The Last Amazons

By Dixxy

Chapter Seven: The First Date, Part One

(Sam)

With school one week away, we were all experiencing mixed emotions. Some of us wanted to go back to school, and some of us didn't. Personally, I wasn't too thrilled with the idea. I don't like school. I get in trouble a lot, which is something I don't like. I told myself I'd be on better behavior this year. Yes. Me on better behavior.

Rona was one of the ones who wanted to go back to school. She was getting bored with her summer enrichment course and wanted new material to play with. "It's not that great being a genius," is something that Rona says a lot. "You get bored really easily. I'm constantly trying to stimulate myself."

The Ronin Warriors were also anxious to get back to school. "After being held captive by Trulpa for nearly a whole damned year, school is going to be like a vacation!" Kento told me. "You must think I'm crazy, but if I had the choice between math class and Trulpa's palace. . . c'mon, it's a no-brainer! Geometry, here I come!"

Everyone else didn't want to get back to the "living Hell hole". Well, almost. Keisha seemed pretty anxious to show Kento off, probably to spite Sheila. Keisha's has always been considered a "weirdo" because she's always had that psychic air about her. Well, now that everyone saw she had a boyfriend, maybe she'd be treated different.

I just wanted to enjoy what was left of summer. A month of it had been spent on the whole mess with Kaze and the boys. Ella and I had gone to a few amusement parks, we'd all been to the beach numerous times, and the museums and aquarium had all been well. . . roamed. Even the Children's Museum. But, I don't know, I still felt like I wanted to do something else. But what?

As it would turn out, Sage would have the answer to that question. Well, sort of.

"Do you want to go see a movie or something?"

"Wha?" I asked. Sage and I had a run-in at the mall, where we stopped to talk over a soda. Both of us had a bag or two, my bags more concentrated on clothing and Scrunchies while Sage seemed to have a slowly growing collection of CDs and Animé. He must be getting homesick, I thought as I saw several videos with pictures of Japanese cartoons on them.

Sage scratched his head nervously. "Well, I thought that maybe I could take you out to see a movie or maybe out to dinner or something some night before school starts," he said. "You know, just the two of us."

I blinked. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well, yes," said Sage, blushing. "I'll understand if you say no, but-"

I laughed. "It's okay, Sage," I said. I smiled. Now it was time to put my money where my mouth was on dating. Besides, Sage isn't human. He's a Flitteree. And they're supposed to be peaceful. "I understand why you're nervous. And I accept your offer. I'd love to go out with you."

Sage brightened up. "Really?"

"Sure," I said. "I mean, if things don't work out, we're friends anyways, and if they do, then, well, I guess that would be okay." I finished the last of my soda and chucked it into the garbage can. I smiled as it fell in. "So, when do you want to go?"

"How does Thursday night sound?" he asked.

"Sounds good to me," I said.

My would-be date (yup, that was a HORRIBLE, yet unintended pun) smiled. "Okay, I'll give you a buzz Thursday afternoon and we'll decide what we'll see and figure out where we want to go after that."

"Great!" I said. "See you then."

Sage nodded. "See you then."

~

"Sam, you can't just go on a date yet!"

"Why not?" I asked. When I told Keisha and Sara later than day about my date with Sage, they both took on looks of panic. In fact, I think that their looks of panic might've topped any random bad situation involving the Dynasty, come to think of it. Which doesn't say a whole lot on my part.

"Because you have NO IDEA what to WEAR on a date! Sam, you just can't go out on a date without at least knowing what's MILDLY appropriate!" said Keisha. She sighed heavily.

"You and Kento go out on dates, so why can't I?" I asked skeptically. The three of us sat in Keisha's living room over chips and dip during this whole argument. Was something WRONG with me just going on a date? I mean, it was Sage, not some super model or something.

"Because you haven't the slightest clue how to dress for a date or how to act or what not!" said Sara. She took on an exasperated look as she took another chip. "Okay, what are you guys doing?"

"Well, Sage said he'd called me Thursday so we'd know what was playing," I said. "Then we'd figure out where to eat from there. It's not that big a deal, you two. Dinner and movie. We'll probably just eat at Burger King after seeing the latest Ben Stiller comedy."

"I'll let Sheila McConner make out with Kento before I let you go to Burger King and comedy. We'll be at your house on Friday, and we're going to help you figure out what to wear, clothes and make-up alike," said Keisha.

"Make-up?!" I said. "What do you mean make-up?!"

Sara sighed, exchanging a look with Keisha. "This is more serious than we though. We're going to need Rona's help for this one- she's going to need it BIG TIME."

"Yeah, you're right, she's the expert on dates and she's better with coordination than the two of us are," said Keisha. "We'll be over there by eleven Friday morning. We're going to have to pull one heck of a make-over on you."

Suddenly, Sage's idea didn't seem so great. . .

~

Thursday came. Around lunch time, Sage called and we agreed to se a movie at five-thirty and the go to a restaurant afterwards. Rona and Keisha pried the information out of me. Sara had gone on a spur of the moment beach trip with her family, Cye, Anubis, and Ria. The remaining five of us were staying in town for miscellaneous reasons.

"Well, the movie isn't a mushy romance, so we don't need you to get too dressed up," said Rona. She looked me over, mumbling something in Spanish about (I think) a rope. Since I don't take any foreign languages, I didn't understand a word of what she was saying. "You're probably going to be okay with a pair of NICE jeans and a blouse."

"Nice jeans?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing with any rips, no low-cuts around the waist, just a regular old boot-cut pair of Levi's. Then you'll want something nice for your shoes, and maybe a LITTLE make-up would be okay," said Keisha.

"Can't I just go out in a normal pair of jeans, sneakers and a T-shirt?"

