DISCLAIMER:

I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan. If I did, it would not have been cancelled due to lack of merchandise.

Hey guys! So, I'm super depressed right now. I looked online at my score for my math midterm, and I got a 100. Great, right? WRONG. 100 out of 140. C-. Unnecessary euphoria that leads to extreme depression…

On the other hand, I just got home from the movie version of my favorite book ever. It was okay, but no movie ever really does justice to the book. It's called The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. You should all read it, it's fantabulous.

Read, review, enjoy, and pray that I get into college with the road that I'm going down for math… some physics teacher I'll be…

Chapter 13

And to think Amy thought "shop till you drop" was just an expression.

Barb had loaded her down with bags for shoes, shirts, pants, jeans, belts, socks- yes, socks- and every kind of accessory you can imagine- hats, necklaces, bracelets, bangles, earrings. Barb became rather distraught when she discovered that the young girl didn't have her ears pierced. Amy wondered aloud why any sane person would willingly pierce themselves in an effort be more fashionable. These Earthlings were…strange, to say the least.

The ride home was fairly silent. As they neared the house, Amy noticed with suspicion the increased numbers of cars parked in the driveway. She thought there might be a party nearby, but didn't see any. She had to admit that all these people at an unknown location made her more than a little bit nervous.

"Well!" Barb clapped and gave her a smile. "Now wasn't that fun."

"Yup", Amy said, heading into the house. "Thank you very much."

"We should do it again sometime", Barb said happily.

On the inside, Amy grimaced. She wasn't much one for shopping. "Ehhh…"

Barb laughed. "You're so like your brother."

Amy waved as her new neighbor crossed the street and headed back towards her own. She opened the door and sighed…

And realized the large number of people crowded around the appetizers table.

Oh, that's right. It was her birthday. And Ilana had thrown a party… for her. There goes her history homework.

"Happy birthday!" everyone cheered, and Amy found herself swamped by half the people she knew. Lance managed to push himself to the front and slap a pointed cone (it was later explained to her that it was a traditional birthday hat) on her head. "Happy birthday, little sister." He managed to ruffle her hair without disturbing her hat.

Amy growled. "You're next, you know that." Lance grimaced, and Amy laughed. Sweet, sweet revenge.

"Yaaaayy!" Ilana wrapped Amy in a big hug. "Do you like your party?"

Amy forced on a smile for the ecstatic princess. No matter how much Amy might have disliked being the center of attention, she could tell that Ilana had put a lot of effort into the party. Streamers hung from the stairs, the gift table was full, and there was a great big cake that said "Happy 15th Birthday Amy!" on the kitchen table. The whole house was close to overflowing. "It's wonderful!" she found herself replying.

The party company consisted of a majority of the Wildcat Marching Band, some people from String Ensemble, others from Wind Ensemble, and some from soccer (who mostly hung around Ilana). There were also a couple of people from Amy's classes there, and even some with whom she had just randomly made friends with. Needless to say, as all of their rooms were off-limits except for Amy's (most of her friends insisted on a tour), things became a little… crowded. People started to overflow into the backyard, where Newton had begun to barbeque some hot dogs and hamburgers, Kimmy dishing them out.

Early on in the party, Andre caught up to Amy. He bragged about how his gift was the largest in the whole pile. When Amy started to open the presents, she discovered why.

It was a box. Inside of a box. Inside of a box… well, just imagine the words "inside of a box" with bar notation over them. All of them wrapped. About twenty boxes later, the last box was revealed. It was a small ring case, the smallest of them all, and Amy laughed when she opened it.

Cork grease.

(For those of you lucky folks who don't have to deal with cork grease, it's like valve oil for corks. And, if you still don't know what that is [lol, inside band terms], it's basically a lubricant for assembling an instrument with corks. Like oiling a door, kind of.)

Everyone who was either in marching band or Wind Ensemble started cracking up. "What?" Andre asked defensively. "She said she needed cork grease!"

Amy gave him a hug. "It's exactly what I needed. Thanks."Andre hugged her back hesitantly with a light blush.

