AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the slight lateness in updating this, I was on vacation and as usual everything was going wrong, haha. But this is a longer chapter so hopefully that will make up a bit! I have answered most reviews via PM, and I have addressed some of the feedback within this chapter (I think). So I'll just let the characters show instead of me telling (greatest advice in English courses-show, don't tell). This chapter has canon inspiration, but is also original-that will make sense after reading. Hope you all enjoy this chapter and thanks as always for the great reviews!

PS: a shocking bit of Laura dialogue was inspired by an experience from one of my higher level anthropology classes, in which the professor announced how awkward she felt talking about a certain subject, then belted out a stunning array of facts at the top of her lungs. It was so amazing to witness. That too will make sense after reading. XD

CHAPTER 10

Perform a Date

Laura was sitting behind a potted fern, listening to the conversation take place in Julian's room.

"Cess wants us to go hang out in a bit." Santo. "She has this stupid idea that we should all be friends."

"We are friends." Julian's voice was flat. "I think." Pause. "Maybe not."

"Course you are." Santo paused. "We were just channel surfin,' and you know how much Cess likes her some Lost. She might like it more than I like WWE. That's sayin' somethin'."

"Uh huh. It's not Wednesday. She was just watching old stuff. She could've waited."

"She was tryin' to get X into it." Santo paused again. "She wants to be friends with her, too."

"Good for her." Julian's voice was sharp.

"Dude. You used to be all about team-building. What gives?"

"Not my team anymore." Pause. "And I don't like the clone. Don't think she's worth my time."

Laura's eyebrows arched slightly. She could not say for sure, since she was not able to detect scent changes from outside of the room, but she suspected he was lying.

"X is pretty goddamn creepy." Santo again, in a tone of agreement. "Kinda ugly, too. Wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole if someone paid me to."

Laura's eyebrows arched again. His voice had trembled almost imperceptibly, toward the end of his statement. A tell. Also, the content seemed to be contradicting what he had said in the kitchen a few minutes ago. Unless the kill designation had been reserved for her. Why were they both lying?

"That's a little harsh." Julian sounded reluctant.

"Aw, c'mon. You don't need to defend her. Just us guys here."

"She's kind of scary…yeah…and quiet…but I wouldn't say creepy. She just doesn't mess around." Julian hesitated. "And…she's, well, have you seen her?" Pause. "I'd hit that." Another pause. "If…if I was looking to hit someone, you know. But I'm not right now. Got way too much going on."

"Thought you said she wasn't worth your time."

"…" Julian took a few moments to answer. Three, to be precise. "I meant, cause I'm busy. I, uh, I'm just not looking to get back into the game right now, you know?"

"Sure man, whatever you say." Santo shrugged. She could hear his rocks grating together. "Guess you won't care that Josh said he might ask her out."

Santo's voice was casual, but Laura detected the slight tremble again, toward the end. Her eyebrows drew together.

"What?!" Julian's voice was sharp again. "I mean—no, not at all. But he's still with smell girl, right?"

"Dunno. Guess not."

Pause.

"Whatever. I'm not interested."

"Sure. Good for you. I think all this high school drama is a waste of time anyway." Santo paused. "Anyways, you in for dinner? We're leaving in an hour, according to Cess."

"Don't really feel like it." Julian's voice was flat. "Not exactly looking to spend time with Cess right now. I had a rough day, and then she just showed up and made it worse."

"What went wrong now?"

"Just…stuff." Julian paused. "Can't control my powers anymore. Smashing things without meaning to…causing explosions…ripped out a wall earlier without meaning to…almost squished myself with my dresser. That kind of shit."

"That sucks." Santo flopped down on one of the beds. Laura could hear the springs. "It's nice to have simple powers. Not many drawbacks to bein' made of rocks."

"Dude, you broke everything when you first came here."

"Yeah. Then I stopped, and life is peachy. And now I'm unvincible."

"The word is invincible, Santo."

"God dammit! That's what I meant to say." Santo sounded annoyed. "Dunno why I can't remember it…it's like my favorite word now, too."

"Sure." Julian paused. "I'll come out with you guys some other time. But not tonight."

