Italics signal thoughts, ^*^ signals change of time or place and ~*~ signals flashbacks.

 

*******Special thanks to Natalia Morales for letting me know Bring it On came out that year. She rocks! Also to Honour Nature for archiving this fic. I’m so excited and honored!*******

 

Chapter three: Double date

 

Charlene twirled her hair nervously, while looking at her reflection in the mirror. It was still an hour before she had to meet Dana, Ryan and Carter, but she was absolutely terrified of messing up. She heard the door open and smiled. “Hey, Chris!”

 

He entered her room and gazed at her, transfixed.  She was wearing indigo rinse jeans and a jeweled asymmetrical hem red top. The top half of her hair was pulled back and held by a matching barrette, a few curls loose at the front and the rest of it in soft waves. Not much makeup, except some liner, mascara and a sheer red lipgloss. “Hello, gorgeous!”

 

She blushed. “Do I actually look good?”

 

He kissed her cheek and held her. “Yes, you do.” He moved over to the bed and plopped down, before adding in a teasing manner: “Does this fabulous appearance of yours have anything to do with that friend of yours who asked you to go shopping with him and his sister today?”

 

She grinned. “Yeah. Dana asked me and Ryan to double with her and Carter.”

 

He laughed. “Well, my dear, have fun.”

 

She looked at her brother and roommate incredulously. “That’s it? No punch line?”

 

He sat beside her. “Lene, I’m moving out in a couple of weeks. I think I can let a little date pass without annoying you too much about it.”

 

“It is not a date!” Well, not officially.”

 

“Titles don’t matter, sweetheart.”

 

Charlene shrugged and hugged her older brother. It was almost 6:30, and she had to leave before she was late.

 

^*^

 

When she arrived the others were already waiting for her. They had agreed to watch Bring it On, just because it was a chick flick and the girls were in charge. Charlene walked over to them and was promptly introduced to Carter by a very excited Dana, then she moved next to Ryan, who kissed her on the cheek and admired her outfit, winking.  They walked inside and got refreshments, then settled down as the movie started. Ryan and Charlene settled in the row after Carter and Dana's seats, so they could keep an eye on them. There was a handsome young man sitting right beside Charlene, and since she'd already watched the movie with her brother they talked in low voices.

Throughout the movie, Carter and Dana kept getting closer to each other until he finally decided to hold her hand. Chris, the guy beside Lene, kept flirting outrageously with her, getting closer to her every passing minute. Although it was very slight, Ryan noticed discomfort in Lene's posture and he leaned to pull her back against her seat as he draped an arm casually across her shoulders. Chris took this as a possessive gesture, so he moved back into his own chair and refrained from flirting with her. She settled in his arms, her head against his chest as they watched what was left of the movie.

When it was over, Carter and Dana walked together, discussing the movie. Ryan kept a watchful eye on their clasped eyes and Lene pushed him. "She can take of herself, and this is a date", she whispered, "leave the poor woman alone!" He nodded and they continued walking over to the restaurant. After a couple minutes' deliberation, they decided to sit together, much to Ryan's displeasure. By then, Dana and Carter were one step away of becoming lovesick puppies, which greatly amused Charlene.

They ordered and chatted amicably as they waited for dinner, Carter risking loving looks at Dana whenever he could. Halfway through dinner, all three morphers beeped. Carter cast a look at Lene, to which Ryan paid no notice. Charlene knew all of his secrets, after all. Carter answered the call, eyeing Charlene dubiously.

"Carter? This is Captain Mitchell. Sorry to interrupt you, but we have an emergency. There are two demons running loose around the city, destroying everything in their path. We believe they are searching for you guys."

Carter looked at Dana, who nodded vigorously. "We'll be right there, Captain." He let his arm fall and all eyes fell upon Charlene.

"Well? Didn't you hear Capt. Mitchell? There's an emergency! What are you guys still doing here?" With this, all three got up and started to leave, but Ryan stopped in his tracks and returned to kiss Charlene's cheek as goodbye.

