As Gilligan walked in the moonlight, he felt very confused. He'd shown up at the girls' hut ten minutes ago, expecting another great date with Ginger, and maybe a chance to tell her how he felt, maybe a chance to find out how she felt. And she'd sent him off with Mary Ann. And if Ginger was too tired to go out, why hadn't she said something earlier?

He didn't know what to say to Mary Ann besides small talk, and she wasn't saying much either. He wasn't even sure where they were going. Not the clearing where he had the lessons with Ginger. They were just wandering aimlessly.

Then suddenly she said, "I'm sorry you're missing your, um, lesson with Ginger."
"Oh, that's OK." He tried not to blush. Mary Ann still thought these were dance lessons. The Skipper was the only one who knew better, and he wouldn't have told her, even if he'd had a chance. "There'll be tomorrow night I guess."
"How many more lessons do you think you'll need?"

"Oh, I don't know. There are a lot of, um, steps and movements. It might take years." Gilligan knew he couldn't tell Mary Ann that he thought he was in love with Ginger. Not before he told Ginger herself. It wasn't like with the Skipper, where he could ask Mary Ann for advice. The farmgirl wasn't an experienced man, or woman, of the world. Besides, it might turn out that Ginger didn't want to marry him but she'd still want to keep training him to be the world's greatest lover. And that would be OK. At least he'd still get to be with Ginger and do things with her.

"And then what?"

"You mean will I enter a dance contest after we get rescued?"

She shook her head. "Gilligan, I know she's not teaching you to dance."

He stopped in his tracks. "You do?"

She stopped walking, too. "Yes. I've known almost from the beginning."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"What was I supposed to say?"

"Well, what do you think about it?" He assumed she approved, unless she felt she had no right to object.

"Well," she said slowly, "I figured this was something that you wanted. It's not like the old days, when you'd try to avoid kissing her."

"Yeah," he softly.

"And I know that men want that sort of experience. And Ginger is very sexy of course. So even someone as shy as you would say yes. I'm not going to judge you for it."

"Oh." He wasn't sure how he felt about what she was saying, but she wasn't finished.

"Personally, I would never have, um, that sort of intimacy with someone I wasn't in love with, but I know it's different for men."

He really wasn't sure what to say now. He hadn't been in love when it started. Was he now? Would it be different if he'd fallen in love with Ginger first?

"Or are you in love? Never mind. None of this is any of my business."

"No, it's OK." Maybe she was the right person to talk to after all. "I'm trying to figure out how I feel about all this. The Skipper says I might be mixing up physical feelings with emotional feelings."

"Oh. Yes, I can see how this is all new and confusing for you."

Then he had a great idea. "Maybe you could help me."

"By talking about all this? Well, you know I don't have much experience myself. But I know a little about relationships from listening to my radio soap operas. Not that Old Dr. Young ever had a dilemma like this."

He shook his head. "The Skipper said that I'd have to be with lots of women in order to figure out what love is. So maybe if I was with you, then I could start to understand my feelings for Ginger."

At first, he thought she slapped him really hard, but then he realized that there was a clap of thunder at the exact moment her palm met his cheek. When the lightning struck, he could see tears running down her cheeks, as if she was the one who was struck. Before the next bolt, she bolted deeper into the jungle.

For a long moment, he stood frozen in shock. Why was Mary Ann so offended? He knew he was still a long way off from the world's greatest lover. Maybe he should've waited until he had more experience before he made the offer.

Or maybe Mary Ann was offended on her friend's behalf. After all, Gilligan would've been cheating on Ginger, although they hadn't yet made a commitment. But it would be to Ginger's benefit for Gilligan to do something to sort out his feelings. Still, he could see how Mary Ann might not have wanted to be mixed up in this.

He thought about what she'd said about only doing something that intimate if you were in love. And he and Mary Ann weren't in love. He liked her of course, and he worried about her sometimes, like when she thought she was Ginger, and when they all thought her boyfriend back home was getting married.

Lightning hit a tree and a falling branch almost hit Gilligan, as the realization hit him that he'd upset a very sweet girl, one of his best friends, and she was now running recklessly through the jungle, during a storm. He started running after her.

He was the fastest runner on the island and he knew the jungle best, even at night, so he soon caught up with her. "Mary Ann! Wait!"

"Leave me alone, Gilligan!"

"I understand if you're mad at me, but we've got to get out of the storm."

The rain was getting heavier, and she stopped running. "We've wandered so far from camp." She sounded a little scared.

"There's a cave not far from here."

She hesitated, as if wondering whether to trust him. Then she nodded and took his hand. "Lead me there."

So he did.