Bitter Sweetwater, Part One

Monday

Adyson paced her room anxiously. With every lap that she made, she glanced back at her cell phone. Katie said she'd call her back as soon as she got home, she was utterly adamant about not using her own cell phone at all while driving. It was an admirable attitude to have, but the waiting was driving Adyson even crazier than she already was at the moment. She had a lot on her mind, and Katie was the only one she knew she could vent to about it. Just as she contemplated calling her again anyway, her phone rang anyway announcing with its customized ringtone that Katie was indeed home now.

"Sorry that took so long," Katie said immediately after Adyson had picked up. "Traffic was a little hectic coming back from the dance studio. So what's up?"

"What's up," Adyson repeated, unable to believe Katie's ignorance. "Nothing! That's what's up."

"Um…okaaaay…"

"Katie, the Fourth of July is only a week away and I haven't done anything really fun yet this summer!"

"What about our trip to Slushy Dawg?"

"Anything fun that doesn't involve putting on rose-colored glasses."

"Fair enough. But what can I do about it, Adyson? You're the only one who can control that. You know what you consider to be fun better than anyone else, and it's not like you've got anything else going on right now."

"I know, I know. I just…I needed someone to vent to, and maybe get some ideas from is all. I don't want my summer to go to waste, but I can't seem to think of anything to do. And what's worse, I can't find anyone to do anything with! Most of the girls have their boyfriends to turn to, and you and Holly have been busy preparing for the music and dance recital."

"You know there is one person you could turn to," Katie said suggestively.

Adyson rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "And do what? Katie, Django and I have so little in common anymore I'd probably just end up yelling at him again for whatever we tried to do together. He's a nice guy, and I don't want to put myself in a situation where I'd get intentionally mad at him."

"Is that really what's stopping you, or is it that you're afraid that spending time alone with him would finally get you to admit that you actually do like him more than you say?"

"Katie, do yourself a favor: stick to dancing. You're terrible as a psychiatrist."

"Fine, fine. Well look, moping around your room isn't going to solve anything. I may not have any ideas for you, but the other girls might."

"But what about their boyfriends? I'll just be getting in the way."

"Oh come on, Adyson, they don't spend every waking minute with their guys. I've even spent some time here and there with them this summer, and they each have said they'd love some time to reconnect with you some more."

"Really?"

"On my honor as a Fireside Girl, I swear it's the truth. So just call 'em up and see when they have time to spare. I'm sure one of them will have an idea to help you liven up your summer."

"I guess it can't hurt to try. But who should I call first?"

"Well if you're trying to make a schedule…"

"Right. Ginger. Thanks, Katie. I'll catch up with you later."

Adyson hung up with Katie and, after grabbing a notebook to act as an impromptu day planner, she set to calling her friends one by one to see about when she could make time to see them; and, hopefully, find a way to inject some much needed fun into her summer.

Tuesday

Adyson approached Ginger's home hopeful that the Japanese girl could help her figure out how to make her summer a little more fun and interesting. Admittedly, she knew Ginger wasn't the most outgoing and exciting of the girls, but maybe she had a different perspective on things that would help energize her life a bit. At the very least she could probably help Adyson organize herself a bit better so she could more easily participate in fun activities. She pushed the doorbell and waited patiently for it to be answered. Within moments she heard rapid footsteps approaching the door and took a step back to be safe. The door flew open as Stacy poked her head out with a cheesy grin that quickly disappeared once she saw that it wasn't Baljeet at the door.

"Oh, hey there," Stacy said disappointedly. She turned back into the house and shouted, "Oi, Ginger! Anta no tomodachi ga kita wa yo."

"Hontou ni derikashii ga nain desu ne, onee-san," Ginger said as she passed by her sister to greet Adyson. "Hey Adyson, c'mon back to my room. We can chill out there so we won't be bothered by raving lunatics."

"Uh…okay," Adyson said uneasily. Once they were closer to Ginger's room she whispered, "Do you guys always do that?"

"Do what," Ginger asked. "The passive-aggressive thing? More or less."

"Actually I meant talk in Japanese at home."

"Oh that. Yup. It's a house rule. When it's just family around, English is off-limits. When we have non-Japanese guests around, we limit the Japanese usage."

"I guess that makes sense. So what were you saying to your sister?"

"Oh don't mind that. She's just trying to be a pain as usual."

