Chapter Two: Their First Date

"Oi! Gibbs!" Jack said as he walked into the classroom shortly after Will. The older man behind the desk smiled at Jack, slapping hands with the senior before Jack sat in his desk in the far back. "It's been a while, mate." He said with, what Will figured to be, his characteristic slur. Gibbs smiled.

"We went out, what, yesterday, Sparrow?" Gibbs asked, chortling in his chair. Jack grinned, but said nothing, instead turning to play with Ana Maria's hair. She pushed his hands away and motioned for Will to grab the desk in front of her. He nodded at Elizabeth, who smiled at him, before he sat in front of Ana Maria. "All right, kids," Gibbs said after the late bell rang. He looked at Jack, "and I use the term loosely," he winked at Jack who grinned back, "it's your final year… at least for some," another pointed look at Jack, "so let's make the best of it. My name is Joshamee Gibbs because my parents had a horrible sense of humor, but don't waste your time with no damn 'Mr. Gibbs'. Gibbs is all I need to be called, all right?" There was a murmur from the class before he continued. "There's a student handbook on your desk, and you've been through this for a few years, so I'm not going to go through it with you… you're big kids, now, aren't you?" They laughed before Gibbs continued, "Good. Now, I'll just take roll and then you can do whatever the hell you want, all right? Good…. Erm… Jenna Sonic?"

"Here!"

Will turned around to Ana Maria and asked, "How does Jack know Gibbs so well?"

"Jack's older sister was in the same class as Gibbs was when Gibbs went to high school," Ana Maria shrugged. "When Jack was a freshmen, Gibbs helped him get used to the campus and everything. They're kind of like brothers," she smiled. "Are you going to read the handbook?"

"It's basically the same rules as it was in… my old high school, I'm sure," he covered quickly, and she smiled.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Elizabeth Swann?"

"Here!" Elizabeth raised her hand daintily before lowering it back down to her desk. Will's head had jerked up at the sound of her voice, and now he had a rather unattractive blush flaming up his face. Ana Maria rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

"So… do we have any other courses together?" Will asked, handing her his schedule. She looked them over.

"Just… last period…"

"What's that class?"

"Emma Tovin?"

"Study hall," she said, handing Will back his schedule. Jack grabbed it before Will did, staring at it.

"Aye! All three of us are in that particular class," Jack said, grinning. "And you got lunch with me," he said, nodding. "Good. You can sit with me an' my wenches."

"Pardon?"

"Ana Maria Toriano?"

"My wenches," Jack said, grinning. He placed his arms on the back of his head. "My band," he elaborated, winking at Will. "Captain Jack and his Wenches," he said, leaning back in his seat. "We're a bit more… heavy metal than you'd think coming from one guy and three girls," he said, shrugging, "but we can tone it down a bit—we're going to have to, if we want to play for the prom this year."

"They're amazing," Ana Maria commented, grinning. Will shrugged.
"I'm not into that sort of thing," he said, and Jack scoffed.

"You will be if you want to get along with me!"

"Will Turner?"

"Why does music--"

"Will Turner?"

"—have any influence over--"

"Will's absent, then?"

"—our friendship?"

"Will, shut up and raise your hand!" Ana Maria hissed. Will spun around quickly, raising his hand and shouting.

"HERE!"

The classroom fell deadly silent afterwards, the other kids taking turns to turn and look at Will. Some giggled behind hands, while others didn't know how to take it in. Elizabeth, from her seat right next to him, just smiled and shook her head, continuing with her doodle on her new, pink notebook. Will blushed profusely and apologized.

"Well," Gibbs said, erasing the mark he had made in his grade book, "gotta give the kid credit for being enthusiastic."

The day seemed to be moving at a whirlwind pace for Will, as he got lost a few times and bumped into some very interesting characters. Around fifth period, he went into the cafeteria for lunch and saw Jack Sparrow far off in the corner sandwiched between two girls with heavy eyeliner. As Will walked closer, another girl wearing heavy eyeliner came and sat down across from the girl on Jack's right, a blonde wearing a bright red T-shirt. Will waved shyly, and Jack grinned.

