Chapter 3 Double Date

It was Friday afternoon and Nick went to Macy's place before their double date with Penny and Jimmy to go over some stuff so that they could be on the same page.

"So, Nick did you go over everything?" Macy asked him while she finished getting ready for tonight. She wore a flower-print sundress with a white sweater. Her hair was pulled up in a bun and she gently applied some blush on her cheeks. Even if this was a pretend date, Macy wanted to look her best especially since she would be seen with a JONAS out in public.

Meanwhile, Nick, who was dressed in jeans, a white shirt, a grayish purple cardigan and a hat, situated himself in her bed as he poured over Penny's survey one more time.

"Yeah and I still can't believe how perfect Penny and I are for each other," Nick said again. They were so meant to be. "We practically have the same response for almost all of the questions. Her favorite color is baby blue although a different shade from my favorite color: royal blue. We both love to watch the cooking channel during our spare time because we both secretly want to be chefs. Her favorite movie is Remember the Titans, which is a sports movie like The Natural. She loves to do charity work like me and she hopes to become a pediatrician when she grows up. She loves to sing and well, yeah I'm a singer. And her idea for a perfect date is exactly like mine: a romantic dinner outdoors and a nice quiet stroll in the park where we can talk and watch the stars."

"Wow, that's great, Nick," Macy said as she now applied some lip gloss while still looking in the mirror. "How about mine, did you read it?"

Nick let out a big sigh of disappointment.

"What was that for?" Macy asked him as she now turned around to face him.

"Macy," he said as kindly as possible. "You and I have absolutely nothing in common! No one is going to believe we're a couple if they read both of our questionnaires."

"That can't be true," Macy said as she joined him on her bed and looked at her survey and his. "There has to be something we both agree on. Look, here's one! We're both morning people."

"Really? That's it? We're morning people? Even on the basic questions, we're both total opposites. You like vanilla and I like chocolate. You're loud and I'm quiet. You love corny jokes and I hate them. You're favorite movie is Fiddler on the Roof, a musical. Out of all the movies you had to choose, you chose a musical!"

"What's wrong with musicals?" Macy argued. "Not only do you have great stories but good music as well. It's a win-win situation. You can't ask for more!"

"And it gets worse," Nick continued as he ignored her last comment. "You're idea of a perfect date is to do any kind of extreme sport known to man like white water rafting, rock climbing, and cliff diving! Macy, do you want your date to die before he can ask you out on a second one?"

"Hey, those things are fun!" Macy protested. "I did all of them before and they're not as dangerous as they seem."

Nick just shook his head in disbelief. Macy had to be half-serious in all her response because he saved the worst for last.

"And it still gets even worse!" Nick said in disgust.

"It does?" Macy said as she felt her heart sink. She never knew Nick could be so critical about her responses. They had to be a little bit compatible…right?

"Macy, you listed the Red Sox as your favorite baseball team!" Nick cried out in disgust. "I can't date a Red Sox fan. Are you kidding me? I'm a die-hard Yankees fan all the way. Besides, why do you like them anyway? You're from New Jersey, not Boston."

"Although I grew up here, I was born in Boston and lived there for a few years," Macy explained. "My dad was a big Red Sox fan. So my allegiance to them can be seen as my only link to my dad. Besides, the Yankees are so overrated!"

"OVERRATED!" Nick yelled. He couldn't believe what she was saying. "Macy, you got to be kidding me!"

"Whatever, Nick," Macy retorted. "It's not like all of your responses make sense!"

"Like which one doesn't make sense?" Nick said as he tried his best to stay calm because he didn't like it when someone accused him of not being sensible. He was the most sensible guy in the planet.

"For your favorite sandwich you said you like to put Nutella in it. What in the world is a Nutella? Did you make that up?" Macy asked him incredulously because she really thought Nick created that word.

"Nutella is a chocolate Hazelnut spread, Mace!" Nick said. "If you had good taste in food, you'd know that! At least my favorite sandwich doesn't include anchovies in it. Yuck!"