^*^

Carter propelled himself to avoid a blow and then kicked Vypra in her stomach. She fell backwards, but recovered fast enough to kick Carter in the shoulder and send him crashing against the wall. Dana went to his rescue, shooting Vypra with her Rescue Blaster as she helped Carter back up.

Ryan finished with his herd of Battlings and approached Diabolico to finish what he had started. They both fought fiercely, dodging each other's moves. Ryan's goal was to exhaust Diabolico so he could get an opening to actually attack; but he was getting pretty tired himself. He heard Vypra leave, and in that second's distraction Diabolico seized the opportunity and punched him in the shoulder while kicking him in the ribs.

He fell and demorphed as he touched the ground. Diabolico moved over to him to finish him off, but Carter approached him and knocked him down with one swift hit. Dana ran over to her brother, helping him up and pulling him against her body. He was bleeding from a deep cut in his forehead, and a blue bruise was quickly forming in the place where Diabolico had kicked him. He coughed roughly, clutching his side and wincing.

Carter walked over to them, demorphing on the way. Diabolico had escaped again. He helped Ryan stand and between him and Dana they walked Ryan over to the Rover. Once in, he lost consciousness and they drove off to the Aquabase, forgetting about Charlene.

^*^

Two hours after the three had departed, Charlene realized that they must have been injured, which would explain why they hadn't returned. A sudden panic overtook her: Ryan had to be the one injured, otherwise he would've called her, he had her number. She asked the waiter for the check, and he refused. The waiter was, in fact, her old friend Elliot Cavanaugh, who actually owned the restaurant. He assured her he would take care of it, and absolutely refused to accept any payment. She was a lucky one, alright.

She walked over to her car dragging her feet, and she threw herself in the interior, creases of worry etched in her forehead. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to relax, then turned on the car and drove off to her apartment still in a daze. She arrived, showered, and looked at the clock before going to sleep. It was 11:30 pm, two hours after they had left the restaurant, and she still hadn't received a call. She turned off the light and drifted off to sleep, promising herself to call Ryan in the morning. It was late, and he needed his rest.

 

^*^

 

Charlene woke up at 7:30 by the shrill ring of her cell phone. She rolled over and picked it up absentmindedly as she rubbed her eyes. “Hello?”

 

“Charlene?” said a shy voice, “This is Dana.”

 

Lene bolted to a sitting position after hearing the name and steadied herself long enough to reply. “Hi, Dana. Are you guys okay? I was really worried.”

 

Dana sighed, relieved. “So you’re not mad?”

 

She chuckled. “No! I figured one of you had been injured.”

 

“Yes, Ryan was”, Dana replied, “which is exactly why we couldn’t call you. He was out since he got in the Rover up until fifteen minutes ago. He wanted to be the one to call you, but Ms. Fairweather absolutely banned him from moving an inch.”

 

Charlene felt an odd sense of warmth from knowing that Ryan had wanted to talk to her. She shook it off and answered. “Is he at the Aquabase?”

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

Lene sighed. “I can’t see him there.”

 

Dana giggled. “Sure you can! I already asked permission. Least we could do after leaving you there, for what I deeply apologize.”

 

She smiled. “Thank you so much! Where should I meet you?”

 

“Carter and I will be in front of the Mariner Bay Aquarium. See you there at noon?”

 

“You got it!”

 

Dana stayed silent for a moment, lost in thought, then added in a teasing voice, “Last night was some night! I bet you’ll never forget that date.”

 

Lene scoffed. “Yeah, it’ll be pretty hard to forget making conversation with my spaghetti plate for two hours!” The two laughed and said good-bye to each other as longtime friends did, reminding each other of their appointment. Going to the Aquabase would prove to be quite an experience.

 

*******I really hope you liked this chapter, and I apologize for taking so damn long, but I’ve been going crazy with work and all, and I rarely have time to do anything anymore, so it’s been pretty tough. But I hope this was worth the wait. Crystal Raven, the Rose of Darkness*******