"Grab a seat, and meet me girls," he purred, placing an arm around the shoulders of the girl on his left, a redhead wearing green. She pushed his arm away and huffed.

"We have names, you know," she growled in a very high-pitched voice. The girl on the right giggled.

"Like he can remember—he was so drunk last night!"

"You mean like every other fucking night?" The girl across the table laughed, and Jack glared sourly at them all.

"Of course I can remember your names," he grunted, kicking out a chair in front of Will. The poor kid grabbed it quickly and sat; pulling out the lunch Stella had packed for him. "William, this is Scarlet," he gestured to the blonde. "Giselle," he gestured to the redhead. "And—oh, fuck—" he looked hard at the brunette for a second before he remembered, "Oh, that's right… Adrienne. Wenches, meet William Turner."

"Hi," Will said shyly, as all three girls turned their attention towards him.

"How're ya, sexy?" Scarlet purred.

"Good, as far as I can see," Giselle concurred with a grin.

"You should see him from this angle!" Adrienne grinned, causing Will's face to heat up profusely. Jack cleared his throat.

"We got practice tonight, ladies, so don't get too plastered, all right?"

"Yes, sir," they purred together. Jack grinned, looking at Will.

"So… when are you going to screw that blonde chick?"

"What?" Will asked, choking on his sandwich. He coughed for a moment before he sent Jack a look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I mean… that girl from homeroom… god, what was her name…" Jack thought for a moment, before he brightened up. "Oh, yeah—'Lizabeth Swann!"

"Oh."

"Her."

"God, can't believe he fell for her."

"Doesn't seem like the type."

"Then again—"

"Yeah… Maybe he does seem like the type…"

"Or—"

"Girls, shut it!" Jack groaned, shaking his head as his 'wenches' immediately began babbling about poor Elizabeth Swann (Will was both too in shock and too red to reply). "So… when are you going to 'do the deed'?" Jack asked with a wink. Will sighed.

"Shut it, Jack," he said, glaring (and finally finding his voice). "I… don't know. I-I don't think she'd go for a guy like… me."

"Why not?"

"Too pretty--?" Will tried, but failed. Jack sighed.

"Listen, Will… just… lay on the charm—you're all right lookin'—it shouldn't be so hard for you to get laid around here," Jack shrugged, looking around.

"Jackie," Adrienne said, fooling around with her salad.

"Yeh, luv?" Jack asked, turning to look at her.

"Your eyeliner's smeared," she said, laughing as she took a dainty bite of the greens. Jack rolled his eyes, pulling the pencil out from his bandana. Will watched as he pulled off a stray hair before pulling a mirror out of his hair as well. Disregarding Will completely, Jack set off into the task of making sure his eyeliner didn't look like he fell asleep in drag the night before. After all, he had an image to uphold.

Seventh period English was just about as exciting as watching paint dry, or cutting each blade of grass individually with a pair of safety scissors. Will walked into the classroom with a preconceived notion that he was going to be bored, and he knew that this was the one time in the world he'd be right.

The classroom was void of a teacher, and the students were milling about, waiting for said teacher to arrive and assign seats. With a silent curse, Will realized he didn't know anyone in this class. He sighed and moved to the corner, taking out his little black book and looking through the pages. The bell rang shortly, and there was still no teacher in sight.

The classroom got quieter, each teen taking a turn to look around for the teacher, and upon finding no one; they turned to a friend to question it. Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked a short man with very little hair. He slung his briefcase down upon his desk and opened it, looking through the contents inside. He pulled out a paper and cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the class.

