I decided to write this story for Valentine's Day. This story can apply to all of my universes.
November 1, 198310:05 AM PST
Marty McFly was feeling somewhat apprehensive, as he walked into Literature class. It was among his least favourite classes - and the teacher, Mr. Clark, didn't seem all too fond of him, either. He sighed to himself, as he sat down in his desk. He made it a point to appear attentive, as he didn't want Mr. Clark to get on his case.
As soon as the bell rang, Mr. Clark called out, "Okay, class! Today, I am going to have all of you write reports on various authors. I'm going to assign you all into pairs, and I will pick and author for you to write about."
Marty was feeling quite nervous, as the teacher started to pair everyone up. He began to hope and pray with all of his might that he would not end up being paired with either Miff Tannen or Douglas Needles. He breathed a huge sigh of relief, as soon as Mr. Clark announced that Miff and Needles were to work with each other.
"Martin McFly and Jennifer Parker will be writing about Jules Verne," announced Mr. Clark.
Marty suddenly felt quite excited. Not only was Jules Verne the favourite author of his best friend and mentor, Dr. Emmett Brown - but he also had a rather strong crush on Jennifer. Since the day he first saw her in class, he found himself greatly attracted to her. He never had a real conversation with her. It was mostly just casual pleasantries that the two of them had exchanged so far. Marty was not usually one to be rather shy around people he barely knew, but he always felt nervous whenever he was with Jennifer.
"All right, class," Mr. Clark said, after he paired everyone up, "we will now go to the library. Once we get there, I would like you all to search for some biographies about the author that I assigned to you - and I would also like you to start taking notes together, and forming an outline."
Marty realized how anxious he felt, as soon as everyone in his class lined up to head to the library. Would he even be able to talk with Jennifer about Jules Verne? He tried to calm himself down by reminding himself to act natural. After all, Jennifer Parker was just a girl - or was she really? What if Jennifer ended up not liking him? He wasn't sure he could take that kind of rejection.
oooooooooo
As Jennifer Parker followed the rest of her classmates to the library, she couldn't stop thinking of Marty. She had to admit that she had a crush on him. She found him to be the cutest boy at school - and he even bore a very strong resemblance to her favourite actor, Michael J Fox. She couldn't help worrying that he might not like her back.
As Jennifer slowly followed the rest of her class to the biography section, she felt herself perspiring from rather great tension and nervousness. She really had no idea who Jules Verne was, and she wasn't quite sure she could even keep her attention on Jules Verne. When she reached the biographies of Jules Verne, she saw that Marty was standing right beside her. She found herself starting to tense up.
"Uh, hi, Marty," Jennifer said, nervously. "My name is Jennifer Parker."
As soon as she said that, she felt like kicking herself. That was a very dumb thing to say. Marty already knew what her name was. What if she had already blown her chance with him.
"Nice to meet you, Jennifer," Marty replied, blushing. "So, uh, do you like Jules Verne?"
"Well, uh," Jennifer replied, quietly, "I've heard of him. I haven't read any of his works, though."
"Oh, I see," replied Marty. "Well, my best friend is a huge fan of his. So I know a little bit about him."
"Who's your best friend, Marty," Jennifer asked. As soon as the words came out, she immediately wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. She couldn't believe she just asked a rather personal question.
"Actually, his name is Dr. Brown," Marty replied. "I realize he's much older than I am, but he has always been such a mentor to me. Although, I must say that I'm more into music than science."
"Yeah, I really like music, too," gushed Jennifer. "I'm a huge fan of Van Halen, in fact."
"Hey, that's awesome!" replied Marty. "I love Van Halen, too. So have you grown up here in Hill Valley?"
"Yeah, I have," replied Jennifer. "I was eight years old, when we moved here. This is a nice town."
"Well, I suppose we should start doing some research on Jules Verne, now," Marty suggested.
Jennifer felt herself relaxing a little bit, as she followed Marty to one of the tables.
oooooooooo
Later that evening, Marty hopped onto his skateboard and car-surfed over to Francesca's Italian Diner. He was a bit shocked by how quickly he and Jennifer had managed to break the ice. He had to keep reminding himself that this was not a date, that they were just coming here to work on a report for school.