"Hey, anchovies are delicious!" Macy argued.

The two of them could have argued the whole night if it wasn't for Macy's alarm which she set to remind them when it was time to leave for El Meat. So they put their differences aside and got ready to leave.

"Remember, we need to have our story straight," Macy said as they made their way to the restaurant.

"Okay, I got it," Nick said. "We've been dating for about two months and we got together during Christmas."

"Good," Macy said. "And remember you fell in love with me because you found my devotion to the Jonas band completely adorable and touching. If you want, you can even add that you thought I was really, really pretty."

Macy knew this was wishful thinking as she batted her eyelashes at him. Nick narrowed his eyes at her and said, "I'll just stick with the first part. Thank you."

The restaurant was packed for a Friday night. Macy and Nick immediately spotted Penny and Jimmy in one of the booths.

"Hey you guys!" Penny greeted them happily.

"Hi," both Nick and Macy said at the same time as Macy scooted in first on their side of the booth.

"This is really exciting," Penny said. "I can't believe how much entrees of meat they have here."

"Yeah, I know," Macy said as she looked over the menu. "Do you know what you're getting, honey?"

Nick gave Macy his best fake smile and said, "No, not yet…er… sweetie."

So the four of them studied the three different kinds of menu, one for chicken, beef, and pork, each of which contained a comprehensive list of dishes, some of which they have never heard before.

"Hey you want to hear a funny joke?" Jimmy said to break the silence while they were still looking at their menus. "It's a meaty one so it's very fitting."

"Forgive me, you guys, he loves telling corny jokes," Penny whispered to them but she smiled sweetly at him. "Go ahead, babe."

"Which is the meat patties least favorite day of the week? Any guesses?" Jimmy asked them but all he received were blank stares. "Anyone?"

"Jimmy, just tell us!" Penny said as she did her best to mask any form of impatience in her voice.

"Fry-day!" Jimmy joked as he laughed at his own joke. "Get it Fry-day as in Friday like today."

Nick gave him a pitiful look. What did Penny see in him?

Penny said, "Oh, sweetie, maybe you should lay off on your jokes—

But she was interrupted because someone clearly found his joke to be quite funny. Everyone stared at Macy as she began laughing loudly.

"I get it! Fry-day as in Friday! HAHAHAHA," Macy said clearly amused by Jimmy's joke.

Nick stared at her in horror. He kicked her under the table to make her stop laughing but Macy truly was a sucker for a corny joke.

"See, Penny, I told you some people appreciate my humor," Jimmy said as he smiled at Macy.

Nick cleared his throat loudly and stared at Macy, who when she looked at him did her best to control her laughter. She never knew Jimmy could be funny.

"Anyway, I really don't know what to get," Penny said. "Why don't we share something, Jimmy-pooh?"

Jimmy-pooh? Nick and Macy looked at each other and almost gagged. Macy smirked at Nick and said, "Yeah, would you also like to share something…er…Nicky-boo?"

Macy had to stifle her laughter. She hated when couples used cutesy names like this but since she and Nick were pretending to be in love, why not go over the top?

Nick gave her a smirk and replied, "Sure thing…um…Macy-bear."

Macy tried her best to once again contain her laughter and thankfully the waiter came, when they were all ready to order.

"So…" Penny said excitedly while staring at both Nick and Macy.

"So…?" Nick repeated.

"How did you guys get together?" Penny asked then like it was the most obvious question in the world.

"Yeah, we were talking about you guys yesterday," Jimmy added. "And both of us said we would never ever imagine pairing you guys up together. We thought you were complete opposites."

"Oh we're not that different," Macy said in her chirpy voice. She grabbed Nick's hand to emphasize how together and couple-y they really were. "But it was last Christmas, when we fell for each other, right Nicky-boo?"

"Y-yeah, Macy-bear," Nick replied as he tried his best to keep himself from gagging from calling her that. "I found her obsessive devotion to our band completely adorable."

