1.12 - It's Not a Date

The next morning, Erika was the first one up.  Even though Danisha had the day off yesterday, she was still catching up on lack of sleep from the week and stayed in bed while Erika made up her side until it was perfect.  She didn't bother to think that the moment her mother rolled over her side of the bed would just be a mess again.

Once she was done she got dressed and headed out to the kitchen for breakfast.  There were leftover waffles that her mother had made, but after a bit of scrounging she also found some salad in the refrigerator.  Waffles are far too fattening.  Erika needed to make sure she maintained her perfect physique, and that meant watching what she ate very carefully.

When she was finished she decided to sit down and finally read the book her mother had bought her for her birthday.  She'd completely forgotten about it yesterday in her eagerness to explore the city, but now she had time.  It's not like she could get started on perfecting the city yet.  She understood that as a child she had a great many limitations.  She just needed to be patient.

And it wasn't a big deal for her.  She was really enjoying her new book.

She was so caught up in her reading that she didn't even notice when Nielson entered the room.

Nielson was less than thrilled to see his little sister.  He had been hoping that the sounds he'd heard out here were Danisha so that he could get her opinion on something.  He was going out to meet VampGirl66 in person for the first time and he wanted to make sure he looked all right.  Although, technically Erika was a girl so he supposed her opinion counted.  Maybe.

"So... um... Erika.  How do I look?" Nielson prompted, forcing himself to smile.

Erika looked up over the top of her book and raised an eyebrow as she looked her brother over.  "What are you wearing?" Erika asked, sounding less than impressed.

"What do you mean, 'what'.  It's obvious.  I just put a little more effort into my outfit than usual, that's all," Nielson retorted, feeling defensive under Erika's derisive look.

"Oh.  You're going on a date then," Erika responded, still not seeming all that interested in what her brother had disturbed her for.

"It's not a date," Nielson retorted, scowling at his sister.  "I'm going to meet up with a friend," he informed her.  He couldn't believe she had even suggested such a thing!

"Is your friend a girl?" Erika prompted.

"Yes," Nielson replied, not even giving the idea that she might have lied about her gender online any consideration.

"And you're dressing up to meet her?" she prompted again.

"That's right," Nielson replied.  He did want to make a good impression, after all.

"Then it's a date," she stated in a matter-of-fact way.  Nielson just sighed.  It was obvious he wasn't going to get anything useful out of his sister, so he was better of not trying.  "I guess it's okay.  For a date," she commented at last.

"It's not a date," Nielson corrected, not bothering to get angry with his sister.  It's not like he'd ever been able to get her to cooperate with him ever anyway.

Deciding he wasn't going to worry about it, Nielson headed out and made his way to the theater.  They had agreed to meet up online for the latest vampire flick as their first real-life meeting.  The Vampire Journal was supposed to be really cheesy, but VampGirl66 really liked anything and everything to do with vampires so he hoped she'd like it anyway.

When he got there he started looking around, wondering where or who she might be.  Mostly it was just a bunch of guys hanging out.  There was one little girl who he hoped wasn't VampGirl66 and then his eyes focused on one other person there.  Belisama, the girl who had flat-out rejected him at prom.  Like always she was attached to her phone.  Probably chatting with one of her friends or her boyfriend from school.

He immediately felt self-conscious and tried to hide from her.  He really didn't want to confront her so soon after prom.  The emotional wounds were still a little too raw.  Although, he supposed after a week he should be feeling recovered enough to at least look at her...

After a minute she hung up on whoever it was that she was talking to and started glancing around.  She definitely seemed to be looking for someone.

"Oh no... it can't be..." Nielson whispered, groaning inwardly to himself.  But he still managed to work up every single ounce of courage he possessed and walk over to her.

She raised an eyebrow as he approached and pointedly looked away.  That is, until he asked "Are you VampGirl66?" at which point her gaze focused on him immediately.

"You are VampGirl66, aren't you?" he prompted, feeling a bit more confident now.

"How do you...?" she began to ask, before realization dawned on her.  And then all of a sudden her expression went from mild annoyance to pure disgust.

"You're BlueWindster7?" she demanded, not seeming at all happy with that idea.

"Um... yes.  Yes I am," Nielson agreed.

"I don't believe this!  You're BlueWindster7?!  Nielson Gaul.  About the lamest person in our class?  This has to be some kind of joke!" Belisama exclaimed, not holding back.

"And what's up with that monkey suit?  You really think that's the kind of outfit you wear when meeting a girl for the first time?  Did you actually think this was going to be a date?  Are you really that pathetic?" she continued ranting.  With each insult hurled his way, Nielson felt himself shrink away a little and visibly cringed backward.

She just kept going, not holding anything back, and didn't seem interested in stopping any time soon.  But the longer she ranted the less Nielson could take until finally he felt himself just snap.

"Now you listen here!" he retorted, frowning.  "I never once lied about myself online so I don't know what your problem is.  You think I'm lame?  Well, you never implied that at all when we were chatting online," he snapped back.

