In Munro's house which was owned by Hal, a cab stopped right in front of it, and out came Adrian wearing a good officewear suit, he smiled that he was home from his work trip and then walked to the front door. "Home sweet home," he said while taking his bags out of the vehicle. "Marie!"

Marie looked out the window and was elated to see him. "Adrian," she squealed as she opened the door and then ran to his arms.

The two shared a passionate kiss. "I missed you," he said to her after holding her face.

"I missed you too," she replied. "Let's go inside, I made your favorite."

"Aww! Thanks, Honey, because I missed your cooking too."

"Oh! you," Marie smiled and took his hand as they walked to the front door.

"It's good to be back home," Adrian expressed as they went inside their home.

-------

The morning after, it was a Saturday, Gage just woke up, and Felix was doing some editing for his movie in the dorm. "Morning, man," he said to him as he sat up from his bed and rubbed his eyes. "Did you sleep? why are you up this early?"

"I did, I was just excited... to work on my claymation, I'm finished working on this first scene," Felix replied, but his voice got high on that last part, and Gage heard it. "By the way, you okay? you know, after last night."

"Oh, the fight, yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, you had to see that."

"It's cool, so you're really good?" Felix asked him again. He was already jittery since the previous night.

"Well, kinda, I'm still upset about the fight, I was hoping that Courtney would not be mad at me once she found out that I was auditioning."

"Meh... give it time, and she'll see that you go above and beyond to show her that you do care."

"I hope so. God... I hate this, I wish it was over. It's so awkward to be in class together lately."

"Why don't you just cool your head for today... or tonight?" Felix suggested with this teethy grin on his face, which Gage could tell something was up. "I have something that can help you with your woes."

"What?"

"The thing is, I asked this girl out on a movie date tonight..."

"Rita, is it?"

"Yes, her."

"Oh! wow, that's awesome."

"Yeah, thanks... so why don't you... come with us?"

Gage was taken aback by that. "You mean like third wheeling with your date? look, thanks for inviting me, but I don't feel like..."

"No, no, no, no, it's a double date, she has a friend, you can go with her."

"Double date? how did that happen?" Gage chuckled.

"I panicked when I asked her out that I blurted out that her friend could come and then that you'll come and take her."

"You mean you lied? and at least you could've given me a heads up."

"I wanted to, last night, then I saw you and Courtney were fighting, so you might say no if I asked you after all that."

"Well, I'm also saying no this time."

"Oh! come on!" Felix squirmed.

"Dude, I'm sorry, I'm not in the mood to go on a date."

"But they both are looking forward to going."

"Then tell the friend that the date is not happening."

"Are you sure? She's also pretty and nice."

"Then she'll take rejection pretty well,"

"You are not in the mood, but come on!!" Felix pleaded. "Besides, you need it anyway."

"Really?" Gage scoffed.

"Please, just this once."

"No."

Felix had a scheme in mind. "Alright, I'll just text Oddey. That's her name, by the way," he took his phone.

"What are you gonna do?" Gage asked.

"Telling her that you are not interested in going out with her."

"Like now?"

"Yeah, I mean what's the point of her going if you're not gonna come with us and yeah, maybe she'll take rejection pretty well," Felix began guilt-tripping his friend, Gage was not budging at first. "I'm sure, she's not gonna get disappointed and Rita might still be up for our date, it's not like she's gonna need to console her not-so-upset best friend that she needs to cancel it..."

"Alright," Gage reluctantly accepted Felix's plea.

"Gage, Buddy, I don't want you to feel pressure to come to this double date."

"I'll go."

"Really? you are?"

"I just said I'm going, didn't I?"

"Yes!" Felix beamed. "Cool, cool, cool, you won't regret it. We'll meet them tonight in the garden at seven."

"Okay, I guess it's better than feeling sorry for myself," Gage exasperated. "By the way, since you are setting me up with someone I don't know, who is this...?"

"Oddey."

"Yes, her."

"Aside from the best friend of the girl I like, she's a freshman like Rita, they grew up together, and a fine art student, I met her when school started when she started having her art room next to mine."

"Okay, do you have a picture of her? what does she look like?"

"Yeah, I do, I follow her on Instagram," Felix opened the app on his tablet and typed her name.

Gage stood next to him to see what his date looked like, but then his phone rang, so he took a quick look at it. It was a notification from his to-do list for that day. "Crap, I forgot there's another theatre club meeting in ten minutes, have to go."

"Again?"

"Yeah, Madame Vestia wants to discuss the personality of each character."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. Now you see why I only stick with making the props," Gage quickly put on pants and a hoodie. He fixed his hair a bit, grabbed his bag, and then headed to the door. "Don't worry, I'll be there, see yah!"

"Okay," Felix replied. He had this smug on his face that the date was still on.