"Dude, you can't do that to me. I can't handle that much Cess on my own. And X. C'mon. It'll just be an hour or so. Then you can go back to sulking and breaking shit."

"If it's only an hour, why can't you deal with it? And won't Sooraya be there, too?"

"Uh." Santo paused. "Sooraya's got homework. And Cess is going to whine the whole time about you not being there. Trust me. If I were a lesser man, I'd beg you to spare me that."

"God damn it." Julian sounded frustrated. "Fine, fine, I'll come. Having friends is really annoying sometimes."

"Awww. Gee, shucks." Santo paused. "Cess said to dress up a bit."

"What?! Forget it! I'm not—ugh. You know what? Whatever. I don't care. I'll do it, just so you guys leave me alone after."

"You're the best." Santo moved, she heard the bed creak. "So, what'd you think—"

"THERE you are!" Cessily's hand snaked out from five feet away and wrapped itself around Laura's wrist. Then she pulled, and Laura found herself being dragged down the hallway, toward the metal girl's room.

"Let go of me!" Laura demanded, her claws popping. Snkkt!

"No." Cessily retracted her arm very quickly, causing Laura to be thrown off balance. "Go ahead, cut me. I heal too." She gave her a direct look. "I know what you were doing. You were listening in. And I realized, while I was searching for you, that you must have heard me talking with Santo. You know all about how we're setting you guys up on a date."

"I do not—" Laura began.

"What?" Cessily's eyes narrowed. "You like Julian, right? I could see it in your face earlier, in the rec room, when he sneered at you. You looked devastated."

Laura hesitated.

"This will happen." Cessily opened the door and shoved her into her room. "You. Sit by the desk."

"I do not—" Laura tried again.

"I am not standing by and watching my friends be miserable because of a dumb misunderstanding!" Cessily was already in her bathroom, pulling things out of drawers. "So just be quiet and let me put makeup on you."

Laura began to creep toward the open window, but then Cessily's arm shot out of the bathroom, over her shoulder, and slammed it shut. "Nice try!" she shouted. "But you're not preventing this." She pointed to her desk chair. "Sit."

Laura's eyebrows drew together. She watched as Cessily left the bathroom with an arm full of items: tubes, brushes, pots of color and powder. "Why is this necessary?"

"Because. You want Julian to like what he sees." The metal girl set the assortment of face paints down on her desk with a loud clatter.

"Why?"

Cessily paused, in the middle of uncapping what looked like a pencil. "Um, duh…because you like him, remember? We just went through that."

Laura frowned. "I like all of you."

"I don't mean like that." Cessily also frowned. "You've got it for him, bad, right? Like, you want him to be your boyfriend."

Now Laura's forehead wrinkled. "He is already my friend."

Cessily lowered the pencil, her eyebrows arching. "Uh…what exactly do you know about the birds and the bees? And, like, relationships?"

Laura's blank look seemed to tell her all she needed to know.

"Oooohh boy." Cessily set the pencil down on the table and sat down on her bed. "Okay. No wonder." She paused. "You must be having an awful time right now. Ummm…I'll try to explain this the way my mom did. Like, just a few years before they kicked me out of the house." She cleared her throat. "Babies are made—"

"The male of the species inserts his penis into the female's vaginal canal, and after a series of pelvic thrusts-between one to two hundred-deposits semen. In this is sperm, which travels up through the female's cervix and fallopian tubes, to meet an egg cell." Laura paused for breath. "If an egg is fertilized, it will descend to the uterus again and the zygote will implant. The process of conception varies among species. In humans, the act lasts approximately seven minutes. The gestation period that follows is approximately thirty-eight weeks—"

"Whoa." Cessily held up her hand. "Okay, okay, you know all about, uh, sex and babies. Good. That makes this easier." She hesitated. "That's kind of what dating is all about. That's how we, uh, pick out who we want to be with. You go on dates…where you spend time together and see if you're compatible. So you can see if you want to have kids someday."

Laura gave her a very serious look. "I am not prepared to have offspring."

"No!" Cessily gaped at her. "That's not what I meant at all. God, no. Just…you start getting these feelings when you're a certain age. I mean, I was thirteen when I had my first kiss. I guess it's kind of…practice." She paused. "So when you are ready for kids, you pick the right person to have them with."

