How to get a date and make it perfect.

It was just one of those days that you wish you never have. One of those days when things starts out right but then only lead to chaos. It was definitely one of those days for Cloud. It all started with an innocent party amongst a group of friends, namely Cloud's friends. Unfortunately, these guys were, shall we say, unconventional? They weren't troublemakers, well, not REALLY but of course they had the tendency of getting into a little mischief every now and then like all normal - teenage - boys do. Then again, his group of friends were ANY thing but normal.

Cloud mused silently over this as he evaluated his comrades. First there was Vincent who sat silently near the edge of the pool in Cloud's backyard, taking up the sun. He was always silent and always kept to himself. He was Cloud's oldest friend in both meanings of the word. Despite his boyish features he was actually seven years older than himself at the age of twenty-seven. His long raven black hair was braided and limply hanging over the pale skin of his shoulder as his ruby, blood-red eyes gleamed in the sunlight reflecting the dazzling display from the water. Come to think of it, he is always pale. The guy never seemed to darken no matter how much sun he takes in. None of his friends were skinny or fat but well toned through sports and vigorous martial arts training and it defiantly showed.

Then splashing around in said pool making a commotion as usual, were the two look a likes that weren't anywhere near being related, Tidus and Shuyin. Where Vincent was cool, calculating, stoic, quick witted, and stern; these two were by far- how could he put this gently- insane. Shuyin was the third oldest of the group at nineteen and was defiantly crazy. He was rough, tough, and proud with an ego that could rival a whale in size. His brazen manner often scares people away from him even when he doesn't mean it to. Everyone but his girlfriend, that is. Lenne was cool like that though. She was the type of girl who liked everyone.

As for Tidus, he was the youngest of the group at seventeen and it was painfully obvious. Not only was this boy loud but he was also hyper, energetic, always happy, and always- and I mean always- hungry! Not to mention the boy was an incredible athlete. That showed too. These two were hardly ever apart and it's because of this that they are often mistaken for twins. Not hard to believe either with their blue eyes and spiky blond hair. Only difference is that Shu's hair is a little longer plus he looks older too if only by a bit. He's taller too. And boy did they like to argue a lot.

Then there was the last member of the group who rivals the silent Vincent and Squall Leonheart. Now Squall was really a hard person to figure out because he was, at best, expressionless, emotionless, and distant. He and Vince where the silent ones of the group and only spoke every so often, unless of course it was just the five of them together with no one else around. Sometimes it was hard to tell the boy was even eighteen because of the way he acted. Despite his anti-social attitude, Squall was definitely a "chick magnet" as Tidus put it, with his chocolate brown hair and stormy grey-blue eyes. There was only one flaw with his looks, which took the form of a scar that trailed across his face that he got from an accident when he was younger. They never got to know how he got it because he never wanted to tell and so it was left alone. After all, what kind of friends would they be if they kept pushing such a sensitive issue?

Squall was currently sitting by Vincent rubbing more sunscreen onto his arms, eyeing the two psycho blondes trying to drown each other. Cloud wondered how he came to be friends with them when their personalities seemed to clash so much. He was himself aloof, shy, a little arrogant, and above all else confused. He had suffered from a mental illness when he was younger, an Identity Crisis Syndrome they had called it. For a long time, he didn't even know who the hell he really was. That was a really big problem for him having only been thirteen at the time. What's worse was that it lasted until he was at least seventeen. By the time he had begun to recover, he had already become friends with Vince, Shu, Squall, and Tidus. They all came together to save one another from themselves was what Vincent had said a few years ago and it would seem that he was right.

Cloud smiled to himself and decided to join the others at the pool, carrying the tray of ice-cold lemonade and cups to share amongst them. After they took their cups and said their thanks, everyone settled down to enjoy their juice. The drink was cool and refreshing, especially on a hot summer's day. However, the quiet moment didn't last very long.

" Hey Cloud, why dontcha have a girlfriend yet?"

He nearly spat out his drink.

