Optimism

[Cryogene]

The weekend before the Halloween party

She was dressed up much brighter than usual. She'd even attempted to style her hair for this. "Attempted" being the right word, but at least it wasn't frizzed or sporting ice flakes. Makeup... that she hadn't even tried; stores didn't really carry colors that would look realistic on Joni's skin.

he'll think you're ugly regardless. he's not interested in you.

She shushed that nagging voice. He'd invited her to the aquarium, hadn't he? That had to mean something.

means nothing at all. this was a mistake and you know it. he doesn't love you and you will be humiliated and...

Joni checked her watch impatiently. He was only a few minutes late...

he won't show at all.

"Hey Joni! Sorry I'm late."

A tiny, nervous smile crossed her face at this small victory. She waved back at the approaching student.

The voice hesitated for only a moment before laying into Joni again. ...this still means nothing. he's not interested; he's just too nice to break your heart just yet. you're deluding yourself.

She knew that. She'd known that for months. But was it so wrong to keep deluding herself, just for one afternoon?

"It's okay... Just glad you came, Bryan..." She was.

[Gravwarp]

Bryan, wearing his letterman jacket and jeans, approached Joni with a grin. He saw that she perked up when he said hello, “Great,” he thought to himself. “She’s been so down since the whole Amy thing.” He hoped that a fun day just hanging out with a friend would help her get out of whatever funk she was in.

"It's okay... Just glad you came, Bryan..." Joni said as he approached.

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He replied with a chuckle as he sat down on the bench while they waited for the tram. “I heard that they have a great penguin habitat at the aquarium.”

Uncertainty crept into her voice, “…penguins?”

Bryan perked up his voice, hoping his excitement would be contagious. “Yeah! They are new, I think. They have a big indoor place with a pool you can see them swim in.” He opened the little pamphlet he had about the Paragon City Aquarium. “Plus, there’s the walk through shark tank. Pretty neat stuff.”

“Not actually… IN the shark tank, right?” Joni slowly took a seat next to the boy on the metal bench.

“Yeah, it’s like this big clear tube that you walk through.” He replied excitedly.

“Oh, um, okay!” The relief in her tone was obvious.

After a minute or two of silence, Bryan turned to Joni. “Is there anything you are looking forward to seeing?” Joni looked at the young man for a second then turned her attention straight ahead. “I, um, don’t really know,” she answered, “I guess it all sounds interesting.”

Bryan quickly glanced at the silver watch, which he was never without, “I think our train should be here pretty soon.” He looked back to the informational pamphlet, looking at all the pictures. “I wonder if they have, like, those weirdo deep sea fish? Those things are creepy,” he added with a pleasant grin.

“You… you mean the ones with the lanterns?” She inquired.

Nodding, Bryan answered, “Yeah, those!”

“Yeah… those are interesting.”

Bryan smiled at her response, “That’s a word for them alright.” Seemingly in reply, a slight smile formed on Joni’s face.

A few moments later, a tram pulled into the elevated station, coming to a stop with a gust of hot wind and an electronic chime. Standing, Bryan checked the number on the cars. “This one is us!”

[Cryogene]

OOC Note: Totally my fault that this next chapter has taken so long. Sorry to keep my readers (all three of you ) waiting. But without further ado...

----

She jumped up at the announcement, then felt stupid. They weren't going to miss the tram, and Bryan wasn't going to leave her behind and why wouldn't he?

As they boarded, Bryan gestured to a free bench; Joni sat down just as quickly, as if the bench would escape if she didn't act fast.

Bryan sat next to her and studied the tram walls. "Ahh... the beauty of mass transit."

He was looking at the graffiti. Joni giggled.

"Did you have lunch already? We can eat at the aquarium when we get there, if you like."

"Oh, um..." She had, actually. "...that... that would be great!"

"Great! I'm not sure what they'll have but I'll treat." He smiled that smile again. That confident friendly smile.

She gave the little voice a triumphant mental kick. "...thank you."

"My pleasure. How are you doing?"

"Me? Um... I'm good."

"Glad to hear it."

There was a beat in the conversation while she tried to come up with something more to say. She decided to go for broke, or at least close to it. "I'm... um, I got invited to the Halloween party..." She watched his face for a reaction.

Other than that same pleasant smile, suddenly meaningless, she got nothing. "Awesome! I'm going to that, too. What are you going as?"

what were you expecting, jealousy? ha! "Um... haven't decided yet..."