Lance turned sheet white. Oh, god. Amy had barely been on this planet for a week, and someone already liked her… and, as if that wasn't bad enough, a senior liked her. He felt lightheaded.

Amy frowned. "Lance, you okay?"

He snapped out of his reverie. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I think I just need to go get some water."

-o-o-o-

Everything and nothing was running through his mind at once. He just didn't know what to do. Should he even do anything? Would it be bad if he didn't? He sat down on his bed for support.

Someone knocked on his door. "Go away", he groaned.

Ilana peeked her head in, worry creasing her eyebrows. Lance immediately sat up straighter. "Oh, Ilana. Come in quick, before the others start pouring in here." She slipped through the door and closed it quietly behind her. She sat next to him on the bed in silence.

She had seen it all, too. The way that, even though it appeared hesitant, Andre had almost seemed eager to hug Amy back. How he had blushed. How Lance had seen that and turned as white as a ghost.

Quite frankly, she was surprised that his reaction hadn't been more… well… Lance. She would have thought he would've tackled Andre before he became scared of him. Or, rather, of the situation.

"He… he…" Lance couldn't seem to finish the sentence, so Ilana did.

"He likes her", she said simply. He groaned and buried his face in the pillow. Ilana chuckled a little and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine, don't worry. It's a natural thing, everyone goes through it at one point. I know it must be hard for you to see your little sister being liked by a guy, much less an older guy, but it happens. You're not going to be able to watch over her life anymore like you could when you were younger. She'll still need you, but she's in charge of herself now. She knows how to find a path and take it, and no matter how hard it might be, it's not right to try and change where it might lead her."

He took his face out of his pillow and looked at her strangely. "I don't suppose you have any younger siblings?" She shook her head. He sighed. "Perhaps that's what makes you see clearer." She laughed, and her eyes sparkled. Her words came back to him as he felt his face grow red: It'll be fine, don't worry. It's a natural thing, everyone goes through it at one point. There was nothing natural about this, the way he found himself focusing on her eyes, her smile, her every motion. How he hung on everything she said.

"Look, Lance", Ilana said gently. "She's been through a lot in her life. We all know that. Don't you think she deserves to find happiness?"

Well, when she says it like that…

Lance sighed in exasperation. "Of course, but does it have to be with a boy?"

Their laughter mingled and filled the room.

-o-o-o-

Of course, anyone else might have thought it a strange gift, but not Amy. It was exactly what she needed. It was practical. It was… oddly, it was perfect.

"I swear, Andre, only you…" she laughed.

For some reason, his forehead creased. "Do you not like it?"

Amy blinked. "Uh, no. I love it, that's my point."

"Oh." Andre started to blush, and Amy laughed and punched him on the shoulder. He sure was acting weird today, but Amy decided not to ask him about it.

The rest of the party went pretty smoothly- against Amy's wishes her friends had all gotten her presents, and besides cork grease she received a variety of things. Makeup, clothes, gift certificates, clothes, movie tickets, clothes. Books, clothes, money, clothes, shoes, clothes. She got a lot of clothes. Most of her girly friends complained that she was too pretty to wear such military-esque clothing. Amy and Lance just looked at each other, the inside joke shining in their eyes.

Amy walked around entertaining the guests, and Andre stuck by her side- which Amy didn't particularly mind, considering that he seemed to know when to crack a joke when a conversation became awkward. He was quite useful, and Amy found that she really enjoyed his company. It was peculiar- even in all her travels, she had never found anyone quite like him.

The party lasted until about four, and Andre was the last to leave. "Phew", Amy sighed, "At least that's over."

Andre laughed. "You look exhausted."

"Nah, I'm fine", she said, but started to frown as she saw her history homework thrown under the table. With all the confusion Barb, the mall, and the party, she hadn't had time to do it. She sighed, picked it up, and flipped to the page with her homework.

Andre grimaced. "Ew, AP Euro. Gross."

"I like it, but the homework can be a real pain", Amy admitted. As she started in on Napoleon's reign, Andre saw a book that caught his eye.

