((Author's Note: ZOMFGO! You guys gave me a big head. I'm not gonna put down this chapter. I won't. I REFUSE to!

Gawrsh, guys! (huggles all of the reviewers) I got nine (ten if you count SoDFF) reviews in less than TWO hours for chapter four! TWO HOURS! (is shocked)

All in all If We Kiss got ELEVEN reviews in ONE DAY (or something close like that)! THE LAST CHAPTER GOT ELEVEN REVIEWS! (is oober shocked)

Teehee. Get ready for a...surprising (?) chapter? Fluffy? -.- I shan't say.

Thanks for all of the sympathy! Y'all seriously don't know how much better that made me feel!

Look for the girl with the broken smile: GAH! You shall see, my pretty! (evil Maleficent laugh) ()()()()() $$ Thanks!

KittyKiChi: Thanks! ()()()()()$$

knowledge In The Hollow Noggin: (x3) Thanks! You get TRIPLE the cookies since you reviewed on THREE chapters! ()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()$$$$$$ Aww, no one's offered to share their cookies wif me. I feel oober loved! Thanks for the awesome reviews! 'Specially the last one! Heh, I feel so happy now!

Passing4insane: ()()()()() $$ Milk? Uhm...lemme see if I can conduct that! (waves magic wand stick thingy) Here ya go! And DANNY acting DEVIANT towards SAM? Why...that would be flirting! Val is evil! (gets out pitchfork) Oh, crud, I'm writing this story...Jeez...I need a hobby. ;

Phantom Of A Rose: OMFG ME TOO! o0...you'll KILL me? Well then, I shall haunt you until you've no where to run but erm...UNDER THE BED WHERE MY COMPUTER NINJA SHALL...FEED YOU TO THE EVIL MUFFIN OF DOOOM! (evil maniacal laughter) (cough) ()()()()()$$ You gets an extra cosmic brownie just so you won't kill meh. $$ (backs away slowly)

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Haha! I finally got a good chapter that no one shall know what comes! I am so happy! (dances)

Chapter Five
Cherry Tomatoes

I shifted uncomfortably in the wooden chair, scooting up closer to the high table. Though I kept my head bent over to examine the menu, I could feel Pam sending me death warnings with her eyes. Sherley's Garden was coated with white décor. The walls looked as if they were cloud on a sunny summer day. The hostess had a plastered grin to her face, as if she were constantly happy. I despised this place the second that I stepped foot in it.

Pam hadn't lied about what they served. Most of the menu consisted of vegetarian meals, something I was thankful for.

"Thanks for taking us out again, Jack," Pam said graciously. I sighed and rested my chin in my left hand, letting my bad table manners show. Pam sent me a look of disbelief, but I acted dumb and cupped my chin in both hands.

"Anytime...anytime..." He drummed his fingers on the table. "So, Sammy," I cringed. "Danny tells me you're in his English class...?" I nodded and rested my forehead against my hands.

"Yeah..." I answered, looking up. "He is..."

I tried to find room for my arm to fit on the table, yet I had no such luck. Placed in the center of the table was a candle, surrounded by a glass case. The napkins, I noticed, were cleverly folded as swans, and placed inside the back of the swan were several utensils: two knives, three forks, and a spoon for one person. I placed my hands in my lap, slightly gawking at the crowded table. There were glasses of water for each person (though one was absent), and empty, shiny plates placed in front of us for the bread that was sitting, untouched, beside the candle.

We lapsed into silence. Pam bit the inside of her cheek, a habit she did while thinking of something to say in awkward positions such as these. My stomach rumbled loudly, causing the three other people at the table to give me peculiar stares.

"Do you think we should go ahead and order--"

"Let's wait for Maddie, Samantha," Pam ordered through clenched teeth, though she tried to sound cheerful. "It's impolite to eat without a guest..."

"It's impolite to be twenty minutes late, too," I muttered to myself. Danny, who must of heard, chuckled across from me. I let out a one-exhale laugh in return, truing to prevent it from drawing Pam's attention, yet my resistance to giggle was futile. She snapped her head in my direction, sending me a warning with eyebrows raised high. I immediately stared at the water placed on the table, acting as if I were intrigued by the water droplets.

"Would you like to order?" The question was so sudden that I felt myself jump. An aura of paranoia had overwhelmed me since the ghost attack yesterday. I turned to my side to find a young, blond haired girl with an open notebook in her hands. Her smile, like the hostess, seemed to never fade.

"Yes, p--" I began.

"No, thank you. We're still waiting on somebody." I had a feeling that Pam wasn't declining as politeness. She was hardly ever polite when it wasn't necessary, and she had known Maddie for years. There was no need to be polite with her. I felt the silent punishment punching me in the stomach.