"My name is Mr. Beckett," he said stiffly, his chest puffing out with an air of arrogance. "And I will be your teacher this school year. Now onto the tedious task of assigning seats, yes?" He said, looking around him with a cold, careless demeanor. He began listing off names in alphabetical order, and Will briefly paid attention until he heard his own name to be called. "Right up here, William," he said, stressing Will's full name. He pointed at a seat right in front of his desk, and Will inwardly groaned. "Right next to…" he checked his paper again, "Elizabeth Swann… Elizabeth?" He looked around (as did Will) before he dismissed it and moved on. Nearly two seconds later, the door reopened and two voices could be heard.

"Ladies first," Jack Sparrow said, a rough hand gesturing towards the door.

"Oh, grow up, Sparrow…"

Will's ears perked up to the voice of Elizabeth Swann rebuking Jack for… offering her the door? It wasn't until they were both inside that Will noticed Jack looking down her shirt. Mr. Beckett tapped his foot against the tile floors impatiently.

"A disruption, Sparrow—and on the first day no less!" He said, tutting towards Jack, who rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Cutler," he said, receiving raucous laughter from his fellow students. Mr. Beckett had turned an awful shade of red.

"A week's worth of detentions, I'm sure, will straighten you out a bit, yes?"

"Not really."

"It wasn't a question."

"You phrased it as one."

"Two weeks, then!" Mr. Beckett nearly shouted, his face close to purple. Jack rolled his eyes.

"Where am I sitting?"

"If you got here on time, you'd know…"

"Next to me, Jackie!" Will turned around to see Adrienne patting the seat beside him. Jack grinned.

"I know now, don't I?" He sneered at Beckett, taking his seat. With Jack gone, he advanced on Elizabeth.

"Where have you been?"

"In with the principal," she shrugged, handing him a pass. Cutler smiled nervously.

"How… is your father, Elizabeth?" He said, straightening his tie self-consciously.

"Fine enough, Mr. Beckett—where's my seat?"

"Next to…" He checked his list again, "Will Turner." She turned to see him hiding behind his black notebook. A blush crept on her cheeks, but she dismissed it, taking the seat beside him.

"Hello again," she said softly. He lowered the book, revealing his red face, and smiled.

"'Ello," he said just as softly. Her stomach did a back flip at his smooth accent. She smiled.

"Having a good first day?"

"I's all right," he shrugged, looking briefly back at Jack (who gave him a double thumbs-up) before smiling. "Met some real characters…"

"That's Riverside for you," she said, finding it extremely easy to talk to him. "How are your classes going?"

"They're… going?" He said, unsure of what to say. She blushed.

"Yeah… weird question to be asked on the first day."

"Not the weirdest, though--"

"Attention!" Mr. Beckett cleared his throat again. "Today, we will go over the agenda for the year and I will pass out Beowulf books, which I would like for you all to read by Friday…"

As the class groaned, all Will could do was smile at the idea of sitting next to Elizabeth Swann for the rest of the school year.

"I fucking hate that little jerk," Jack sighed dramatically as he advanced on Will during their ninth period study hall. Will quirked a brow, but said nothing, returning to his sheet of paper. He was currently mapping out how he was going to fix up his latest project after school, an old Volkswagen Beetle that a little old lady brought in the day before.

"Why?" Ana Maria asked from the seat next to Will.

"Because," Jack said, grabbing the paper from Will's desk, thereby getting his attention, and crumpling it up to a ball and tossing it aside, "he's the reason I've never been able to graduate… He's the only class that I've failed," he said, shrugging. "And because it's required, I've been held back all these years."

"Why," Will seethed, glaring at Jack, "don't you just do your work?"

"I do," Jack said simply, looking almost insulted by Will's insinuation, "he just… hates me."

"Don't be so dramatic, Sparrow," a voice spat from the next row over. The three turned to see James Norrington looking vehemently at Jack, who returned the favor. "We all know that you're just too drunk all the time to pay attention in any class."

"Hey, Jimmy," Jack said, turning to the football player with a grin, "how does it smell?"

"What smells?" James asked, flinching as Jack called him 'Jimmy'. Jack smiled.

"Your ass," he said, grinning. "I mean, that's probably all you can smell, seeing as how far your head's shoved up it."