" Tidus! Are trying to kill him?"

Tidus looked at Shuyin and the sputtering Cloud apologetically, a little surprised.

" Sorry man didn't mean to make ya choke. I was just curious."

" S' ok. Don't worry about it, I'll live."

Shuyin looked thoughtful for a minute and then, turning to Cloud, said,

" Come to think of it, why don't you have a girlfriend? I have one, Tidus has one, and hell- even Squall has one!"

Squall shot him a haughty glare for that comment.

" And what is that suppose to mean?"

Shu glanced at him and smiled cheekily.

" I meant no offence, man, just playin'." Then he seemed to consider. " Even though I would think the whole Ice-Prince act would scare Rinoa off."

Squall simply huffed his annoyance and continued to sip his drink.

" Actually I don't think Vince has a girl friend either…."

Tidus trailed off thoughtfully, ignoring the piercing stare Vincent bore into him. Cloud remained quiet for a moment before speaking.

" Umm…actually, I think…that is…um…I thought that you and Tifa…."

This time, it was Tidus and Shuyin's turn to spit their drinks everywhere.

" What! Tifa! That's crazy! Are you serious? Whoa, what a catch! She's such a babe. Wow, Tifa hmmm? Aw, Vince, I actually envy you for once."

Vincent remained quiet as usual, his stare turned glare settling on the loud mouth blond, a tint of pink on his smooth cheeks.

"You know Vince, Shu is right. I mean come on, its Tifa! She's like only one of the most hottest girls around!" Tidus enthused.

Squall and Cloud simply continued to watch quietly as their friend was the main attraction for the moment. Yes, it was true. Cloud was the only member of his small group of friends with out a significant other. Vincent had Tifa- a child hood friend of theirs, Squall had Rinoa who was a decent girl if you could get over the bubble headedness, Shuyin had Lenne, and Tidus had Yuna who was a quiet girl who always got A's on her report cards. But Cloud was just so shy- too shy- for his own good. And what was worse was the fact that his friends new it too.

Then an evil, mischievous grin appeared on Shuyin's handsome face. Everyone simply stared at him, blinking stupidly. They all new what that look meant and they weren't sure if they were ready for yet another one of Shu's hair-brained ideas.

" Hey Cloud, you don't have a girlfriend because your too shy to talk to girls, right" Ouch, hit the nail on the head there. " So what if I did the talking for you?"

Cloud's head shot up and his eyes widened with fear.

"NO!"

Shu laughed at his friend's actions as if he were a clown.

" Chill out, man, just a simple suggestion."

" Shuyin, I would be scared to have you go girl shopping for me."

Shuyin narrowed his eyes at Squall's snide comment and stalked towards him on his hands and knees like a predatory animal would stalk its prey. When their faces were only inches apart, he replied,

" Are you sayin' I choose bad women?"

" No. I'm saying you choose scary women. There's a difference."

A snicker arose from Cloud and Tidus burst into a fit of laughter as Shuyin pounced onto Squall and after a brief on-land scuffle, toppled over into the pool with a big splash. Vincent simply shook his head at the pair unable, however, to rid himself of the smirk that had crept onto his face. As the two continued their water battle, Tidus had finally managed to calm himself and looked at his two friends.

" Shall we join them? It'll be fun and besides, you two look really hot."

He eyed their sweaty bodies pointedly and then stood and walked over to the edge of the pool. Cloud and Vincent decided that a dip would be nice and so they too walked to join their companion only for Cloud to give Tidus a playful shove that sent him head over heels into the crisp, cool water.

" Ahhhh! Cloud, you fiend! No warrior would attack his opponent when his back is turned, you ruffian! You villainous evildoer! I'll have my revenge! Do you hear me? Revenge!" He raved.

Cloud chuckled innocently as Shuyin and Squall decided to go after the newest plaything that fell into the pool and began to chase Tidus around it. It wasn't long before all five were enjoying themselves completely, temporarily forgetting the very issue that started all of the commotion.