In the club meeting, Madame Vestia handed the members who were auditioning the script to them, "for today I want you all to practice test, those who are playing the two leads chose your partner," she told them, Gage looked over to Courtney and saw that she already found herself a Romeo to rehearse with. "Remember to not act the part but to act that you are in love with your Romeo or Juliet."

Luckily, Gage found a partner to practice with, Courtney saw that, and it made her feel jealous that he was with someone else other than her. He had a hard time acting. He was too stiff since that was his first time to ever play an actual role. Gage kept apologizing to his partner every time he messed up, but she didn't seem to mind.

Hours passed, and it was over, Gage checked his phone and saw that he only had about an hour to get ready. "Gage," Courtney approached him, being all shy towards him.

"Court? hey..." Gage faced her in an awkward tone. "What's up?"

"You are serious about playing Romeo?"

"Court... let's not fight, especially here."

"NO," she blurted. "It's just that... thanks for doing this, and I'm sorry about last night. Let's forget about the fight. It's stupid and be back to being friends."

Gage smiled. "What fight? I don't know any fight," he kidded. The two laughed and hugged it out. "Again, I'm sorry, Court, you've been a better friend to me than I am to you."

"Okay... let's stop with the drama," she chuckled. "Why don't we go out and get pizza tonight with Felix."

"Yeah," Gage exclaimed with joy, but then he remembered. "Oh! shit, I can't."

"Why?"

"I... have a date."

"A date?" Courtney choked in horror after hearing the word.

"Yeah... it's stupid, Felix asked out this girl, and he panicked and said that it's a double, so he wants me to go out with his date's friend."

"Oh, okay."

"To be honest, I don't want to go."

"Then why not... bail?" she suggested, Gage strangely looked at her. "I mean... Why go on a date that you're not even interested in going?"

Gage paused and contemplated it. "Good point."

----------

Oddey and Rita were getting ready in their dorms later at night. It was chaos because they couldn't decide what to wear for their date. "I can't believe we're going to our first college date with a couple of sophomores," Oddey squealed with excitement.

"I know, right?" Rita replied.

"Oh, wow." Oddey breathes heavily.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I don't know why, but I kinda feel overwhelmed. I know it's just a movie date and that it's a double date, but..." Oddey began cracking her knuckles whenever she felt nervous.

"Maybe you're just nervous."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Just take deep breaths and relax before you have an anxiety attack."

Oddey took slow, deep breaths and began calming down. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"Now, I'm okay."

"Good," Rita grabbed a bottle of water from their mini fridge and gave it to Oddey. "At least it's a double date. You seem a lot more nervous than I am. Chill, it's just a movie night."

"Right, it's not like a blind date or anything," Oddey rambled, then drank her water.

-----

Felix was already in the garden wearing white and blue striped long sleeves and brown joggers. He was pacing and waiting, so he called Gage, but it just went to voicemail. "Dude, I'm already in the garden. Where are you?" he grumbled since he was feeling agitated. "I already booked us a ride to the mall. You better get your ass here or so help me God, you're gonna lose another friend..."

"Felix!" The girls hollered out and waved at him, Oddey was wearing a slit dress with a cropped denim jacket with Dr. Marten platform shoes and Rita had her hair braided and was wearing a short floral print bodycon long-sleeve dress with white boots.

Felix gulped and began panicking. "They're here, hurry!" he put down his phone and gave them a big toothy grin. "Hey! girls. Wow! Rita, you look great."

"Thanks," Rita blushed when he complimented her.

"And... you too, Oddey."

"Thanks, Felix," Oddey said to him, then looked for the guy who was supposed to accompany her.

"So... where's your friend?" Rita asked since she was looking out for her best friend.

"Don't worry, he'll be here," Felix answered, yet he was worried that Gage might not come since he was not interested. "It's not like... he's gonna bail on me... I mean you, Oddey."

The girls exchanged glances, and they could tell from his tone that it was concerning. "I guess we'll just have to wait then," Oddey told him.

Gage was walking to the halls leading to the garden wearing a grey shirt over a black bomber jacket and jeans, He decided to honor his commitment to Felix since he already yet hesitantly agreed but he felt bad that Courtney had to be alone tonight.

Some minutes passed, and Gage found Felix talking with the girls, so he dashed to them. "Hey! Man," he dropped his hand to his friend's shoulder, which made him flinch and also made Oddey's eyes pop out because she immediately recognized him.

"In fairness, he's cute," Rita whispered to Oddey, who was too stunned to hear her.

"Oh! thank goodness," Felix sighed in relief. "I mean... see, he's here, What took you so long, Buddy?"

"Sorry, but I'm here now, right?" Gage respond.

"By the way, girls, this is Gage. Gage, this Rita."

"Hi!"

"Hi!" Rita greeted him.

"And that's her friend and also my art room neighbor..." Felix was about to introduce Gage to someone he already met.

Gage turned his way to Oddey, and surely, his reaction was the same as hers when he saw her. "It's you," he mumbled.