Change Has Come - Chapter Two: Developing A New Feeling
Tino walked down the street to Tish's house pondering whom he would ask to go the dance with him. He had thought about it all night, and he hadn't come up with any definite answers.
"Hmmm, I suppose I could ask Ruby. Nah, she will be going with Percy just like always. Maybe I could go with Nona. No way, I'm small and she's tall, it would look ridiculous. Possibly,..... oh there's Tish."
Tino walked up to her on the steps to her house.
"Hi Tino. Where is Carver? I thought he was going to be with you."
"Oh he got stuck babysitting Todd today and tomorrow while his parents are out of town. While on the topic of missing people, I thought Lor would be with you."
"She won't be coming with us today because she has chores that she was supposed to do last weekend."
"Great, there goes half the group. Now they'll miss out on date hunting."
"Oh well, the two of us can still go on the hunt. I'm sure that those two will be just fine. Let's face it they are more popular than us so I'm sure they don't need this as much as we do."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, let's get to the mall then."
As the two walked to the mall Tino asked Tish who she had come up with as potential dates.
"Well, I'm not sure. I thought about it a lot last night, and I couldn't seem to come up with one person who I would like to go to the dance with. Yeah, I think some of the guys in our grade are nice and all, but there is no one who I feel that I really connect with."
"I don't think you have to necessarily connect with someone for this dance. I mean it's not like a prom or something. I would say you just have to find someone you can tolerate."
"Yeah, I know, but still it would be nice to go with someone I liked. Carver was right when he said that a dance is a good social function to impress someone."
"I suppose so, well maybe at the mall one of the guys from school will catch your eye."
"I can only hope so. How about you? Did you come up with anyone that you could see yourself asking to the dance?"
"No, not really. I mean there are some girls I'd like to ask, but I know that I would get rejected."
"Really? Who would you like to ask?"
Tino looked away as he spoke, "Well, I would like to ask Cheri, Kristi, or Kandi, but, well, you know."
Tish did her best to stifle any laughter when she spoke.
"Yeah, I think that you had better come up with more reasonable people to ask to the dance. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Cheri is a grade ahead of us. Since when do you like any of those girls anyway?"
"Huh? Well, it's not so much that I like them, but the fact that they are really cute girls, you know?"
"No, I don't know," Tish said dryly.
"Hey don't look at me like that. I'm a guy it's to be expected. At least I'm not as bad as Carver."
"Yeah, that's true, but you should still be more open-minded about girls. Looks aren't everything. You should be just as appreciative of a girl's intellect and personality as you are of her looks."
"I know that and I am. It's just that looks are the first thing I notice. If I look across the room at a girl, I can't tell if she is smart or a nice person, but I can tell if she is cute or not."
"I suppose that's true, but you should still try and get to know someone before passing judgment on them. A pretty face doesn't always indicate a pretty personality."
"You don't believe in love at first sight, do you?"
"I don't know if I would go that far, but I do prefer logic and research. Scientific study is the way to go if you ask me."
"That sounds pretty strange coming from someone who is a big Shakespeare fan. I was pretty sure that Shakespeare was all about the power of love."
"It is to a certain extent, and I do enjoy that line of thinking. However, reality has taught me that love doesn't tend to work as it does in Shakespeare. I always dream that I could find love like in Shakespeare minus all the dying, of course, but it seems pretty impossible. So I must go with what I know is true and that is scientific study."
"I don't think love has anything to do with science. You can't determine love with science and logic. It's an emotion, so I think it will happen when it's time."
"Well, you have your opinion and I have mine. Regardless, none of that matters for today. It's not like we are looking for our life partners or something, we are just trying to find dates to a dance."
"True, but who knows? Maybe this is destiny, and one of us will find true love in the mall. Perhaps you walk into Strings 'N Things, and you spot some dulcimer champion. And his very gaze melts your heart and your chug-a-freez. Why, this trip to the mall could be just the thing to launch your love life."
Tish stared at Tino for a little unsure if she had heard him correctly.
"Since when did you become a romantic?"
"Since never. I'm just working on my romantic act since I hear some girls go for that kind of thing."
Tish shook her head slightly as they continued on to the mall.
After Tino and Tish had both gotten their chug-a-freezes, they took a seat at one of the many tables in the mall's atrium. Both kept their eyes peeled for any potential dance date candidates.
"Tino, how about that girl over there?"
"Which one?"
"The one with the red hair and glasses."
"No, she hates Captain Dreadnought."
"You're not going to talk to her because of a comic book?" Tish asked incredulous.
"Well, she doesn't just hate it, she despises it. It makes a big difference to me."