"NO!" said Rona. She and Keisha pushed me into my room and sat me on my bed while they began to tear through my drawers and my closet. Keisha tossed a pair of jeans with embroidered lightning bolts on the legs onto the bed. "Jeans, check."

Rona, who was in my underwear drawer, tossed me a silky white laced bra and a silky pair of underwear. I looked at them in mild shock and embarrassment. "You're gonna need these," the Latin Senshi of Song said.
"Whoa, whoa, Rona, hold on a second," I said. "We're going to a movie and then to dinner. We AREN'T going to have any sort of intimate relations, you guys! IT'S MY FIRST DATE!"

"No, no, no!" said Rona, laughing at my ignorance. She held up the bra. "This bra, in comparison to your sport bras, is more form fitting. It gives your chest a more, natural look."

"Why do I want Sage's attention directed at my boobs?!" I said.

"Because it's also easier to hide this type of a bra under most blouses," said Rona. "See the little clips on the edge of the straps? They come off, so it can be used for something with a wide neck that would normally show off your brassiere. Get it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," I said.

Keisha then tossed me a long-sleeved blouse with, almost ironically enough, a really big, shoulder-revealing neck. "You'll look great in this!" she said. "But you're gonna have to unhook the straps on that bra."

"Why don't you two just shoot me now?" I complained. "I'm going to look either like some kind of a high-class whore or some sort of a day time talk show guest. It's SAGE we're talking about. Ever since he got those stupid wings of his he's lightened up a little. It's not like I'm going out with some rich millionaire's son!"

"Oh, quit being a baby and just suck it up," said Rona, who had discovered an old make-up kit I had hidden under my bed (Ella got it for me a few Christmases ago). "After all, we're doing you a favor. You should be grateful."

I glared at my friends and through gritted teeth and said, "If I wanted help, I would have ASKED for help!"

"No she wouldn't have," said Rona, snickering. "C'mon, Sam, let us play dress-up with you! This is fun, and it's getting harder and harder to drag any of the boys to the mall now that they know what we usually have planned for them when we get there! Think about it. We won't get a chance to do this until the boys decide to write to the other two in Japan!"

Rona's constant whining caused me to give up. Which I felt was a wise choice. Better just give up then continue to fight a battle I knew I wasn't going to win even on a cold day in hell.

~

After Keisha and Rona spent a good two hours (I kid you not- it WAS two hours) arguing over what eye shadow worked best with which lipstick and whether or not I should wear heels, I got dressed and they applied my make-up while we exchanged conversation. Keisha talked about Ev and Trev's latest episode (something involving over a hundred hamsters, guinea pigs, and gerbils), which got a few laughs and blank stares. Rona gave us the information on her latest break-up (which was Rona's 50th break-up to date), which ended peacefully. I just sat and listened to the two older Ronins and gave my occasional input on the subject.

"When's Sage due over?" asked Rona.

"Five," I said. I looked over at the clock. The big hand was past the ten and the little hand was almost touching the five. The second hand just went tick, tick, and tick around the face of the clock. "EEK! It's almost five now!"

"Don't worry, you're done!" said Rona. "Take a look in the mirror."

I did just that and, in a weird way, I liked what I saw. My hair was in its normal style, only the ponytail was held up by a beaded green scrunchie. Some pale green eye shadow brought out the violet in my eyes and my deep pink lipstick brought out my smile. Dark mascara adorned my eyelashes and made me look like some sort of a weird old Hollywood movie star. The shirt hung loosely on my body, my entire left shoulder exposed. I felt. . . different.

"Wow, Sam, I didn't think you were that pretty!" said Keisha.

I shot my friend a look. "What are you talking about?" I said.

"C'mon, Sam, you never TRY to make yourself look the least bit attractive. You were always just. . . Sam," said Rona. "But I like this look on you!"

I pouted. "Well, I wouldn't hold your breath if you think I'm gonna do this all the time. That took us over three hours!" I said.

Rona shrugged. "If you practice, you can get something almost this good done in a few minutes if you don't use mascara," she said. "I HATE mascara, but Keisha INSISTED apon using-"

BZZ!

"Ah. That must be your Ronin Warrior in Shining Mystical Armor," said Keisha. She stood up. "I'll go let him in."

"I think Keisha overuses that term," said Rona.

"What term?" I asked.

"Ronin Warrior in Shining Mystical Armor. C'mon, let's bring you out into the living room to wait for lover-boy, okay?" said Rona. I nodded and nervously stood up, following my best friend into the living room. Keisha was sitting on the couch, her legs crossed and her hands in her lap. She smiled. "Yup, that was him."

Suddenly, I found myself extremely nervous. I picked up a piece of note paper on the coffee table and started to subconsciously crumble and un-crumple it. Rona placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me some verbal reassurance.

KNOCK-KNOCK!

"Door's open," I said, standing up. Sage stepped in, looking around a little nervously. Unlike me, he obviously hadn't been forced to dress up, as he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, which is exactly what I was going to wear had Keisha and Rona (and partially, Sara) had not intervened. Whether or not Ria or Cara would have done anything is beyond me, but knowing those two, I would've been safe.

Sage looked at me and blinked. "Sam?"

"This is going to work out well! You've already gotten him to a point of being speechless in his awed stupor of your beauty!" said Rona.

"Sam, did Rona and Keisha do this to you?" asked Sage.

"Yes, they did," I said. "Like it?"

Sage hesitated. "It does look really nice on you and look gorgeous and all, but, I don't know, it's just not you," he said.

Keisha and Rona exchanged horrified looks. "WHAT!?"

"Well, I was kinda expecting Sam to dress down because she's that kind of a girl, and this kind of took me by surprise," said Sage. He smiled. "No matter. It does look nice on you."

"Thanks," I said. Keisha and Rona still looked disappointed, but they'd get over it in time.