"Guess I'll have to take your word for it."

The two entered Ginger's room, and Ginger made doubly certain her door was locked. Then she took a seat on her bed as Adyson sat in the office chair that was at her desk.

"So you're worried about wasting your summer," Ginger asked.

"In a nutshell, yeah," Adyson replied. "I can't seem to find anything fun to get into, but part of me got to wondering if it's because I'm not using my time properly."

Ginger grinned widely. "Well you came to the right place for help with that. I can definitely help you get back on track. Do you have any kind of organization system that you like to use already?"

Adyson stared at her blankly. "Organization system?"

"You know, a particular style or layout of programs or pages that helps you keep track of things."

Adyson held up her notebook and smiled sheepishly. "Uh…I have the notebook I grabbed yesterday. Does that count?"

Ginger looked thoroughly unimpressed at the simple single-subject notebook Adyson held up.

"What about your cell phone? Does it have any apps on it you use?"

"Um…it makes phone calls well enough. And I can text on it pretty well."

Ginger's eye twitched slightly. "Wow. We've definitely got some work to do then. Okay, let's start from the absolute basics. We'll get you set up with a day planner."

"Those things are so expensive, though. Where am I gonna get the money to afford one?"

"Oh don't be silly, Addie, you can have one of my old ones."

As Ginger walked over to one of her dresser drawers, Adyson figured she only had maybe a couple of old planners to choose from and felt fortunate to have a friend as generous as her. She was, thus, quite shocked when Ginger removed the entire drawer and put it on her bed. Half of the drawer had clothes impeccably folded and stored; the rest of the space was taken up by empty day planners of such a wide variety that Ginger could probably open her own office supply chain with them.

"Good God, Ginger, how many freakin' planners do you have?"

Ginger stepped back and looked over her collection proudly. "At last count, thirty-seven. Though there's a new line coming out next month for back-to-school, so I'll probably add a few more then. Pick any one you want, really."

Adyson ran her hands through her hair as she forced herself to not ask why Ginger had so many and simply began looking through them for one she liked. Not wanting to spend too much time fussing over the matter, she quickly settled on a simple brown leather one with a snap clasp. Once that was set, Ginger started showing her different types of pages to fill it with: calendar pages, note pages, to-do lists, dividers, and many more.

"These all look alike to me," Adyson said, trying to keep her eyes from going crossed from looking at all the pages which, to her, seemed far too similar.

"Trust me, they each serve a function and they'll revolutionize how you keep your life in order," Ginger told her. She was about to show her how to organize the pages properly when the doorbell rang once again.

"Shimatta," Ginger muttered.

Before Adyson could ask what was up, Ginger had unlocked her door and was quickly heading to the front door to answer it. Adyson tried to gather up her planner and all the pages and follow. As soon as she stepped into the hall, however, she was bowled over by Stacy who went racing past her. Adyson hit the floor while her planner pages went flying everywhere. Her head spun a bit as she tried to get up with limited success. She felt someone take her hand and help her up while she got her bearings again. As she squeezed the hand slightly she noticed it felt a bit rough. As her hand was squeezed in return, she finally looked at who had helped her up and was suddenly quite surprised.

"You alright, Addie," Django asked, looking at her with concern. "Looks like you got run over here. Fortunately I saw the license plate of the Stacy that hit you."

"Django, what're you doing here," she asked, still in a bit of a daze.

"I came over with Baljeet. He's told me so much about how Ginger's helped him get organized that I thought I'd check it out myself. I could use some help figuring out how to sort my art projects after all. Plus it sounds kinda interesting, in a Zen sorta way."

"Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense. But, uh, where's Ginger?"

"I think she's still up front arguing with Stacy. She's pretty hacked off at her, especially since she knocked you down trying to get to the front door. 'Jeet's trying to calm them down, but there's lots of Japanese being thrown around so I came to check on you. I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, thanks, I…" Adyson stopped as she had just realized she was still holding Django's hand. She quickly let go and decided to try and collect the papers that were strewn all over the hall.

"Can I lend a hand," Django asked, squatting down beside her.

"I, uh…if you don't mind. There's a lot of these pages after all."