"Okay. Whatever. Hey, how about that girl over there with the ponytail?"
"No way, she once called me Jack."
"So, what does that matter? She probably thought it was your name for whatever reason."
"I don't think so. I think she knew what my name was she was just calling me Jack because of my pumpkin shaped head."
"I think you're paranoid. Look Tino, you can't just pass over potential dates because of trivial things."
"They aren't trivial. These things matter in a case like this. I'm sure I'll spot someone that is right for me."
"You had better hope so. You only have a week to get a date and this is a good time to find someone."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine. Hey take a look over there, how about that guy for you?"
"Hmmm, I don't think I've ever seen him before."
"I've seen him before. He moved here last year. I believe I recall him mentioning that he was looking to become an actor."
"An actor?!" Tish said with excitement.
"Yeah, I remember him saying that his dream was to play Hamlet, and that his hero was Olivier."
"Okay, I know what's going on here. You are making things up, so I will go to talk to him and look like a fool. I'm on to your game."
"Who's being paranoid now? I'm telling you the truth. I think he would be right up your alley. You should go and talk to him."
"I don't know. I suppose I should, but then- Oh my gosh! He just went into Strings 'N Things. He is a musician and an actor? I have to talk to him. Wait, I don't even know his name."
"Well, aren't you lucky that I'm here then? His name is Rico."
"Thanks, Tino."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
"Okay, I'm going to go in there and try and strike up a conversation, and then possibly ask him to the dance. Wish me luck."
"Good luck, and hey, leave your chug-freez here. You don't want it melting now, do ya?" Tino said with a slight grin.
Tish returned the gesture and was off to Strings 'N Things. Once in the store Tish looked around trying to find Rico. She spotted him playing a guitar in the corner.
"Well, he isn't a dulcimer player, but he still is a musician," Tish thought to herself as she approached him.
As she got close she could hear his playing and she cringed slightly.
"He isn't too good of a musician. Okay, Tish just ignore the 'music' and act cool."
Tish took a deep breath as she made the final step to be standing next to him.
She smiled and said in a friendly manner, "Hello there."
Rico didn't even bother looking up at her, and his only response was a grunt.
"I see you're a guitar player."
This time Rico looked at her. "What was your first clue?"
Tish was a bit taken aback by his gruffness, but she pressed on anyway.
"I'm a musician myself. I play the dulcimer."
"The dulcimer? What a wimpy instrument. You should try playing an instrument that people actually would actually like to hear. The dulcimer, pffft."
Rico went back to trying to play the guitar. Tish repressed her anger and kept her cool.
"Okay then. I heard that you want to become an actor. I want to be an actress myself. My favorite play is 'Romeo and Juliet'. How about you?"
Rico laughed haughtily.
"'Romeo and Juliet'? That's child's play! My favorite is 'Othello'. Now that is Shakespeare at his finest. You need to learn to appreciate the higher aspects of theater if you want to become an actress. Actually with your looks you may want to consider doing only radio plays."
"What?!" Tish hissed completely irate.
Rico laughed haughtily again and said, "Why don't you just run along? You're messing up my concentration."
Tish held herself back from going punching a hole in his face.
Through clenched teeth she said, "Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you."
"That's okay. Just so long as you stop bothering me."
Tish hurried out of the store afraid that she would lose it and start breaking stuff. As soon as she sat down, she buried her head in her arms on the table.
Tino looked at her for a few seconds then said, "Sooo, can I assume things didn't go to well?"
Tish didn't bother looking up as she answered, "It was horrible. That guy is a complete jerk. All he did was make fun of me. He said the dulcimer was wimpy, that I had poor taste in Shakespeare, and worst of all he implied that I was ugly."
"Man, what a loser. You want me to go rough him up?"
"No thanks. Violence wouldn't solve anything. This is the reason that I don't try talking to guys."
"Tish, you can't let this one jerk ruin everything for you. There are plenty of guys out there, and not all of us are jerks. Just most of us are jerks. I'm sure there is someone special out there for you. You just have to shake off the disappointments and move on."
"Maybe, you're right."
"Of course I'm right. And for what it's worth I think you're pretty."
Tish lifted her head up and looked at Tino.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Sure, that guy must have bad vision or something."
"Thanks, Tino. That means a lot to me. I feel a lot better now."
"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Tino said with a smile.
Tish returned the gesture for the second time that day.
Tish sat in her room still pondering the question of who to ask to the dance. She didn't see a single person at the mall that she wanted to go the dance with.
"Oh, what am I going to do? I couldn't find even one person I liked. I'm never going to get a date to the dance."