Laura nodded slightly. This made sense. "So that you do not waste resources on inferior offspring."

Cessily hesitated. "I…guess…you could look at it like that."

Laura also hesitated. "Is a symptom of this…desire to practice…burning?"

The metal girl blinked. "Uh, what?"

Laura sighed, closed her eyes. "I…occasionally…like to look at…him. And my face feels strange. Is that part of this, or am I defective?"

"Oh my god! Laura!" Cessily grabbed her by the shoulders. "You are not defective, or bad, or anything like that, okay? Yes, it's all normal. Anything you feel is normal. We all deal with it. All of us, including guys."

Laura gazed at her. "Including Julian?"

Cessily grinned. "Are you kidding? Especially him. His whole time here, he's just been like on fire the whole time. I've never seen him not miserable about that kind of stuff." She paused. "When he asked you out…he was trying to let you know he likes you, too. But he didn't get that you've never been asked out before. He thought you were saying you didn't like him and he got all mad." She shook her head. "That's why I think he's being stupid. He should've just asked you how you felt, instead of assuming."

Laura's forehead wrinkled. "Are you saying he is stupid? I should not waste time on him, then."

Cessily paused, then grinned. "I really want to say yes. But no. I promise, he's a good guy. He's always been there for me when I needed a friend. And for Sooraya, and Santo. He'd take a bullet for any of us. You too, now." She paused. "Although I guess that would be stupid of him, since bullets don't actually hurt us anymore. But, y'know, the sentiment stands."

Laura wanted to ask what "sentiment" meant, but Cessily was not finished.

"Besides, this is just for fun. You might find out you don't like him after all, and that's completely okay too. It happens. I mean, there was a guy here that I used to like, a lot. But he didn't like me back…and it hurt, but I lived. I wish him well, wherever he is." She was silent for a moment, her eyebrows drawn together. Then she shook her head. "If you even think you might like Julian…and he likes you…it's better to find out than wonder forever, right?"

Laura gazed at her. Again, Sooraya's advice came back to her: it is easier not to ask questions. "Right."

Cessily beamed and reached for the pencil again.

This time, Laura let her work. She offered no protest when Cessily layered paint on her fingernails, even though she found it all quite bizarre. But she trusted her friend.

Cessily and Laura finally headed downstairs, both wearing skirts from the metal girl's closet. Cessily's was black and her top was purple and frilly, while Laura's skirt was plaid and her top a simple, white button-down shirt. They were impractical clothes for fighting and other activities, but Laura remained silent.

They looked around the foyer.

"Dammit, where are they?" Cessily frowned, adjusting her hold on her small pink handbag. "They were supposed to meet us here."

"You girls going somewhere?" a high-pitched voice asked. Pixie. Laura had not interacted with her much—aside from crashing through her wall last week—but knew that her name was Megan, and that she was from Britain. Probably the Wales region. Laura's general observation of her was that she tended to expend more energy than situations required.

"Oh—err—" Cessily glanced at Laura. "No, I just gave Laura some stuff to spruce up her wardrobe—"

"Cool!" Megan grinned. "I'd give you stuff too, Laura, but you're taller than me. Hey, you know there's a meeting in the library right? Anole's deciding which of us are going to die next! Do you wanna take a selfie with me?"

"…what?" Cessily raised her eyebrows.

Megan was already standing between them amidst a trail of sparkles, her phone raised, grinning up at it as she pressed a button on the screen. Then she elbowed the girls around her. "Don't look so serious, jeez! Lighten up!"

"Megan, stop! Enough." Cessily reached out and pushed her phone down. "What did you say about a meeting in the library?"

Megan shrugged, her wings fluttering. "I dunno, don't ask me. No one tells me anything. Hey Cessily if you're just giving away stuff—"

"I'm not! Laura needed things. Laura, come on, I bet that's where they went." Cessily grabbed her friend by the wrist and pulled her in the direction of the library.

Laura's eyebrows drew together as the approached the room. She could hear the other students, murmuring to each other, calling out calendar dates.

