Irvine watched as Van continued with his exercises. It had been over a month now since they started his training and Irvine had to admit that he was impressed with how much Van had improved. He was still scrawny but he was definitely a lot stronger than he was before.
Irvine knew that he really had to work on Van's strength because he was already very quick and had good endurance when it came to running. Now he was gaining a good amount of strength to go along with it.
'If I don't watch out, then he might even become stronger than me. Lets see what I can do until school starts in a month. I am sure that people will be really surprised with his change. I wonder what Fiona will think of it,' he thought as he sat back in his seat and just watched Van.
"Quite an improvement from the boy who kept getting thrown in trashcans all last year," Moonbay said highly amused as she walked over to Irvine and sat down in a chair that was next to his. "When are you planning to complete the training? July is almost over and school starts in September. You had better hurry up," Moonbay said as she too watched Van.
"It will be soon. There are still a few things that I plan to do before we get to that. It is probably the most difficult part. Don't want to rush him into it," Irvine said with a chuckle while turning his head to Moonbay.
"Oh please, even you can't get it right," Moonbay said and chuckled at the fake hurt look upon Irvine's face. "This is definitely a good change for him. No matter what we have done, he is still the same him, just improved. I say that we make him pay for helping him," Moonbay said rubbing her hands together.
"No," was all that Irvine said to that shocking Moonbay a little. "We are not just doing this for him and you know that. We are doing this for Fiona as well. She could definitely use someone like Van after…" Irvine said but didn't want to finish.
"I know what you mean. I think he is ready for the last part though, he is already close to strong enough to beat up most of the people in our school. Let's see them pick on him now," she said and was happy when Irvine nodded his head reluctantly.
"Fine, fine," he said as he stood up and walked towards Van. You have improved quite a bit Van. Moonbay and I think that it may be about time to put you to the ultimate test," he said knowing that this was going to be very amusing.
Van looked at Irvine with a slightly nervous expression. "What exactly would that be?" he asked with a nervous chuckle. He gulped when Irvine just grinned even more while looking down at Van.
"We are about to give you something that is far beyond your abilities. Personally I don't think you can do it but I guess we will just have to see won't we Moonbay?" Irvine said and Moonbay nodded her head in agreement. He looked at Van and saw how nervous he was. This made him smirk even more.
Van looked between Irvine and Moonbay with a panicked look on his face. "You have got to be kidding me. Please say that you are just joking. I just don't think that I can do that!" he said in a panic when he finally learned what it is that his to so-called friends had in store for him.
Irvine looked between Van and the target that they had for Van to use. "Afraid not Van! This is the most important part. It really isn't all that hard for you to do. What is the worst that can happen?" Irvine asked as he sat in a seat inside of a café where they had taken Van.
"Irvine, you know perfectly well that I end up screwing up every time I try and talk to a pretty woman. Not you Moonbay. I know you so it is easier," Van said when Moonbay looked a little miffed about what he said.
"Exactly the reason that we need to do this. If you can't even talk to a woman like that then maybe you are setting your sights a little high for Fiona. All you have to do is just walk over there, flirt a little, and ask her over to your place," Irvine said with a chuckle before he got nailed over the head by Moonbay.
"You idiot! We are trying to help Van get over his shyness, not make it so we are setting him up for a huge rejection!" Moonbay yelled throwing Irvine into the ground rather roughly. "Honestly, you don't know anything about women!" she yelled kicking him once before stopping.
Irvine groaned as he got up and rubbed his head where a bump was forming. "If I don't know anything about women, then how did I get you?" he asked only to earn another blow over the head.
Irvine and Moonbay had been going out for about a year before then, but they acted like an old married couple with all the arguing that they did. They were too much alike which was the problem at times.
Moonbay sighed before she turned back to Van. "Alright Van. Take from a woman. Don't ever do what Irvine says in this situation. All that you have to do is just try walking over there, talk to her clearly, try complimenting her, and start with simple conversation. Don't ever ask her what Irvine said for you to say!" she said glaring towards Irvine. "Now go!" she said before pushing Van in the direction.