"Obsessive?" Macy said as she narrowed her eyes at him but she continued in her fake sweet voice. "I don't know if obsessive is the right word, honey."

"Oh, you were pretty obsessive, Mace," Nick pointed out. He was no longer using his fake-in-love voice now. "You were the Jonas #1 Super Fan after all."

Macy smiled sweetly at him and retaliated by saying, "But I wasn't the first one to make a move. I remember you said you thought I was really, really pretty. Right, Nick?"

Nick pursed his lips and answered, "Yeah, but you were the one who gave me such obvious hints that you were interested."

"How so, dear?" Macy asked him curiously. She was squeezing his hand harder now.

Both of them didn't realize that both Penny and Jimmy were now looking at them with raised eye-brows.

"The way you would always follow me around and bat your eyelashes at me," Nick retorted. "It was pretty obvious, Mace. It would take a fool to not pick up on your hints."

"Oh-hohohohohoho," Macy gave her best hearty laugh and said, "I followed you around? Well, if you really want to hear about our first date, then you're in for quite a story. I took Nick out white water rafting. And he thought he was going to die! He was shaking throughout the whole ride. Talk about being a man! Hahaha."

"Well, Macy," Nick said as he gritted his teeth. "I thought we would go somewhere classy for our first date. You know normal stuff? Like a fancy dinner and a nice stroll in the park?"

"So are you saying I'm abnormal?" asked Macy as she glared at Nick.

"You're the one who said it," Nick simply replied.

"Okaaay, you guys," Penny said as she tried to break up the tension between them. "That was …uh…quite a story."

"Yeah, that was something," Jimmy said.

Nick and Macy almost forgot they had an audience so they resumed back to fake-couple mode and smiled sweetly at each other.

"But despite all that, we love each other, don't we Nick?" Macy said as she gazed adoringly into his eyes.

"Yeah, I love Macy," Nick said cheerfully as he put his arm around her.

Macy realized that she totally forgot the goal of her plan so she needed to hype Nick up. She tried to remember what Nick said he had in common with Penny.

"Nick really is a great boyfriend," Macy said as she latched her arm with his. "Believe it or not, but he's a really great cook. Tell them honey."

"Yeah, I really love cooking," Nick added sheepishly. "It's always been a secret dream of mine to become a chef."

"Oh my gosh! I secretly want to be a chef too!" Penny exclaimed. "That's so weird that we both want to be that!"

"And he loves charity work," Macy added. "What's that organization you're a spokesperson for?"

"I'm not exactly the spokesperson," Nick said modestly. "I just help out with the Bayer Diabetes Care Foundation. Since I have diabetes, I have a personal connection with them. It's just something I love to get involved in."

"Wow, I never knew you were involved in charity work," Penny said amazed. "Hey, before I forget, why don't I invite you guys to this fundraiser event next Saturday. The hospital I volunteer in is hosting our annual bike-a-thon for the Children's Leukemia Foundation. You guys should definitely come out and ride with us."

"Sure, we'd love—

"Oh, I'm not sure if I'm free Saturday," Macy quickly interrupted Nick, who was now staring at her curiously.

"What are you doing?" Nick asked her quietly. "This will be a great opportunity for us."

"Yeah, I know but…" Macy said hesitantly.

Luckily for her their conversation was interrupted when Jimmy took it upon himself to lay another joke on them: "Hey want to hear another joke? It's a bike joke so it's fitting."

"Jimmy, really?" Penny asked him lightheartedly. "I think we heard enough jokes for tonight."

"No, I want to hear it," Macy said encouragingly.

"Okay," Jimmy said excitedly that someone was eager to hear his joke. "Why does a bike stand on one leg?"

"Why?" Macy asked.

"Because it's two-tired! Get it?" Jimmy finished.

Penny and Nick exchanged bored looks with each other but of course, none of them were surprised that Macy got his joke because she was laughing hard again and said, "Two-tired! Hahahahahaha! I get it!"

"Macy…" Nick whispered to her scoldingly.