"Hey, Cessily!" A green boy named Anole was sitting at the study table, holding a pencil and a piece of paper. "When were you born?" Again, Laura did not know much about him, except that he possessed physiology similar to that of a lizard, was Santo's friend, and that he complained excessively.

The metal girl's nose wrinkled. "Not sharing that with everyone."

"Okay, whatever." Anole paused. "Teachers left the school again. We're figuring out who's going to die next. It's going to be whoever is the youngest. Because they'll be the most vulnerable." He sounded certain and matter-of-fact.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I've heard. And I'm friends with Santo, so congratulations."

"Yeah!" Santo agreed. He was standing in the back corner of the room. "Besides, some of us are invincivable." He had changed into a pink shirt and some sort of plaid pants. Laura was always surprised to see that he was able to wear human clothes, since he was so large now, even larger since he had been reassembled.

Beside him stood Julian, who was folding his arms. "Santo. It's invincible." He had changed, too, into a blue dress shirt that Laura had seen on a few occasions. The urge to stare at him always increased when he wore it. She leaned back against the hallway wall, her eyebrows drawing together as she gazed at him.

"Dammit!" Santo frowned. "Least I was close this time."

Cessily just shook her head. "Just put the pad down, Victor, and go do something constructive with your life. The teachers wouldn't leave us to die. Honestly, what's your damage?"

Victor scowled at her. "I'm not damaged—"

"Nori…" David's voice rose, so it was loud enough for everyone to hear. They were standing a couple feet away, arguing. "Please. Talk to me, at least. You can't—"

Nori turned her head away from him, gritting her teeth. "No, we need to stop talking. I told you. We're done.I don't like you anymore. It's time for you to go."

"Nori, I know that's not true." David sighed, pushed his glasses up his nose. "You're just saying that because you think I'll get hurt. I won't. I can take care of myself. I still know some combat moves. And I'm smart." He paused. "Besides, it's not like I was ever truly safe, even with my powers, so how's it different now?"

She shook her head. "You're not one of us anymore! You don't have to be here, risking your life for—for what? For me? For a smart guy, you're so absolutely fucking stupid!"

"Wow." Julian looked over. "Damn, Ashida. I almost like you now. You're totally right. On both counts."

Nori paused. Then she turned around and charged at Julian with a fierce expression, letting out a big cloud of electricity.

Laura took several steps in their direction, then came to a halt as she realized he was not being attacked. It was—it was something she had seen Debbie and her boyfriend, Desmond, the facility agent, do before. A gesture of affection. Her cousin had called it "kissing," her nose wrinkled with disgust.

For a moment, both looked startled, then Julian closed his eyes, his hands coming down to rest on her back, pulling her closer.

"What the—" Cessily dropped her purse on the floor.

Laura's knuckles itched. Snkkt! She backed up, down the hallway, and ran, as fast as her feet would carry her. Anywhere.

In the distance: thwack!

"Mmmph—what the HELL—Cess?! Did you just seriously hit me with your PURSE?! "

"JULIAN, GET YOUR ASS TO THE FRONT DOOR THIS SECOND!"

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM TODAY?! I—SANTO—YOU TOO?!"

"I'M SORRY MAN BUT IT'S IN YOUR BEST INTEREST!"

Laura did not hear the rest. She had run up two flights of stairs to the single-stall bathroom on the third floor, and after slamming and locking the door behind herself, she stomped to the middle of the floor.

For a moment, she just stood there. Then she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her lined eyes. Her carefully applied lipstick. Her brushed-out hair. All things that she thought unnecessary, but had consented to in order to please Cessily. Her knuckles itched. Why had she just lied to herself? It was not just Cessily she had been trying to please. She plunged her fist right into the center of her reflection, and the surface shattered and flew everywhere, sending shards of glass and droplets of blood onto the floor and into the sink below.

Then she leaned on the edges of the fixture, breathing hard and trying to calm down. Frost had backed off for the time being, but she did not want to give her reason to try to expel her again. After a while, she flipped so her back was against the wall between the sinks, and sank down, then began to glide the tip through the skin of her wrist, being careful not to spill blood on her clothes. She needed to give them back to Cessily.