"Me neither. Nennya dared me to dress as a nun." Joni's ears flattened a little; Bryan was chuckling at himself and didn't notice. "I'm never one to back down from a challenge."

"You're going with her, then. ...well, of course you are." The little voice got a revenge kick in. he likes her, stupid; this means nothing.

"Well, she's not sure she can make it."

"Oh!" That sounded a little too eager. "...Sorry," she added.

The apology was more for her response than for Bryan's lack of date, but he interpreted it as the latter. "Nah, no reason to be. She's busy lately with school stuff."

"Things, um, going okay for you two then?"

"Yeah, things are okay. We're still trying to make time for each other."

The voice was mocking her, loudly. "...great! It's... um, it's such a rare couple that stays together as long as you two have..."

"I know. I'm afraid of what she'll do to me if I break up with her."

She took a second to see the smile and realize he was joking. The conversation came to a clumsy halt.

"What about you? How's school treating you?"

She'd have preferred if he'd at least asked about her date (he doesn't care, he doesn't care at all about your love life, or your lack of...) "I... guess okay. Sometimes homework catches up with me... but my grades are doing okay..."

"And Amy?"

Joni wasn't expecting that kind of shift in conversation, but managed to smile a little again. "She's doing well... she still doesn't show up to classes much, but I've been getting her schoolwork to her."

"That's awesome. A true friend. Not to mention good karma."

"...thanks for caring." see, he's nice about everyone, even the outcasts; he's just naturally nice, he doesn't actually like you anymore than Amy. "She's... been feeling a little alone... guess you can imagine why. I'll tell her you asked about her... she'll appreciate it. If, um, that's okay."

"That's fine. Give her my best." The tram slowed down as the conductor announced the stop. "I think this one is us."

[Gravwarp]

The pair stood up as the train stopped. Bryan thought Joni looked more relaxed then when they had boarded. “Good,” he thought to himself as they exited. The street outside the tram station was lined with school buses; the laughter and excited cries of little kids filled the air.

“The Aquarium is on the next block, it should be easy enough to find. We’ll just follow all the kids.” Bryan motioned to the river of young children making their way down the sidewalk. The sound of these happy children made Bryan smile as the pair of mutant teenagers moved along with the crowd.

As they made their way close to the huge building, they could see the cheerful mural painted upon the exterior. The bright greens and blues depicted a huge school of underwater creatures of all types moving along together in an invisible current, lead by an amazingly detailed sea turtle.

Nearing the box office, Bryan spotted a child on a leash and harness. In his exhilaration he was almost pulling his mother along. Bryan snickered and pointed out the sight to Joni. “That’s… um… kind of mean…” she replied.

Bryan shrugged, guessing she didn’t find it amusing. “He must be a runner,” he said with a grin. The line at the ticket window seemed to growing rapidly, for each person actually buying tickets there were thee or four kids along side them. It was a mass of pushy, antsy and bored kids, a monumental test of one’s patience. Motioning to the entrance gate, “I’ll get the tickets. I’ll meet you over by the gate.”

Bryan made his way toward the end of the line. As he neared the ropes, Joni came up beside him. “Umm… Are you okay waiting alone?” she asked the boy. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and answer, “I’m ok.” He sensed that perhaps she was nervous to wait alone. “We can go up together if you like,” he offered.

“If… if that’s okay?” She stammered slightly then said, “We’ll both get bored otherwise.”

Bryan grinned and nodded his head, “Alright. Let’s jump in now.” The two finally got into the queue and waited patiently. As the line crept forward, Bryan looked up to the admission information and prices. “Do you think we’ll need the headphones for the audio tour?” he asked Joni.

She turned a light shade of blue at the question, “… um … will they fit?” She looked embarrassed, Bryan had not thought about her ears. He had just forgotten they were different. “Well, we’re smart kids,” he replied quickly, hoping to change the subject. “We’ll just read the little plaques,” he added with a wink. He playfully nudged the young girl, trying to make her smile. In fact, she seemed to look even more uncomfortable but she did manage a mall forced laugh.

They were quiet as the line moved the rest of the way, but soon they were standing at the clear Plexiglas window. The older woman inside the booth, too tired or bored to muster up an enthusiastic greeting, simply asked, “How many?”