Django smiled at her and began helping collect papers with her. As they worked, Adyson stole a couple of glances at him without his realizing. She had only recently conceded to herself that she indeed found him cute, but now she had Katie's words to her from yesterday bugging her as well. She pondered a bit whether she actually was harboring any deeper feelings for the young artist. He had proven himself to be honest and trustworthy, not to mention he'd been able to make her laugh after their ordeal on the road. And then there was all their history from before he moved to consider as well. Her introspection was abruptly cut off when Ginger and Baljeet joined them in the hall.

"Mattaku, ano baka wa hontouni muchakucha da wa," Ginger grumbled. "Are you alright, Addie? I'm so sorry for what Stacy did to you."

"I'm alright, Ginger," Adyson told her, managing a smile. "Nothing I'm not used to. I am 'Accident Prone' Sweetwater, after all."

"Let us at least help you clean this up," Baljeet told her. "The sooner it's done the sooner we can relax where everyone can feel more at east."

With Ginger and Baljeet's help, the mess was quickly cleared and the four retreated to Ginger's room once again. Adyson sat trying to sort through all the planner pages they'd picked up, though found herself continually distracted by Django, who was talking with both Ginger and Baljeet about his concerns regarding organizing his art projects.

'Why is this bothering me so much,' she thought as she started paying less and less attention to what she was doing with her planner pages. 'It's Katie's fault, isn't it? She's the one who mentioned that I might like Django more than I admit and now that idea is stuck in my head.'

Adyson stopped sorting pages and hung her head, sighing quietly. 'No, that's not right. The truth is I've been thinking about this for weeks now. Ever since his welcome back party, even. But…he's just a friend, right? I mean, even if I did feel something deeper for him - not that I do of course; he's still a slovenly hippie after all. But still…even if I did like him like that, he's never shown that kind of interest in me.'

Adyson was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even register Ginger taking the planner out of her hands and looking over her progress.

"Uh, Adyson," she said, looking over the planner with a raised eyebrow. "You've got everything out of order in here, hon."

Adyson shook herself out of her daze and looked up at Ginger in confusion. "Huh? It seemed like it made sense to me."

"Addie, you've got calendar pages mixed with to-do lists and five dividers all separating just one page each. "

"And that's…wrong?"

"Adyson's always had her own way of doing things," Django noted, smiling over at her. "Remember your baking soda volcano in second grade?"

"Oh, those are always a classic science fair project," Baljeet said excitedly. "How'd it go over?"

"Oh it went over all right," Django told him. "And over and over and over and over…"

"Hey, I was just trying to make a good impression on the teacher," Adyson said defensively. "How was I supposed to know how much baking soda and vinegar was too much?"

"Addie, it covered the entire floor," Django reminded her. "We spent the rest of the day sitting on our desks."

Adyson blushed from the embarrassment brought on by remembering the incident. Between the fiasco her attempt at organization had become and now this, it was too much for her to bear.

"I think I'm just gonna head home for today," she said, handing her planner back to Ginger. "This stuff just seems too complicated for me, Ginger. Thanks anyway."

"Addie I was just having some fun with you," Django told her as he got up quickly. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"I know, Django. It's just…" Adyson found herself at a loss for words as she looked back at him. "I'm sorry, my head's just not in this right now. And I don't want to ruin everyone else's good time. I'll catch you guys later."

Without another word, Adyson unlocked the door to Ginger's room and left. She heard Django call after her, but ignored it. This day's attempt at getting her summer back on track had been a failure. Hopefully tomorrow would be more fruitful.

Wednesday

Adyson couldn't help but notice the impressive landscaping around Gretchen's house as she parked her bike just outside the front door. She rang the doorbell and then took a moment to look around at all of the flowers, which were bursting with color and stood in stark contrast to the black mulch beneath them.

"Like the flowers," Gretchen asked, sneaking up on Adyson a bit as she leaned out of her front door.

"You guys really have quite a beautiful garden going here," Adyson told her. "My mom would love to know who your landscaper is."

"Actually, you'll get to meet him in a little while. He's coming over for lunch."

"Oh? You're that familiar with him?"

"I should be. I've been dating him for almost a year now."

Adyson did a double-take, looking between the garden and Gretchen. "Wait…Ferb did all this?"

Gretchen nodded as she led Adyson into the house. "In years past my dad did the work, but his back's been really bad lately so we asked Ferb to help a while back. He ended up doing most of it himself, and we've just had to do the maintenance. My folks were so thankful that he now has a standing invite to join us for lunch or dinner anytime."

Adyson laughed a little at the idea of the arrangement. "I'm sure that's a great reward for him in more than one way."

