We sit in the shuttle, shielded, a little ways from Minerva's house. It seems as though Butler can't choose which emotion to portray after I tell him what happened. It flips through amusement, pride, and shock, and more than once Butler seems like he will start laughing at me. Luckily he is trained for this restraint. I left out the part where we were kissing on the couch, but Butler's expression tells me he can guess what happened. I ended my story with how I need to call her later and plan a date.

"So Butler, I need your help."

"Clearly," he says with a smirk.

"Hey! I didn't do that bad on my own!"

"You're right," he concedes, "but the fight's only just started."

Only Butler would compare my love life to a fight, I think with a laugh. "Yes. I need to plan a spectacular date that can be flexible on time depending what day she's free. It has to be fun and romantic, without being too cliché. Not that I would even know what is cliché or not."

"Why don't you just find out the day she's available first, and then plan it?" suggests Butler.

"I can't, because then I seem unprepared."

"Hmph," Butler grunts. "Why don't you tell her it's a surprise? That way you can plan whatever you want, and you can seem prepared."

"That's it! Genius, Butler!" He seems pleased. "That still doesn't address the main issue: What will I do for the date?"

"Let's make a list! You love lists."

"I loved lists. Right now I don't care for them, but we can give it a try."

Butler finds a pad of paper and a pen, and we spend the next hour brainstorming. At the end our list and notes looked like this:

(Butler's ideas in italics and Artemis' ideas underlined)

Ziplining- Fun, but too risky, she may hate heights. No alone time.

Candlelight dinner out- Romantic, but too boring. Not original enough.

Paintballing- Amusing, but too painful. Too much athletics. Not romantic.

Movie- Can be romantic and fun, but too cliché. No thought put into it.

Travel- Romantic and original, but Minerva said it would be weird.

Hot air balloon- Romantic, original, fun. Risky if she hates heights. Alone time.

Finally on our 6th idea, we found the winner. I was trained in hot air balloon flight before the whole Atlantis Complex. By some miracle I am actually able to remember this, so I could man the balloon myself, and therefore have plenty of romantic alone time with Minerva. As Butler reminded numerous times, I'm screwed if she's afraid of heights. I'll hope for the best, and see how it goes.

"This time actually give her the gift, ok?" Butler says, half-scolding, half-joking.

"I will, don't worry," I reassure him. I didn't exactly tell him that I gave Minerva a different "gift", but just said I forgot because I was too nervous. He didn't need to know. "So I need to get a phone now. What's in these days, Butler?"

"I have this beautiful one, GPS capability, satellite connection, thermal energy detector, camera wiper, the whole deal. Top of the line, and a personal favorite."

"Butler! I'm trying to seem normal! I don't want to seem like some sort of spy who's constantly in danger." Before Butler can remind me that I actually used to be this, I press on. "What's popular with regular kids my age?" I clarify.

"Oh. Well the main categories are Blackberries, Iphones, or regular phones. Iphones are top of the line, fancy and chic phones. Blackberries are good for social media and keeping in touch. Other phones can be slide, flip, or touch."

"I don't want to seem too fancy, though!"

"Don't worry; even 10 year olds have these phones now. It's a little scary."

"If you say so. Let's go take a look and I'll see which one I like." We guide the shuttle toward the nearest electronics store and I browse around the models. I touch all the touch screens, flip all the phones, slide all the keyboards, and press all the buttons. I test cameras, music, ringtones, reception, and check out different colours. It is a long and tedious process, but I finally decide on a phone.

"This one," I tell Butler.

"Finally! Took you long enough! Are you sure you don't want a Blackberry or Iphone?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I want to seem normal, but not like every other person on the planet."

The phone I chose had a slide-out keyboard, as well as the option to type on the touch screen. It had a camera and could play music you put on it. It was black and white, and was relatively small compared to the other monstrosities.

We walk up to a salesperson to buy the phone and set up a plan. It's boring, but I try to pay attention to what I can and cannot do on my phone. My plan covers talk and text, and allows limited internet searches and picture messages. Minerva will be so impressed. When we finally finish and leave, I program Minerva's number, as well as a few others, into my phone. I decide to wait until after supper to call her. If she wants to create suspense, I'll just wait longer to play along, and see how she likes it.

The time drags by as I wait for it to be late enough to call. I run through what I hope to say to her.

"Hello Minerva. How are you? I miss you already! I know this is shocking, but would you like to go on a date with me?" She'll check her calendar, and agree of course, and I'll say "Lovely, splendid!" She'll ask where we'll go, and I'll simply reply with, "That is a surprise! It wouldn't be nearly as much fun if it wasn't! Just meet me in Roundabout Park at 6pm on your requested day." It will be classy, and I'll sound cool and collected.

I take a deep breath and pull up her number on my phone. I quickly call her before I get too nervous. My anxiety is stupid; she's already agreed to go out. Nevertheless my stomach has battling butterflies in it. A voice is on the other line, interrupting my thoughts.

"Hello?"

I clear my throat nervously. "Hi. It's Artemis."

"Oh hey! What's up?"

I am unused to this kind of banter, so I freeze for a second. Then I remember an old joke I heard somewhere.

"The ceiling!"

She laughs. "Nice one. So what would be the purpose of your call?" I would bet anything that she was grinning while saying that.

"Well… I was wondering if you'd like to go out with me." My prior planning is gone, and I am left making up my dialogue as I go.

"Hm… Let me check. I'll see if I can fit you in between all my numerous lovers." She covers her receiver with her hand, but I hear papers rustling. "It seems I'm free Friday. How's that?"

Today is Wednesday, so waiting until Friday will be killer. I try not to show this. "Sure, sounds great. How about you meet me at 6?"

She giggles. "Where are we going, silly? Don't you think 6am is a little early?"

"Not am, PM!" I groan. She really enjoys making this difficult. "I can't tell you what we're doing, it's a surprise! Just meet me at Roundabout Park at 6PM." I manage to regain the composure I planned before I called.

"Ooooh so mysterious! I like it. How do I dress though? I need to be prepared."

"Just dress in your usual gorgeous way, and I'll provide the rest. Don't worry about a thing!"

"Ok…" she says skeptically.

"Trust me." I add in a low voice, "You'll definitely need to for our date."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, nothing! I can't wait to see you, and I'll text you later!"

"Bye!"

"Bye," I say, as I hang up.

I start hollering inside the shuttle and do a tiny dance. Unfortunately Butler sees me, and even his super control can't prevent him from laughing at me this time. I would normally be embarrassed, but I'm too happy to be bothered right now.

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