The food arrived and dinner ran smoothly for the most part except when Penny started feeding Jimmy, which compelled Nick and Macy to do the same thing with each other. But that was nothing compared to what Penny and Jimmy were doing in the movie theatre. Because Penny was right; they really didn't pay $7.50 to watch a movie because half-way through when the serial killer was spreading bloodshed in the quiet suburban town, Nick looked over and saw that Jimmy and Penny were sharing one seat and making out quite aggressively. Nick was overcome with jealousy. What did Penny see in Jimmy, besides an obvious make-out buddy?

"Nick!" Macy hissed at him but he was still appalled by the activity going on next to him so she nudged him on his shoulder and whispered his name even louder.

"What is it?" he snapped because he couldn't stand seeing Penny kissing another guy.

"We need to make out too," Macy answered.

"WHAT?" Nick looked at her like she lost her mind.

"I mean we need to seem like a couple, right?" Macy said and she was about to sit on his lap but Nick stopped her.

"Macy, we're not doing that," Nick said referring to what the couple on his right was doing.

"But we can pretend," Macy pointed out. She really wasn't planning on actually sucking face with him. "Just turn towards we and I'll put my hands on you. Here, let me mess up your hair a bit and I'll mess up mine and…"

She was searching for something in her bag and said, "Here it is. Let me put some colored lip balm on your lips."

"Whoa, Macy, that's taking things a bit too far!" Nick said as he tried to move away from her embrace. "Besides my lips are naturally soft, I don't need that."

"Dummy! It's not for you to have soft lips!" Macy said while chuckling a bit. "I'm just going to dab some on your lips so it will look like I actually kissed you. I mean we are supposed to make out right?"

She did have a point so Nick sighed and nodded his head for her to apply her cherry flavored lip balm on his lips. It really tasted fruity so he didn't really mind. They realized that both Penny and Jimmy won't notice if they were making out or not so they decided to continue watching the movie. At one point when the bloodshed got too intense, Macy screamed and placed her head against Nick's shoulder.

"Mace, it's not that scary," Nick said teasingly. Macy seemed to be such a strong and brave girl so he found it amusing that she can get frightened during bad horror movies because the movie they chose to watch was really bad.

"Well I don't know about you, but getting your head chopped off is pretty darn scary," Macy said as she covered her eyes.

"Macy, that is scary but this movie is just bad in general," Nick answered. "Because they ruined the whole concept of what a scary movie should be like. Instead, every scene is a blood bath and someone dies every two seconds. Where's the suspense in that?"

But Macy wasn't listening to Nick's analysis because the serial killer in the movie was now using a chainsaw to attack an elderly lady. So for a majority of the movie Macy placed her head against Nick's shoulder and surprisingly, Nick didn't mind.

When the movie was over, Macy found herself waiting with Jimmy outside of the theater because Penny had to go back inside and look for her missing earring. Nick decided to help her as Macy took it upon herself to distract Jimmy. She needed Nick and Penny to spend a lot of time alone together so that they can get to know each other if their plan was going to work.

"So did you enjoy the movie?" Jimmy asked her politely.

"Yeah, I found it really scary," Macy answered. "Especially when that old lady was crossing the street and out of nowhere he comes out with that saw! I had to close my eyes for that. And then that other scene with the young couple…that was really heartbreaking…but I mean I…uh… didn't see the whole thing…because I was…uh…making out with Nick. Yeah, I couldn't keep my hands off of him. Hahahaha…"

Jimmy laughed and answered, "Although it seems like you watched more of the movie than Penny and I did. Anyway, I really appreciate you laughing at my jokes during dinner. Penny tries to be kind about it but I know she can't stand them."

"Oh, I wasn't faking it or anything," Macy replied. "I really love hearing corny jokes. Nick hates them but for some reason, I find them completely hilarious. So I'd love to hear any more you have."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jimmy said. "Anyway I was really impressed that you and Nick went white water rafting on your first date. Not many girls appreciate that kind of stuff. You have guts!"

