Chapter 8: Gumball's Date
It was the weekend, and Gumball and Darwin were trying to think of what they could do on their planned dates. They were taking up their mother's advice, but if that didn't work, Darwin was working on a backup plan to transfer to a school to the town neighboring Elmore City called Little Lamplight. "Why are you doing this for her anyway, Gumball? I thought you said Penny was lying to you," Darwin questioned. His older brother sighed. "Well I figured. The date Rachel and I had wasn't exactly the most romantic I've had in my life, so I'd see what romance would be like with Penny," he claimed. However, really he had already told Rachel the plan and she was perfectly fine with it.
"So where do you plan to take her?" Darwin asked while he was still planning out his date with Masami. "I have no idea, really. I can't ask mom or dad about that either," Gumball claimed, doubting either of them would know a whole lot about romance. "Why don't you ask Anais?" his younger brother suggested. The feline just raised an eyebrow, not sure if it was the best idea, but his date was in two hours and he didn't really know who else to go to anyway. He went upstairs to see if his young sister could help him.
Gumball arrived to his little sister's room and knocked on the open door. "Oh, hey Gumball," Anais greeted him with her attention caught. "Hey, can I ask you something?" Gumball asked as he came inside and sat down on her bed. "If it's to help mow the lawn…" she mumbled irritated since Gumball usually slacked off whenever here was a chore to be done.
"N-no, no, I wanted to ask if you could help me on my date. I don't know a lot about romance," Gumball claimed. Despite the date Gumball and Rachel had, he had little experience with romance, or how to create a romantic atmosphere. Anais just sighed. She was the smartest out of her siblings, or at least smart enough to put any form of thought before acting it out. "Alright, first of all, go get your tuxedo," the young rabbit ordered. Gumball nodded and went into his room to put it on.
It only took a few minutes for Gumball to come back with a red tuxedo on him, with the bowtie done in a messed up knot. Anais scratched her chin, and she went over and pushed a chair in front of him. She climbed on top of it, fixing his bowtie around his neck. "There. Now you look nice," she said, but Gumball didn't like it too much. He had one last problem he needed to consider. "Where should I take her?" Gumball asked. His younger sister scratched her head while trying to help out her older brother, for hopes that he could help her when she needed it. "A nice plain dinner at a fancy restaurant, simple as that," the young bunny explained.
Gumball nodded, finally understanding what to do now. He liked the sound of it as if he had a good vision of it happening now. He was hoping not to think about messing up on his date. He looked at the time and knew he had to go now, or he will be late. "Oh, and get her a flower as well!" Anais shouted while Gumball was dashing out the door. "Thanks, Anais!" his voice echoed before he ran downstairs and out of the house.
Along the way, Gumball stopped and grabbed a rose. He had his sister's advice written on his head and hoped that nothing will cause any problem or screw up. Otherwise their mother's advice to him and Darwin will have one down the drain. He was running along through the streets and panting, that is until he finally met up with the antlered ex-girlfriend. He was tired, wheezing and gasping for breath. Once he caught his second wind he greeted her. "Hey, Penny." "Hey, Gumball. …you look nice," Penny complimented his outfit. It was undeniably fitting for him.
"Oh, y-yeah, thanks," Gumball responded nervously while pulling out the rose and offering it to her. "I-I got you this," he claimed. Penny smiled, happily taking the rose from him as he began to lead her away to the precise location of where he had planned to take her for their date. "So where are we going?" she asked while following him along and holding his hand along the way. "T-the Cambria Parlor," Gumball said. The name itself sounded odd to both him and Penny, but she had heard of that place before. It was a fancy restaurant and it was usually full of people as a result of the high quality it had.
Once they arrived to the restaurant, they saw the entrance doors and the large neon sign on it, its name shining brightly even in the daytime. They entered inside, and they could see the white walls with carvings of pictures into them, along with the marble flooring under their feet. It seemed like their lucky day since not many people were there, so they were led to a table in a breeze. "Sorry about the way I was acting. I reacted horribly to… well… everything," Penny apologized with a sigh of regret.
"N-no, no, it's fine," Gumball said as he knew one thing. Penny had already known the reason behind this date as well. It was to decide who he had the most feelings for. So far, it felt like trying to make a house of cards at gunpoint, tons of different emotions and none of them feeling right in any particular way.
From there on out, they just began talking, telling funny stories over what had happened at school with each other. They were laughing and having a good time so far. Gumball was feeling the same like back when they were first dating. Before they even knew it a whole hour had passed. "This was really great, Gumball," Penny said while leaving the restaurant with Gumball beside her. "Yeah, it was. I'll see ya later," Gumball told her about to leave, but Penny stopped him in order to try and kiss him, but before she could attempt to do such, he stopped her. "Sorry, but not now... I need to think about it a lot right now. I'll see you at school in Monday," Gumball said. Penny nodded understanding and walked away.
End of Chapter 8