"Heh, yeah he certainly does appreciate the food. And getting to spend time with Ferb and my family is pretty great too."

"Well I'm glad for you guys. You seem to really be enjoying this summer so far, unlike me."

"We're going to try and fix that here today. My thinking was maybe you need something you can really get yourself into. You don't have any hobbies, right?"

"Nope. None. What'd you have in mind?"

"Well, how about cooking? We're coming up on lunch anyway; you can help me get stuff ready."

"Sure. I've helped my mom cook a bit before. It is a little fun, I guess."

"It's lots of fun once you get some practice and start trying stuff out. And lunch today is super easy. I'm grilling bratwurst and making some pasta salad to go with it."

"Can't get away from the hot dogs, huh," Adyson asked, chuckling a bit.

"Be careful who you say that around," Gretchen told her warningly. "My dad would be quick to point out that brats are not hot dogs, and I happen to agree with him; though maybe not as vehemently."

Adyson rolled her eyes. Gretchen was peculiar about some of the strangest things. "Oh alright. So what do you want me to do?"

"Why don't you check on the grill? I'll get started on the pasta."

Adyson headed through the house to the patio in the back, where the family's gas grill was already lit and heating up. To the side, on a tray, were a couple packages of bratwurst just waiting to be cooked. She opened the lid of the grill and was greeted by a wave of heat.

"Whoa, yeah this is ready to cook on," she said to herself. "But it might be too early to get going. I'd better check with Gretchen."

As she re-entered the house, Adyson heard the doorbell ring. Thinking nothing of it, she continued on in and eventually found Gretchen in the living room with Ferb who had arrived early. And what was more, he had arrived with additional company.

"I really hope I'm not imposing," Django said apologetically to Gretchen.

"Not at all, the more the merrier," Gretchen told him. She turned to see Adyson as she heard her footsteps approaching. "Oh hey Adyson, looks like we'll be throwing a few more brats on the grill."

Django laughed at the odd coincidence. "Wow. What're the odds?"

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were stalking me," Adyson said, narrowing her eyes at Django as she approached him. "But that'd require forethought."

A disgusted look came across Django's face. "Ugh, planning. You know that's not my style."

"Did I miss something," Gretchen asked curiously.

"He happened to come over to Ginger's yesterday with Baljeet when I was visiting her," Adyson told her. She turned back to Django, then. "So what sublime coincidence brings you here today?"

"Ferb told me about the landscaping work he did here a while back and I was curious to see it," Django told her. "You know, maybe get an idea for an art project or something. I've done my fair share of flower portraits, after all."

"I assumed it'd be no trouble if he came for lunch as well," Ferb added to Gretchen. "Sorry I didn't call to check first."

"Oh please, it's Django for crying out loud," Gretchen told him. "Besides, we've got plenty of food to go around, right Adyson?"

Adyson just sighed and decided to just go with it. "Right. Sure. Whatever."

"Django, why don't you go back with Adyson and tend to the grill," Gretchen asked him. "Ferb and I'll get things set so maybe we can eat outside by the garden. That way we can have lunch and you can check out the flowers at the same time."

"That'd be awesome," Django told her. "C'mon, Addie. I know my way around a grill pretty well."

Adyson laughed as she fell in behind him. "Oh this I've got to see."

Once back by the grill, Django staggered a bit from the amount of heat on the patio.

"Dang, are you guys trying to heat the house with this thing," he asked as he reached for the grill's temperature controls.

"Hey, I just came back to check on it earlier," Adyson said with a shrug. "Gretchen's the one who got it started."

"We're cooking brats, not burning evidence. Medium will be more than enough to get the job done."

"But won't the food get done faster if we cook it hotter?"

"Speeding up cooking is never a good idea if you can help it."

"How do you know this sort of stuff?"

Django turned to face her. "Let me put it to you like this: You know my sister and dad, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Can you see either of them cooking anything that didn't involve a microwave?"

Adyson thought for a moment, trying to envision either one actually spending time in a kitchen. "No. No I can't."

Django nodded affirmatively to her. "After I did some research on the kind of stuff that goes into those instant meals and boxed mixes, I had to make a change. So I just started cooking for us. It's pretty fun, really."

"Wow. That's actually really impressive."

"I can have initiative when it matters. I just don't think it matters as much as most people think it does."

