Tobey froze.
"Tobey?"
He came off the bench and kneeled before the bushes."Are you... sure?" He spoke into the darkness.
"Think about it!" WordGirl's face came a little towards the light. "We wouldn't have to hide anymore! Those boys that walked by? They couldn't make fun of you. They'd see there was a girl to have those flowers. In fact, we wouldn't have to meet in a desolate park at night! We could be seen in public," WordGirl whispered in excitement, "during the day!"
"I just don't know... I mean—"
"We could go to the ice cream shop together! And..." she sighed, and a gloved hand came on top of his. "hold hands walking through town square... don't you want to hold my hand and not a glove?"
"That does sound nice but—"
"And making-out in the hallway between classes?"
Tobey gasped. "You go to my school?...Violet...?"
"You'll never know unless you agree to this. But no, I'm not Violet."
"I can't believe you would trust me that much."
"Hey. I trust you a lot." WordGirl reached through the bushes and kissed him. "It's not like I can consider you a villain anymore. You haven't done any destruction with your robots since we started dating."
"Well, all that was for your attention..."
"Come on Tobey... we aren't in elementary school anymore."
"Okay, but what if we... breakup?"
"I trust you enough to not take any hard feeling... from whatever happens, and use my secret against me... and take it as you will, but this is my way of saying I don't think that will happen anytime soon."
"Oh but... Emily?"
"Guess again."
"I'm just afraid you'll regret this." Her face was hidden just enough to cover her WordGirl hood. If he looked hard enough he see her face in a different context maybe he could tell... He couldn't look. He felt dishonest in trying to even guess her secret identity. Nothing about it felt right.
"Tobey, there's nothing to regret. This is my identity and we have more to gain than we have to loose. I wish we could have started out this way actually. Will you trust me?"
Tobey couldn't fight her on this. "Okay."
She kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Tobey! And I know what you're thinking... yes this is the end of 'Tobey and WordGirl.' But I'll still be me. I promise I don't change between each costume. And actually, I think I'm much prettier as a normal sixteen-year-old girl."
Tobey just nodded. Though, he wasn't sure he'd like her the same at all. This felt like some horrible breakup, with a replacement girlfriend sent in the makeup for things... he didn't like the most of the girls his age. He'd hate to have to pin the label of "WordGirl" on one and have to deal with how he thought of her before...
"Great! So, I'll meet you by the downstairs water fountains tomorrow morning." She held up looped fingers to her eyes to make a mask. "As my alter ego!"
Tobey reached behind him and brought out the flowers from earlier. This really wasn't the end... and he would do anything for his dearest WordGirl. If this wasn't the disaster he was anticipating, it could actually be really nice. PDA just wasn't an option before; unthinkable when considering WordGirl's safety. Yet now he'd be more than happy to show the world how he cared for her... who ever she was...
WordGirl saw the flowers and how placid Tobey was being against the whole issue. She pulled him into the bushes with her for a passionate kiss.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Tobey!" WordGirl released a blushing Tobey back onto the park path and flew home.
"Goodnight WordG— ah, whoever you are."
Even though this is only the second 3-shot I've ever made, I find them to be quite satisfying. The conclusion next week! Thanks for reading!