10Episode 25: Love Triangles
DISCLAIMER: ALL CHARACTERS MENTIONED IN THESE STORIES ARE COPYRIGHTS OF CARTOON NETWORK. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION TO SYM-BIONIC TITAN OR ITS CREATOR, GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY. I AM SIMPLY TRYING TO EXPAND ON HIS EXCELLENT WORK, NOW THAT THE SHOW, WHICH HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL, HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
Jason's heart was pounding as he strolled through the hallways of Sherman High. It was now or never. He had wanted to ask Ilana out for a long time now, but she always slipped through his grasp. Like at Homecoming, when she claimed that Newton had to "Use the bathroom". Or when she and her family disappeared for a while afterwards, and didn't come back until Titan came and killed those Mutradi. And when she got sick. But no more! No monsters or hygiene issues could stop him this time! He and Ilana needed a first date at some point, and now was the only opportunity.
"Ilana," he said when he approached her, "Could I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure," she replied. "If this is about the dance, we had to leave because...well..." she thought of an excuse. "When Newton says he has to go to the bathroom, it's, uh... an emergency."
"Did he eat some bad food?" Jason asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah," she lied. "Food poisoning. I'm really sorry I couldn't be there, by the way. After all, I was the one who set up the whole thing."
"Great theme, by the way," said Jason. "But seriously, why did you guys disappear afterwards?"
Ilana searched for an excuse, remembering the one that they had come with earlier. "About that...our grandmother had just died. It was a little short notice. We packed our bags and attended her funeral," she lied. In truth, that was the day they had attempted to rescue Solomon, and Octus had been killed in the fight. She and Lance had to live life on the run from General Steel until Solomon took them in. But Jason could never know about that...
"Oh." "I'm...so sorry," said Jason apologetically, almost forgetting why he was talking to her in the first place.
"We're fine now," Ilana added.
"Great. But look, Ilana, please, next time don't be so...discreet when stuff like this happens. I thought you had...broken up with me."
"Oh, Jason! I would never do that...at least, not like that. I'm sorry I had you so worried."
"It's fine. Look, I came over here because I wanted to ask you for a long time now...will you go on a date with me?" He asked.
"Sure. I'll bet there's a movie we could go see," Ilana agreed.
"Really? You'll go with me?" Jason's eyes lit up, and his spirits lifted.
"You bet." She replied.
"Well," Jason tried to look cool and calm. "See you at...7:30?"
"Okay," Ilana replied. "We can pick what we want to see there."
"Cool," Jason said to Ilana as she left, trying to remain calm on the surface. But inside, he was so excited! He had a real date! With a really cute girl with a cool onion top hairstyle! And she was all his! And maybe, just maybe, he would get to kiss her! It would be his first kiss! This was AWESOME! He thought about how great their first date would be...
Meanwhile, Lance and Kristen were talking by the lockers. Lance was used to having conversations with her. Unlike Jason, he could actually maintain himself in front of girls. They mostly talked about meaningless subjects, but sometimes they went a little deeper. The main topics were usually what the point of something was. Like school, and grades, and popularity. Sometimes Kristen served as a great person to listen to Lance vent about anything displeasing in his life. This particular conversation went like this:
"So, how's it going?" asked Lance as he sidled up to Kristen.
"One of the teachers assigned another project. I'm just gonna do enough for a passing grade, and then stop. I really don't have time for it, anyway," she replied. What do you think?" Asked Kristen.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Lance replied, managing a smile. "I swear, it's like those teachers are deliberately trying to sabotage our own plans for a social life," he said, reverting back to a blank expression.
"Yeah. I saw one old geezer get really ticked off when he caught some kids making out behind the lockers," Kristen observed.
"The teachers here aren't old enough to be geezers, Kristen," Lance corrected her.
"Whatever. Hey, do you ever get the feeling that you're never gonna need to know any of this stuff?"
"All the time," Lance replied.
"Why don't they teach kids real skills, like, how to fight, for example?"
"Exactly!" Lance agreed. "You know, if you and I were like, self-defense instructors, we could totally do that!"
"Heh heh, yeah, we could. I really just came over here to ask you: You wanna go another date? I'm kinda starting to like you, and..."
"I get what you're saying. I can leave, at, say, 7:30?" He suggested.
"Deal. We can decide where we want to go later," agreed Kristen. She was walking away when Lance said, "By the way, you're not gonna practice any moves on me, are you?" Kristen laughed.
"Of course not," she replied, walking back to Lance to face him. "That was just that one time when you tried to ask me out, and failed miserably. But..." she said, stopping so that her face in close to his, almost close enough for him to kiss her dark purple-stained lips, "We should totally do that again sometime."
Lance was so overcome by desire that he didn't know how to respond. He could almost feel her breath, and he could smell the perfume in her jet-black hair, streaked with magenta highlights. He stared in her dark, inviting eyes, feeling so awkward and weak. All he could say was: "Yeah, sure."
Kristen giggled. "See ya later," she said, and walked away. Lance was probably the best thing that happened to her in a while. Good looks, a personality similar to her own, awesome hair; even his voice had a unique quality to it that she liked. They seemed to be on the same page with life; that it could be cruel, unforgiving, and sometimes you just had to live with that.
But what Lance didn't know was that Kristen didn't learn those things in her past; she was experiencing them in the present. Kristen sighed as she walked farther and farther away from Lance. He'd have to find out eventually...
Octus, in his "Newton" hologram, was talking to Meat, who was telling him how he had discovered that if you swallow watermelon seeds, you didn't grow a watermelon out of your ears. Meat had only figured this out after he tried it himself.
