Unlikely Advice

Gwen was smiling. Why was she smiling? It was finally Saturday, which is a day off for the entire camp, and she was making the most of it. David was sleeping in, and she was reading her romance novels. However, the relaxed mood Gwen was in was shattered when she heard the door open and close. When she looked away from her book, she saw Max going through her books.

"Max, how many times do I have to tell you to knock?" Gwen asked, annoyed at being interrupted.

"Don't know. Don't care. Now shut the fuck up, I'm busy here," Max said, with his eyes not leaving the bookshelf. Gwen wasn't having any of that, however, and left her seat and grabbed Max by his hood.

"Listen to me, you little shit! This is my day off, and the last thing I want is to have to deal with you or one of your schemes. So, give me one reason why I shouldn't throw you the fuck out of my office," Gwen said, glaring at Max the entire time.

"I'm only here because I need some help," Max said, sounding a little uncomfortable admitting that he needed help. Gwen was surprised, and gently put Max back on the ground.

"Help? What do you need help with?" Gwen asked, legitimately curious what would trouble Max so much that he would actually admit to needing help.

"Well…uh…I…uh…need help with…uh…you know…I…" Max stammered, with his face erupting into a red blush. Gwen started to get annoyed, despite seeing Max act like a wreck.

"Look Max, I want to get back to my day off, so unless you're going to…" Gwen started, before Max started yelling.

"HOWDOIGETAGIRLTOLIKEME!?" Max screamed, almost giving Gwen a heart attack with how loud it was. Max had never screamed like that in all the time that she knew him.

"I…didn't quite catch that. What do you want?" Gwen asked, with her annoyance being completely replaced with curiosity. Max glared at Gwen before taking a very deep breath.

"How do I get a girl to like me?" Max asked, this time much slower. Gwen looked at Max, shocked, not in a million years thinking that he would ever ask a question like this to anyone, let alone her.

"Wait, why ask me?" Gwen asked.

"Well, you're the only girl at this camp who's dated anyone. You also read all those shitty romance books, so I'm sure you have some ideas. Also, you're fucking David right now, so I know you had to ask him out," Max explained, leaving Gwen with her mouth agape, and her face red with a blush.

"WHAT!? How the fuck do you know about me and David?" Gwen asked worriedly, hoping to keep their relationship discreet from the campers.

"Are you kidding? Everyone knows that you two are a couple. Related note, you might want to invest in some soundproof glass or something. You guys can get way too loud sometimes," Max stated, with a slight smirk on his face. Gwen's whole face turned as red as a tomato, and was about to yell something very offensive, but took a couple of breaths and calmed down.

"Anyway, you seem to know something about romance, so I was wondering if you had any advice," Max asked, still embarrassed at the thought of asking for help. Gwen then got a smile on her face that grew to take up more than half of her face.

"I've been waiting for this moment for so long," Gwen said quietly, but excitedly. Max started shuffling around, regretting his decision to ask Gwen for advice.

"OK, let's calm down for a second…" Max started, trying to bring Gwen back to Earth. But, Gwen put a mouth over his hand.

"Shhhhhh. I know what to do! An obstacle course!" Gwen exclaimed, leaving Max completely confused.

"…huh? Obstacle course? What the hell are you talking about?" Max asked with frustration in his voice.

"Nikki likes adventure, right?" Gwen asked, already knowing the answer to this question.

"Sometimes, I think she's obsessed with it," Max mumbled before realizing what both he and Gwen had said.

"Wait! How the hell did you know who I was talking about!?" Max asked, sounding as freaked out as Gwen was earlier. Gwen responded with a smirk.

"You think you're so slick, but the looks you give Nikki when you think nobody's looking makes you an open fucking book," Gwen replied with a sly look on her face to accompany her smirk. Max replied with a blush, before shaking his head.

"So, what the hell are you talking about with this obstacle course bullshit?" Max asked, getting genuinely impatient.

"Well, my plan is to build this amazing obstacle course. One with twists, turns…"

"Oh, you mean like a road!?" Max interrupted with sarcastic excitement. Gwen completely ignored him and continued talking.

"…and then we have some other things like water guns, those fists attached to springs and then you take her out to the obstacle course and…where are you going?" Gwen asked once she saw Max leave. "Rude," Gwen mumbled before she realized that she could still see Max from her window.

Gwen couldn't hear what was going on, but she saw Max go to Nikki, who was talking with Nerris. Max then apparently shooed Nerris away, who did so with an annoyed look on her face. Man and Nikki started talking briefly, seemingly just idle chit chat between friends. However, in the middle of the conversation, Max suddenly kissed Nikki on her bandaged cheek. Right now, Gwen's jaw was on the floor, now completely invested in what happens next.

Outside, Gwen could see Nikki giving Max a blank expression with a blush on her face, with Max looking back at Nikki with both his hands over his mouth with his eyes wide open. Max then took his hands off of his mouth, and started talking very fast and waving his hands in front of him, apparently apologizing. While Max was on his apology tangent, Nikki cracked a smile, and gave Max a kiss on his cheek. Before Max could respond, Nerris came back, and called for Nikki, who waved goodbye to Max before going with Nerris.

Max stayed still for about a minute, seemingly in a trance from the kiss. However after that minute was up, he went back into Gwen's office with a smile so big that it took up almost half of his face.

"What the…how the…wh…WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Gwen asked, with her mind still in a complete jumble from what she had just witnessed.

"Well, allow me to explain. While I was listening to your completely stupid idea, I thought that just winging it would be a lot easier, less time consuming, and made a whole lot more fucking sense," Max explained, the smile on his face never faltering in the slightest.

"But I thought you came here to get help from me?" Gwen asked, still confused.

"And in a way, you did. I mean, your plan was so shitty, that it made me think of a plan that was much better. So technically, my idea was your idea, and I have to say…thank you," Max said before he left. Gwen just looked at the door, her brain still trying to comprehend what was going on.

That day, Gwen and Max learned a valuable lesson; even the shittiest advice can still be useful.