Footsteps. Then, banging at the door. "Laura! Come on! We're all ready to go!"Cessily.

Laura closed her eyes. "I do not want to go anymore."

"Yes, you do! Trust me!"

"No." Laura dug her claws deeper. "Please leave me alone."

There was a strange sound, like something melting. Then metal was seeping through the space under the door. Laura retracted her claws very quickly, her wrist healing just before Cessily reformed. The other girl took in the damage, and the blood from punching the mirror.

"LAURA!" she gasped.

Laura scrambled up. "I—I did not damage your clothes."

"Oh my god, what happened?!"

Laura paused. "I do not want to talk about it."

Cessily sighed. "Well—it's just a mirror. Someone'll clean it up." She sat down on the floor opposite her, in a cross-legged position. "Are you okay? I know that was hard for you to watch—"

"I do not want to talk about it."

"You might feel better." Cessily paused. "I know that didn't look good…but trust me. He doesn't like Nori that way. At all."

"I…" Laura looked down. "I think this is a bad idea. I do not understand…what is happening."

"Well, you need to learn some time." Cessily reached out and patted her shoulder. "Come on. Let's go give this a chance. You might have fun. And if you don't, you can yell at me later, okay?" She grinned.

Laura hesitated. "Okay."

Cessily beamed. "Thatta girl!" She grabbed Laura's arm and hauled her out of the bathroom, and down the stairs, to where Santo and Julian were waiting. The latter of which folded his arms as they approached, his nose wrinkled.

"This is a bad idea, Cess." He glared at the metal girl. "I was having a big moment there, and you just steamrolled all over it. You need to grow up and realize that shit doesn't always turn out how you think it should."

Cessily glared at him. "Uh, excuse me. I do know that. All I'm saying is…give it a chance."

"This isn't your business. It's between Laura and me, and she already said no. Right, Laura?" He gave her an angry look.

Laura's eyebrows drew together. Technically she had said no, yet if she said so, she would confirm his question. And he looked like he might get angrier if she did not. She remained silent.

He looked at Cessily again. "See? Stop pushing."

The metal girl closed her eyes. "Quit complaining and start walking."

"Whatever." He sneered at her, but opened the door and stomped out.

"It's been forever since we went anywhere!" Cessily said in a very bright voice, as they headed down the road toward the village. She had insisted they go on foot despite Julian's attempts to fly them, an argument she had seemed to be losing until she turned into a stretchy blob shape that he apparently could not pick up. Now she was walking arm-in-arm with Laura, who wondered if this was meant as a gesture of friendship, or as a way to prevent her from leaving.

Probably both.

"Yeah." Santo sounded like he regretted coming. "Should do it more often."

"No, we shouldn't." Julian was still scowling. "Sooraya's lucky. I should've said I had homework, too."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "Stop being such a party pooper."

"Let's see how you'd like it if I broke up you and Kevin to, like, make you go out with Santo."

"Hey!" Santo frowned. "You say that like I'm not a catch."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "Right. 'Cause you and Nori have liked each other forever." She shoved him lightly. "Please stop trying to sell me this bullshit, and start concentrating on what we're doing."

"Uh huh." Julian glanced over his shoulder, hearing a strange zzzzipppp noise. "Wha—Nori?"

Laura could hear his pulse rate increasing. She stiffened.

"Hey!" Nori put her hands on his and Cessily's shoulders. "Can I join you guys? I should eat before my shift starts…something other than scones." She grinned, a little reluctantly. "I work just down the street from here, at the coffee shop, so it's perfect." She glanced at Julian, smiling slightly. A little nervously.

Cessily's eyes widened. For a moment, it looked like she had forgotten how to speak. "NO!" she bellowed finally.

Nori flinched, surprised.

"Hellions only!" Santo added.

The blue haired girl raised her eyebrows. "Sooraya's not here. And she isn't a Hellion." She nodded at Laura.

Laura wanted to leave, but Cessily's arm tightened around hers.

Nori glanced at Julian again. "Besides, aren't we kind of past all that?"

"Yeah." He frowned. "Guys, we're not the Hellions anymore. I don't see why—"

"Shut up." Cessily glared at Nori. "Get lost. Or I'll hit you with my purse, too."