Tish paced a bit hoping her walking would jolt her mind and she would get an idea.
"The only person at the mall who I felt any connection with was Tino, and it's not like I could ask him."
Tish stopped pacing at that point, and her last thought run through her mind again.
"Wait, why couldn't I ask Tino? We have hung out with each other for years now, so we obviously both enjoy each other's copmpany."
Tish continued pacing as her current line of thinking began to excite her.
"How come I didn't think of this before? I guess it was so obvious it never even crossed my mind. Yes, all this time when I just thought I had an upset stomach every time I looked at Tino, it was really me developing feelings for him."
Tish felt a tingle of exhilaration run through her body with her last thought.
"And this afternoon when he said that I was pretty, that wasn't my chug-a-freez messing with my stomach it was love. Wait a minute! He said that I was pretty. Does that mean he likes me too?"
Tish felt like prancing around her room, but she repressed the urge in order to think things through once more.
"Okay, I get weird feelings in my stomach every time I look at Tino, and sometimes the way he looks at me makes me feel slightly nervous. Today, when he complimented me it made my day even after being completely humiliated by some jerk. I have to admit I think I've got feelings for Tino. It feels so thrilling!"
Tish laid back on her bed and smiled at her ceiling.
"He called me pretty today, so maybe he likes me too, but how come he has never said it before? Hmmmm, I know! Carver and Lor weren't with us today. He must be embarrassed to admit that he thinks I'm pretty in front of them. I guess I'll just have to subtly let Tino know that I like him, and that I realize he likes me. Now that I think about it, Carver and Lor would probably give me a hard time too if they knew I liked Tino. I had best keep this to myself for now. I know if I can somehow wind up going to the dance with Tino then I can tell him about my affection for him. Wow! I can't believe that I have fallen for someone who not only do I have a chance with, but it seems that he likes me too!"
Tish continued smiling as she lay on her bed. For her the day had been a success after all.
End of Chapter Two
I posted both Chapters Two and Three at the same time for a reason so make sure that you read Chapter Three directly after this. Some of you may have noticed a bit of discontinuity in this chapter and the show. That discontinuity being the fact that in the show Strings 'N Things is shown on the second floor of the mall, and in this chapter I have it on the first floor. Just a minor note, although in one episode Strings 'N Things isn't even in the mall, but that's beside the point. As always read and review.
Tino walked down the street to Tish's house pondering whom he would ask to go the dance with him. He had thought about it all night, and he hadn't come up with any definite answers.
"Hmmm, I suppose I could ask Ruby. Nah, she will be going with Percy just like always. Maybe I could go with Nona. No way, I'm small and she's tall, it would look ridiculous. Possibly,..... oh there's Tish."
Tino walked up to her on the steps to her house.
"Hi Tino. Where is Carver? I thought he was going to be with you."
"Oh he got stuck babysitting Todd today and tomorrow while his parents are out of town. While on the topic of missing people, I thought Lor would be with you."
"She won't be coming with us today because she has chores that she was supposed to do last weekend."
"Great, there goes half the group. Now they'll miss out on date hunting."
"Oh well, the two of us can still go on the hunt. I'm sure that those two will be just fine. Let's face it they are more popular than us so I'm sure they don't need this as much as we do."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, let's get to the mall then."
As the two walked to the mall Tino asked Tish who she had come up with as potential dates.
"Well, I'm not sure. I thought about it a lot last night, and I couldn't seem to come up with one person who I would like to go to the dance with. Yeah, I think some of the guys in our grade are nice and all, but there is no one who I feel that I really connect with."
"I don't think you have to necessarily connect with someone for this dance. I mean it's not like a prom or something. I would say you just have to find someone you can tolerate."
"Yeah, I know, but still it would be nice to go with someone I liked. Carver was right when he said that a dance is a good social function to impress someone."
"I suppose so, well maybe at the mall one of the guys from school will catch your eye."
"I can only hope so. How about you? Did you come up with anyone that you could see yourself asking to the dance?"
"No, not really. I mean there are some girls I'd like to ask, but I know that I would get rejected."
"Really? Who would you like to ask?"
Tino looked away as he spoke, "Well, I would like to ask Cheri, Kristi, or Kandi, but, well, you know."
Tish did her best to stifle any laughter when she spoke.
"Yeah, I think that you had better come up with more reasonable people to ask to the dance. Plus, I'm pretty sure that Cheri is a grade ahead of us. Since when do you like any of those girls anyway?"
"Huh? Well, it's not so much that I like them, but the fact that they are really cute girls, you know?"
"No, I don't know," Tish said dryly.
