table.
"And what about you, Ms. Movado, or should I say 'Mrs. Rosales'!" Max added, waggling his eyebrows.
"You guys are terrible!" said Rockett.
"Yeah, lay off," said Ruben.
"Well," Jessie interjected. "I think the party will be cool even if you just go with friends, Ruben," Jessie said. Rockett smiled at her gratefully.
"Well, it starts at eight o'clock. This Saturday," Ruben reminded them.
"We know, we know," Cleve replied.
Now it was Max's turn to blush. "Well," he started. "Since we're all just going as friends, do you want to go with me, Jessie? Just as friends, of course, unlike the couple of the year over there."
"Really? You want to go with me?" Jessie replied, blushing profusely.
"Why not?" Max answered quietly. His air of nonchalance was not convincing.
"Sure, I guess!" Jessie answered excitedly. Rockett smiled at her. She felt really good that Jessie was going to be included.
"Well, I gotta go," Cleve announced. "So I'll see you kids later!"
"Yeah, I gotta split, too," Max added, stealing one last look at Jessie. Now it was just Jessie, Ruben and Rockett left at the table.
"So, Rockett . . ." Ruben began. Jessie got the hint.
"See you later, Rockett," she whispered, leaving with a wink.
Rockett and Ruben were now alone. Rockett decided that she should say something, at least to keep the whole conversation going. Things had certainly quieted down since the group left, and she definitely could not take awkward silences for very long.
"So, uhh, Ruben, I guess it would be kind of dumb for you to pick me up-" she started.
"But I can," Ruben interrupted.
Rockett blushed. "Well, I mean, you don't have to. Just call me or e-mail me tonight if you want to talk more. I gotta get to art class," she told him. She didn't want to leave, but she only had two minutes before Art, and it would be a bit of a jog to make it on time.
Ruben nodded. "Then I guess it's adios for now, Rockett. I'll see ya later."
Once in the hall, Rockett felt the buzz of her GMG in her pocket again. She took it out, and clicked on the new voice message.
"So, Rockett, you have a date with Ruben . . . Good move. Didn't I tell you the that the elf rune worked? How do I know this, you're wondering? Sixth Sense. I'll speak with you later. This is Mavis, if you didn't figure it out. Goodbye."
Leave it to Mavis to find out about this whole Ruben thing, thought Rockett. Mavis could be weird sometimes, but she honestly did seem to want the two of them to get together.
Rockett looked up from her GMG, just in time to see Miko just outside the art room.
"Hey, Miko!" she called.
Miko's eyes darted around to locate Rockett's voice. When she finally saw her, Miko lit up. "Rockett! Jessie told me about your big date! You're so lucky! Ruben is really nice and cute," Miko exclaimed.
"Shh! Not so loud, Miko!" Rockett hushed.
"Oops, sorry," Miko apologized. But Dana's attention had already been attracted.
"Rockett Rosales, how cute," she quipped.
"You know, Dana, you aren't the first to say that, and it's no less aggravating now! We're just going as friends. It's his brother Carlo's birthday party, not some charity ball," Rockett informed her, ripping up a picture of her and Ruben in formal black and whites in her mind.
"Sure," Dana said sarcastically. "Please, Rockett. We all know how bad you're crushing on Ruben."
"She does have a point, Rockett," Miko agreed.
"Will you guys cut it out? Ruben's just my friend," Rockett said.
"Very interesting, Rockett," mused Dana. "Well, I'll talk to Ruben and get myself invited to that party. Then I can see up front just how good of friends you two really are."
"Just ignore her when she gets like this," Miko whispered to Rockett.
As the three girls walked into Mr. Rarebit's room, Rockett begin to panic.
On the one hand, she liked all the attention. Especially all the attention from Ruben…but she was also really nervous. Was this actually a real date?