"Hilarious, Sparrow," a female voice said, and Will saw Elizabeth move beside James. "You're just jealous that James has a future ahead of him."

"Oh, yes, a big future, I'm sure…" Jack said, rolling his eyes. "He'll get paid millions to run around like a lunatic and tackle other fully grown men over balls," Jack grinned at his another one of his insinuations. "Very masculine, Jimmy-boy," Jack said sarcastically.

"Coming from the man who wears eyeliner," Elizabeth spat.

"C'mon, luv," Jack said, spreading his arms wide open, "you know you love it… and you know you want it."

"Syphilis?" She said with a smirk, not missing a beat. "No thanks." Jack rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, your boyfriend's herpes is so much better… least mine's curable," he shrugged, rolling Elizabeth's insults off his back (and succeeding in making James blush). He turned back to Will to have found that he had walked away from his desk, moving towards the computer in the back room, Ana Maria at his side. "Figures…" He groaned, moving from his position on top of the desk, to the chair. He buried his head in his arms, and went to sleep.

"How often do they do that?" Will asked Ana Maria, surfing through the sites before he found what he was looking for; he came upon the site with a virtual skeleton of the old Beetle. Ana Maria grinned.

"Everyday," she said. "They've never liked each other…"

"How come they know each other so well?"

"Her father's the principal," Ana Maria said, watching over Will's shoulder with interest. "And Jack pretty much lives in that office; she's seen him in there since she was a freshmen, and even before that. Every time she'd go in there, without fail, he'd hit on her," Ana Maria seemed a bit angry at this, but shrugged it off and continued, "so when he got on James's case when we were all sophomores, Elizabeth stuck up for him because she knew Sparrow's weak points," she said nonchalantly. She looked over her shoulder at the couple, who were making no effort to hide their affections; James was caressing Elizabeth's cheek, and she had her arms around his neck. "They've been dating ever since."

"Lovely," Will said, slightly distracted. "But… isn't the guy supposed to save the girl in order to land the date?" He joked, causing Ana Maria to laugh.

"James… just isn't that guy."

"Hello, Mr. Brown," Will called. He heard a grunt in reply, and sighed. He buttoned up his blue shirt and looked around the little shop. Finally, he walked towards his latest project, his trust tools by his side. He hadn't been working on it for more than ten minutes before he heard the tell-tale sound of a broken-down car pull into the small lot. He heard it turn off, the car door open and close, and he heard high-heeled footsteps making their way towards him.

"Hello?" A faint voice called. Will's head jerked upwards, causing him to hit it on the open hood of the car. He rubbed his head, looking up at the voice, finding himself face to face with…

"Elizabeth, what are you doing here?"

"My car," she shrugged, pointing towards the clunker. "There's something wrong with it."

"Everything's wrong with it," Will muttered, and she frowned.

"Is it… not fixable?"

"No, it's fixable," Will said, walking towards the old car. He ran a hand over it and looked up at her. "It's just a matter of whether it's worth it."

"Worth it?"

"The parts are expensive—so expensive, you might actually save money by buying another car," he shrugged. "But I can't tell by looking at the exterior. Pop the hood for me."

"That… other car—the Beetle… don't you have to finish that—?" She asked, although she hoped he wouldn't return to it.

"The person who dropped it off didn't want it back," he said, looking up at her. "So I fooled around with it a bit, and I'm going to save up the money to buy the parts," he said simply. "Right now, I'm just messing with it to get out of doing other things."

"So, no?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"No."

The looked at each other, and began to laugh. She shook her head, and he smiled widely at her. "C'mon," he offered, showing her a certain piece of the engine. "Let me show you what's wrong…"

They spent the better part of Will's shift talking about cars, school, Riverside, and anything else that Elizabeth could throw at him to keep him from going away. For some reason, she liked spending time with Will; she loved his laugh, and how easy it was to talk to him. Of course Will didn't mind; hell, he was even thinking up things to talk about himself. It wasn't until a large van pulled into the parking lot that they were thrown back to reality.