He picked it up and asked her, "You're reading this?" She glanced over the top of her textbook at the novel. "Huh? Oh, Dragon Rider? Yeah, it caught my eye because of the- um, what are they called?- oh yeah, dragon."

Andre grinned. "This was my favorite book as a kid. It's what got me interested in reading. Believe it or not, I'm actually kind of a bookworm."

Amy laughed. "No, I wouldn't have thought that. Cool."

Andre smiled, flipped open the book to the first page, and got comfortable. Amy chuckled, and settled in herself for a long night of notes.

-o-o-o-

Lance walked down at five-thirty, after having just worked out. He had gone up at around 3:50, and only Andre had been left. He thought he would be gone by the time he was done working out…

But more than an hour and a half later, he found the senior boy next to his little sister… on the couch. WITH NO SUPERVISION.

At that point it took Lance everything he had not to lose it. Gritting his teeth, he went back upstairs to work back out. Again. But on his punching bag this time.

Amy noticed him as he receded back upstairs. "Lance?" she called out, confused. He didn't hear her over the rushing blood in his ears, and slammed his door a little more forcefully than he perhaps meant to.

Andre looked up in confusion. "What was that about?"

Amy was still looking at her big brother's door. "I don't know. He's a little strange sometimes", she joked. Andre chuckled and went back to his (or, rather, her) book.

-o-o-o-

"Dinner", Newton called from the kitchen.

"Coming", Amy called from the couch. Putting her stuff aside, she got up as Lance once again came down the stairs from his shower. He looked at Andre next to Amy, and walked briskly towards the kitchen, but neither of them noticed.

"I guess I should get going", Andre said. Amy looked outside. "It's already dark", she realized. "Wait a sec."

Andre still in the living room, she walked into the kitchen and asked the robot, "Is there enough for Andre to have some?" Newton nodded. "Great", Amy said, grinning, and ran back in to invite Andre for dinner. Which, of course, he accepted… almost too eagerly.

Lance was about to die. But he wouldn't explode, not with Amy in front of him. He walked outside to get some air. Outside he met Ilana, who looked at his red face with curiosity.

"She – invited – him – to – dinner", Lance said through gritted teeth.

"He's still here?" Lance nodded. Ilana sighed, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look, Lance. I bet it's hard. But, think of it this way: You're going to have to deal with him. He's only going to get closer to her, and she seems pretty naïve about it. And anyway, even if they do end up together-" Lance tensed, but Ilana continued. "Even if they do end up together, then he's going to make her happy. Can't you be grateful to him for that? And it already seems like he's making her happy, anyway. Just- loosen up. It's out of your control."

Lance sighed. He supposed Ilana was right, like she usually was when it came to matters of the heart. She was, after all, the heart of Titan. He would try to tolerate Andre. And, who knows, he might learn to like him. "You're right," he admitted.

Ilana smiled with satisfaction. He was becoming less pig-headed. "Of course I'm right. Now come on, it's dinner time."

Important things from this chapter: the cork grease, the Ilana counseling Lance on Amy's situation, and obviously, AMY AND ANDRE!

Hey! Sorry that was kind of short, but the next one will have Amy's history- how did she end up on Earth after her kidnapping, anyway? You'll see! It'll also have more on Andre and Amy.

No oneshot contest today. I've got a whole lot of things due before Spring Break, which oddly enough, is next week for us. Which means a lot of updates when you guys get back from school (if you go to school).

In the course of writing this, I realized I said something about a 'food' restaurant in the last chapter. Please regard that, it's typo I'm too lazy (and tired) to fix. I guess I'm just a typer typo (I wonder if anyone gets this reference from Saturday Night Live? Will Ferrel? Hyper hypo? Eh, nevermind…). Also, I seriously discovered My Chemical Romance for the first time. I had like them before, but now… just… wow. Wow. I also realized that I can draw… like, well. Which surprises me. I wonder if I can cartwheel now? *Tries* *crashes* Nope.

Review! I'll try to update ASAP, but no promises as to exactly when. Have a good day.