"The problem there is the people who do think it matters are the ones who'll eventually be cutting your paychecks, Django," Adyson told him as she started unwrapping the packages of bratwurst. "And if you can't prove yourself to them you'll never hold a steady job down."

"Maybe I'm not really worried about that," Django said simply. "I mean, I don't even know yet what I want to do for a living. There's a lot of stuff I like doing, and some of it I'm kinda good at, but I don't really have any kind of goal. I'll work to live, that's for sure. But I don't think I could be the type who lives to work."

"I guess this is one area where you and I really differ," Adyson told him while handing him food to be cooked. "I love the idea of having some tremendous goal to work towards, and giving every ounce of time and effort I can spare to reach it. And when you finally achieve that goal, you can point to it and say it's something you did. No one can ever take that sort of accomplishment away from you; it's your very own mark on history."

Django smiled at her as he took the brats and began adding them to the grill, which wasn't radiating nearly as much heat as it had been. "I guess that's why you were the first record-holder for most patches earned in a single day among the Fireside Girls."

"I did try once to at least match Candace's record, but the best I could manage was twenty-nine patches. There's something about those Flynns that makes them unbeatable, I swear. Still, you're exactly right. That was something I did and had a lot of pride in. I still do."

"I gotta say I really admire this side of you, Addie. I don't think I'll ever be so driven, but there's something about you when you get like this…"

Adyson folded her arms to hug herself as she looked away from him. "Most people I know think I'm pretty scary when I get passionate about something I'm working on."

"I don't think you're scary."

Adyson looked back at him curiously. "You don't?"

Django shook his head as he turned away from the grill to face her. "If anything, I think…actually, I'd better just stop right there."

"What? Why?"

"The last time I said something like this you didn't believe me. And, well, things just kind of deteriorated from there."

"Oh."

"Yeah. I don't want to upset you so-"

"Why not just try anyway?"

Django almost couldn't believe what Adyson had just said. Adyson sat down and looked away from him, trying to hide how much she was blushing.

"A lot has changed since then about my opinion of you," she told him. "And you never know unless you try. Fortune favors the bold, after all."

The silence between the two of them was almost too much for Adyson to bear as Django seemed to waffle about whether to speak or not. After a couple of minutes, he turned back to the grill to tend to the food again, leaving her to figure he'd given up on saying anything.

"Attractive," he finally said, practically choking on the word. "That's what I think of you when you show this side of yourself. And, well…I think that about you a lot of other times too."

"You think I'm…attractive," she asked, repeating his own word. Django simply nodded in response as he continued watching over the food. Adyson's heart raced a bit as she let his admission sink in. She felt herself becoming a bit overwhelmed and had to do something about it.

"I, uh…I think I'll go get the buns," she said, getting up quickly. "And maybe something to drink. It's hot out here after all."

"Yeah, that sounds good," Django added immediately.

"You want something?"

"Sure! Something cold…very cold, yes."

"Got it. Be back in a couple."

Adyson quickly walked into the house and, once inside, found a spot where she couldn't be seen and tried to deal with her feelings. Her face felt hot, her heart was pounding, and her breathing was rather rapid. It was a total conundrum to her. Just a bit earlier that summer she wouldn't have even given Django the time of day. Now here she was being profoundly affected by such a simple thing as being told he thought she was attractive.

'What is going on with me,' she wondered to herself. 'Maybe I'm coming down sick or something. Or maybe it's heat stroke again! No, don't be stupid. There's no singing salamanders this time. Maybe I really am…no, that can't be right. I mean even if he did…and even if I did…oh what the heck am I going to do?'

After several minutes spent calming herself, Adyson finally collected the buns she'd come inside to collect as well as a couple of drinks and continued with her day at Gretchen's house. Her second day trying to get her summer back on track had been another failure, and now she was even more confused and frustrated than ever. She resolved that tomorrow she would have to talk about this with someone. Her head was preparing for all-out war with her heart, and something had to give.

To Be Continued...

Next Episode Preview: Adyson seeks help from the only person she feels she can turn to at this point. Will she find an answer to everything troubling her, or will she only find even more heartache?

Translation Notes for this chapter:

Stacy (yelling to Ginger): Hey Ginger! Your friend's here!
Ginger (upon arriving at the door): You really have no sense of tact at all, do you sis?

Ginger (seeing the mess in the hall): Honestly, that idiot is really too much to deal with.