"Yeah!" Santo made a fist. "I'll even give her a rock to put in it!"

Julian raised his eyebrows, then sighed, and shrugged. "Uh…sorry about them, Nori. They're all weird today…must be something in the air. Some other time?" He paused. "Maybe just you and me, to start."

Nori's eyes widened a little, then she nodded. "Um, yeah. Okay." Pause. "Well, guess I'll go get a cookie then. Stop by for coffee after, if you want. I really mean it…I think we need to do some bonding." She turned away, and was gone as quickly as she'd appeared.

Julian glared at Santo. "Cess being weird and pushy I get, but you? What the hell is your deal? Why would you go along with all this?"

"Uh." Santo shrugged. "I have my reasons. Uh, good reasons. Pretty sure."

Julian closed his eyes, his hands curling into fists, but he didn't comment.

The group was silent for the next few minutes. When they reached the town and entered the restaurant, Laura went last. She kept her eyes on the ground, her forehead wrinkled, her mind occupied with thoughts of regret for allowing Cessily to corner her. She should have fought harder.

The hostess smiled widely. "For four?"

"Uh huh." Cessily grinned back, a little too brightly again.

A few minutes passed, with them getting settled. Laura sat beside the window, and Santo made to sit across from her, but then he stumbled and chose the other seat. She noted that, beside her, Cessily was leaning forward, her stretched-out arms disappearing under the table, as if she had yanked on his ankle.

Julian settled down across from Laura and picked up his menu, his eyes focusing on it like it was a problem he was trying to solve. "Anyone up for cheesy bread?" His voice was flat.

"Dude." Santo sounded eager to lighten the tense atmosphere. "I'm always up for cheese anything."

"Sure." Cessily's tone was light.

Julian raised his eyebrows. "You're not even going to be eating it, so I don't care what you think. And I don't think I would even if you did…since you don't seem to give a shit about my choices."

Cessily's eyebrows drew together. Then she cleared her throat and looked at Laura, trying to smile. "So, Laura…how are you liking the school, now that you've been with us for a little while? And things are calming down a little?"

Laura's eyebrows drew together. How did Cessily define this as "calming down"? She hesitated. "I have not learned much." Except things that made life more complicated.

Julian flipped the page of his menu. His forehead was wrinkled, and he was biting his lip.

The waitress came by. "Hi! My name is Ellie, can I get you some drinks? Appetizers?"

"Diet coke for me." Cessily smiled at her.

"Coke for me." Santo's voice was flat.

"Sprite." Julian paused, his eyes flickering down her body quickly. His expression eased slightly. "And an order of cheesy bread."

Laura paused. "Water." Her voice was as flat as Santo's.

"I'll be right back out with those." Ellie smiled at them and left.

"You on a diet or something?" Julian asked Santo. "You usually order the entire kitchen as soon as someone talks to you."

Santo shrugged. "Yep."

"Couldn't you just drop some rocks or something?"

Santo shook his head. "Nah, I keep grabbin' the same amount. Dr. McCoy thought it was somethin' head related, like I need to keep my same figure or I'd be all off balance."

"That's the one perk of not being able to eat." Cessily nodded. "I never gain a pound."

"I've got both of you beat. I can eat whatever I want and it just burns off." Julian's expression had lightened, as if Cessily's comment had reminded him of something.

Cessily glanced at Laura. "What about you?"

Laura looked down, again not understanding the topic of conversation. She had heard Debbie mention diets and figures, but she had not explained in what context they mattered.

Ellie returned. "Here you go! Diet coke…" she set the drink down in front of Cessily. "Coke…" she handed this to Santo. "Water…" she passed the clear glass to Laura. "And a Sprite for you, sir." She set this down in front of Julian, with his appetizer. "You guys know what you want yet?"

"Sure. Baked spaghetti." Julian handed her his menu.

"Two Lasagnas for us." Cessily grabbed Santo's menu and passed them back to Ellie. He frowned and shook his head, like he couldn't believe what was happening.

Ellie looked at Laura. "For you?"

She looked down. "I am not hungry."

Julian stared at her, despite not having looked at her since the school. "Don't be ridiculous. You always eat at a restaurant."