"This should be interesting but I am sure that Rosa will get his confidence up. Thank god she was willing to help. Van is scared of rejection," Irvine said getting up while rubbing his head.
"Yeah, well I say that this is rather cruel to both of them. Rosa has a crush on Van even if he doesn't know her, yet she knows what we are planning. Van is just using her to gain confidence," Moonbay growled out as she sat down hard in her seat as she watched Van walk towards her slowly and nervously.
"Not at all. I actually have this other friend who is about our age. Rosa has met him and she likes him a lot to, probably more than Van although she has known of Van longer. In fact, if I am not mistaken, she even told me that she liked my friend better than Van once. I said that if she would help, that I would set up a date between them. She was rather enthusiastic about it. Everyone is winning in this situation," Irvine said sitting down and watching in amusement as Van walked towards her before suddenly changing direction and walking away.
Moonbay giggled a bit at what Van did. "He is hopeless. This is going to take a lot longer than we thought. I wonder what Van will say when we tell him that it was a setup," Moonbay said looking towards Irvine as Van circled around and walked into the café from the outdoor area.
"I will tell him eventually, but only after he manages to get Fiona. If he doesn't, then he will never know. He needs a confidence boost, that is the only way he will be able to talk to Fiona," Irvine said with a chuckle as Van walked back to the table.
"You and I both know that Van won't be changed so easily. He will probably still be a bit scared if he actually does try to talk to Fiona," Moonbay said but then shut up once Van approached the two of them. "Nice try. Next time, actually say something," Moonbay said rubbing her head.
"Now you are going to go over there and say something and we won't let you do anything until you do," Irvine said standing up and walking towards the direction that Van had fled to only a few moments before. 'He is not going to make the same mistake twice,' Irvine thought with a smirk as Moonbay pushed Van forward and blocked the only other escape.
Van groaned and pleaded with them silently with some sort of sympathy. He didn't like the 'Not a chance' looks that the two of them were giving him. He just wanted to get out of there at any costs. He looked around but saw that Irvine and Moonbay had the only escapes blocked.
'Why me?' Van asked himself feeling himself shake as he stumbled over to the girl that appeared to be only about his age. He had no idea what he was going to say. He didn't know what to say to women that he didn't know. He always got tongue tied.
Van somehow managed to find himself standing right by the table while blushing several shades of red. He saw her look away from her menu and towards him, and he gulped. "H-hi," he managed to stutter out feeling like a complete idiot. He swore then that he would kill Irvine and Moonbay later in the day.
"Hello," the girl said looking at Van curiously with a rather blank look upon her face. She noticed Van open and close his mouth over and over but no words came out of his mouth. "Hello?" she asked wondering if his mind was still there. It was rather annoying that he wasn't saying anything.
Van was blushing profusely and he could hear Irvine laughing his head off from where he was standing. "Hi," he repeated finding the only word of his vocabulary that he could manage to stutter out.
Irvine laughed even more when he saw Rosa roll her eyes. 'She isn't making this easy for Van. All for the better though,' he thought and saw Van turn towards him silently asking if he could leave yet. Irvine just shook his head no with a smirk on his face.
Van groaned and turned back to the young woman before him. He knew he had to say something besides hi or else he would be stuck doing this for the rest of the day or until the woman decides to leave. "Um… excuse me," he finally managed to say.
Rosa looked up towards Van with a look that said that she was listening to him. She noticed how nervous he looked so she decided to say something. "Yes, what is it?" she asked setting her menu down upon the table.
Van looked towards Irvine and Moonbay for help but they were looking the other way, he could tell that they were listening in though. He gave a small whine as he turned back towards her. "IsawthatyoulookedlonelysoIwaswonderingifIcouldjoinyou," he managed to say in one breath and he felt really stupid afterwards.
Rosa had absolutely no idea what he had just said. He eyebrow quirked upwards in confusion as she looked at the nervous Van. "Come again? Please say it slower this time," she said with her head in the palm of her hands. She found it rather amusing and annoying at the same time.
