Author's Note: Another day, another chapter…when will the insanity end? Haha, I'm referencing school when I say insanity. My friends are all busy tonight with homework (ironically on the day I have none) and so I write another chapter. :-) Is it wrong if I don't know where I'm going?

Two Years Earlier

"You forget that this guy is just another man, no matter how perfect he may seem to you…" Renie Knowles stuffed another bite of scrambled egg into her mouth and glanced across the table at Pan, who was swirling the over-medium eggs on her plate into a mushy mess with her fork.

"I know...I've just known him for so long…"

"Pan, time is irrelevant to men. Boobs. Boobs are relevant to men. Boobs and butt and big, pouty, shiny lips. The only difference between men is that some prefer blonds, some want brunettes, a few want red-heads. That's their idea of variety."

"But you don't know this guy…"

"That's because you've refused to tell me who he is, Pan! That's why this whole arrangement works out—because supposedly my knowing who it is would ruin my 'objective view.'" Renie sighed in frustration, knowing that no matter how many times she told this poor girl, nothing would change.

"I know, I know…" Pan said for the hundredth time that morning. When she'd met Renie on her first day of college, she'd decided to keep home and school life separate. This, of course, had presented her with her first opportunity to talk to someone about the Trunks "issue." How was she supposed to talk to anybody in her family or any of her immediate friends about the feelings she was developing for one of her oldest and closest friends…who was five years her senior? Anybody would see in an instant that she was talking about Trunks. Therefore Renie was her neutral ground—the girl she talked to and received advice from. It was now halfway through her freshman year in college and Renie had known about this mystery man for three months. Or rather, she'd been psychoanalyzing Pan for three months.

"Listen honey, it sounds like this guy is only interested in bimbo blonds. He thinks you're one of the guys. You say you've been friends with him your entire life…literally. That may be your problem. Get out there! Date someone new! Pan, there are 1,428 males bodies on this campus. Let's subtract the gay population—let's say about 200—from that total, and you've still got over 1,000 eligible men to pick from. And you're fixated on this one guy? He can't be that special." Renie gulped down the last of her coffee and began to rummage in her purse for money for the bill.

Only interested in bimbo blonds…one of the guys. It was sad to think that she'd striven so hard to establish herself as "one of the guys" when she was younger because she'd been so caught up in admiration for Trunks Briefs. Now it was coming back to bite her in the ass. The reality had been looming for years. Now, having heard herself recount the tale of her life with Trunks, she began to realize the sheer mathematic impossibility, the hilarity almost, of Trunks ever reciprocating her feelings. His feelings were, and always would be, platonic. She was almost ready to let go of her childish dreams and accept the reality of the situation. All it took was a simple admission…

"You're right, Renie. I should..." she paused before saying it, knowing she was releasing some secret part of herself, "date someone completely new and just forget about him."

Present

"Who was that gorgeous man?" Bra stepped out onto the patio sipping her lemonade and used her forefinger to pull down her sunglasses as she questioned Pan.

"Ken Gleeson, wonderboy extraordinaire of the business world, and official heartthrob competition to Trunks Briefs." Pan threw back her head, tossing her black hair, now warmed by the sun, over her shoulder, and giggled in tandem with Bra.

They both sat back on lounge chairs and Bra whipped outa magazine while Pan leafed through her old copy of The Great Gatsby. But neither of them could fully enjoy their summer reading material. Finally Bra broke the silence. "But really, who is he? I mean, it's not everyday you meet a guy like that. He was practically perfect in every way, if you'll excuse the Mary Poppins reference. Perfect except…" There was a long pause as Bra gave Pan a piercing look.

Pan looked up expectantly and pretended not to be interested. She was bad at it. "Perfect except for what?" Yet she didn't have to ask. What had happened in that kitchen was apparent to all. That beautiful man had been looking at her…at her! At Pan Son, whose tomboyish looks were usually prioritized underneath Bra's classic beauty. An alarm rang silently in Pan's head, warning her to keep a level temper as Bra experienceda taste of jealousy.

"Well, except for the fact that he couldn't take his eyes off of you." Bra's eyes were boring a hole into Pan's temple, but Pan looked back down at her book and scoured the pages intensively to avoid her gaze.

