A date. A date. This is crazy. This is just like a dream. This is unbelievable. I can't believe this is happening.
"Rachel," Number One interrupted her thoughts and she twirled back as her hair swished to turn toward him.
"Number One," she said.
He took long glances at her, "Wow, you look . . . great. Great, I mean, ho-ho-um," He clears his throat, "What I mean to say is that I think you look . . . lovely, very lovely."
"Ey, Numbah One!" Number Four called from afar. "Quit slackin' off! Wouldn't you mind helpin' your buds out?"
"Wally, please! I'm sure you can take it. Just look at those muscles pop!" Lizzie was thrilled as he struggled to carry the cooler.
Number Four gave a shy laugh, "Yeah, thanks."
Number Five and Number Two dashed around with water guns and made noises, "Oh check it out, Number Two! It's Number Four! Come on; let's go get 'em!"
They ran toward him and chucked the water guns to spray Number Four and they ran away laughing, "Oh great! This is the worst picnic ever!"
"Oh, Wally." Lizzie sighed and grabbed tissues to help him out.
"So wait, you brought the whole Kids Next Door on the date?" Rachel asked.
"Oh yes." Number One's smile slowly faded as the look on Rachel's face was stern. "Is it a problem?"
She sighed, "No, Number One it's . . . never mind. This is," she shook her head and gave a laugh, "I mean, it's cool. We're hanging out after all."
"Rachel?"
"Look, I'm just . . . gonna go to the restroom. I'll be back soon." She started walking away.
"Rachel wait, where are you going? Do you," Number One sighs, "She doesn't even know where she's going. She's headed for the caves."
"Yo, Number One look out!" Number Two chuckled as Number Five squirted water at him.
"Yeah, baby! We got 'em!" They slapped high-fives.
"Oh great," Number One wiped off the water with his hands. He huffed and walked near the shore as he let the water rise to his feet.
"Sweet!" The roars of the waves caught Number Two's attention. "Hey, feel like catching some waves?"
"Yeah," she stared off to Number One, "just give me a sec." She jogged over to Number One as the sand weighed her down, "hey, what's gotten you down?" She sat beside him as his hands were crossed over his knees.
"I," He started to pick at the sand, "I've just been thinking. I think Rachel's upset that I've brought all of you to our date."
"I knew this was a date!"
"Well yeah, didn't I tell you guys?"
"Well, you brought us along; I thought you meant it as a hang out. I didn't think you strictly meant it as . . . uh . . . well I mean you know, a date."
"But it is a date."
"Yeah, I get that." Number Five relaxed, "Look, of course she'd be upset. This thing was supposed to be special and something to impress her." She shook her head as she sighed, "Oh, Numbah One, Numbah One."
He laughed as a scoff as he fell his head back and closed his eyes, "Wow. What do you think I should do?"
"Maybe you should get your butt off and go after her. Ruining your first date with her." She chuckled, "Gosh, Numbah One. Where'd she run off to anyways?"
"She said she wanted to go to the restroom but she headed for the caves."
"Numbah One, that's perfect! You can get things sorted when you're alone and maybe even a little bonus action." Her eyebrows quirked up playfully.
He dusted off his shorts and smirked as he strolled away, "Pshh, whatever."
"Hey. Ready, Number Five?" Number Two stood in front of Number Five with the board up at his side.
"Yeah," she smiled widely, "of course, but you kind of got to teach me before I beat your butt."
"Oh, in your dreams!" They ran toward the waves.
"Hey, watch it you two! You almost crashed my sand castle I finished two minutes ago and you almost stepped on Mr. Pumpkin's leg!" Number Three yelled under the big beach umbrella.
"Rachel?" Number One called as he neared the caves. "Rachel? Rachel!" The rustle of footsteps gave shivers at Number One's neck, "Rachel, please come out. Can we just talk?" He took one look out and groaned before taking a step inside the caves.
The giggles and skitters came louder as Number One got deeper into the cave and the darkness began to swallow him even further. The dew of the floor's caves even made Number One slip continuous times. "God, this place is a nightmare." He muttered. "I just hope she's here or else that'd make me a fool." He sighs before calling her again, "Rachel? Rachel?"
"Who's that?" A voice whispers.
"I don't know whatever. Let's just go further. It doesn't matter."
"Hey!" Number One sprints over to the voices, "Hey, Rachel!"
"Come on, he's coming over."
"Rachel!" He runs into the two who were playing in the cave.