Van felt like a total idiot and he could hear both Irvine and Moonbay chuckling at the small scene. He felt more nervousness coming on but he took a breath and said what he said before, a lot slower. "I said, I saw that you looked lonely so I was wondering if I could join you," he said before glaring at his two so-called friends. He was surprised when he saw Moonbay giving him the thumbs up.
Rosa looked at him for a second before a small smile crossed her face. "Sure," she said pointing towards the seat across from her. "By the way, my name is Rosa. What is yours?" she asked picking up her menu.
Van let off a sigh of relief as he sat down in the seat. "It's Van," he managed to say as he tried to slow down his fast paced heartbeat. It had been pounding a number of times faster than normal since he first walked up to the table.
Van walked into his room later that night and feel down on his bed with a thump. 'Next time I run into Irvine, I am going to kill him,' Van thought and he knew that Irvine knew that because he avoided Van for the rest of the down after his stupid plan at the café.
It hadn't gone too badly but Van felt stupider than ever while he was trying to talk to Rosa. He somehow knew the rest of the summer was going to be like that and he wasn't really looking forward to it. He was really wishing School would start right now.
Van sat up in his bed when he heard his parents talking down the hall. He hadn't seen them since Irvine started this escapade and he was regretting it because his parents sounded worried when they talked about him though.
"I am worried about Van. We haven't seen him at all since school ended. When he isn't sleeping, he is out and leaves too early in the morning than is normal. Then when he comes home, he goes straight to his room saying very little to each of us," he heard his mother Tina say in a worried voice.
"He is a growing boy honey. I think it is a good thing that he is getting out more. Normally he just stays in his room all day without speaking to anyone. Although I do admit that I am worried to," his father Dan said as he tried to console his worried mother.
Van looked towards his clock and noticed that it was only seven o'clock, meaning that dinner was just about ready. He hadn't been home at this time in the past month since he left really early and got home really late so he always ended up missing dinner. He definitely missed his mother cooking, which she insisted on doing instead of a cook.
'Maybe I should eat with them today since I haven't been able to in such a long time. I'll bet that they will be surprised to see how much my looks have changed,' Van thought as he walked towards the door and opened it to find an empty hallway.
Van walked down the stairs and towards the dining area. He could hear both of his parents since they were already there. He could also hear Maria, who had graduated college last year and was trying to spend a lot of time with the rest of his family. He obviously wasn't allowing her to do that.
He opened the door to the dining room and it caught everyone's attention since he hadn't eaten with the in weeks. All of their heads turned towards him and they each had a surprised look on their face as they laid their eyes on him.
"Van?" her mother asked looking at him wondering if it was actually her son or not. She blinked a few times and looked at her husband and daughter wondering if she was seeing things but the looks on their faces told her that she wasn't seeing things.
Van looked at his father who was looking at him with slightly impressed eyes and Maria was jaw had nearly dropped to the floor at the sudden change in her baby brother. He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Hey everyone, long time no see," he said with a small chuckle as he took a seat across from his sister.
"Good lord, that is quite a change Van," Maria managed to say as she stared at her younger brother. Just a few weeks ago, he was only her dweeb of a little brother but now he looked so much different than she had ever imagined.
"She's right Van. It is quite an improvement if I do say so myself. Maybe now you will get a girlfriend," his father said in a joking voice. "Let me guess, Irvine and Moonbay put you up to it?" he asked since he knew that those two would definitely do something like that.
"Not quite. I wanted to do this. They just offered to help me. I was just so tired of everyone picking on me," Van said looking down at his food while his stomach grumbled with hunger. He was definitely looking forward to a good homemade food.
"Van, you shouldn't have to change just to get people to like you. Only true friends like Irvine and Moonbay, would accept you for who you are, not what you look like," his mother said although she was impressed. Her son didn't seem quite as nervous or weak as he once did.
"I know that. But just because my looks have changed, doesn't mean that I have changed too much. It was my decision and I wanted to take it," Van said before he took a bite out of his food and savored its excellent taste.
His mother just shook her head before she looked at him. "Alright, if it is what you wanted. I had better have grandchildren soon because of it though," his mother said making everyone at the table laugh and Van blush from embarrassment. His mother was too into wanting grandchildren that she didn't care what others that of it.