"Hey don't look at me like that. I'm a guy it's to be expected. At least I'm not as bad as Carver."
"Yeah, that's true, but you should still be more open-minded about girls. Looks aren't everything. You should be just as appreciative of a girl's intellect and personality as you are of her looks."
"I know that and I am. It's just that looks are the first thing I notice. If I look across the room at a girl, I can't tell if she is smart or a nice person, but I can tell if she is cute or not."
"I suppose that's true, but you should still try and get to know someone before passing judgment on them. A pretty face doesn't always indicate a pretty personality."
"You don't believe in love at first sight, do you?"
"I don't know if I would go that far, but I do prefer logic and research. Scientific study is the way to go if you ask me."
"That sounds pretty strange coming from someone who is a big Shakespeare fan. I was pretty sure that Shakespeare was all about the power of love."
"It is to a certain extent, and I do enjoy that line of thinking. However, reality has taught me that love doesn't tend to work as it does in Shakespeare. I always dream that I could find love like in Shakespeare minus all the dying, of course, but it seems pretty impossible. So I must go with what I know is true and that is scientific study."
"I don't think love has anything to do with science. You can't determine love with science and logic. It's an emotion, so I think it will happen when it's time."
"Well, you have your opinion and I have mine. Regardless, none of that matters for today. It's not like we are looking for our life partners or something, we are just trying to find dates to a dance."
"True, but who knows? Maybe this is destiny, and one of us will find true love in the mall. Perhaps you walk into Strings 'N Things, and you spot some dulcimer champion. And his very gaze melts your heart and your chug-a-freez. Why, this trip to the mall could be just the thing to launch your love life."
Tish stared at Tino for a little unsure if she had heard him correctly.
"Since when did you become a romantic?"
"Since never. I'm just working on my romantic act since I hear some girls go for that kind of thing."
Tish shook her head slightly as they continued on to the mall.
After Tino and Tish had both gotten their chug-a-freezes, they took a seat at one of the many tables in the mall's atrium. Both kept their eyes peeled for any potential dance date candidates.
"Tino, how about that girl over there?"
"Which one?"
"The one with the red hair and glasses."
"No, she hates Captain Dreadnought."
"You're not going to talk to her because of a comic book?" Tish asked incredulous.
"Well, she doesn't just hate it, she despises it. It makes a big difference to me."
"Okay. Whatever. Hey, how about that girl over there with the ponytail?"
"No way, she once called me Jack."
"So, what does that matter? She probably thought it was your name for whatever reason."
"I don't think so. I think she knew what my name was she was just calling me Jack because of my pumpkin shaped head."
"I think you're paranoid. Look Tino, you can't just pass over potential dates because of trivial things."
"They aren't trivial. These things matter in a case like this. I'm sure I'll spot someone that is right for me."
"You had better hope so. You only have a week to get a date and this is a good time to find someone."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine. Hey take a look over there, how about that guy for you?"
"Hmmm, I don't think I've ever seen him before."
"I've seen him before. He moved here last year. I believe I recall him mentioning that he was looking to become an actor."
"An actor?!" Tish said with excitement.
"Yeah, I remember him saying that his dream was to play Hamlet, and that his hero was Olivier."
"Okay, I know what's going on here. You are making things up, so I will go to talk to him and look like a fool. I'm on to your game."
"Who's being paranoid now? I'm telling you the truth. I think he would be right up your alley. You should go and talk to him."
"I don't know. I suppose I should, but then- Oh my gosh! He just went into Strings 'N Things. He is a musician and an actor? I have to talk to him. Wait, I don't even know his name."
"Well, aren't you lucky that I'm here then? His name is Rico."
"Thanks, Tino."
"Hey, what are friends for?"
"Okay, I'm going to go in there and try and strike up a conversation, and then possibly ask him to the dance. Wish me luck."
"Good luck, and hey, leave your chug-freez here. You don't want it melting now, do ya?" Tino said with a slight grin.
Tish returned the gesture and was off to Strings 'N Things. Once in the store Tish looked around trying to find Rico. She spotted him playing a guitar in the corner.
"Well, he isn't a dulcimer player, but he still is a musician," Tish thought to herself as she approached him.
As she got close she could hear his playing and she cringed slightly.
"He isn't too good of a musician. Okay, Tish just ignore the 'music' and act cool."
Tish took a deep breath as she made the final step to be standing next to him.
She smiled and said in a friendly manner, "Hello there."
Rico didn't even bother looking up at her, and his only response was a grunt.
"I see you're a guitar player."
This time Rico looked at her. "What was your first clue?"
Tish was a bit taken aback by his gruffness, but she pressed on anyway.