"And if you hate being around me so much, why don't you just leave?  No one's forcing you to stay with someone so obviously embarrassing for you to be around!" he shouted, not willing to put up with her abuse any more.

"But before you go, there's just one thing you should know.  You seemed like a nice person online, but in person you're really mean!  I don't know which one's the real you, but maybe you should put as much thought into the words you speak as you do into what you type," he added as a last retort.

Belisama seemed visibly taken aback by Nielson's words.  At first she just looked shocked.  Probably because she'd never dealt with anyone standing up to her.  But then she actually had the dignity to look embarrassed, downright repentant even.

Not that Nielson was going to by the for a minute.  He was just about to turn and leave when he heard her speak up again.

"Wait.  Don't go," she urged, her voice a lot softer than it had been before.

"You... you're right.  I shouldn't have said those things to you," Belisama admitted, although it seemed rather difficult for her to admit to being wrong.

"I guess I just... well, I've always had this mental image of you being such a weirdo and a loner.  Sorry, I'm doing it again, aren't I?  Well, I just never imagined that the confident BlueWingster7 and Nielson Gaul could be the same person.  But I guess he really is in there, isn't he?" she mused, and actually smiled at him.

Even though Nielson was supposed to be angry at her, seeing that smile that he'd always seen from afar pointed at him practically made him melt.

"Look, I'm really sorry, okay?  This is a really bad start to what was supposed to be our first offline meeting, isn't it?" she mused.

"Well, I suppose I could forgive you," Nielson replied, blushing a bit.  He really couldn't stay mad at a girl as pretty as Belisama.  And she really was VampGirl66 who was one of his few friends, on or offline.

"Look, why don't we go and see the movie we were going to?  It's about to start.  I don't want to ruin our whole day," she suggested, looking expectantly at him.

"I suppose it would be a shame to miss it, since we're already here," Nielson agreed.

 The two of them entered the theater and managed to avoid any further fighting.  As a matter of fact, they both thoroughly enjoyed the movie... particularly because of how terribly cheesy it was.

"Oh my god... did you hear the sound effects when the vampire was drinking that lady's blood?" Belisama exclaimed, pretending to gag and then bursting out laughing.

"Or the transformation sequence from vampire to bat?  That was terrible!" Nielson agreed, laughing with her.

"Thanks, Nielson, I had a really good time today," Belisama replied with a smile, once they finally managed to stop laughing.

"Well, you're welcome," Nielson replied with a smile.  The day may have started out rough, but he was glad that he came all the same.  I mean, he'd gotten to spend the day with Belisama.  The hottest girl in school.  Who could complain?  And in the fading light he couldn't help but think she looked even more beautiful than usual.  In fact, her eyes almost seemed to be glowing in the dimming light.

 "You know, I should have given you more credit, Nielson.  I guess this is one of those rare cases where the internet personality is more true to the real you than the real life personality," Belisama mused.

"Am I really that boring in real life?" Nielson asked, starting to feel down again.

"How was I supposed to know?  I think the first time you ever talked to me was when you asked me to dance at prom, you know," she responded, and Nielson blushed.

"Oh... yeah," he mumbled.

"It's really a pity, though.  I wish we'd gotten to know each other a lot sooner.  I really enjoy spending time with you," Belisama commented, and all of a sudden Nielson noticed that she was getting closer.

 "Um... thanks!" Nielson replied.  Then blushed when his voice squeaked.  He couldn't believe he was getting nervous now, of all times!  He needed to keep it together, just a little while longer.

"Let's do this again, okay?" Belisama prompted and Nielson started to nod when all of a sudden he felt Belisama pressing her lips against his.  His head, along with the rest of him, was immediately immobilized by the sensation.  Part of his mind noted that her lips were colder than he'd expected, but the rest of his mind couldn't come up with a single coherent thought.

 When she pulled back his mind finally started working again.  A kiss.  He'd just been kissed!  By Belisama!  His first kiss with the girl of his dreams!  He was elated!  On cloud nine!  Although there was one thing that kept his joy in check.

"What about your boyfriend?" he asked, his voice husky as if he hadn't used it in a while, causing him to swallow in the hopes of wetting his now-parched throat.

"What boyfriend?" Belisama replied with a smile.  "I may not have been fond of you before now, but I don't need a guy who's going to beat up any guy who does something as simple as ask me to dance.  We broke up the night of the prom," she assured.

As she glanced up at the sky he suddenly realized it was nighttime now.  "Well, I'll see you in school tomorrow," Belisama assured, giving him another smile before heading into the taxi waiting behind her.

Maybe Erika had been right.  Maybe this was a date.


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New chapter!  A happy break from all of the other drama going on.  I wanted to make it up to Nielson since he had such a crappy prom.  *Cheshire grin*  Although, Belisama actually did still have a boyfriend.  But I have never seen a romantic relationship that was so red.  Their relationship meter wasn't all red, but it was pretty close.  I don't know how they were still dating.  But I fixed that.