Jaden pulled Cece to a stop in front of an expensive looking restaurant. Cece glanced at the restaurant then glanced back at Jaden.

"This is it," Jaden smiled at her. "We're going to have dinner here."

"Here?" Cece frowned. "Isn't here a little expensive?"

"But what you don't know is my Dad gave me a job as his assistant yesterday," Jaden stated proudly. "He gave me my first paycheck in advance. That along with the tutoring money I earn is more than enough to cover a lavish first date."

"How sweet of you," Cece was still distracted, but was trying her hardest to pay attention.

Jaden led her into the restaurant and they were directed to their table.

Unknown to the two of them, Gunther and Rocky had also arrived and Gunther was doing his best to peer through the gate and hedge that surrounded the open walled restaurant.

"Gunther, stop it! People are looking at us funny," Rocky hissed.

"Would you prefer if we weren't able to spy on this date?" Gunther replied in a superior tone.

"Of course! I never wanted to do this in the first place," Rocky snarled.

"Oh, quit pretending!" Gunther huffed.

"Pretending! I'm not pretending!" Rocky said indignantly.

"Look they're kissing!" Gunther exclaimed.

"What!" Rocky shoved her head into the hedge to look. "They are not."

"Yeah, but, I told you that you wanted to see what happened," Gunther grinned.

"I'm going to turn you into the police for stalking," Rocky spun on her heel and made to leave.

Gunther grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the entrance.

"What are you doing now?" Rocky demanded.

"Having a little fun," Gunther smiled. "See that waiter there, he has their drinks, we must intercept him."

"How do you know he has their drinks?" Rocky asked.

"Because that soda has a lemon in it," Gunther pointed at a slice of lemon balanced on the edge of the cup. "Everyone knows you don't mix lemons with soda, except Jaden."

"Some people mix lemons with soda," Rocky argued.

"Only weirdos," Gunther scoffed. "Everyone knows you should only mix peppers with soda."

"Peppers with soda?" Rocky stared at him.

"Yes, then you have what is called 'Dr. Pepper'!" Gunther announced. "See, Jaden's got it all wrong."

Oh brother, you've got to be kidding me, Rocky rolled her eyes.

Gunther cut off the waiter before he entered the patio where Cece and Jaden were seated.

"Excuse me, sir, could you point out how to get to the dress boutique from here, please?" Gunther asked politely.

Gunther then proceeded to be confused by the directions, until he finally pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "Perhaps you should just draw a map."

The perturbed waiter glared at him, but set down the drinks and began drawing the map.

Rocky stared in horror as Gunther scooted over to the cups and pulled a small frog from his pocket. He slipped it into Jaden's drink, then used the straw to push it down under the ice cubes so that the waiter wouldn't see it.

Just as Rocky was about to shout something at him, the waiter handed Gunther the map and Gunther dragged her back out of the restaurant.

"Animal abuse!" Rocky shrieked. "And…and…why do you have a frog in your pocket anyway?"

"I came prepared for this date," Gunther smiled. "What's a first date without a little humiliation?"

"What if he swallows it?" Rocky continued.

"It would be hilarious," Gunther laughed. "Besides, it's not a poisonous variety. Well, not deadly poisonous, most frogs have poisonous skin."

"That's not the point!" Rocky cried out.

"Of course not, the point is that this will be funny," Gunther assured her. "Something we can all laugh at for years to come. Now if you don't mind." Gunther resumed his position in the hedge.

Rocky bit her lip and tried to resist, but finally gave in and came over to peer through the hedge as well.

Cece listened as Jaden droned on with his one sided conversation. Usually, they'd both be talking, but she just wasn't in the mood. She stared at him, not really seeing him, and just answering "Mm-hmm" to all his comments.

"Cece, are you feeling okay?" Jaden waved his hand in front of her eyes.

Cece blinked, then snapped back to reality. "Oh, yes, I was just thinking about my next dance performance on Shake It Up, Chicago."

"I'm looking forward to seeing it," Jaden smiled sweetly at her.

Cece resisted the strong temptation to roll her eyes. Gunther's sarcasm coated compliments that she had to work so hard for were much better than these sincere sounding niceties that Jaden gave her every minute of the day. Wait, why were his compliments annoying her? And why is Gunther a good comparison?