"I'm a musician myself. I play the dulcimer."
"The dulcimer? What a wimpy instrument. You should try playing an instrument that people actually would actually like to hear. The dulcimer, pffft."
Rico went back to trying to play the guitar. Tish repressed her anger and kept her cool.
"Okay then. I heard that you want to become an actor. I want to be an actress myself. My favorite play is 'Romeo and Juliet'. How about you?"
Rico laughed haughtily.
"'Romeo and Juliet'? That's child's play! My favorite is 'Othello'. Now that is Shakespeare at his finest. You need to learn to appreciate the higher aspects of theater if you want to become an actress. Actually with your looks you may want to consider doing only radio plays."
"What?!" Tish hissed completely irate.
Rico laughed haughtily again and said, "Why don't you just run along? You're messing up my concentration."
Tish held herself back from going punching a hole in his face.
Through clenched teeth she said, "Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you."
"That's okay. Just so long as you stop bothering me."
Tish hurried out of the store afraid that she would lose it and start breaking stuff. As soon as she sat down, she buried her head in her arms on the table.
Tino looked at her for a few seconds then said, "Sooo, can I assume things didn't go to well?"
Tish didn't bother looking up as she answered, "It was horrible. That guy is a complete jerk. All he did was make fun of me. He said the dulcimer was wimpy, that I had poor taste in Shakespeare, and worst of all he implied that I was ugly."
"Man, what a loser. You want me to go rough him up?"
"No thanks. Violence wouldn't solve anything. This is the reason that I don't try talking to guys."
"Tish, you can't let this one jerk ruin everything for you. There are plenty of guys out there, and not all of us are jerks. Just most of us are jerks. I'm sure there is someone special out there for you. You just have to shake off the disappointments and move on."
"Maybe, you're right."
"Of course I'm right. And for what it's worth I think you're pretty."
Tish lifted her head up and looked at Tino.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Sure, that guy must have bad vision or something."
"Thanks, Tino. That means a lot to me. I feel a lot better now."
"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Tino said with a smile.
Tish returned the gesture for the second time that day.
Tish sat in her room still pondering the question of who to ask to the dance. She didn't see a single person at the mall that she wanted to go the dance with.
"Oh, what am I going to do? I couldn't find even one person I liked. I'm never going to get a date to the dance."
Tish paced a bit hoping her walking would jolt her mind and she would get an idea.
"The only person at the mall who I felt any connection with was Tino, and it's not like I could ask him."
Tish stopped pacing at that point, and her last thought run through her mind again.
"Wait, why couldn't I ask Tino? We have hung out with each other for years now, so we obviously both enjoy each other's copmpany."
Tish continued pacing as her current line of thinking began to excite her.
"How come I didn't think of this before? I guess it was so obvious it never even crossed my mind. Yes, all this time when I just thought I had an upset stomach every time I looked at Tino, it was really me developing feelings for him."
Tish felt a tingle of exhilaration run through her body with her last thought.
"And this afternoon when he said that I was pretty, that wasn't my chug-a-freez messing with my stomach it was love. Wait a minute! He said that I was pretty. Does that mean he likes me too?"
Tish felt like prancing around her room, but she repressed the urge in order to think things through once more.
"Okay, I get weird feelings in my stomach every time I look at Tino, and sometimes the way he looks at me makes me feel slightly nervous. Today, when he complimented me it made my day even after being completely humiliated by some jerk. I have to admit I think I've got feelings for Tino. It feels so thrilling!"
Tish laid back on her bed and smiled at her ceiling.
"He called me pretty today, so maybe he likes me too, but how come he has never said it before? Hmmmm, I know! Carver and Lor weren't with us today. He must be embarrassed to admit that he thinks I'm pretty in front of them. I guess I'll just have to subtly let Tino know that I like him, and that I realize he likes me. Now that I think about it, Carver and Lor would probably give me a hard time too if they knew I liked Tino. I had best keep this to myself for now. I know if I can somehow wind up going to the dance with Tino then I can tell him about my affection for him. Wow! I can't believe that I have fallen for someone who not only do I have a chance with, but it seems that he likes me too!"
Tish continued smiling as she lay on her bed. For her the day had been a success after all.
End of Chapter Two
I posted both Chapters Two and Three at the same time for a reason so make sure that you read Chapter Three directly after this. Some of you may have noticed a bit of discontinuity in this chapter and the show. That discontinuity being the fact that in the show Strings 'N Things is shown on the second floor of the mall, and in this chapter I have it on the first floor. Just a minor note, although in one episode Strings 'N Things isn't even in the mall, but that's beside the point. As always read and review.