"Is it driveable?" She asked, looking at her car before meeting his eye again.

"No…" He shook his head, "I'm surprised you made it here," he said honestly. She sighed.

"Great," she said bitterly, searching in her purse for what he supposed was a cell phone. Suddenly, he heard the door to the van open and—

"Willy!"

Isabelle had let Jasmine out of her carseat, and she was tottering quickly towards Will and Elizabeth, who paused to watch the scene unfold. She saw Will's face flash two emotions; worry for her well-fare (she was about to fall) and pure joy and love at the sight of her. He rushed towards her and picked her up quickly, spinning the young girl around in his arms.

"Jasmine!" He said, spinning her faster. She squealed louder, bringing a smile to Elizabeth's face. He stopped and held her up, making her calm down only a little before she looked around. Finally, the toddler spotted Elizabeth.

"Stwanger danja! Stwanger danja!" She said, pointing at Elizabeth with a chubby finger. Elizabeth's eyes widened, but they softened when Will laughed.

"No, Jasmine, friend." She looked at Will. "Friend." The girl looked at him for a moment, before turning to Elizabeth.

"Fwiend." Elizabeth smiled at Jasmine before looking at Will curiously for a moment.

"This is your…?" She asked, and Will immediately realized what all this had caused. His secret was now revealed to Elizabeth, and he turned a bright red.

"I'm… erm… you see, this is…" He stuttered, and Elizabeth cocked her head to the side. "It's… a rather long story…"

"Will! Are you ready to go?" Stella called from the front seat. Will looked back at her for a moment.

"Give me a moment, please?" He asked, and she nodded. He looked back at Elizabeth, who was watching him closely. "Erm… do you have any plans tonight?"

"Why?"

"Because, well," he ran a free hand through his hair before grabbing Jasmine's hands (which had started to pull at his longer locks), "my family is going out for dinner, and I noticed that you don't have a ride, and… well," he stammered over his words, looking at his shoes. "I figured… I could explain it all to you if you came with us—we could give you a ride home and everything."

"Oh," Elizabeth said in a very quiet voice. There was a long pause before she smiled, "I'd love to, Will."

"All right, then… Hold on a moment, please," he said, turning back to Stella. "D'you want me to take Jasmine in my car, Stella?"

"She seems a bit attatched to you, anyway," she said, smiling as the little girl found her way into Will's hair again. "Meet us at Pepperoni's soon, all right…" She turned around but turned back quickly. "Is… your friend coming with us?"

"D'you mind?" Will asked shyly. Stella smiled.

"Of course not—I'm just happy to know your first day went well… We'll meet you there, Will," she nodded, turning back at telling Isabelle to shut the doors and make sure everyone was buckled. Will smiled at Elizabeth.

"C'mon… We'll drive in my car," he said, moving towards his red Mustang. Elizabeth's jaw dropped.

"This is yours?"

"Yeah," he said, his cheeks heating up as he unlocked his trunk. He pulled out a car seat and shut it quickly, opening up his driver's side door and setting Jasmine down on the seat. He put the car seat in the back seat and strapped Jasmine in. He backed out and looked at Elizabeth. "I bought it off of an older man who didn't have the money to rebuild it. I saved my pay from the summer, and rebuilt it piece by piece," he said with pride, rubbing the roof. Elizabeth smiled at the obvious devotion he had for his craft as she took a look at the car, taking a moment to take in its grandeur. "C'mon," he said, getting in the car and buckling his seat belt. She followed suit, sitting in the passenger seat. She glanced at him for a moment, before she looked outside, as if wondering if she should be doing this at all. When she looked back at him, he was making funny faces at Jasmine through the rear-view mirror, and she was squealing happily.

"Willy! Silly, silly, Willy!"

He fixed the rear view mirror and started the car, the roar of the engine bringing a smile to his lips. She smiled faintly herself, although a pang of guilt rang in her heart.