Just as Cece was about to make some sort of breakthrough, Jaden picked up his glass and took a long drink, just as the frog had finally managed to navigate his way through the ice maze and to the top of the cup. Jaden's eyes widened, he threw the cup down and choked, coughed, spat his soda all over Cece.

Cece stared in horror at her splattered shirt and arms. She could feel soda, spit soda, running down her face.

"I am so, so sorry," Jaden hurried over and began wiping her off with his napkin. "There was a….a frog in my glass."

"Really?" Cece huffed. "Are you sure it wasn't a hippo?"

"I know it seems strange, but," Jaden looked around for the frog. The glass was lying broken on the ground and the little frog had long since fled for a safer refuge. "It's not here anymore."

Cece shot Jaden a most unpleasant look. "If it tasted bad, next time, just ask for a different drink."

"I know, I know, there won't be a next time," Jaden said.

Gunther was lying on the sidewalk, clutching his sides, trying to suppress his laughter.

Rocky felt the corners of her mouth twitch. She didn't know if watching Gunther try not to blow his cover or Jaden's horrified expressions were going to cause her to laugh out loud first.

"Let's go," Gunther finally stood up. "I know where he's taking her next and we have to get some yogurt on the way."

Rocky didn't even question him anymore, because what was the point?

After the rest of the meal went by with no more incidents, Cece and Jaden were walking along the street again. Jaden seemed a bit more hesitant about the date now, but seemed to think his next idea was a good one.

They reached a quiet neighborhood with a picturesque brick wall, covered in flowering vines lined a small area of street. There was a bench butted up next to the wall.

"What do you think? Good place to watch the sunset?" Jaden smiled at Cece.

"Yeah, it's nice," Cece sat down on the bench and stared up at the sky as it turned pink.

Jaden sat beside her and for a few minutes they were quiet. Then Jaden broke the silence. "So, at times like this, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking how lucky I am to be able to dance and to have such good friends," Cece sighed as she contemplated her next thoughts. "All I've ever wanted to do, no matter how impossible, is to dance. It really makes me feel like the person I want to be. I don't feel like any of my mistakes exist when I'm dancing and my friends….you guys always help me to see that I can live my dreams, that nothing is impossible."

"I'm glad to be there for you," Jaden leaned in toward her and in her moment of weakness Cece leaned in too.

Above them, hanging over the wall on their stomach, their feet dangling just above the plant box they'd used to get up here, were Gunther and Rocky.

Gunther gritted his teeth as Jaden and Cece leaned in for each other. He reached out and dropped a small bit of yogurt down.

The yogurt fell and plopped right on the side of Jaden's nose. Cece and Jaden both paused.

Jaden sat up straight and wiped his nose off quickly on his sleeve. "Well, that was awkward. That bird couldn't have better timing."

Cece was trying to hold back laughter and disgust that it might have been her. "You have no luck whatsoever," she giggled.

"Yeah, no kidding," Jaden wiped his sleeve on the wall, making a horrible face. "Maybe I should just walk you home."

"That's okay," Cece stood up. "I know the way back from here and if memory serves right, you'll be going in the opposite direction of your home if you walk me home."

"You're right," Jaden replied. "I better get home anyway, before a bus hits me or something like that. See you at school."

"Yep," Cece turned and giggled all the way back home.

Meanwhile, Gunther triumphantly high fived Rocky. "Was that not fun?"

"All right," Rocky laughed. "It was kind of fun to see Jaden lose his cool, but how am I going to keep a straight face when Cece tells me about this tomorrow?"

"Your problem," Gunther stretched his arms out. "Are you cramped from lying over that wall?"

"Between the bricks and the vines, I'm not sure what scratched me more," Rocky held up her scraped arms.

"Ah well, this was worth it," Gunther grinned. "I'm headed home. Catch you later."

A/N: Kind of a long chapter. Hope you got through the whole thing!

I've got the next chapter written already. I'll proofread and upload it tomorrow. I hope no one minds frequent updates, because I write a lot (my favorite hobby), so I'm going to be finishing these chapters quickly. Thank you to those who've reviewed the story!

-CoS