"Numbah One?"
"Lizzie? Number Four? What are you doing in the cave?"
"What are you doing in the cave?" Number Four throws the question back at him.
"I was looking for Rachel."
"Oh, 'd you get into some sticky situation again, mm?"
"You're avoiding my question." Number One crossed his arms and Number Four's head hung low as he rubbed the back of his head.
"You see . . . we uh . . .," he chuckled as his arms motioned to help explain his story, but it still wasn't clear with his words, "And then, he chuckled, "so . . . uh . . . yeah."
"Wait," Number One's face scrunched up and shook his head, "what?"
"It's none of your business, Nigel." Lizzie hooked her arm with Number Four, "Now if you don't mind, we're going to get some hotdogs."
"Yeah! Hotdogs!" Number Four puffed his chest and swished their arms together.
Number One sighs, "Rachel, are you in here?" He went further. "Rachel? Rachel?" At the end of the cave, he found Rachel sitting with her legs close to her chest. "Did you think I wouldn't have found you?" He sat beside her in the same way.
She sniffed and cleared her throat. A shaky breath left with a sad smile, "I was thinking I wouldn't have passed your mind."
"I was waiting for you and I kind of wanted to talk with you. So I looked for you," he looked toward the ground, "I looked so far I even thought you kinf of actually did find the bathroom." He took a breath, "Rachel,"
"Number One, why am I here?"
"You kind of ended up here."
"That's not what I meant."
"Right, um . . . I," a shrill screech came outside of the cave near the others. Number One immediately stood, "That sounds like the Kids Next Door."
"Number One," She grabbed his wrist with a look in her eyes.
"We're going to talk about this later." Number One says sternly and she sighs. They both ran toward the beach near their friends as their hands were locked together.
As they reached their friends, a giant squid already had Number Two and Number Five wrapped in a tentacle. "Let me go, you disgusting sea dummy!" Number Five yells as they squirm and kick back and forth.
"Number One, what do we do?" Number Three yells.
"Kids Next Door," he raises his sunglasses up with a finger, "we might have to improvise."
"Wait, what?" Number Four yells.
"Grab the watermelons and we need a big rubber band."
"Um . . . I have a hair tie." Rachel says.
"I have a hair tie too." Lizzie says.
"Well, I don't." Number Three says.
"Got any other brilliant ideas, genius?"
"Alright, well they don't need to be big rubber bands, but they need enough elasticity to,"
"Hey, Numbah One! Over here!" Number Five calls to them. "You see this? Yeah, it's me and Numbah Two getting eaten. Alive! Sound fun to you? Come on, hurry up, brotha'!"
"I . . . uh . . ."
"Here," Rachel brings out a button that activates her own machine and it automatically flies from elsewhere and lands in front of her.
"Where was she hiding that button?" Number Four asks.
The pieces of the machine lock onto Rachel as she's set to fight the beast. Her fists are loaded out ready and her feet ignite and boost as she's ready to glide on the ocean. "Wait, what," A tentacle latched onto Rachel's equipment as she struggled to get out. She shoots out an arm at the squid's head. The squid's head has been scratched and it has been angered.
"Yikes, it doesn't look happy." Number Four commented.
Rachel shoots her other arm but it loops at another angle and heads for the ocean. Her feet disassemble and go straight for the ocean too. "Oh crap," she mutters.
"Uh . . . Oh God," Number One scratches his head, "Okay, Lizzie how many hair ties do you have?"
"Only two."
"Uh," Number One looks around and picks up Rachel's hair tie that's been slipped off her hand before she locked into her machine suit. "Alright, here's the plan. Lizzie, may you give us your hair ties?" Lizzie slips off her hair ties and lends them to Number One, "Then we chuck hot coal to that squid monster."
"Are you mad? How are we ever gonna pick up the coal if their hot?" Number Four argues.
"Easy, we use these cooking gloves."
"They're called mittens, Nigel."
"Number One!" They yelled.
Number One rushed toward the grill with the mittens on and started to chuck the coal at the squid. "Cook some coal, Lizzie!"
"On it!"
"Here we go, ugly! We're gonna take you down and get out friends back!" Number Four chucked the coals at the squid.
"Hi-ya! Give back Number Two and Number Five, you big meany!" Number Three shot the squid's eye and tentacles.
"Nice shot, Numah Three!"
The squid roared with a cry. Its tentacles swished back and forth to block the attacks then finally it dropped all of them into the ocean.