"My mommy always told me when I was little that a watermelon could grow outta your ears if ya ate the seeds, so I tried that cause I love watermelons, and it'd be awesome to grow'em from your ears, and then-"
"Meat, that is just a myth spread by parents to prevent their young children from consuming-"
"Shut up, I was talking! You can't interrupt people when their talking. Now, as I was sayin, when I ate the seeds, I waited and waited..."
Octus muted the volume of his auditory sensors, only smiling and nodding and saying "Wow" with false enthusiasm. Octus somewhat pitied Meat for his stupidity. He had recently taken it upon himself to tutor him whenever possible. He knew that Meat, like Kimmy, had more or less resigned himself to the fact that he would forever hold the role of an "Idiot". Octus wanted to help destroy that stereotype just like he had with Kimmy. Just yesterday, Octus had helped with his homework. He tried to teach Meat, but he was a bit of a slow learner, even though his concentration skills were a little better than Kimmy's. The two them had kind of become friends at a party after he had figured out how to defeat the sludge Mutradi, back when they had overtaken the school. Octus never bothered to scan Meat's thoughts. He was afraid of what he might find upon analyzing his thought patterns. When Meat stopped talking, Octus turned his auditory sensors back on. Meat had already begun again, however, but with a more melancholy tone and subject.
"You're awesome, man, you know that? You're smart, and you got a hot girlfriend. Me, I got nothin'. And I'm dumb."
"No you're not," Octus replied, trying to encourage his friend. "Your brain is the same size as everyone else's. You just need to try to apply yourself. You can break free of the judgments people have made about you and prove them wrong! I told the same thing to Kimmy when we started dating."
"Well, why do ya s'pose the girls don't like me? Is it because I don't 'apply myself?' "Asked Meat. Octus could tell he hadn't really listened to his motivational mini-speech.
"Well, based on my observations they don't appreciate being treated like objects. May I suggest trying to be bit more...understanding of their feelings?" said Octus.
"Well, I don't see how that's gonna help, but you're the expert with the ladies," Meat replied. "Maybe I should call you the lady professor. You know, since you're smart, like a professor, and good with ladies," he said jokingly. Octus did his best fake laugh. Since he was a robot, he was incapable of laughing. But Meat didn't know that. "Meat, I'm not a lady professor," he said. "I have yet to comprehend the emotional capacities of women."
"I dunno what ya said, dude, but here comes your lady, bro! Go bust a move!" said Meat.
Octus wanted to ask Meat what "bust a move" meant, but his buddy had already left.
And there was Kimmy, just as Meat had said. She seemed to be in a pleasant mood, Octus sensors indicated. He scanned her brain waves. Her emotional levels seemed to be in balance. When she approached he said, "Good day, Kimmy."
"Good day? Nobody says that anymore, Newton. That's like, so 1984."
Octus had read that book. Maybe Kimmy had read that book, too?
"So Newton, I was thinking...you wanna go with me to Amber's party? I'm gonna have to be there in order to maintain my image. Wanna come with?"
"I suppose I could," Newton replied. "I haven't been to a social gathering in a while. And today is a Friday."
"Thanks, Newton!" She said, kissing him. Her kiss almost made him have a sensory overload, just like the one he had the first time she ever kissed him. His computers went haywire for a few seconds. His circuitry went through his cords faster. His heart would have been racing, except he didn't have one.
"Just don't bring your whole family, ok?" said Kimmy.
"Ok. I will pick you up at 7:30," Octus replied. When she was out of sight, he pondered their relationship, wondering as to what was. It was difficult for him because emotions were things that he could observe, but never fully grasp. He determined long ago that true love could not be calculated, formulated, or computed. Were he and Kimmy in true love?
Our heroes were sitting at home when their 3 dates arrived, all conveniently at the same time. The doorbell rang. Lance went to get the door, assuming it was Kristen. Ilana also headed for the door, assuming it was Jason. Octus, too, sprang for the door, assuming it was Kimmy. It was all three of them. For a moment the six of them stared, confused.
"Uh...this is awkward!" said Ilana. "Why don't all three of you come inside?"
So they did. The six of them sat around the living room, talking about their plans.
"So Kristen, how about we go to that concert you were talking about? What's that band called again?" Lance asked.
"Night Raid," Kristen replied. "Don't worry, Lance. I heard they're really good."
"Fine by me," Lance said casually.
"Do you think we can all go, Kristen?" Asked Octus.
"Well, I was kinda hoping..." Kristen began.
"Well, I'm not going, cause' Amber's parents aren't home and we're throwing one heck of a party!" Said Kimmy. "It might be even more fun than a concert. Besides, I don't think I'm into Night Raid's music."
"A concert sounds nice," said Jason. "Ilana?"
"Well, a concert's too loud for me, and this is kind of our first official date," Ilana replied. "How about we see a movie instead?"
"Okay, then," Jason said. "But can I pick, please?"
"Sure," Ilana replied. Turning to everyone else, she said, "Okay, so we're all on separate dates? Kristen and Lance, you two are going to the Night Raid concert, Kimmy and Newton, you'll be at that party, and Jason and I will be seeing a movie. Correct?"
"Yes." replied everyone else.
"Okay. But if something happens, or if we leave early, where should we go?" Ilana asked.
"We'll just all get home before 10:30," Lance suggested. "Good with everybody else?" They nodded in agreement.
"Well, okay then!" said Ilana. "But seriously, we should see if we can't all have a triple date next time we all go out."
"No, Ilana," Lance sighed. She had too many crazy ideas.
"That idea's not so bad, actually," Kristen said.
"Not tonight, ok?" said Lance. "Okay, let's move!" He declared. And with that, they all went their separate ways, each off on their separate dates.
