I'll bring the lasagna...

Adrian hemmed and hawed for a few seconds about it, making a face that looked it was about to turn inside out from his consternation and prompting a giggle from Fern. "Everyone there likes you and wants you to join up. It would be nice to have a little eye candy there and I'm not the only one that thinks so. I promise not to bite... but I can't speak for anyone else."

"I dunno... I always think it's going to be weird if I go," the blonde boy deflected, but Fern could tell that he was persuadable. "You all have been playing for years and having another player join is..." But the more he thought about it the more he realized he missed playing with his old friends before the move. He was even wearing a wash-worn D&D related shirt despite having not played since coming to this town.

"You always use that excuse and I don't buy it. Will you just come and give it a shot once... for me?" Fern pleaded with him, making him realize that for the first time he was hurting her feelings a little by always choosing not to play with her group. Adrian sighed in defeat and shook his head.

"Fine. But if it's weird you have to take me home during the intermission," he allowed after a moment of final resistance. Fern made an uncharacteristically giddy squeal and bounced so high she might have bumped her head on the ceiling of the car if she hadn't been buckled in. "Tara made a big pan of lasagna and I don't want to eat it alone tonight anyway."

"Oh, yum. Your stepmom is the best cook." Adrian looked at her and couldn't help but smile to see the big grin on her face... even more than when she'd accepted his invitation for a date a few minutes before. The Escape pulled into the lot at their high school and parked, and much to his surprise the young woman leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek - something she'd never done before - that left him blushing like a cute blonde tomato. "See you at lunch," the tall ravenette said and hurried off with a skip in her step, ponytail swishing behind her as she went. It took a moment for him to recover from being stunned by the sudden affection and locked the car behind himself as he went into the building.

He quickly makes his way to his locker, both happy and a little dazed from the morning's fast pace, noticing so many more giggles than usual that he checks to make sure his jeans are zipped. Adrian fiddles with the combination, only to be interrupted by the girl next to him. She cleared her throat and spoke up. "Happy birthday Adrian, although I see someone already gave you a little present. Was it your mom?" The blonde turned to face her and spied his fellow senior Samantha, dressed in black as usual. Her glistening ebony-painted lips are twisted into a smirk and she taps her cheek, angling the door of her own locker to show him. He blushed again to see the maroon impression left by Fern's lipstick.

"Shit!" the femboy exclaimed and quickly wiped the waxy smear from his soft cheek. "Thanks for pointing it out, Sam," he muttered and finished the combination, hiding his crimson face behind the door of his locker. Samantha snickered as a pink envelope fell from top of his locker and clattered quietly to the floor. She snatched it up, still grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

"Look at Mister Popular... should have known it would be open season as soon as the big day arrived," the pale young woman remarked, showing the flowing script of his name and the 'I' dotted with a heart on it. She winked and passed it to him, then gave his ass a playfully unabashed squeeze. "Delivery fee," she explained, and replaced Fern's recently removed lipstick mark with one of her own before heading off to class. Her red and black plaid skirt swished around her hips, leaving him alone for the first time since waking up.

He clutched the envelope and wiped off his second kiss of the day, noting the smeared red and black that reminded him of Sam's clothes from a moment before.