Bryan smiled and answered, “Two adults. Please.” He took out his wallet and peeled away the loud Velcro closure and paid the admission for both of them. Bryan was unaware of the delighted smile that crossed Joni's face as he handed the older woman his money. In exchange, the older lady passed the printed tickets to him under the window.

The boy eagerly took the tickets and the friends left the line together and headed to the entrance gate. “Here you go,” he said as he hand Joni her ticket, “Ready to explore?” The white skinned grin nodded her head in reply.

“Alright!” he added excitedly. He motioned to the waiting turnstiles, “Ladies first.”

[Cryogene]

Joni felt tiny in the huge entry area. She'd been in larger places (sometimes surrounded by things that wanted to kill her) but...

"So, do you want to go look around some first or grab a bite?"

She returned her focus to Bryan. "Umm... I can wait... Why, are you hungry?"

"I could eat." He smiled.

Actually, she had eaten lunch already; she didn't even know there was food available here. But... "...okay, um, let's eat then."

"Alright. I think the food court is... uhh.... hmmm. Let's find a map."

Refusing would have been rude anyway though you'll feel foolish when it turns out he'd only going to pay for his own meal. She spotted a map kiosk nearby and pointed it out.

"Bingo." Bryan studied it for a moment. "Looks like it's downstairs."

"And the stairs, um, are..." She oriented herself and managed to spot them across the room. "That way."

"Lead on, then!"

Joni's only response was embarrassment at being put on the spot.

Bryan laughed. at you for being so spooked. "Okay then..." And then he took off toward the stairs at high speed.

It took Joni a second to realize she'd been left in the dust, and another two to entertain the possibility that she hadn't been ditched, that he was just being silly.

Bryan was waiting for her at the top of the staircase when she caught up, breathless from trying not to lose him in the crowd. "Next time, I'll let you know when it's a race. That was cheating." When she didn't respond immediately, his smile faded. "You okay?"

"Sorry... sorry..." She managed to catch her breath. "I got jostled a little..." he was definitely trying to lose you, he's just pretending otherwise.

"Oh, I'm sorry Joni. I'll behave. Take as long as you need."

"No, um, I'm okay now..."

Bryan gave her another moment to straighten herself, then took the lead down the stairs. Slowly this time. She managed to convince herself he wasn't going to run again and followed.

The foot court was packed. She quickly got worried about seating (no problem, he'll just suggest you sit at opposite corners of the room) but Bryan went straight to the register. "What would you like?"

She seriously wasn't hungry. "I... um... I guess cheeseburgers are fine."

"Great!" He placed an order. Joni noticed fries had somehow made it onto the receipt too. She really hoped Bryan had enough appetite for both of them.

She somehow found herself assigned to look for seating, and managed to find two stools next to each other at the counter during the five minutes it took lunch to get served. She got settled just as Bryan returned with the food.

"Busy in here," he idly commented, passing her a burger and drink.

"It's, um, a weekend..." way to state the obvious.

He looked around. "Yeah, I guess I could have planned it out better."

"Well, um, we were both free, so..." She managed to avoid saying it was her fault, if only to spite the voice saying it was.

Bryan chuckled as he picked up his burger. "True. It's not too bad, I guess. After all we at least got some seats." He gave her another smile before taking a bite.

She idly took her own lunch and started eating. Her attention remained on Bryan as they both chewed. you keep staring like that and he'll be weirded out...

"How is it?"

"Mmm?" Joni questioned. "Mmts..." She swallowed. Bryan had finished while she was watching. "...it's pretty good."

"I know, kinda surprising."

They smiled at each other. Bryan wiped his lip with a napkin, which gave her an odd point to focus on. His lip was already--

"You have a little ketchup..." He dabbed at his lip some more.

Most people got confused when Joni turned blue in the face instead of the normal red. Bryan had thankfully seen her blush before, otherwise he might have thought she was choking. "Oh God..." She grabbed another napkin and rubbed her lip furiously. he's laughing at you. "Umm... is it gone?"

"Hmm... I can't tell. Let me see."

idiot, how's he supposed to tell when you're busy staring at the floor? She lifted her head.

He smiled back at her. "You got it."

She looked away again.

He chuckled. see? laughing! "Don't be embarrassed, it happens to the best of us."

"...kay." Maybe she'd be back to her normal color before the day was over.

Probably not.