Dani slowly sat upright. "I guess you're right, Sam."

"Sure I am." Takeisha raised her head. "Besides, why would you trouble yourselves over guys like that? They might seem handsome, but take that away and what is there?"

"Not a whole lot, I guess."

"Yeah. Still…" The brunette's eyes shifted toward Paulo at his table.

"Dani, please don't think about trying to impress Paulo as a ghost."

The girl whacked Sam's arm. "Get out of my head!"

"Hey, you're the one who put down the welcome mat." He put his hands up in mock-defense.

The sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted the conversation. The friends turned toward the source:

"Dacia!" Dani sounded surprised.

"Anything we can help you with?"

"Not likely. However, I think I can help you…ladies. The two of you seem pretty keen on looking for guys, which, I guess, blows my previous theory away…" Given his scowl, Sam was the first to pick up on the thinly-veiled insult. "…so I've arranged for you to double date the captain and co-captain of the chess club."

Dani and Takeisha gulped simultaneously.

"Dexter and Egbert have been looking forward to dating. Of course, they've been looking forward to contact with any woman who wasn't a blood relative. You know, now that I think of it, you two are getting the better end of the deal."

Sam folded his arms. "Wow, Dacia. I must say that this is very conscientious of you."

"What did you call me?!" Looking quite incensed, the blonde placed her hands on her hips.

"Conscientious; honorable, upright." Although, the Goth couldn't help but think to himself…

"They'll meet you at Nasty Burger at 5:30. Chess practice runs long, today." Dacia attempted a cackle as she walked away.

"Great." Dani threw her hands up. "Our first dates and they're with the supreme geeks of the school."

"Look at the bright side."

"Which is…?"

Takeisha bit her lip.

"Which is…?!" Dani was much more insistent on an answer.

"I'm still trying to think of it."

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "You could always go on the dates."

"We could do what?"

"Think about it: the worst that could happen is they turn out to be creeps. But, like Pep Rally Barbie just said, they've never been on dates. You really think they're gonna jeopardize their chances at getting other girls in the future?"

"But think of our respective social standings. How would it look if we dated geeks?"

"Like you gave a damn. I've seen the two of you drool over a lot of shallow jerks, and now you're gonna sit there and tell me that you want to be shallow jerks?"

Dani and Takeisha sat quietly for a few moments. They needed time to craft the right reaction…right, in this case, meaning, 'something that puts Sam in the wrong'.

"Ding! Time's up. Well?"

The girls exhaled. "Fine", they responded in unison.

XxXxXxXxX

As 5:30 rolled around, Dani and Takeisha trudged to Nasty Burger. Sam accompanied them for moral support, but more to keep them from weaseling out of it.

They walked into the fast food restaurant. The smell of onion rings seemed to hang perpetually in the air whenever they went in. The three friends looked around. The sight that greeted them in a corner booth was a considerable surprise.

Sitting across from each other were Dexter and Egbert. Now, Dani and Takeisha had heard stories about the geeks in chess club; ugly, zit-faced, socially retarded losers who would end up carrying on life-long love affairs with their respective right hands.

Sure, most of that may have been true, but the guys in the booth looked…normal, even with the thick glasses. Dexter's brown hair was parted to one side, showing what was, according to his mother, 'such a handsome face'. Egbert's look suggested what might have happened if Opie Taylor transferred from Amity Park to Mayberry.

The girls stood in stunned silence. They didn't seem to be prepared for this.

Dani opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Takeisha slapped her on the back. "Hello!"

"Hi, girls", Dexter offered. The boys were obviously just as apprehensive.

"Have a seat." Egbert gestured toward the spots next to them.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Sam looked at his friends.

Dani nodded. "I think so."

Takeisha repeated the gesture. "Yeah."

Sam walked away.

XxXxXxXxX

A couple hours passed in the restaurant. Among the people to walk in, only a few were students at Casper High; at around the same rung on the social ladder.

Those few would have quite a story to tell…

"So let me get this straight…", Dani said between sips of cola. "…your name isn't really Egbert?"

"No. It's Darrin. Back in kindergarten, I introduced myself as Darrin Egbert Mason. The middle name - which I hate - stuck."

Dexter, meanwhile, watched the African-American girl consume her food with admiration. "I've never seen a girl pack away so much."

"What can I say? I love this stuff", mumbled the girl through her food.

"Where does it all go?" The chess club captain eyed Takeisha's slender body.

She swallowed… "A girl has to have her secrets." …before taking another bite of her burger.

"Can you believe that Dacia thought she was screwing with us when she set this up?"

"Yeah." Takeisha swallowed her mouthful. "You'd think a cheerleader would be on top of things. You know, 'cause they do pyramids…?"

Dexter's smile soon evolved into a chuckle. Egb…Darrin joined him moments later. Even Dani, who had heard enough cheesy jokes from her friend to last a lifetime, started laughing.

"Nice to know I've still got it."

Dexter removed his glasses and wiped a tear from his eye. "Are you sure this is your first date?"

"It's a little hard to believe ourselves."

"Tell me about it." Dani gestures to her friend and herself. "Guys look at me and Takeisha…"

"Takeisha and I…", Darrin corrected.

"Right, and they think, 'These girls aren't that special'. And yet, we still drool over them. It's insane."

"Yeah. Girls like Dacia treat us like crap, but they're so hot."

"I blame the hormones." Dexter nodded his head.

The rest of the table agreed.

XxXxXxXxX

The street lamps outside the Nasty Burger turned on. Dani looked outside the window.

"Holy crap. What time is it?"

Darrin and Dexter checked their watches, while Takeisha whipped out her PDA. The boys were drawn to the device.

"Wow! Is that a Panaphonics X550?"

"Please! Those things are so two weeks ago. This…" Takeisha held it aloft. "…is the X720."

"I heard you can get e-mail, games and international news on those."

Dani fumed at this impromptu geek convention. "The time!"

"All right! It's 8:30."

"We gotta get home. It was nice meeting you two."

"Thanks." The girls headed for the exit. "Wait. Can't we walk you home?"

"Nah. We'll be fine." Dani waved at the boys. "Thanks, anyway." The girls walked away from the restaurant.

"I guess that wasn't so bad. Those guys were really nice."

"Yeah", Takeisha stated. "Who knew Dacia could be capable of doing something…nice for people?"

Dani stopped in her tracks. "You know what this means, right?"

"We ridicule her just like she's done to us?"

The brunette resumes walking. "I need to start thinking in some kind of code if you and Sam are gonna keep reading my mind."

Takeisha looked around the street. They seemed to be deserted. "Say, Dani…"

"What is it?"

"It's just the two of us out here. Any chance we could, you know, fly home?"

"Takeisha…"

"Come on! It's so cool! Besides, no one would see us." The African-American girl put on her best pleading face, complete with pouted lips and blinking eyes.

Dani groaned. "Fine." She shifted into ghost mode and jetted into the air. Having given herself a flying start, she picked Takeisha up and carried her by the arms.

"Now this is great."

"Remind me to keep you away from fast food the next time you trick me into doing this."

"Are you trying to say something?" Takeisha sounded more curious than hurt.

"I thought you could read my mind."

"So it comes and goes. Danni, have you ever wondered what life would be like if we were guys and Sam was a girl?"

"If we were guys and Sam was a girl…" The ghost girl repeated the statement to make sure she had really heard it. "Takeisha, there are some things we are not meant to know."