"Shrimp linguini for her!" Cessily blurted. "Trust me, Laura, you'll love it."

"Oh come on!" Santo said, exasperated. "Cess, that's my favorite dish here! Why did you make me order lasagna!"

"…" Ellie looked at him. "Would you like to change your order, sir?"

"No he does not!" Cessily snapped. "We're all good here, just go and put the order in, capeesh? And whatever happens, you can't let him cancel his order." She pointed at Julian.

"...okay." Ellie's eyes bulged and she left the table, mumbling to herself.

Julian raised his eyebrows. "You know I'm just going to leave as soon as you do."

"Maybe." Cessily paused. "But that's up to you, isn't it?" She grabbed Santo's arm, and dragged him toward the door. "Cancel our orders!" she yelled at Ellie as they passed her. Santo looked like he wanted to cry.

"God. I'm just so mad at Cess right now." Julian closed his eyes, shook his head. "I love her like a sister…but sometimes she doesn't know when to quit."

Laura frowned and looked down, frustrated. It was difficult being in this situation, not knowing what was expected of her. It was a new kind of torture.

They sat in silence for a few moments. She transferred her gaze to the window.

Julian got to his feet. "Come on. I'll cancel our orders and pay for this stuff…then we can fly back." He headed for the hostesses' stanchion.

Laura did not wait for him, slipping out the door and onto the street, shaking her head. Her knuckles still itched, and now her eyes were burning. She began to walk away.

The door opened again behind her, and Julian called after her. "Hey! You're going the wrong way!"

She kept going, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets.

Footsteps, behind her. "Laura?"

She did not turn around. More footsteps, then he touched her shoulder.

He gritted his teeth. "Hey, I'm talking to you! No reason to be rude on top of everything else. I'm just trying to be nice here and give you a ride home."

Laura gave him a flat look. "I would like to be alone."

His hand slid off her shoulder. "Tell me one thing, at least."

She held his gaze.

"Did you ever like me?" His tone was sharp, but his expression had softened slightly.

Laura felt her face beginning to burn. For a moment, the words would not come. He had started to turn away when she finally found her voice. "Yes."

Julian stopped, then looked at her again. "Huh?"

She hesitated. "Your question."

He raised his eyebrows. "Okay. So…why did you stop liking me? What'd I do?"

"Nothing." Laura looked down.

Julian shook his head. "That's even worse. Thanks." His tone was sharp again. "God, I hate Cess. I mean, instead of getting dumped on again by you, I could've been making out with Nori right now. I've just had it with—"

Laura did not know what the term making out meant, but the with Nori part disturbed her. Snkkt! as her claws popped out, almost against her will.

His forehead wrinkled. He glanced at her claws, then at her. "But…you said no to me."

Laura hesitated. "I…I did not understand the question." Pause. "No one has asked me to perform a date before."

Julian's forehead wrinkled. "You're so weird."

She withdrew her claws with a snakt, gazing at him urgently. "Perhaps."

"Why…why didn't you just tell me that?" He sounded confused.

"I…" she frowned.

"Look…" he reached out and took her hands in his. "Nori's not so bad these days. And, uh, she's kind of hot." Pause. He leaned forward. "But I really, really like you." Pause. "Do you…do you like me?"

She hesitated, her eyes widening. "Yes."

Julian gazed at her. "Okay then."

"Okay." Her voice was serious.

A few moments passed in silence.

"Want to start over?" he asked finally.

Laura nodded.

His hands tightened slightly around hers. She felt her own pulse rate increasing.

"We're still in town. We could do something." He paused. "Just you and me."

"Okay." She eyed him. "What?"

He shrugged. "Movie?"

She wrinkled her nose. "I told you, I have gone to a movie before."

Julian hesitated, arching his eyebrows. "Do you…do you not get that movies change?"

She also hesitated. "I…did not know that."

"There's lots of things to watch. It's not going to be whatever you saw before. It's a different thing every time." He paused. "Well, depending on what you're seeing. But I promise it won't be the same one."

"Oh." Laura frowned. "Okay."

"Cool." He shifted, then took a few steps backward, pulling gently on her hands. "Theater's this way."