"Rachel!" Number One ran to her and swam in the ocean to reach her. "Okay, I've got you." He helped her breathe. "Are you alright?"
She nodded and spit out some water. She wiped her eyes from the water, "Let's just go back to the shore."
"Yeah, okay." He nodded his head and helped her swim back to the sand.
"Thanks, Number One. We're fine too." Number Two says as he and Number Five swam back to shore.
"Sorry," Number One looks at his feet as he was sitting the sand as just before with Rachel.
"Oh, its fine. I mean," Number Five nudged Number Two on the shoulder, "Never mind." They walked away and left Number One and Rachel to talk.
"Rachel, I'm sorry a-about everything. The date, the cave, the squid thing. Everything. I really wanted this to be a date, but I . . . it seems things have been ruined."
"Number One," she sighs.
"No, I've made plenty of mistakes and I should've planned better. I . . . I'm so sorry, Rachel."
"Number One, it's alright."
"But Rachel,"
"Honestly Number One, you're being too hard on yourself." She looked at him with a small smile and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Let's look on the brighter side of things, you looked for me in the cave which means you care, you saved us from the giant squid, and well I'd say your friends being here weren't all that bad." She smiles and laughs softly, "This date wasn't that bad, Number One."
"Really?" He raises his eyebrows in a surprise.
"Yeah, it was a bit refreshing."
A horn honked, "Rachel!" Rachel's mom's head popped out of the car door's window.
"Oh God, that's my mom." She blushed as she was embarrassed.
"Well, she seems lovely." Number One complimented.
Rachel laughed, "Yeah, yeah definitely." She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "so do you think we should do this again."
"I . . . oh yes, of course!" He made a shy laugh. "Yes, yes without the whole squid thing and everything." His hands started to tangle behind him. "So maybe next week?"
"Didn't you say that's Kuki's birthday?"
"That's on Friday. I was thinking Saturday."
"Well, then I'm thinking that everything will go great."
"Great."
"No adults, right?" She checked.
"I don't plan on it,"
"Well,"
"So,"
Number One rocked on his feet awkwardly and Rachel pushed sand left and right with her foot as they both looked away from each other's eyes.
"Rachel!" Rachel's mom honked the horn again.
Rachel kisses Number One's cheek and skips to her car as she waves back, "Bye, Number One!"
"It's Nigel," he mutters as he's swept away from her kiss.
"Rachel T. Mckenzie, what do you think you're doing kissing boys!" Rachel's mom scolds her as she starts up the enginge.
As the sun sets that day, Number One receives a text from his communicator.
Rachel
I had fun, what about you
Number One
Yeah, I had a lot of fun. I still feel really sorry about everything
Rachel
Don't worry about it, you could make up for it next week remember?
Number One
Of course, I'm looking forward to it.
Rachel
So am I, Number One
Number One
I prefer it if you call me Nigel.
Rachel
Oh okay, Nigel
Number One
Would you mind if I asked you a question?
Rachel
Lol, that was a question
Number One
What I meant to say is . . . Are we dating?
Number One waited for her text,
Number One
Rachel?
Rachel
Id like it if we were
Number One
I'd like it if we were too
Rachel
Then Im glad our feelings are mutual
Number One
Then you wouldn't mind if I initiate operation d.a.t.i.n.g.u., would you?
Rachel
Wait, what?
Rachel
Oh, lol youre still on about that thing. But I thought you said youre free from adults next week?
Number One
I am, Rachel. Operation: d.a.t.i.n.g.u.
Determined
Affection
Toward
Individual
Notably
Given
Unconditionally
Rachel
Lol. Well, you certainly didnt forget an 'i' there
Number One
What do you mean?
Rachel
Oh, nevermind I'll see you then, Nigel
"Hey, Number Five, you know we still haven't loaded those fireworks from yesterday." Number Two said as they all laid on the sand staring at the sky with the peaceful waves rocking back and forth.
"Yeah, but none of us brought t.o.y.b.o.t."
"We don't need to. Look," He pulled out a button from his backpack, "Would you do the honors?"
"This is just too good." She took the button and pressed it as fireworks activated and the sky erupted with booming colors.
Author's Note: So this is the end of D.A.T.I.N.G.U. I really appreciate anyone who's been reading this story and anyone who's been following along. I'd hope you would comment, favorite, or follow the story. Stay awesome, dudes!