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Rules of Dating: Rule #2 Never date a friend's ex

It was the big day. I couldn't believe that we had finally decided on a day and time. A week had passed between the fight and now, and I was very anxious to get the date over with. It felt weird, knowing that I was dating Amy's ex, but she didn't seem to mind. So, there I was, standing in front of my closet and yelling, because I had nothing to wear. I've been on first dates before, and dressing like a slob, especially after being off the market for so long, is not a good idea. Neither is talking to yourself out loud, I suppose, but it's kind of hard to break the habit. I glared at my clothes and screamed into a pillow again. The phone rang and Jess's voice called to me. "Tia! It's for you!"

"I'm coming!" I shouted back, running down the hall and picking up the phone.

"Hey, it's Alex. You ready for tonight."

"No, err I mean yes, I mean…I'm having a fashion crisis right now, so I'll see you tonight, at 8."

"Eight it is then. Still meeting at the mall? And call Amy, she's good with the fashion stuff."

"Thanks Aalex. And yes, the mall, in the food court." I responded, drawing out the a, indicating that I was talking to Nor. I hung up the phone and called Amy. "Hello, may I speak to Amy?" I inquired, speaking to her mother.

"Yes, just a moment. Amy!" I heard her call, followed by an explosion. "She'll be right there."

I smiled to myself. Amy was a chemist, a brilliant one at that, and Cara was a mechanical wiz. Put them together and you have a destructive force. "Hey, Amy,"

I commented, hearing a panting voice on the phone.

"H-hey, what, what do you need?" She sounded out of breath.

"I need shopping help." I responded.

"Fashion is my specialty. I'll be right over."

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Two hours later, I was ready to kill Amy. I ended up purchasing five outfits, three of which were not exactly first date material. She was one of those girls who would start out by giving you one or two outfits and three hours later, she's handing you the millionth. ((A/N: It's like shopping with my parents.)) So, I ducked into a bathroom stall and changed, handing Amy the rest of the clothes. Since she had driven, she was going to take them home for me. I was actually kind of glad that Alex and I had decided to meet here. It meant that we could be ourselves more. Or, at least, that was the idea. Truth is, the prospect of dating again still was a little scary, which could be why I ended up sitting at a table, reassuring myself that the date would go fine and that I had nothing to worry about and that Alex wasn't an evil Yeerk. In fact, he wasn't going to be a Yeerk at all. It would be just me and him. That helped ebb away some of my anxiety, but not much.

"Hey," a voice behind me commented. I jumped and screamed, turning to face…Alex.

"Hey yourself," I responded, looking at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. So…um, wanttoseeamovie?" Alex was nervous, I could tell.

"Sure," I responded, trying to soothe his nerves. Man, he was more nervous than I was. We walked over to the theater, looking at the shows. "Star Wars, no, Yaya Sisterhood, no, Fantastic Four, no…How about Batman?"

Alex turned to me. I knew he wanted to see it very badly and he knew I wasn't exactly all for it. "You sure?" he inquired.

"Yes, I'm sure. I figure I can sit through one lousy movie. But I'm not watching the Fantastic Four movie with you."

He grinned like a five-year-old at his birthday party. "Thank you!" He hugged me and took me over to the movie counter, buying the tickets…

I don't think I watched any of that movie. A bit into the first scene and we were all over each other. It moved slowly at first, but soon we were making out for most of the movie. We both walked out of there, red as tomatoes.

"Um…want to get dinner?" He inquired, looking at the ground.

"Sure…Mickey 'D's ok with you?"

"That's fine."

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally I broke the silence. "You, um, really know your way around a girl." I joked.

"Sorry about that. Really, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's ok, Alex. It happens. And it was really nice. Thanks," I walked around the table and kissed him again, sitting in his lap. He smiled and kissed me back. We would have probably started making out again if my common sense didn't kick in and I grabbed my salad, dragging it over to his side and my fries. I stuck a fry in his mouth. So, that's how it ended. I fed him fries and his burger and took bites of my salad. He drove me home and we kissed before I left. I went to my room and fell on my bed with a sigh and a laugh.

Jess poked her head in, "How was the date?"

"Magical."

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A/N: Ok, this may not be a great first date, but I've never been on one. Feel free to give me pointers if you want. Please R/R!