"A drink, perhaps?" The green eyed girl asked.

"Erm..." Pam glanced at the empty entrance. "Sure...why not?" I felt immediate gratitude toward the waitress.

"Okay, then." She fished for a pen in her fanny pack, sticking a large portion of her tongue out slightly, and turned to me. "What'll it be?"

"Coke,"I answered, rubbing my index finger along the side of the cup, absorbing the moisture that it let off, and flicked away in an unknown direction. Pam gave me an outraged gaze.

My plan was now in session.

The waitress jotted down my order and turned to Danny.

"Same as her," He said absently, picking at a bread crumb beside his plate.

"Okay, then. How about you, miss?" Pam furrowed her brow.

"Erm...tea...non-sweetened...is fine by me." Pam always was a fan of health. She patted Jack's arm across from her and looked up. "He'll have the same as well." I looked to my side to see if he would protest, but he seemed to be oblivious of the waitress. Jack's eyes were glued to the hostess booth.

The waitress nodded and walked away after informing us that our drinks would be out in a few moments.

"Dad?" Danny asked. His voice sounded scratchy, as if he had been up all night. I could relate.

Jack snapped out of his gaze and looked over to his son.

"Hmm?" He asked.

Danny shook his head.

"It's nothing..." Jack shrugged and shifted his position in his seat. I drummed my fingers on the table.

"Any idea when Maddie's going to get here?" I asked Pam, taking a sip of the water.

"She'll get here when she gets here, Samantha..." Pam announced, though I could hear a hint of annoyance in her tone. Perhaps she was growing hungry as well. I watched, eyes wide, as she dug through her purse and pulled out a gray cell phone that she had received as a gift from work a few months ago.

"I wonder what's taking her so long..." Pam opened the phone and held it up high in the air. "No service..." She closed it hastily and stood up. "I'll be right back. I need to go outside and call Maddie..."

Pam pushed her chair into the table and walked out of the restaurant, leaving me alone with Danny and his father. I looked from Jack, who was watching as Pam exited, to Danny, helping himself to a piece of bread.

"Aww...crud," Jack said suddenly. Danny and I looked up. "I forgot that...thing in the Fenton Ghost Assault Vehicle...I'll...be back in a bit." Jack hurriedly stood up and fast-walked out of the restaurant, his orange and black tie dangling behind him.

Danny chuckled at our isolation, and I couldn't help but laugh, too.

"Anything to stay with each other, I guess..." I mused as I picked up a piece of the bread. Danny's smile slightly faded and nodded.

"Yeah..."

I felt the awkwardness come beating down like heat rays from the sun.

"So, have you heard Dumpty Humpty's new single?" Danny asked me conversationally. I grinned. Humpty Dumpty was my favorite band, and, I learned at my house a few days ago, Danny's as well.

"Good-bye To Sanity?" I asked. I heard it on the radio a couple of times. Danny nodded. "Yeah! I love the beginning instrumental part." Danny grinned.

"Same here!"

The waitresses here must enjoy creeping up behind me, for when this one did this time I felt my shoulders hunch back. I swept my head around and saw a chubby, long brown haired girl with tiny chocolate colored eyes. Unlike the previous waitress and the hostess, she had a scowl as she looked at Danny and me. Her arm brushed against my shoulder as she walked past.

"Two Cokes and two teas," She said in a voice that made your teeth grind. She set the glasses on the table in random positions, me receiving the tea and Danny getting his coke. "Are you ready to order or would you like an appetizer first?" I looked up at Danny, who shrugged. Apparently he was like me: totally clueless as what to say.

"I...guess a salad would be fine," I told her, flipping open the menu to the appetizers course. The waitress jotted that down in a notebook that she conjured from her fanny pack.

"And for the date?"

The word hung in the air for a brief moment. I could feel those previous feelings of annoyance and anger suddenly disappear, being replaced by a giddy feeling that I could barely suppress by taking a large gulp of the tea that was given to me, not bothering to exchange it with the Coke, averting my eyes from Danny's.

"I'll have one of those...I'll have a salad, too..." I was sure I was paranoid now, but I could have sworn that Danny couldn't disguise the embarrassment in his voice.

I listened as the waitress walked away, muttering insane nonsense words to herself.

My insides squirmed as I set the glass back on the table, gasping for breath. Did we honestly look like a couple?

Danny laughed and pushed the coke that was placed in front of him to me, somehow managing to keep it away from falling over the swan-shaped napkins. I gave him a half-hearted smile and casually took a sip.

"So how was your..first day at Casper High?" I asked him, breaking apart a piece of my bread.

