Tambry's point of view from "The Love God." One shot, fluff. All characters belong to Alex Hirsch and Disney, not me.

Tambry's In Love

It started ten years ago, when Tambry and her best friend Wendy were tricycling down the sidewalk on Main Street. Two older kids wearing cool matching red breastplates stepped in front of them.

"Whoa," said the guy.

Wendy whispered to her, "He's kinda cute, don't ya think?"

Tambry blurted out, "My friend thinks you're cute."

Wendy got mad and pushed her off her trike, but it was worth it. The guy had really paid attention to what she said. It even looked like he blushed. Gossiping was fun.

As she got older she collected a group of gossip buddies, mostly guys older than herself. One was Tyler the biker, an old friend of her family.

When cell phones with texting became available, Tambry had immediate gratification of her gossiping urge. It had gotten a bit out of hand. Now she was an aloof observer of her own life, thinking about everything in terms of how she was going to text it.

Now Tambry was in Thompson's garage. She had her new iPhone, with a selfie as a background image. She liked it a lot better than the old flip-open phone she lost the night the gang raided a condemned convenience store. That was a lame night; the last thing she remembered about it was texting to Toby Determined: "Hanging out with insane 9 year old. He's scared the store is haunted."

"Woodstick plans for 2nite with the gang," she texted. "Taping snack on2 Thompson. Nate just taped his mouth. Big improvement."

"Hey, don't wait up, Tambers," said Nate.

"Don't call me Tambers," said Tambry. She could tell he was crushing on her a bit, so why couldn't he stop calling her that nickname she hated?

"Ha ha. Classic Tambers," said Nate.

There it was. They all took her for granted now, faded into the background. Texting Tambers.

A new text came in: "Tambry, You. Me. Date. Bring that sweet, sweet bod. Your secret admirer."

Someone liked her?

She texted back: "This better not be a joke. Where?"

"Greasy's Diner in one hour."

Who could it be? Not Nate. He was right there when she got the message. Maybe Kevin from chemistry class? He was sort of cute, so possibly... This was a little creepy, maybe dangerous. But it was a public place. She was too curious not to go.

"OK" she texted.

When she arrived at the diner, there was Robbie sitting in a booth by himself. He looked a little better than the last time she saw him, moping in a grave over Wendy. No guy had ever been that lovesick over her. She had almost been jealous. Did he want to move on to her now?

"Ugh, Robbie? You're my secret admirer?" Tambry asked.

Robbie said, "Tambry? Ugh, this is just what I get for trusting a toddler. Listen, I don't think this is gonna work out. Dating somebody I already know? It's kinda like admitting defeat."

Trusting a toddler? What did that mean? There was Mabel in the next booth, trying not to be obvious about watching them, and failing. She set this up? What a goofy little kid!

"Um, way to assume I'm even interested," Tambry said, for the benefit of Mabel as well as Robbie.

"Tambry, let's be real," said Robbie. "If I wanted to date you I would have done it already. I'm just a little out of your league."

"I'm out of your league?" thought Tambry. "It's the other way around, dork."

"Whoa, is that mustard? Don't want to waste that bad boy," said Robbie, licking a yellow stain off his elbow.

What a low-life to lick himself in front of her. And what a long tongue!

"Status update. On blind date with sociopath," said Tambry, getting out her phone. This was a disaster, but it would at least make for good texting material.

"Oh, sure, bring out the phone. Classic Tambers," said Robbie.

There it was again, that nickname. Why even bother to correct him? Just like all the others, he wouldn't pay attention.

"Hey can I get some chili fries? To go," Robbie called.

While he waited for his order, Tambry began texting. A chubby rock star burst in, causing a commotion, but she was deep in text land and didn't pay much attention.

Robbie got his fries, covered with a pink sauce. He took a bite of one.

"Whoa. Did your whole thing suddenly get a lot more likeable?" Robbie said.

He was looking at her, really paying attention. Nobody had looked at her like that in, well, forever. He gestured toward his fries, inviting her to share them. She had thought he was taking them to go, but something had changed...

Tambry took a fry and bit into it. Now she really looked back into his eyes, and saw something new.

"You don't seem as needy as I used to think you were," Tambry said.

"Hey, you wouldn't wanna maybe get outta here and, I don't know, go kiss in public a lot?" said Robbie.

What would have seemed rude a second ago now seemed perfectly natural, an attractive offer.

"For some reason, I do. Status update," said Tambry, about to text again. Then she thought better of it. This was private, just for her and Robbie.

"You know what? Forget it. Maybe I should stare at something other than my phone for a while," Tambry said, leaving her phone on the table and walking out with Robbie, hand in hand.