PpG3
Secrets and Surprises
Chapter 15 - Girl Talk
Buttercup flew towards her home until she was sure she was out of Andra's sight. As soon as she couldn't see Andra, and before she was in sight of her house, Buttercup changed direction and flew towards City Hall.
When she got there, Buttercup stood in front of the imposing double doors for a moment. She'd visited before of course, but she'd always been more comfortable busting through the Mayor's ceiling. But she had to see Miss Bellum, so she set her reservations aside and pushed open the door.
City Hall was a deceptively large building with so many hallways leading to various places that Buttercup had gotten lost more than once, but she was beginning to get the hang of it. Today she found the Mayor's office easily.
Buttercup pushed open the door leading into the reception area slightly and poked her head in. "Hello?"
"Hold on, Ms. Keane," Miss Bellum said. "Buttercup? Come in, I'll be right with you." Buttercup floated in and took a seat as Miss Bellum finished her conversation. "I have to go, Ms. Keane, Buttercup's here. . . . Mm-hm, I'll tell her. . . . You too. Good bye." Miss Bellum hung up and folded her delicate hands in front of her on her desk. "That was Ms. Keane, as I'm sure you figured out. She says hi."
"Oh," Buttercup said, fidgeting in her seat.
"Is something wrong, Buttercup?"
"Uh, kinda. Really I just needed some advice. Advice I can't get from the Professor, and I definitely can't talk to my sisters."
"Yes, I've heard about that." Miss Bellum chuckled slightly at Buttercup's panicked look. "I met the Professor last week in the grocery store and asked how you Girls were. He told me about your on-going fight with Blossom. Don't worry, it's not like the whole town knows."
"Whew." Buttercup relaxed noticeably.
"So what kind of advice do you need, Buttercup?"
"Well, it's, ah, relationship advice."
"Ah," Miss Bellum said. She waited patiently for a moment for Buttercup to explain further. Miss Bellum remembered what it was like to be young and nervous when it came to dating, and she remembered how annoying it was when adults made assumptions about budding relationships before they had all the facts. That was the quickest way to alienate someone Buttercup's age. Or end up in the hospital when its Buttercup herself.
After a moment, Buttercup found her words. "On Friday I have a date with someone from school, only we aren't calling it a date because we doubt we're actually allowed to. But because we know it's a date. I was wondering. . . well, what are you supposed to do? What should I do? What should I expect he - my friend to do?"
Miss Bellum raised an eyebrow at Buttercup's stumble, but didn't comment. "Well, there are lots of things you do on dates. Have you and your friend decided what you want to do?"
Buttercup shrugged. "We spent last hour arguing over movies. No decision yet. My friend wants some sappy romance, I want to see the new kung-fu movie." She did a karate chop in the air to demonstrate.
Sounds like a mismatched pair if I ever heard one! "It sounds like as soon as you agree on a movie you have a good idea of what to do."
"But what about after that? Like. . . kissing and stuff?"
"I'm afraid I don't have any good answers for you on that. It's a very personal decision. And, I suspect, this relationship has some very unique circumstances."
Buttercup turned red. "How'd you know?"
Miss Bellum smiled. "I've watched you grow up, Buttercup. I've been picking up clues about you and your sisters about your personalities, your likes and dislikes, for as long as I've known you. I've always had my suspicions, but I didn't want to ask. You're young and probably confused out of your mind, I didn't want to try to force you to label yourself. I wouldn't have said anything now if you hadn't avoided pronouns relating to your friend."
"Oh. I suck at lying about that sort of stuff."
"You've kept Blossom in the dark, haven't you? That's quite an accomplishment."
Buttercup grinned. "It is, isn't it?"
Miss Bellum leaned across her desk conspiratorially. "So, why don't you tell me about your friend?"
For the first time in Miss Bellum's memory, Buttercup smiled shyly, exactly how Miss Bellum remembered smiling when she was asked about her first crush. For the first time since Buttercup entered Miss Bellum's office she seemed truly relaxed and. . . happy when talking about Andra.
". . . So I spent all weekend in a dream state, until last night when I started freaking about how she might react. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't comfortable either. Till lunch, after Andra had a run-in with Blossom -"
"Blossom?" MIss Bellum asked.
"Yeah, she was being all nosy again, telling Andra to stay away from me or something. Anyway, after Andra told me about that, we were cool and started planning our date. Or whatever."
"Miss Bellum!" the double doors leading to the Mayor's office opened, revealing the Mayor himself. "There you are, Miss - Buttercup! Even better!"
"Hi, Mayor. What's up?'
"Er, uh, well it's this darned pickle jar. I can never get it open! Would you mind terribly?" he held out the large jar towards Buttercup.
Buttercup sighed. "No problem." She walked across the room, took the jar from the Mayor and opened it quickly.
"Thanks, Buttercup!" the Mayor said when she handed the jar back to him. He fished out a spear. "Want one?"
"No thanks."
The Mayor shrugged, as if to say "Your loss," and went back into his office.
Miss Bellum sighed when he was gone. "With men like him in the world, it's no wonder some of us find perfect women."
"What did you say, Miss Bellum?" Buttercup asked.
"Oh, nothing, Buttercup. Just thinking aloud. Was there anything else you needed from me?"
"Any tips for the date?"
Miss Bellum smiled. "Just be yourself, Buttercup, since that's obviously who Andra likes. That's all you really can do. Be nice, pay attention to her, just basically be a friend. But now you can hold hands going into the movies, or maybe even get a goodnight kiss."
Buttercup gulped. "Um, how do you go about they? They usually screw it up on TV."
Miss Bellum laughed. "It's not always as awful as it is on TV. If you want to kiss her when you bring her back home, give her a quick one and she'll respond if she wants to. Or maybe she'll get there first. It's a very spontaneous thing, and it takes all the fun out of the evening if you try and plan out every last detail."
Buttercup sighed. "But it'd be easier if we did."
"I know it would be, but few things are. You should probably be going now, the Professor will worry if you don't get home from school soon."
Buttercup looked at her watch. "Yeah, I guess so. Bye, Miss Bellum."
"Bye, Buttercup. If I don't see you before Friday, have fun. And good luck."
Buttercup grinned and quickly left the office."