He's just giving you a ride… you are not on a date!

They rode in silence, with Jasmine occasionally squealing and clapping her hands. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "I… noticed you had a large family…" she said quietly, looking at Will. "Are they all your siblings?" He flinched, and her brows furrowed in worry.

"Technically… no," he said quietly, his eyes scanning the road as if it held the answers to Elizabeth's unasked questions. "Elizabeth, I am--"

"Willy—fast! Go faster, Willy!"

"Jasmine, please…" Will said softly, although his voice was firm with reason. "No shouting in the car."

"Sowwy," she said, looking down at her shoes. Will sighed.

"You are--?" Elizabeth pressed, her eyes searching his face.

"I am… a foster child," he said, looking at her briefly. His heart broke at the pity in her eyes; a pity he neither wanted nor deserved. "My mum died when I was ten—my father left us right after I was born; he really only stayed long enough to make sure I took his name… the bastard." He said, looking out towards the road again. "I've been in and out of foster homes ever since… Riverside is my sixth high school in four years." He looked back at her, before turning away again. "I turn eighteen this November… hopefully I will remain here until I'm old enough to live on my own."

"I knew there was more behind you than what meets the eye," Elizabeth said quietly after a pause.

"And I'm sure Jasmine was a dead give-away…" he snorted, and she smiled, looking back at the little girl in the back seat, who's eyes were wide and her mouth wide open.

"Willy—bad word! Bad word, Willy!" She shouted, causing Will to jump up in his seat.

"Jasmine, shh," he said, looking at her in the rear view window. "Shh—it'll be a secret, all right?"

"Secwet?"

"Secret," Will affirmed, and she smiled; this new proposition made her feel special.

"I know somefink you don't know!" She clapped her hands together. Will sighed.

"Yes… you do." He said, winking at her. She giggled.

"How many other siblings… erm… well, how many other kids are living with you?"

"Stella and Mark adopted seven other children—I'm the only foster child. They also have three of their own daughters and eight grandchildren," he said, after a moment's pause to think. "Mark is a very wealthy business woman, and Stella is a nurse—Mark is also very good with stocks… they made a fortune when they were very young."

"I see," Elizabeth said, watching him. He seemed much more relaxed, as if telling her this information released the burden he had unbeknownst placed on his shoulders. "What are their names?"

"Well, obviously this is Jasmine… Jasmine!" He called quietly to the back. She squealed happily. "This is Elizabeth."

"Bet!" She said, clapping her hands. "Bet! Hi, Bet!"

"Hi, Jasmine," Elizabeth smiled. She looked back at Will.

"The oldest of them is Isabelle," he said, looking thoughtful for a moment. "She's beautiful; golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes," he said fondly, turning on another street; Elizabeth realized he must've been taking them a back way; never in her life had it taken her this long to get to Pepperoni's. "Justin just turned seven today, and he's got the wildest red hair I've ever seen…" He said, smiling, "The other two boys—Luke and Johnny—are brothers… Luke has this wild set of curls, and it looks as if Johnny's just now getting them in…" He looked at her briefly, and she saw the pride in his eyes. "The last two girls, Lola and Margarita, are sisters from Puerto Rico… I don't know how they made it here, but I know that they didn't know a lot of English… when they get angry, they'll talk in Spanish to each other…" He said. "I've picked up on a few things myself, and I know what they're saying when they talk about me." He said, shrugging. "Jasmine's the youngest, and Johnny's a close second—I think Johnny turned three a day before Jasmine turned two…" He nodded, thinking about it.

"You and Jasmine are close," she commented, as she watched him. Everytime he mentioned the girl in the back seat, his eyes would travel behind him and he would lock eyes with the little girl for a moment.

"Her first word was my name," Will affirmed. "Erm… or rather 'Willy'." She chuckled as he blushed.