"Well, I love extreme sports," Macy said. "Cliff-diving, bungee diving, sky-diving, you name it and I'm down."

"I would love to take Penny with me and do any of those things because like you, I'm an adrenaline junkie, but she's more into conventional sports," Jimmy explained. "However, my older brother went to these great cliffs off the coast of Brazil and he and his friends go cliff diving there all the time. You should go check it out. Maybe we can all go during summer break some time."

"Definitely!" Macy agreed excitedly. Jimmy was turning out to be someone she can easily talk to.

However, while Macy and Jimmy were bonding outside, Nick was trying his best to strike up a conversation with Penny while looking for her silver loop earring but every attempt he made always ended up with her agreeing with him and that was it. They were practically the same person but in different bodies. However, Nick was determined to find something that they can talk about. But before he could think up of something clever, Penny eventually found her earring. When they went out to join the rest of the gang, they were both surprised to find their respective significant other laughing out loud about something. For some reason, Nick felt uncomfortable and when he reached Macy he instinctively held her hand.

"What's so funny?" he asked her.

"Jimmy was just telling me a joke," Macy said as she tried to suppress her giggles because she knew that annoyed him. "Do you want to hear it?"

"No," Nick said curtly.

They were walking back home since they all lived near by and Macy and Jimmy continued their conversation.

"Yeah, so you should really consider about going on the trip," Jimmy said to Macy.

But before she could answer, she felt Nick squeeze her hand even tighter and asked her. "Trip? What trip?"

"Yeah! And why was I not invited?" Penny asked a bit miffed that Macy was getting her boyfriend's attention.

"We're just talking about going down to Brazil because his brother knows about these wicked cliffs that we can go cliff-diving from," Macy explained. "And it's not just us going! We want you guys to come of course!"

"It could be a fun summer trip we can all take together," Jimmy said.

"I don't know about the cliff-diving," Penny said. "I might not be up for that."

"Me too," Nick piped in. "Extreme sports is not really my thing."

"It's not my thing either," Penny agreed with Nick. "I rather go to the beach and maybe get a tan."

But they didn't realize that Macy and Jimmy were continuing their conversation without them so Nick loudly cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Anyway," Penny said loudly as they reached the corner where they would part ways. "Since we'll be splitting off from here, I just wanted to remind you again about that Children's Leukemia Foundation bike-a-thon, coming up next Saturday. I'll be seeing you both there, right?"

"Definitely," Nick answered.

"I don't know…you see I have this thing," Macy started off saying again and Nick repeated what he did last time and gave her a questioning look.

"What are you talking about, Mace? Of course we're going together," Nick said. "We want to help the children now, don't we?"

"Y-yeah, but…"Macy said hesitantly. She saw that they were all looking at her intently because why would she turn something down which was for a good cause? So she quickly changed her mind. "Okay, sure I think I can…um…get out of that thing I have on Saturday and go to the bike-a-thon."

"Great!" Penny exclaimed. "We'll see you both there!"

The four of them exchanged their good-byes before parting ways. Nick was still holding Macy's hand as he walked her home.

"Macy, what was that about?" Nick asked her questioningly. "Why don't you want to help Penny out in her fundraiser?"

"Well, you see…" Macy said hesitantly again. "I have this…um…appointment…for um… my…ears…to check for my hearing…Yeah that's right! I have a hearing problem!"

Macy nodded her head confidently because she really thought this was a legit excuse but Nick stopped walking to look at her skeptically.

"So you should just go without me," Macy continued. "At least you can have some alone time with Penny."

"I can't go without you! How will it look like for me to leave my girlfriend alone on a Saturday afternoon?" Nick pointed out quite frankly. "Besides, Macy, you don't have a hearing problem."

"Y-yeah, I do! Um…I mean what did you say, Nick? I couldn't hear you," Macy retorted to prove that her excuse was valid.

"MACY! Quit joking around!" Nick cried out frustratingly. "Really! Why don't you want to go next Saturday to the bike-a-thon?"