"Really?" she said nonchalantly. "I hadn't noticed…"

"That's funny because you were staring right back…right into his big blue eyes, Pan!" Bra's face was turning red, and Pan knew the worst of it was over. Bra often got worked up over tiny things, but she dealt with them at their onset and got her anger out of her system, before it was bitter enough to be hurtful. It was one of the things that made Bra such a good friend, although it often caused minor irritation. Pan mentally counted down…10...9…8…

"It's just so weird that he wouldn't look at me at all!" Bra continued. "Is there something wrong with me? I look all right, don't I?"

7…6…5…Pan remained silent.

"But you know…I guess if you think about it…well, you two would look adorable together…"

4…3…2…

"And he's not really my type anyways, you know? It's like, who needs that shimmering blond hair-rippling muscle deal? I think I'm into guys who are more casual, you know?"

1…

"You're right, Bra. You could do better." Pan brought her book to her face to cover her bemused smirk. Right on schedule. For the next part of her routine, Bra would become the protective best friend. Pan had been down this road many times.

Pan kept the book covering her mouth as her smirk became a goofy smile—she had just remembered the way Ken had looked at her only a few moments ago, and it was making her stomach flutter uncontrollably. She let the memory continue as she saw herself snubbing Trunks—something she hadn't intended to do but which had come naturally after being ignored for so long. It was hard to be nice to Trunks when he wouldn't admit his problems—like being addicted to work—but she had kept her cool until today. Although as she played back the scene, she found she liked its natural progression. Ken was obviously physically compelling, but he promised to be an intellectual catch as well, and he had been interested in her. And throwing Trunks a few cold words would do him more good than harm.

"I have an idea!" Bra sat up sharply in her lounge chair, snapping Pan out of her reverie. "We should go down to Capsule Corp. tomorrow—you know, snoop around, see who we may stumble across while we're there." She winked ostentatiously and closed her magazine decisively. "You're going on a date with that man Pan Son, if it kills me!" She smiled deviously and pulled Pan into the house. "A girl can't let her best friend walk right past a date." Pan threw the book down on Bra's bed as she was dragged into her frosted pink room (Bra still lived at home, finding that her money was more comfortable when it was so accessible).

"What are you going to do to me, you mad scientist?" Pan laughed as she spun around in a chair in front of Bra's vanity.

Bra grabbed the chair in mid-spin and brought her face close to Pan's. "We're going to make you into a real girl."

A real girl was what Ken needed, Trunks decided—not Pan. As he sped towards his apartment, shifting occasionally but mostly remaining in fifth gear, he tried to reassure himself that the day's occurrences had been a fluke. Of course, Ken had looked at the picture of Trunks and Pan on her seventeenth birthday which sat on Trunks' desk with a funny, faraway look, but that didn't mean anything, right? In fact, the whole thing was preposterous. Pan never fell for guys on sight—she was a strong opponent of the idea of "love at first sight." Besides that, Ken would need more than amazing looks to win her affection—she liked brainy men. That much Trunks had managed to ascertain from the few, pitifully weak, but brilliant men that Pan had brought home over the years. And aside from all that, he knew that Ken wasn't attracted to Pan—or at least, he assumed that Ken wasn't attracted to Pan. Okay, okay, sure, a lot of guys would be attracted to her when she was in that skimpy bathing suit which showed off a lot more than just curves, but he knew that when she would inevitably show up in her sweats and a tanktop, Ken would lose interest. Ken seemed like the sort who'd want a polished girlfriend—one who knew how to impress.

He sighed again and downshifted as an elderly woman cut him off from a side road. He promised himself he'd talk to her tomorrow about her chilly conversational skills, then pulled into the parking garage and took the lift up to his room. He hung his keys up on a rack, ensuring the pristine cleanliness of the apartment would survive another day. He walked past another picture of himself and Pan, this time on his twentieth birthday, when she had been only sixteen. He sighed again as he looked more closely at the picture. Perhaps he should have anticipated back then that she would grow into such an amazing—

He cut his own train of thought off,not wanting to think about anything tonight. He just wanted to crawl into bed, turn off the lights and sleep dreamlessly, without a trace of Pan or Ken or even Bra in his mind. So he nestled between the cotton sheets and drifted off after only a few agonizing moments of silence.

El fin for this chapter, senors and senoritas. I hoped you enjoyed the long, windy paragraphs. :- I can't WAIT to get to the next chapter…it's gonna be juicy, I'm not gonna lie to you. But for now I must slumber…for sleep is my lifeblood. Adios! Review!