"I think it's cute," she said, watching as they finally pulled into Pepperoni's. Will pulled in a parking space beside his family's van. He turned the car off and got out, pushing the seat in so he could pull Jasmine out of the back. He held the little girl in his arms as he walked in the restaurant with Elizabeth.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Will asked as they walked into the Italian restaurant, spotting his family in the back room. He looked at her warily as Jasmine squirmed in his arms. She smiled.

"I haven't eaten dinner, and you are my ride home," she shrugged. "I really didn't think my car would be that bad," she said surprised. He smiled.

"All right then, but don't say I didn't warn you," he said, nodding to the host who rolled her eyes and kept writing down something in her pad. Will grunted, shifting Jasmine in his arms as he maneuvered around tables before finally sitting down with his family. He placed Jasmine in her high chair and pulled it close by him, Elizabeth sitting down across from him.

"Will," Lola piped up, two seats down from Elizabeth. "Who's she?"

"Yeah!" Margarita chimed in. Will smiled.

"Everyone, this is Elizabeth," Will said, and they all collectively looked at a blushing Elizabeth. "Now, can we get on with this?" He asked, and they all chuckled lightly, each child individually introducing themselves to Will's new friend. Finally, Justin was the last one. His bright blue eyes shimmered mischievously as he looked at Elizabeth through his red fringe.

"Hi," he said loudly, sticking his hand out. Elizabeth took it and shook it.

"Hi," she replied.

"You're very pretty," he commented, looking at Will (who looked horrified). This made Justin smile wider. He looked back at Elizabeth. "What're you doing here with Will? He's really not that good-looking."

"Oh, well, Will's just a fr--"

"Are you two out on a date?"

"N--"

"You know, you're Will's first date ever," Justin continued, and at this point Will was hiding behind his menu. "And you are really way too pretty for him."

"I don't think so," Elizabeth said smartly, her own eyes gleaming mischievously. "But I think he's had more dates than just me—and I'm sure you're just very jealous… I saw you looking at that pretty girl over there," her eyes moved to a girl around Justin's age who was sloppily eating her spaghetti, and only succeeding in spilling it down her front. Justin's eyes opened, horrified. "Perhaps I should go over and ask her to join us—then we could double date."

"You wouldn't!" He said, disgusted by the idea. Elizabeth brightened.

"You're right—but I will if you keep teasing Will like this," she said smugly, winking at Will when he came out from his hiding place. "I don't want you to ruin our first date."

"Our what--?" Will spluttered. "But, Elizabeth, don't you have a boy--" She kicked him under the table and he quieted down. That's when he understood that she was teaching Justin a lesson… in a very strange way. He quieted down, however, not about to protest this new arrangement. After all, he wasn't about to deny the feeling in his stomach whenever Elizabeth smiled at him, nor the jolt he got at the sound of her voice. He smiled and looked at a defeated Justin with an air of arrogance.

"Bet and Willy!" Jasmine squealed, breaking the silence by causing everyone to laugh. "Bet and Willy, Bet and Willy, Bet and Willy!" She shrieked. Finally, Will subdued her by placing a few crayons on her placemat, and she went straight to work on a new masterpiece.

"Sorry," Will said under his breath when the attention shifted to Luke's recount of his first day at Kindergarten.

"Don't worry, Willy," she winked at him from across the table, her eyes still holding the teasing twinkle from earlier. "Your lack of a love life is a secret to be kept by me," she said, and he sighed. "But I don't think you'll need to keep it for much longer," she said, and he looked at her strangely.

"Why?"

"Because, William Turner," she said, taking a dainty bite of her breadstick. "You are absolutely charming—I know girls who would kill for a guy like you."

He turned a repulsive red color at this, only causing her eyes to twinkle even more.

Sorry it took me so long to update! I was really rather busy with just a bunch of things at the moment, my job's getting harder and harder, and homelife isn't as easy as it once was. Well, enough about me:)

Thanks for reading--and especially thanks for all the wonderful reviews for my last chapter! I can't believe how well-recieved this fic is!

Did you all see AWE? I loved it! May Willabeth live forever! Haha...