"It was..." Danny paused. "Fine. The teachers there are..."

"Brutal?" I finished, popping the bread into my mouth. He nodded.

"Yeah, like...erm..." He furrowed his brow, trying to recall a name. "The out of shape English teacher...?" I nodded.

"Lancer?"

"Yeah. Does he normally overload on homework or and I just lucky enough to show up when he's in bad moods?" I chuckled.

"Actually," I explained, "He's been in a good mood since you showed up." Which was true. When Danny had answered Lancer's question yesterday, Lancer seemed to be more quizzical towards the rest of the students.

Danny buried his head into his arms.

"Great. When he's in a bad mood I'll be up 'till—what?--three in the morning, I s'pose?" His voice was muffled by his arms, and I had to strain my ears to comprehend what he was saying.

"You could just blow it off like me and Tuck do." Danny sat up and rested his chin on his arms, giving me the crooked smile. I drowned myself in the Coke again.

"So...about yesterday--"

"The ghost attack?" I asked, setting my drink on the table. "Welcome to Amity Park, friendliest place in Illinois, ghost infected town..." Danny laughed.

"It was...and experience." He fixed his gaze on the flickering candle, his face illuminated by the dim lighting. He glanced up. It hurt to tear my eyes away from him.

"Sam...listen. There's something--"

"Your salads!" The squeaky, teeth grinding brunette waitress said dryly, setting down a plate full of salad in front of Danny and me. "Enjoy."

"Thanks," Danny said somewhat disappointedly.

"Yeah," She said, flipping her hair and walking away.

"So you were saying?" I asked, biting into the salad.

Danny blinked.

"It's nothing. Really." I raised an eyebrow, yet took another bite.

"So how's your...condo?" I asked him.

Danny chuckled to himself as if this were some inside joke.

"Dad's a pack-rat, so the place is crowded and messy all at once." I laughed. So that's why they were at our house constantly.

"Sounds like my room," I observed, taking another bite that uncovered several ruby red cherry tomatoes.

I set my fork down and picked up one of the tomatoes and plopped it into my mouth, but immediately spit it out. Danny laughed.

"What?" He asked as I covered the tomato residue with a piece of cabbage.

"It's gross!" I complained, eying the next tomato on my plate. "It tastes like feet."

Danny chuckled, reached over all of the accessories on the table, picked up one of the remaining tomatoes and took a bite of it.

"What if I was going to eat that?" I asked him, mocking rage.

"You want something that tastes like feet?" He chewed the tomato with dignity.

"No, but maybe the tomato I had was a dud. Besides, you've got some on your plate!"

Danny cocked his head back and laughed, causing me to giggle as well. I hated how he could to that.

"It doesn't taste like feet to me," Danny mused softly, leaning into the table.

"Then maybe your taste buds are immune to the cherry-tomato-feet-taste," I explained, feeling myself leaning in as well.

"Or maybe..." Danny said with his crooked smile. I could feel the rapid beat of my heart, the rush of blood. "You're just delusional." I breathed in the familiar scent of honeysuckle, suddenly glad that Maddie was late and prevented us from eating dinner.

"I'm not the one that eats feet tasting tomatoes, Mr. Neil Armstrong." I couldn't help but notice how soft we were speaking even if our faces were just inches apart.

Danny's lips twitched. I could tell he was trying his absolute hardest not to laugh. A triumphant whoop filled my stomach, longing to escape. Cherry tomatoes were officially my favorite fruit.

"Sam, you really need to know something," Danny whispered, looking behind him to make sure that there weren't any waitresses to ruin what he was about to say. "It was rea--"

"Kids!" Maddie's call from the entrance rang throughout the entire restaurant. I hoped to myself that it caused a scene, spoiling everybody's dinner. Why was it that every time Danny tried to tell me this somewhat important, something or someone interrupted?

"Maddie, you've got the perfect timing," I thought sarcastically to myself.

"Sorry I'm late! Got held up at work." Maddie fluffed my hair, a habit she'd had since I was younger, and sat in the unoccupied seat beside me. I reluctantly lowered myself into the chair and gave her a forced smile.

"That's fine, Maddie," I said, swirling my soda with its straw. "But next time you really should just stay as long as they needed you."

The remainder of the dinner passed slowly, Jack explaining to Danny and me that he and Maddie were college buddies along with another friend of his that now resided in Wisconsin, though he hadn't seen a trace of him for nearly twenty years.

"We were inseparable, the three of us!" Jack bellowed, elbowing me in the side. I groaned and rubbed it. "Until--"

"Now, Jack," Maddie said, leaning in front of me to face him with clenched teeth. "We really don't need to go into detail about the good ol' days, now, do we?"