Macy bit her lip because she never knew she would have to admit something embarrassing as the real reason why she didn't want to go to Penny's event.

"You're going to laugh at me…"Macy said shyly.

"I promise I won't," Nick answered. He was growing really curious as to why Macy had to lie about what she really planned on doing Saturday afternoon.

"You see," Macy started off saying as she looked up at Nick. "I don't know how to ride a bike."

Nick gave her his signature smirk that slowly turned into an amused grin and said, "You can't ride a bike?"

He was doing his best to suppress his laughter.

Macy hit him on the shoulder, and yelled, "You said you wouldn't laugh!"

"Sorry," Nick answered. "It's just really amazing that you, out of all people, the girl who is the captain of ten sports team in our school and who loves jumping off cliffs, can't ride a bike. Isn't that something every child should know how to do? It's like your rite of passage for being a kid."

"Way to make me feel so inferior," Macy said gloomily.

"Okay, I'm sorry," Nick said as he gave her hand a comforting squeeze. "But do you mind me asking why you never learned? Did you just not like bikes in general?"

"No, it's not that," Macy answered. "My dad passed away when I was really young so I never learned and my mom was too busy trying to make ends meet so she never had time to teach me or my brother. So I just kind of forgot about it and never really pushed the matter."

"Oh," Nick said. That was a good reason.

They walked silently until they reached Macy's place.

"So tonight was sort of a success?" Macy asked Nick as she turned to face him.

"Yeah, it kind of was," Nick answered. "I think we pulled if off."

"Definitely. I don't think they suspected a thing," Macy replied happily as she started to approach her house. "So, Nick, this is my house. I got to go."

"Yeah," Nick said casually.

But he didn't realize that Macy was staring intently at his hand which was still holding onto hers tightly.

"Nick…um…you should let me go," Macy said bluntly.

"What?" Nick said and when he realized what he was doing he quickly let go off her hand while blushing and said nervously. "Sorry about that."

"So I'll see you in school?" Macy asked him as she tried to recover from that awkward moment between them. It felt like she had butterflies in her stomach.

"Yeah, I'll see you," Nick answered. He started feeling strange around her. He didn't know why…and because he didn't know what to do next, he quickly leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Macy could feel her cheeks burning up because she didn't expect Nick to give her a good-night kiss. It was nice.

"G-good-night," Macy said as she felt her heart rate speed up.

"Night," Nick replied as he too felt his heart beating rapidly. This was getting a bit weird.

The next day, Macy wanted to sleep in because she got back around 10pm last night after the whole double date thing. But there was a pounding on her bedroom door that was determined to wake her up.

"GO AWAY!" Macy yelled as she put a pillow over her head to drown out the noise.

"MACY!" her mother called. "You have a visitor. It's Nick. He's waiting for you downstairs."

Macy immediately sat up. She wasn't expecting him to come over so she rushed down the stairs and saw Nick waiting on the porch.

"What on earth are you doing here, Nick?" Macy asked him.

He gave her a helmet and said, "Come on, Macy, dress up. I'm giving you a second chance to be a kid again."

"Huh?" Macy asked him confused.

Nick sighed because it really wasn't that hard to figure out what he was doing there.

"I'm going to teach you how to ride a bike," he answered simply and pointed to the bike he brought with him.

Macy stared at Nick and at the bike and smiled to herself. She never knew Nick could be full of surprises.


Closing Remarks:

Slowly but surely, the lines are starting to get blurred between Nick and Macy. How will their romance progress? or will they try to fight any form of attraction that they have for one another? What do you guys think will happen next? I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Expect things to pick up in the future chapters.

FYI I actually had to look online for the bad jokes Jimmy told them during dinner. LOL.

Once again, I'm still busy with school so it's going to take me a while to update this. I hope you enjoy the story so far. REVIEW. The excitement that all of you guys have expressed about this story motivates me to try and update this thing as fast as possible.

-Penelope36