As soon as Marty reached the restaurant, he saw Jennifer standing by the door. Marty swallowed deeply, as walked up towards the door. Maybe they could just eat first, then they could discuss Jules Verne.
"Well, hello, Marty," Jennifer said, excitedly. "It's nice that you remembered to show up. I had already done a bit of research on Jules Verne, and I have to admit that his stories are rather interesting."
"Yeah, I like Around the World In Eighty Days," Marty replied. "That one is a real classic."
"Table for two tonight?" asked the waitress, whose name was Sandy.
"That's correct," replied Marty. "Non-smoking please."
"I've never seen the two of you together before," commented Sandy. "Is this your first date?"
"Uh, well..." Marty said, nervously.
"Oh, this isn't a date," Jennifer blurted out. "We're here to work on a class project together."
"Class project, eh?" Sandy asked, raising her eyebrows a bit. "You two make such a cute couple, though."
Marty and Jennifer glanced at each other, while they rolled their eyes.
"Can I get you two something to drink?" Sandy asked, as she placed the menus on the table.
"Uh, yeah, I'll have a strawberry shake," replied Marty as he sat down.
"Make mine chocolate, please," added Jennifer.
"So one strawberry shake and one chocolate shake?" asked Sandy.
"That's correct," replied Jennifer. After Sandy left the table, Jennifer asked, "So, Marty, what is Dr. Brown like, exactly? I've heard a little bit about him, but I can't say that I ever met him."
Marty took a deep sigh. Doc, unfortunately, had a reputation of being the town "crackpot". Granted, not everyone in town thought negatively of him - but it was still distressing to know that he had that reputation.
"Are you all right, Marty?" Jennifer asked, gently. "You seem a little distracted."
"Oh, uh, I'm fine, Jennifer," stammered Marty. "I'll have to take you to meet Dr. Brown. He's a very nice man. I've been friends with him since I was about six and a half. He's not at all a 'crackpot', and it greatly disturbs me to know that he has that reputation. He does tend to keep to himself a lot, though."
"I don't believe in judging anybody," Jennifer replied, "before getting to know that person. I really would love to meet Dr. Brown. Anybody who's a friend of yours is a friend of mine."
Marty's heart skipped a beat. Just Jennifer just say what he thought she said?
"Did I say something wrong, Marty?" Jennifer asked, concerned.
"Uh, no, not at all," replied Marty. "You know, Jennifer, I might as well come right out and say it. Ever since the day I first saw you in class, I have had a crush on you. Jennifer, I really love you a lot."
When Jennifer went silent, Marty started to feel worried. Nice job, McFly, Marty thought, to himself. Now she'll maybe want to stay as far away from you as possible. You blew it!
"You know, Marty," Jennifer said, a bit coyly, "I feel the exact same way about you. For the longest time, I wanted to walk up to you and talk. I was afraid you might reject me, though."
Marty could hardly believe his ears! So the feeling was mutual! Jennifer had a crush on him, as well! After a brief pause, Marty and Jennifer both burst out laughing. Marty then walked over to Jennifer side of the table. The two of them threw their arms around each other, while they began to kiss. He didn't care if they were in a public place.
After what seemed like quite a long time, Marty finally went back to his side of the table. He knew right away what needed to be done. He took Jennifer's hands into his, and gazed into her eyes for a long time.
"Jennifer," Marty whispered, huskily, "why don't I treat tonight? I know this wasn't supposed to be a date, but now we can officially make this our first date. How would you like that?"
"That would be great!" gushed Jennifer. Then, nervously, she asked, "I can still order what I want, can't I?"
"Of course!" Marty said, laughing. "You know your taste buds a lot better than I do! Don't worry about the price. I have lots of money to spare. So just take your time, and decide what you want."
"Thank you, Marty," replied Jennifer. "I really do love you a lot!"
"I love you, too, Jennifer," replied Marty.
Marty then smiled to himself. He had a very good feeling that he and Jennifer had a future together.