Pam gave Maddie a grateful look before returning to eating her meal.

Maddie decided to drive Pam and me home so we wouldn't have to ride in a cab. The brisk November wind slapped me across the face as the five of us stood outside, me shivering because I was stubborn and refused to wear a jacket. Pam was angry with me for ordering food without Maddie, scolding me quietly as we exited Sherley's Gardens.

"Thank you for the lovely evening, Jack," Pam said as she kissed Jack lightly on the lips.

"Anytime, anytime."

Pam and I entered Maddie's minivan, the two adults up in the front. I waved good-bye to Jack and Danny from the window, keeping my expression blank.

"Samantha," Pam announced through clenched teeth as Maddie. "Have you no respect?"

"To what?" I asked sarcastically, just to annoy Pam.

"Me, Maddie, Jack! You ordered the most expensive thing on the menu and barely took a bite! Not to mention your manners!" I sniffed to hold back a grin. That was the plan, to make Pam and Jack angry and chose to just go out to eat together without Danny and me attending the awkward dinner. Maybe now they would think twice before inviting Danny and me. Or at least me.

"Sorry," I said tonelessly.

Maddie ignored Pam's complaints and exaggerated anger all the way to our house, bidding us a sorry yet foolishly disguised anxious good-bye.

I slammed the car door shut and watched as Maddie sped away, her headlights disappearing behind the wooden fenced entrance. Pam fished for her house keys in her purse and opened the front door, wiping away a cobweb that appeared while we were gone. She remained silent, still angry at me, I supposed, as she left to go to her room. I felt excitement play again and again in my stomach as I almost ran to my room.

I opened the door to reveal my room: bland and messy. An old Pear computer stood on my desk, its monitor dusty from my lack of cleaning. Socks and underwear were strewn in various places, old, crumpled and yellowed papers from past English assignments were hidden underneath my bed and stuffed inside pillowcases that were covered in mildew.

I fell onto my bed, embracing my bare pillow. I felt...happy for some unknown reason. I knew that making Pam angry would make me feel good, but, not this ecstatic. A goofy grin was playing on my face, I was sure, never wanting to leave.

The images of dinner replayed in my mind. The scowl on Pam's face when she heard my order, Maddie and Jack laughing at the butter that I "accidentally" flung at the table beside us while digging it out of the cup, Danny's face being so close to mine...the scent of his breath, his crooked smile...

I sat upright, my grin vanishing and replaced with a expression of confusion. Danny...

"Oh no," I said to myself, his trademark smile flashing through my mind, giving me that feeling again. It wasn't that he had the effect on everyone, as I had thought. It was just me, and Valerie, perhaps. Everything about Danny came crashing through my mind: his life's ambitions, favorite hobby, television show...music...his tousled hair, sea blue eyes, voice...

"Oh no," I repeated.

I was in love with Danny Fenton.

((Author's Note: I got two waitresses in here because I can. (shifty eyes) That and usually when I go to places like that (Sherley's Garden) I normally get more than one waitress...
I NEEDED to write something similar to fluffyness. Really bad. The funeral got me down, but writing this seriously made me feel better!
I know it's really early to post this, but Huntsville is almost an hour away from home (that's where the funeral was held) and so I wrote on the way there and thought about it on the way back. And I stayed up until three-thirty in the morning trying to find a flashlight so I could write it in bed too! (shifty eyes) I don't have a problem...
GAH! I TOLD you there'd be confessions...just not what you assumed? Just a self-confession, really. Nothing more, nothing less, but STILL...I shall not lie.
As for rage...; Can you kinda feel it? At the beginning, I mean. Sam's rage t'wards Pam. I'm not g (stuffs fist in mouth so self-critic becomes muffled). (keeps stuffing fist in mouth)

Reviews made this come up oober early. Reviews shall make the next chapter come up oober early too! (shifty eyes) If you catch my drift...-.-

Or I could just threaten you with my computer ninja so you will review...he steals the cookies! (is shocked)
Sooo you get lots and lots and lots of cookies if you leave a review! And a cosmic brownie. And FS's Special Treat...(evil laugh) I'm going to make you guys fat if you don't review! (Maniacal laughter)
OMFG A WHOLE CHAPTER WITHOUT ME DISSING IT! (is oober shocked)
Preview of Chapter Six: Brutal Discoveries

His hand was clammy with sweat and fear, his eyes wide with anxiety. I gripped his forearm as tight as I possibly could, though it was of no use. I was so close to falling, so close to ending my life. I clenched my eyes shut.

More of the preview of the next chapter is located in my profile if you want to see it...(shifty eyes) But it's nothing really special.

FS))